SETTING THE TONE: Hun School boys’ hockey player Kyle Pettoni races up the ice in recent action. Last Wednesday, senior forward Pettoni contributed two goals as Hun defeated Wyoming Seminary (Pa.). The Raiders, who defeated Lawrenceville 3-2 in overtime last Monday to improve to 8-5-2, plays at St. Augustine on January 13 and at Bishop Eustace on January 18. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Kyle Pettoni doesn’t mind doing the dirty work around goal for the Hun School boys’ hockey team.

“I am just working with the team to get pucks to the net, especially those rebound goals,” said senior forward Pettoni.

“We need that because there is a lot of shots to the net and we need traffic in front to help us get those in. It is just hustling, working hard, and never letting up.”

Last Wednesday, Pettoni’s scrappy play in the crease helped Hun overcome a 1-0 deficit against Wyoming Seminary (Pa.) as the Raiders scored three goals in a 1:29 span in the first period to seize the momentum of the contest on the way to a 6-2 win.

“It felt good, it turned the game around,” said Pettoni, who scored the second goal in the three-goal outburst.

“We got momentum going and just went from there and built off of that. All it takes is one goal. It was a rough start but we are used to coming back; that is how we play.”

Pettoni played his game as he added a goal early in the second period in a traffic jam in the crease to go with his first tally.

“It was just a rebound in front of the net, another garbage goal,” said the 5’7 Pettoni, reflecting on his first goal.

“That second one was a surprise, Pat Brake just took the shot and I saw there was a rebound there. I missed the first rebound and just threw it on net and it trickled in.”

Winning its second straight Purple Puck tournament title in late December helped the Raiders rebound from a tough 1-4-2 start.

“Especially with this season being off to a rough start, that really put us ahead,” said Pettoni, who scored the game-winning goal in an overtime shootout against St. Joseph’s Prep (Pa.) in the title game. “We got our momentum and our mojo back. We needed that.”

With the Raiders coming off a 7-0 loss to Delbarton on January 5, Hun head coach Ian McNally knew his team badly needed to respond to the Wyoming’s early goal.

“We were able to regroup, they scored right off the bat on just an awful miscommunication,” said McNally.

“They have it right under us and they score and our bench instantly goes silent and it’s like here we go again. To the guys’ credit, they started fighting back, it was let’s go. We are still in this and before you know it, it is 3-1.”

The three-goal outburst, which took place in a span of about 90 seconds, changed the tone of the contest.

“That was good because we found them off for a second and we had them on the ropes there for a good minute or two,” said McNally.

“We played Frank (Vitucci) and Jon (Bendorf) on defense but we put them forward with Blake (Brown) and they were able to score and keep them up there. Once we had them on the ropes we went for broke, that was the difference.”

McNally was not surprised to see Pettoni make a difference when Hun needed some offense.

“Pettoni is a big game, clutch guy,” said McNally. “When he is around the net he is able to jump on pucks and bang them in, that is where he scores all of his goals basically. We needed him because when we put our big guys back on defense again, somebody has got to score the goals so this is pretty timely for him.”

On Monday, the Raiders came through in the clutch, edging Lawrenceville 3-2 in overtime as they built on the win over Wyoming.

“This win will give us the confidence that the Purple Puck wasn’t a fluke and that the Delbarton game was a fluke,” said McNally, whose team plays at St. Augustine on January 13 and at Bishop Eustace on January 18. “It is a feel good win.”

Pettoni, for his part, feels good about Hun’s prospects as it heads down the homestretch of the season.

“We need to just continue to build as a team, become closer and bond more,” said Pettoni. “The more we work as a unit, the more we win.”