Sewickley Academy athlete of the week: Jack Duggan

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, November 14, 2018 | 7:33 AM

Jack Duggan

School: Sewickley Academy

Sport: Hockey

Class: Senior

Claim to fame: Jack Duggan had a hat trick of a different variety with three assists to help lead the Panthers to their third win of the season.

Sewickley Academy’s 5-4 win over Fox Chapel also was the third time the Panthers have had a game decided by a one-goal margin. Sewickley Academy has won two of those contests.

What do you feel was your most impressive assist against Fox Chapel?

I don’t know. All I can really say is that Matthew Hajdukiewicz had five goals. I just went around the net, found him, and he did the rest. Really, the most impressive thing about that game was him scoring five goals.

Does Matthew Hajdukiewicz ever fail to impress you?

He’s an amazing player. I’ve never seen anything like it. We have some really talented players, and we can score and spread it around. This year it just seems like Matthew is scoring most of the goals, so it might look like a one-man team, but we have a lot of players who create chances and can score, too.

How important is it to the team to win close games early in the season?

The close are really important. If you don’t win those, it will alter your record a ton. So, I think we’ve done well in those games as a team, and our coaches have given us really good speeches, and we’ve kept our energy up to hold a lead or take a lead late in close games.

What has been the key to drawing the Class A lead in power plays?

I think its part luck and part how feisty we are. We also have a ton of speed, so some teams can’t keep up with us and have to hook us or trip us.

The team is also tied for the league lead in penalties. How important will it be to be more disciplined?

I think we really need to fix that. The last game was really a lot closer than it should have been, but we were in the box like a third of the game. I don’t think it’s our team identity to take a lot of penalties, so we’re trying to work on that.

What are your expectations for this season?

What we hope to do is make a run in (the PIHL) and maybe even win (the title). First, we have to focus on making the playoffs.

Shawn Annarelli is a freelance writer.

Tags: Sewickley Academy