Defensive-minded Hampton hockey team off to quick start

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, November 18, 2017 | 7:48 PM

The Hampton hockey team is off to a great start, just like last season. Unlike last year's high-flying squad, they are taking a different route.

After finishing second in Class AA in scoring last season, Hampton (4-2) has balanced out. It's not something that was unexpected after bringing back all six defensemen and two experienced goalies.

“Defensively we've matured a lot,” said coach Dave Anderson, in his second year at the helm after two years of assisting. “We returned all six (defenseman), and five seniors. We did a lot of things right and learned a lot of life lessons last year.”

Perhaps the toughest lesson came in the first round of the playoffs in a 5-4 loss to Quaker Valley.

Faced with the same opponent in the second game of the season this year, revenge was on the mind. And the Talbots got it in a 3-0 victory.

“That was a pretty big game for us,” senior captain Ryan Bates said. “We wanted to get back at them for that. Everyone was pumped for the game during the day, and I think we just took that intensity into the game.”

The Talbots already had a tough test in outlasting defending Class A champion Franklin Regional, 6-3, in their opener. Given the results, the team might do well to play with a chip on its shoulder more often.

“In my four years here that's probably the most complete game we've ever played,” Anderson said of the Quaker Valley contest.

While the team dropped a tough 1-0 shootout to rival Mars, it was the defense and goaltending that started to show — a change of pace from the fireworks of last season.

“We're probably more a little defensive heavy this year,” Anderson said. “We graduated a lot of skill last year, a lot of points.”

The offensive side has been a different story, but it's not for lack of talent. Star forward Justin Adamski, who also plays club hockey, has been juggling his travel schedule, as well as missing a handful of early contests with a broken thumb he suffered in the preseason St. Margaret Tournament.

“He's a very dedicated kid,” Anderson said. “It really isn't clicking now on the high school side, but he makes other guys better and creates opportunity. Everyone we play knows what he's capable of, and they have to respect that.”

A benefactor of such opportunity is senior Michael Orban, who leads the team in every major statistical category (eighth in Class AA with 11 points) , and recorded a hat trick in a 6-3 victory against Upper St. Clair on Monday.

“He's one kid that is overly consistent,” Anderson said. “He prepares the same way, practices with the same mentality, takes every shift the same whether he's out of gas or fresh. He's the best player we've had so far this year.”

The best thing that might have happened to Hampton is the return of senior goalkeeper Connor Andrews. While sophomore Jake McGee proved himself a starter last season, Andrews is back and looks stronger than ever.

Andrews ranks first in Class AA in goals against average at 2.01, and McGee is third at 2.27, as the two have split starts.

“It's really nice knowing you have that safety net back there,” Bates said. “Those guys can make some crazy saves when they need to. Connor has really improved coming back this year. I think that's a big thing. We have more comfort on the ice because those guys are back there to protect us.”

“We'd like to go back and forth and see of one of them would rise to the top,” Anderson said. “Basically, both have been at the top. We'll see how that plays out. They've both been fantastic.”

Anderson is hoping his offense can round into form over the course of the season.

“We're trying to be too cute with a lot of things,” he said. “There has to be a more collective buy-in for some of those guys to go to the net, go to corners, win those battles. It doesn't always have to be pretty.”

Rest assured players like Adamski, who led the team in points-per-game as a junior last season, will start to fill the score sheet.

“It's just a matter of time for him,” Anderson said. “But when it clicks, he's going to go off.”

Devon Moore is a freelance writer.