Penn-Trafford notebook: Hockey team hands South Fayette its 1st loss

By: Paul Schofield
Sunday, December 11, 2022 | 11:01 AM

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Xavier Solomon scored three goals, and Penn-Trafford handed South Fayette its first loss of the season in PIHL Class 2A action Dec. 5.

The Warriors got goals from Jack Blank and Solomon in the first period to grab a 2-1 lead.

They extended the lead to 5-2 after two periods on goals by Solomon, Nate Loughner and Ben Chen.

Solomon added an empty net goal after South Fayette trimmed the lead to 5-3.

Loughner, Blank and Bryce Kropczynski each had two assists while Chase Bonson and Alex Scuillo each added an assist.

Goalie Jackson Kerrigan made 33 saves for the Warriors (6-2).

Coy, Ott claim titles

Bethel Park had one champion and 10 placewinners to grab the team title at the Eastern Invitational Dec. 3 at Gateway High School. The Black Hawks finished with 212 points. Plum followed with 195 and Penn-Trafford was third with 174.5.

The Warriors ended up with nine placewinners including four finalists.

Winning titles were Hayden Coy (127) and Owen Ott (215). Placing second were Dylan Clayton (145) and Tasso Whipple (172). Coy defeated Kiski Area’s Ryan Klingensmith, 4-2, in sudden victory.

Dylan Barrett (107) and Logan Matrisch (133) placed third and Dominic Hartman (160) was fourth.

Warriors start 1-2

The Penn-Trafford boys basketball team began the season winning one of its first three games.

The Warriors defeated Hempfield, 56-43, behind a 23-point effort by Tyler Freas. The losses were to Greensburg Central Catholic, 62-51, and Norwin, 61-56.

Freas scored 16 points and Jason Sabol 12 against GCC, while Freas had 19, Sabol 12 and Carmen Metcalfe 10 against the rival Knights.

PT girls halted

The Penn-Trafford girls basketball team started 2-1 following a 38-28 loss to Norwin. Junior Olivia Pepple came off the bench to score 15 points for the Warriors.

The girls opened the season with wins against Baldwin, 54-50, and Peters Township, 60-33.

Pepple scored 20, freshman Torrie DeStefano 11 and sophomore Kamryn Pieper 10 against Baldwin. DeStefano tossed in a career-high 21 points and senior Lilly Palladino 14 against Peters Township.

A P-T swimming first

Penn Trafford, for the first time in district history, fielded a middle school swim team this fall.

The team consisted of athletes from Penn and Trafford middle schools. They competed against other middle and junior high schools from around Westmoreland, Allegheny, Fayette and Somerset counties.

The team was headed by Dave Babik, the Penn-Trafford high school swimming coach. He was assisted by Ciara McGrath, Kim Graziano and Jason Kunkle.

The eight-week season consisted of 15 meets including a team relay meet at Latrobe and the WAADA Invitational Championship meet at Derry to finish the season.

The girls team placed fourth and the boys team placed seventh at the WAADA championship meet out of 15 teams.

Several swimmers earn individual accolades. They included Delaney Race, Maddie Gavrish, Bella Hauck, Grace Clayton, Faith Whipple, Payton Glenn, John Kunkle, Daniel Owoc and Elle LeJeune.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

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