Young Penn-Trafford hockey team looks for consistency

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, October 16, 2017 | 6:06 PM

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With only three players back from last year, Penn-Trafford's hockey team is in search of a new identity.

So far, the verdict remains out.

After winning the preseason Greensburg Central Catholic tournament, the Warriors opened their PIHL schedule with a 1-1 mark.

“We are playing with essentially a whole new team,” Penn-Trafford coach Rob Baker said. “The bulk of these kids are playing varsity for the first time. It's a pretty knowledgeable group of kids, though. They seem like they are catching on well.”

Last season, the Warriors finished 7-12-0 and missed the Penguins Cup Class AA playoffs. Even though they graduated 16 players, they hope to challenge for a postseason berth this year, and winning the GCC tournament gave the team a boost.

“We were fortunate to win it,” Baker said. “We have a young group, and we're trying to put in our systems. That tournament helped build on what we accomplished in practice. You could see the kids catching on. We built a lot of confidence, especially going into our first PIHL game. It was a great experience for the boys. There were some good games we got to play. It gave us an opportunity to get four games in before the PIHL season, which was really valuable.”

The squad opened league play with a 6-3 win over Shaler, then lost to Franklin Regional, 5-1.

“We're going to face some really strong opponents and have our hands full,” Baker said. “We didn't play as well as we wanted (in the loss), but they were able to kind of shrug it off afterward. They went right back to working really hard at practice. It seems like there's a good team attitude.”

Junior captain Ben Leslie, senior Derek Tamino and junior goaltender Reno Patrick are the three regulars back this season.

“This is Reno's third year playing varsity hockey. He was the backup his freshman year and split time last year. This year, he is my No. 1 goalie,” Baker said. “He is an upper-tier high school goalie and doing well.”

The Warriors roll four forward lines and use three defensive pairings. They expect everyone on the bench to play a role this year, especially on offense with the departure of Nate Mickey and Joe Vecchio. Mickey led the team with 33 goals and 51 points, and Vecchio (16, 43) was next.

“Last year, we were a little more top heavy with Nate and Joe taking over games when they could,” Baker said. “We really don't have that line to take over a game now. We're probably going to be a little more balanced in our scoring than we were last year because we'll depend on more than one line to score.”

Newcomer Gavin Patrick gave the team a spark with three goals and two assists in its win over Shaler.

“Gavin had a great start in the first game. He came over from the inline hockey side. He has a great shot and a pretty good hockey sense. He's still getting used to the physical aspect of varsity ice hockey,” Baker said. “There are kids stepping up and playing a little better every game, which is nice.

“Our goal is the same as last year — we'd like to get into the playoffs,” he said. “We're working for points early, so we don't have to try to push for them late. We just want to get in the playoffs, and anything can happen then.”

Joe Sager is a freelance writer.

Tags: Penn-Trafford