PI Allow’s defensive North Allegheny plans to enjoy the ride

Sender: Chris Harlan

Saturday 9 October 2021 | 11.01

The lake hadn’t frozen, so the North Allegheny hockey team exchanged their sticks for oars and competed at the Dragon Boat Festival in North Park, Pittsburgh.

In a long, skinny canoe that can accommodate 20 rowers, they retreated into the water last month.

The goal that day was to go fast. But coach Mike Bagnato has a senior-heavy lineup, so when the reigning PIHL-class AAA champions start defending the title, he urges his players to slow down a bit and have fun.

The 20-match regular season continues until February.

“We’re not going to think in four or five months,” Bagnato said. “I just want us to have fun and enjoy it. Let’s enjoy playing Mount Lebanon this week. Next week we’ll enjoy playing Bethel or whatever. Let’s enjoy every workout. Let’s not let it hurry.”

Connor Chi, one of PIHL’s top scorers, leads an in-depth offensive squad that includes Luke Washabaugh, Cole Jackman, Shane O’Neill and Nolan Colinear.

Junior strikers Matt Irvin and Nate Spak will also take care of the key minutes. However, Spak only joins the hockey team after the football season, when he plays a line player.

Chi was PIHL’s second-best scorer last season with 37 points. He scored 14 goals in the regular season and scored three more in the NA playoffs, including the PIHL finals.

“We have a really strong core of attackers coming back,” Bagnato said.

Tigers lost just five players from last year’s lineup, but this shortlist included starting goalkeeper Josh Bailey. He will be replaced by sophomore Rylan Murphy and senior Andrew Long.

The team also lost third-top scorer Austin Peterson, a junior striker who moved out of the state.

Junior Trey Gallo, the 27-point scorer, once again leads NA defenders, and Tigers also has a couple of experienced seniors in Kyle Holmes and Will Mench.

Accompanying them on the blue line is secondary Owen Logan, who earned a university experience last season, sophomore Evan Barnhart and freshman Travis Lamark, the younger brother of a former NA star. Lamark’s brother, Tyler, is a secondary striker in John Carroll.

North Allegheny won the PIHL championship last season for the second time in three years (the champion was not in 2020), but many of Bagnato’s traditional team-building efforts were stopped during the pandemic.

There was no golf trip. No games to “capture the ticket” or swings in the driving range. No billiards or table tennis games in Bagnato’s basement after movie sessions.

This fall, everything is back and the season starts on time. Last season did not begin until November.

“It’s nice to see the season start on time, and it’s also nice that it’s been pretty normal,” Bagnato said. “We’ve done a lot of things we did in normal times.”

As the Covid restrictions ease, the Bagnato team will travel out of state this winter for several events. The Tigers participate in tournaments in Jamestown, NY, and one at Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. There is also a tournament they participate in in Meadville.

The hockey team participated in dragon boat races on September 26 to support Bagnato’s wife Janice and Hearts of Steel, a rowing team of breast cancer survivors to which she belongs.

“That’s for a really good reason,” Bagnato said, “and they’re really having fun.”

The Seneca Valley hockey team also participated in boat races.

“They beat us in finishing the photos,” he said. “It was really fun.”

NA is likely to have a talent for good playoffs. But while sticking to his plan not to look too far ahead, Bagnato does not speculate on winning the second title.

– We will definitely compete for the top spot. That is our goal, ”he said. “But I’m really looking forward to the year. This is a really good group of kids. I’ve been lucky with many good groups of kids, not just here, but on other teams over the years. I really like the way these kids work, the way they listen and the fun they have in rehearsals. “

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review Staff Writer. You can contact Chris by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .

Tags: North Allegheny