Penn-Trafford advances to 8th straight WPIAL field hockey final after shutting out Latrobe

By: Josh Rizzo
Saturday, October 28, 2023 | 3:09 PM

There is nothing about making the WPIAL Class 2A field hockey championship game that feels routine to Ava Hershberger. Avoiding complacency through Penn-Trafford’s dominant stretch has a personal motivation.

The Warriors qualified for the championship game for the eighth consecutive season by beating Latrobe, 2-0, in a semifinal playoff game Saturday afternoon at Warrior Stadium. But the Penn-Trafford senior midfielder, who will play at Ohio State next year, doesn’t just want to live up to the tradition the school has set.

Hershberger also wants to keep up with her sister, Gwen, who won four championships at Penn-Trafford and now plays at Ohio University.

“My sister had four championships, so I feel like I can’t let her beat me,” Hershberger said. “It’s my senior year, and the fact we won the other years made me want to finish strong.”

Ava Hershberger extended her Penn-Trafford record to 42 goals by scoring twice against Latrobe. Warriors coach Cindy Dutt said Hershberger coming up through the youth program has kept her entire family connected to the sport.

Penn-Trafford’s program has flourished, in part, because of the family’s dedication.

“Ava started in 2011,” Dutt said. “I got a call out of the blue from Chad Hershberger, who is one of my assistant coaches, that his daughters were interested in some kind of hockey, can you point us in the right direction. They made the decision they wanted to play at a higher level. That was their focus. Their focus on perfection has made it clear to everyone else that is obtainable.”

Hershberger put Latrobe (5-7-2) on its heels early in the match. She received a pass from about 15 yards out and whistled a shot into the back of the net.

A benefit of having played so many games since her freshman season is that Hershberger has accumulated plenty of knowledge to know how to attack opponents.

“For me, being a senior I’m a lot more comfortable out there,” Hershberger said. “It’s still as stressful, and I get nervous before every game. You learn the girls on the other teams more. You know who you have to pass when you go up to and who you can attack one-on-one.”

Less than 2 minutes in, Penn-Trafford was ahead.

“I thought we played well defensively,” Latrobe coach Jeff Giordan said. “Aside from giving the ball away to Ava right away, which is not the right way to start the game. That put us in the hole early. We were in the circle once or twice today.”

Neither team got much scoring throughout the rest of the match. Penn-Trafford ended up finishing with 28 corners, but the Warriors (17-2) weren’t able to get too many strong shots on net.

Hershberger scored Penn-Trafford’s other goal in the third quarter.

Penn-Trafford swept Latrobe this season, winning a pair of regular season games 4-0 and 2-1.

“Of all the teams we play, Latrobe and us always play really tight,” Dutt said. “They are a really good team. I’m surprised they were in fourth.”

Penn-Trafford will play Fox Chapel to try to win its eighth straight title next Saturday at Washington & Jefferson.

Tags: Latrobe, Penn-Trafford