Offensive firepower returns to lineup for Penn-Trafford hockey team

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, October 12, 2018 | 7:06 PM

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Chris Cerutti spent the last two years as an assistant coach at Penn-Trafford working with the forwards under Rob Baker before taking over as the head coach this season.

In his time as an assistant he saw a lot of potential in the current group and with six of the top seven scorers returning, the depth up front will be relied upon this season.

The top line of Gavin Patrick, Jack Hughes and Ryan Mickey returns, and another scoring line consisting of Ben Leslie, Tyler Bosack and Jack Seiber gives the Warriors a pair of combinations that are capable of racking up goals.

“The group that we have here from defense all the way to the forwards is a very offensive team,” Cerutti said. “We like the games that are high scoring. We feel like we compete, we can outrun teams and score with them.

“The forward depth we have is a big strength for us. We have the ability to roll four lines and keep some of our top scorers rested going into the third period.”

Penn-Trafford split the first two games of the season. The Warriors dropped the opener to Pine-Richland, 11-1, and defeated Baldwin, 6-3, on Oct. 8. They were scheduled to host Hempfield at Center Ice Arena in Delmont on Monday, after deadline for this edition.

Patrick, a senior, led the team in goals (22) and points (35) last year, while Hughes, a junior, had 14 goals and 31 points. Leslie, who had nine goals last season, leads the team with three through the first two games. Seiber played in the Pens Elite travel program last year, but decided to play for the Warriors this season.

Christian Adamek is a newcomer who has boosted the defensive unit and has contributed on the score sheet with three assists. Braiden O’Connor has been the starter in net and is currently the team’s only goalie with backup and JV goalie Mason Smith sidelined with a hand injury. Smith is expected to be back in a couple weeks.

In the opener, Pine-Richland scored four times in the first period and never looked back. Cerutti said the Rams are one of, if not the, favorites to win the PIHL Class AA Penguins Cup this year, so getting to see them early was a good way to get a gauge what to work on.

“I take a little of the blame for that Pine-Richland loss,” Cerutti said. “Maybe we didn’t focus on defensive strategies and breakouts as we should have in the beginning of the year. We took a step back and worked on some fundamentals. We had the conversation about how offense is generated in the defensive zone. You have to come out as a unit to get more odd man rushes and support your teammates up ice to create more scoring chances. I think it paid off. We gave up (38) shots to Pine-Richland and we gave up 25 to Baldwin.”

The Warriors trailed Baldwin, 3-2, in the second period after some penalty trouble forced them to have long stretches of being shorthanded, but Seth Poziviak and Leslie scored late in the period to give them the lead. Garrett Pevornik and Leslie added third period goals to put the game away.

“We had a stint of about seven minutes in the second period where we fought through some adversity,” Cerutti said. “We had a holding penalty and a five-minute major on the same play. We were 5 on 3 for two minutes, and we ended up taking another penalty during the 5 on 3. We let up one goal in the four minutes were on the 5 on 3. The kids battled and came together. It was a turning point for us. We regrouped after the second period and got back to rolling lines.”

After narrowly missing the postseason two years ago, Penn-Trafford fell 5-4 against Shaler in a PIHL Class AA play-in game last year.

Cerutti wants to continue moving the right direction, and that means finishing in the top three in the South/East division to secure a postseason spot and not have to worry about the prospects of a play-in game.

“We want to get in the playoffs and try to make some noise there,” Cerutti said. “We have a lot of work to do, but I think we have a team that can compete with the majority of teams in Class AA. I think our guys can take that (Shaler) loss and use it as motivation for this year, especially early in the season, so we don’t put ourselves in a position where we are in that play-in game atmosphere.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer.

Tags: Penn-Trafford