Plum hockey hopes to make 2nd-half push to postseason

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, December 14, 2018 | 8:06 PM

At the halfway point of the season Plum hockey finds itself in the same position as it was last year at the bottom of the standings, but it is hopeful that recent history can repeat itself.

When the Mustangs’ backs were against the wall a year ago, they went 5-2 down the stretch to skate their way into the playoffs. They want to make a similar run this year.

“I feel like that this group has is even more capable of doing that then last year, because I feel like all the players have already bought in,” Plum senior AJ Adamski said. “All the seniors do not want to end their final year in last place, so we’re going to band together, and hopefully we can come out with more victories.”

Plum (2-6-2) was in last place in PIHL Class AA’s South/East division entering Monday’s game with Armstrong, but has played better as of late.

After going winless in their first five games, the Mustangs have wins over Quaker Valley and Shaler and were competitive in close losses to Penn-Trafford and Mars.

The Mustangs have had some players miss games because of obligations with travel teams, but first-year coach Phil Mains believes he will have his entire team at every game the rest of the way sans Anthony Scarpino, who’s out for the season with a concussion.

When he has everyone, Mains likes his team’s chances against anyone they face, and that was reinforced last Monday against Mars, which is second in the North/West division. Plum led 3-2 over the Fightin’ Planets, but two early goals in the third gave Mars a 4-3 win.

“We’ve only had a few games with our entire roster, and those obviously were our best games,” Mains said. “The (Mars) game in particular really showed what we are capable of when we have our full roster and play together as a team. We’re very excited for the last stretch run.

“The guys are starting to understand the expectations of the coaching staff. They were harder on pucks, which is something we talked to them about. They played with a little more of an edge instead of sitting back and over thinking things. When we can slot guys in where we want them to be to balance our lines out and just roll three lines like we did on Monday that makes things a lot easier.”

Plum got a boost to the blue line when Louis Poprocky rejoined the team a few games into the season. Poprocky did not come out for the team initially, because of his travel hockey schedule.

Adamski leads the team with 16 points and Logan Schlegel is right behind him with 14. They both center their own line. Adamski plays with junior Nick Pushic and freshman Max Weingrad. Schlegel, a junior, centers a line with next door neighbor and good friend Daniel Baranowski and a combination of Noah Sacks and John Kadelecik.

“They both work on both ends of the ice,” Mains said of Adamski and Schlegel. “As centers, they both have defensive responsibilities that they take care of. They both have hard, heavy shots and they’re bigger kids, which helps them work down low in the corners retrieving pucks. Their wingers help them and each one offers different things. Logan and AJ have been big helps, and we’re going to need a strong second half from them if we’re going to sneak into the playoffs.”

If Plum is going to make a return trip to the postseason, they’ll need to leapfrog a couple teams ahead of them in the standings. Penn-Trafford, Baldwin and Franklin Regional are within six points of the Mustangs.

Plum lost by two goals to both Baldwin and Penn-Trafford in the first meetings and dropped overtime decisions to Franklin Regional and Hempfield. The close results have them confident they can compete with all four teams.

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer.

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