Quaker Valley, Sewickley Academy hockey teams open seasons
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Friday, October 12, 2018 | 7:06 PM
Quaker Valley and Sewickley Academy enjoyed Penguins Cup success last season.
Both teams hope for more this campaign, as well.
Injuries plagued Quaker Valley last season. Once the Quakers started welcoming players back to the ice in January, the squad started to form into a contender. Only fully healthy once the Class 2A Penguins Cup tournament began, Quaker Valley went on a surprising run to the championship contest. The team beat Shaler, 4-3, in overtime, upset top-seeded Latrobe, 1-0, in overtime and upset Pine-Richland, 3-1, in the semifinals.
However, the Quakers fell short of their sixth Penguins Cup crown (first in Class 2A) with a 5-0 setback to Armstrong in the title game.
The team graduated an experienced and talented core, but looks to others to take on more responsibility.
“It’s new opportunity even for the seniors or juniors. We graduated a pretty good class that had been keeping us competitive for the past few years. I am encouraged by what I’ve seen so far, though,” Quaker Valley coach Kevin Quinn said. “We’re relying on our seniors, but we have high expectations for our junior class, as well. We have some freshmen and sophomores ready to compete, too.”
Senior Cole Musser, one of the players who dealt with an injury last year, is back to lead the offense with Danny Fagan, Josh Bemis and Hunter Matty. Kevin Guerreri and Noah Wiggins are back to solidify the defense, along with the goaltending due of Philip Gagne and Colin Rice.
“We have some guys who got a lot of experience the last couple years. They will be given even bigger responsibilities this year,” Quinn said.
Last season, the Panthers generated some momentum with their second Class A Penguins Cup playoff berth in two years. The team notched a postseason win for the second year in a row, too, but top-seeded Bishop McCort held off Sewickley Academy for a 7-5 win in the semifinals.
The Panthers graduated five seniors, including two main cogs in Michael Hertzberg, who paced the squad with 36 points, and goaltender Cole Luther, a perennial all-star. The team welcomes back a lot of experience, though, with nine seniors.
“We have a really strong group of seniors that have been the core of team. We have nine seniors this year and eight have been playing together for a while,” Sewickley Academy coach Chris Chiusano said. “The seniors have been through a lot of experiences over the last two years. They’ve played in playoff games with some success. It’s a seasoned group of guys. It’s a good group of leaders.
”Theoretically, we could have eight or nine captains. We’re relying on those guys to teach the expectations to the other players. We’ve added a couple freshmen, and we have the most guys on the roster since I joined the organization (in 2016). Things are looking up for us.”
Matthew Hajdukiewicz, Andrew Beck, Logan Fullerton and Jack Duggan lead the forwards. Hajdukiewicz had 33 points a year ago. Jackson Paul, Henry Meakem and Tommy Gordon, who plays some offense, anchor the blue line, along with Chris Martin and Ben Mohan. Sophomore goaltender Thomas Sykes played in six games last year. Brady Mosberger could see time in goal, as well.
“We have some expectations this year to continue on the path we’ve been on over the last two seasons,” Chiusano said.
Joe Sager is a freelance writer.
Tags: Quaker Valley, Sewickley Academy
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