Scoring punch has Hempfield near the top of the division
Hempfield has been one of those programs that appears as though it’s ready to break out and lay claim to frontrunner status in PIHL Class 2A every year yet somehow, because of injury, players opting for travel hockey instead of high school or some other circumstance, comes up a tad short.
Yet this year the Spartans are once again a tantalizing group that is beginning to forge its way upward in the Southeast Division.
“The last couple of years, yeah, we’ve had those injuries and departures that have really hampered us taking that next step, but this year this team is a little different because we have the depth,” Hempfield coach Denny Zeravica said. “We have depth in the players that are back and the kids coming up have been huge contributors so far. That’s probably been our biggest factor to our success so far.”
Entering the week, Hempfield (6-2-0) had quality wins against Moon and Quaker Valley and took divisionleading Upper St. Clair to task before losing, 4-3, on Oct. 22. The Spartans only other loss was at Franklin Regional, which dropped them to 1-2-0 in one-goal games this season.
One of the main reasons why Hempfield is in the mix this season has been the onetwo goal-scoring punch of Matthew Traczynski and Michael Orban, who are tied for third in the classification with 19 points. Traczynski came into the week leading the classification with 13 goals.
And the best thing is they’re not playing on the same line, so the scoring has been distributed.
“I just think that the lines we have right now are working really well,” Zeravica said. “It’s nice when you have that depth so other teams can’t decide who they’re going to match up against like they could if we had one line that scored the majority of our goals.”
Hempfield has also rotated its goaltenders a bit as Joseph Behler leads in ice time and is 4-1-0 despite a bloated 4.15 goals-against average and a .790 save percentage. Sean Lanager has better numbers (2-1-0, 3.00 GAA, .908 save percentage) and is just coming back to form after a minor injury.
“They’ve been battling it out and Sean got injured and last week was his first game back,” Zeravica said. “We had an open competition for both of them and we want one of them to step up and take control.”
Central Catholic
Last season, Central Catholic went from PIHL Class 3A Penguins Cup finalists to missing the playoffs.
That’s what happens when you have a seniorladen team and almost everyone graduates.
There is no danger of the Vikings failing to qualify for the tournament this time around as all nine teams in the classification are already guaranteed slots. But they are also showing signs of becoming a squad that could make some noise once the playoffs open.
Central Catholic (4-4-1) has been competitive in every game this season, but has struggled a bit in close games. The Vikings are 2-2-1 in onegoal affairs and have not lost a game by more than three.
All this while breaking in a new goaltender as Norbert McDermott has come in to take control between the pipes. So far he is 4-4-1 with a respectable 2.54 goalsagainst average and a .906 save percentage.
Sewickley Academy
Sewickley Academy has been a middle-of-the-road team for most of the season and the 4-4-0 record it had coming into the week is a testament to that.
Not only have the Panthers been outscored as a team, 3733, they have given up at least five goals in three of their four losses. On the bright side, they are also 4-0-0 when they score at least five goals.
And senior forward Matthew Hajdukiewicz has been integrally involved in the team’s offense.
He has scored at least one goal in each of Sewickley Academy’s eight games, including a four-goal outburst against Freeport and notched all five of the team’s tallies in a victory against Fox Chapel. His 18 goals are second in the PIHL to the 21 by Meadville’s Nicholas Franz and his 24 points are fourth in the classification.