Peters Township Hockey
Wins Penguins Cup, States,
in Stellar Year!
PENGUINS CUP PHOTOS BY CAROLINE MOUNTAIN
BY JON AMELIO
76 724.942.0940 TO ADVERTISE | Peters Township
A difficult loss in last year’s Penguins Cup Final left nothing but motivation for the Peters
Township varsity AAA ice hockey team for the 2013-14 season. The team lost four players
to graduation, and the Indians knew the upcoming season had potential to be special. They
played a solid regular season, finishing 16-4, but saved their best hockey for the playoffs. With
a quarterfinal win over Seneca Valley, and then finishing Penn Trafford in the semifinals, the
Indians returned to the familiar Penguins Cup Finals against rival Bethel Park, where they avenged
a 2012 loss with a 4-2 victory. Senior Jonathan Dagnal led the way with a 3-goal performance,
and 4-year letterman and senior Brian Baker held off an onslaught of shots during the entire
game. This was the team’s first Penguins Cup since 2005, and Rick Tingle’s first as head coach.
There was not much time to celebrate as the Pennsylvania state finals in State College were
five days later, where a perennially tough LaSalle College High School was no match for the
determined Indians. With goals from junior Adam Alavi and senior captain Joey Kittleberger, the
Indians took the state title by a score of 2-1. The State Cup returned to Peters Twp. for the first
time since 2005. By way of their successful season, the Indians qualified for the USA Hockey High
School Nationals for the first time in school history and finished with one win and two close losses.
Besides Kittleberger, the successful season could not have happened without assistant captains
and seniors Brock Burns and Evan Opeka. Other seniors providing
leadership included Jessie Borne, Jonathan
Dagnal, Andrew Stroud and
Keenan Witmer. ■