Scoring is no problem for Lapiana, Kiski Area
Tri-State Sports & News Service
Kiski Area has the most prolific offense in the PIHL this season and, after Monday’s win against Greensburg Central Catholic, has scored 66 goals in nine games.
“We have a lot of highscoring talent,” Kiski Area coach Ray Suhadolnik said. “That’s how we’re going to win games.”
It doesn’t hurt that the Cavaliers also have the league’s leading scorer in Austin Lapiana, who has 21 goals and 32 points in just seven games. His numbers certainly aren’t much of a surprise, considering that last season he was an all-star after posting a 30-goal, 45point campaign.
“Austin is, I don’t know if five-tool is the right word in hockey or not, but he’s got a special blend of speed, quickness and he’s got a shot,” Suhadolnik said. “It’s almost a sure goal if he gets a shot in the high slot.”
Lapiana and linemate Jimmy Ayres have had a third winger rotate with them throughout the year, but the two have remained
PIHL rankings
Class 3A Class 2A Class 1A productive during the first half. Ayres is tied for second on the team with nine goals and is second overall with 20 points in eight games.
“I put them together because, if you put them two on a line together, they’re going to keep possession and they’re just going to eat up clock because they can possess the puck together,” Suhadolnik said. “A lot of times we’ll pair them up with someone who can take care of things in front of the net and let those guys control the play a little bit.”
Considering that the team is averaging 7.3 goals per game, the Cavaliers should be at or near the top of the Class 1A standings, but that’s not the case. Kiski Area (5-4-0-0) is swimming in the middle of the pack because of a defense that has given up 58 goals and leads the classification with 217 penalty minutes.
“We’re just giving up too many goals and it’s not just one thing,” Suhadolnik said. “It starts with the goaltending and defensively we’ve got to back it up. It’s not just defensemen, it’s the forwards who have to get back into the play and backcheck and we tend to err on the side of offense too much sometimes.”
All that means is that, unless Kiski Area starts helping out in its own end, it’s going to have to win a lot of 8-7 overtime games like it did Monday against the Centurions.
“We have the offensive power to win games like that if necessary,” Suhadolnik said. “But as a coach I’m not comfortable with it.”
North Allegheny
North Allegheny is currently in the middle of a twoweek break following a 2-1 victory against Plum in its last outing Nov. 27.
Even with the long stoppage, the Tigers remain in the mix for the top seed in the Class 3A playoffs.
As they near the halfway point of the season, the Tigers are 6-1-1-0 and trail first-place Peters Township, the defending state champion, by just two points. North Allegheny has also reeled off three consecutive victories since a 3-0 loss to the Indians, including a 4-1 victory against Cathedral Prep.
As has been the case the past few years, the team is winning with a defense-first system as goaltenders Richard Karapandi and Ryan Heil each have three wins and are third overall in the classification allowing 2.13 goals per game
Shaler
Mitchel Fuchs has scored a few clutch goals for Shaler and came up with another big one Monday when he hit the back of the net in overtime for his second gamewinner of the year in a 4-3 victory against Pine-Richland.
After that win, the Titans can rest a bit as they will have 10 days off before they take the ice to play Armstrong in their next-to-last game before the holiday break.
Shaler (5-3-1-0) struggled out of the gate this season, but has apparently turned things around. The win against the Rams was the Titans fourth in a row and has helped moved the team from near the basement in the Class 2A South/East Division to within two points of first-place Franklin Regional with a game-in-hand on the Panthers.