Penn-Trafford hockey heats up in Penguins Cup playoffs

By: Paul Schofield
Sunday, March 17, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Penn-Trafford’s hockey team didn’t end the regular season on a high note.

But they sure picked the right time to get hot.

For the second consecutive playoff game, the underdog Warriors beat the odds.

They advanced to the Class 2A Penguins Cup finals by stunning No. 4 and rival Norwin, 6-3, March 12 in a semifinal-round game at Robert Morris University’s Island Sports Center. They are the first team since Canon-McMillan in 2010 to reach the finals as an eighth seed.

They stunned No. 1 seed South Fayette in Round 1.

Four goals in a span of 2 minutes, 54 seconds rallied the Warriors from a 2-1 deficit.

“This season has been up-and-down,” Penn-Trafford coach Chris Cerutti said. “We’ve beaten the good teams in the league and lost to the worst teams.

“Two things we talked about before the game was it’s hard to repeat coming off a high. We had to keep that emotion in check. Showing the film of Norwin’s rally in the third period against Fox Chapel reminded them they anything can happen.”

Drew Hall scored two goals and added an assist for Penn-Trafford, which was scheduled to play Thomas Jefferson in the finals on March 18. TJ trounced Franklin Regional, 9-3, in the other semifinal.

Penn-Trafford, which entered the playoffs losing seven of eight games, knocked off No. 1 seed South Fayette in the opening round, 4-3. Norwin reached the semifinals by rallying to defeat Fox Chapel, 5-2.

“I felt we got them tired in the second period and we took advantage of that,” Cerutti said. “We knew we had the talent. We just struggled. We’re playing with confidence, and we did a good job keeping Norwin out of the middle.”

Norwin took advantage of a turnover to take a 1-0 lead in the first period of a goal by Zayn Zeravica.

Penn-Trafford tied the score early in the second period on a goal by Hall, but a few minutes later Norwin was up 2-1 on a goal by Joey Vecchio.

“We like the underdog role,” Hall said. “My second goal really sparked us. We don’t care who we play, we just want to win.”

Hall’s line of Kyler Doran and Bruce Kropczynski accounted for five goals.

Hall tied the score 2-2 when he took a pass from Doran to beat Norwin goalie Owen Burnmeister at 5:19.

Aiden Drotos gave the Warriors a 3-2 lead with 3:36 left when he squeezed the puck past Burnmeister and the post.

Gavin Patterson scored with 2:50 left to make it 4-2 and Doran finished the onslaught with goal with 2:25 left to make it 5-2.

Norwin had it 5-3 on a goal by Dom Constantino with 12:58 left, but the Knights couldn’t beat Penn-Trafford goalie Tyler Funk.

Jack Blank scored an empty net goal with 40 seconds left to close the scoring.

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.

Tags: Penn-Trafford