Defense key for Raiders
JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley's hockey team may be a work in progress, but that hasn't stopped the Raiders from winning.
Following Monday's 5-1 victory against Plum, Seneca Valley is 6-1-1 and is tied with North Allegheny for third place in the PIHL Class AAA standings with 13 points.
The effort has come despite the Raiders being the third-lowest scoring team in the 10-team division with 20 goals in eight games.
The scoring SV has received has been balanced. Twelve players have tallied at least a goal, led by three goals apiece from Michael Spokane and Marshall Maier. Assists have been credited to eleven players, with Hunter Mueller accounting for six of them.
“We want all of our lines to have some type of scoring prowess. That's where the balance comes from,” said Raider coach Anthony Raco. “But in a lot of cases, I don't believe our kids are getting rewarded for their hard work.”
In an attempt to spark the offense, Raco has moved Mueller, a senior, from defense to forward.
“I play forward for my club team, so it was an easy transition for me,” Mueller said. “We just need to continue shooting pucks and crashing the net. We have to focus on puck possession and puck retrieval in the corners.”
The team's defense has been stellar, beginning with senior goalie Logan Johnson, who has a pair of shutouts and a save percentage of 95 in his seven games.
Johnson served as a backup last year to Dylan Sloat. The former did start a handful of games as a junior.
“The shots seem to be coming in slower now,” said Johnson. “A lot of it just comes down to experience. I've been on the varsity team now for four years.”
“Logan is able to make the recovery saves, play the puck and make the first pass on our breakouts,” Raco said.
The Raiders have allowed a division-low 10 goals. Raco mentioned two players in particular who have led the defense in front of Johnson — Bryce Korner and Noah Watkiss.
“They've both done a great job of blocking shots,” he said.
“It's young and not the biggest defense, but it's solid,” said Johnson, who is backed up by Alex DeDionisio.
The Raiders have accounted for the only loss suffered to date by defending Penguins Cup champion Peters Township (9-0-1), a 3-2 decision via shootout in late November. Johnson stopped 44 shots in the victory.
“That win gave us confidence,” said Raco. “Peters Township brought back a lot this year and it showed our guys that they can play with anybody in the league.”
Intangibles are another factor that seems to be on the Raiders' side.
“We're now almost 10 games into the season and we've started to get a feel for each other's skill set,” Mueller said. “The team chemistry is there.”
Johnson believes the team has the talent to make noise when the playoffs roll around in March.
“This is probably the strongest team we've had here in a while,” he said. “We just need to find a way to score more goals.”
Seneca Valley will travel to Erie on Tuesday to face Cathedral Prep.
