The North Allegheny Hockey Team had an abrupt end to their season last year in a 4-0 blowout against Peters Township. This year, the Tigers have been working towards a significant comeback against their rivals from the south.
The team’s 6-1 record lands them in the top spot in the PIHL class AAA rankings. The Tigers had another successful game against the Canon McMillan Big Macs last Tuesday, winning 4-0.
During Tuesday night’s game, the Tigers gained a 2-0 lead with seniors Evan Kerber and Ryan Jackman scoring in the first period.
Senior forward Evan Perrotte believes this year’s roster is especially strong.
“I think this year we are a little more well rounded, even though we lost a lot of skill in our seniors from last season,” Perrotte said. “But we are definitely doing better as a team this year, and all four lines are rolling.”
Even with the loss of nine respected seniors, the Tigers continue to improve.
“Towards the beginning, in the first couple of practices, we kind of thought maybe our performance would be affected because the team was looking really new, but now I mean we’re fine, definitely figuring it out,” Perrotte added.
Sophomore Luke Walkauskas and junior Marc Joyson have been topics of discussion this season, scoring a large portion of the team’s goals and assisting in the team’s aggression.
“I do think that Marc Joyson has been standing out,” Perrotte said. “I think he’s leading our team in goals, same with Luke Walkauskas. He’s only a sophomore, but he’s going through opponents like it’s nothing and scoring goals.”
Continuing to stand out this year is senior goalie Andrew Long, who achieved his first shutout of the season Tuesday night, stopping all 17 pucks sent his way.
“It’s obviously nice to achieve a shutout,” Long said. “Canon Mac is one of the weaker teams in the league, but I’ll take a shutout when I can get one.”
Now that Long has reached his senior year, his time on the ice has increased, and tensions are rising. With the loss of long-time Tiger goalie Rylan Murphy, NA ’23, Long has big shoes to fill. But his focus for this season is not only his own progression but the performance of his team.
“I think the team is performing well, but I think it’s also important to know that we can do so much better. We have only been together for a few months and we still have the rest of the season ahead of us to keep building,” Long said.
Adding to the team’s performance and success this season is senior forward Logan Cerqua, who closed the game against Upper St. Clair, scoring the final goal for the team’s 5-1 win.
“I think this year we are definitely working harder to stay healthy with smaller guys, and we are doing everything we can to use all four lines and play a full game,” Cerqua said.
But the season is far from over. There are still many more teams to take down before the Tigers’ dreams of the Pens Cup can become a reality. The Tigers will play against the Seneca Valley Raiders at the Baierl Ice Complex tonight. The Tigers will face off against their rivals from the north at 7:00pm in hopes for another victory and one step closer to the Cup.
