One of the sayings for the Penn-Trafford hockey team has been to “race to the next goal.”
No matter if they’re up a goal, losing or tied, the Warriors knew getting that next goal was a major step in coming away with a win during the Penguins Cup Class 2A quarterfinals.
That was the message on the bench after a scoreless first period against No. 6 seed Shaler on Monday at Palmer Imaging Arena in Delmont.
“That’s all we want to focus on,” said Penn-Trafford coach BJ Zagorac. “That was the talk, all we need to worry about. We got that goal, and it gave us a jump.”
Sean Goodman was the one to get that goal for the Warriors, a power-play goal with assists from Brock Bienemann and Ben Zierski. It gave the No. 3 seed Warriors a jolt, as they scored three straight to open the second period on their way to a 6-3 victory.
P-T (16-5) advanced and await the winner of No. 7 Latrobe and No. 2 Armstrong, who play Tuesday night.
“It was a packed barn, and we had to get momentum on our side early,” said Bienemann. “We had to get shots on net and things started to bounce our way in that second period.”
Shaler’s Joshua Yuiska was called for a tripping penalty 11 minutes, 16 second into the period, and the Warriors used some nice passing to break the scoreless tie.
Zierski had the puck behind the net and shuffled it over to Bienemann, who quickly passed to Goodman at the top of the left circle. Goodman fired a one-timer that beat goaltender Jackson Fox over his right shoulder
“We had a lot of poise with the puck, and it led to an open opportunity for me and I put it home,” said Goodman.
Just over a minute later, Bienemann scored an even-strength goal off assists from Jake Lenart and Jordan Tucek.
Yuiska lost an edge in the neutral zone, and Bienemann received the feed from Lenart as he flew into Shaler’s end and made a move before depositing the puck in the net.
“We know we can score against any team,” Bienemann said. “We came out flying, hit their ‘D,’ forced them into turnovers and capitalized.”
Almost three minutes later, the Warriors struck again. This time Zierski scored off assists by Goodman and Funk.
Despite not producing any goals in the first period, Zagorac liked the way his team came out to open the game, flying around the ice, applying pressure and taking the body.
“We came out looking to fix a few bad habits, which included a bunch of slow starts that caused us to get behind early,” said Zagorac. “I know it was scoreless after the first period, but we spent a lot of time in their end and only allowed a few odd-man rushes for them. I felt that dam might break if we could just get one, and that ended up happening to give us some confidence.”
After weathering the Warriors’ onslaught, the Titans (10-10-1) called a timeout to regroup and were able to cut the deficit to one after two quick scores.
Shaler set up shop in the Warriors zone, and Chase Irwin scored feeds from Thomas Sommer and Blake Whiteman.
Twenty-one seconds later, Goodman took a hooking penalty, and the Titans would go on their first power play of the night.
It didn’t take long for Shaler to capitalize as Roman Angelo sprung captain Matthew Stelitano on a breakaway, and Stelitano faked forehand and snuck a backhand past goaltender Tyler Funk to cut Penn-Trafford’s lead to 3-2.
“The biggest thing for us was to stress effort and make sure we were ready,” said Titans coach Spencer Svoboda. “It’s playoffs, do or die and it’s a wonderful thing. But at the end of the day, it’s all about effort and playing for each other. I was proud of our guys’ resilience.”
After only mustering seven shots to Penn-Trafford’s 14 in the first period, Shaler outshot the Warriors, 18-12, in the second period.
“We were aware of how good Shaler really is,” said Zagorac. “They impressed me. They run this weak-side fly breakout that is so crisp and clean. We knew we had to keep an eye out for it, run a halfway trap, keeping the three high. We couldn’t take them lightly. It’s the playoffs.”
Shaler looked to carry that momentum into the third period and tie the score, but Goodman had other ideas.
Twenty-two seconds into the final period, Bienemann found Goodman at the top of the right circle with a pass and he blistered it through traffic to give Penn-Trafford a 4-2 advantage.
“We came out of that intermission ready to go,” said Goodman. “It was a one-goal game, and we were excited. There was a screen, I just put the puck on net and it went in.”
Goodman and Bienemann each finished with two goals and two assists. Funk had a pair of assists as well, and Ben Zierski added a goal.
“P-T’s a great team, and they proved it all year long,” said Svoboda. “They have some great firepower up front. A couple bad bounces didn’t go our way, and we got a little behind the eight ball. But at the end of the day, I can’t stress enough how proud I am of my guys.”
Stelitano added his second goal of the night in the third period to cut the Warriors lead to 4-3, but Bienemann scored his second and Jordan Tucek iced the game with an empty-net goal on a power play.
“I thought we played a really great game, and it helps when you have a goaltender like Tyler Funk who has proven in the past he can get it done in the playoffs,” said Zagorac. “He’s a guy that gives us a lot of comfort and stability.”
Funk stopped 27 of 30 shots to earn the win. Fox saved 28 of 33 for the Titans.
Penn-Trafford is familiar with both potential semifinal opponents.
“Both are dynamic, talented and well-coached teams,” said Zagorac. “Latrobe is a rivalry game, which adds another fun element to it. Armstrong, we split the season series with them and we’re aware that they’re super-hot right now. Both teams will be a battle.”