The Latrobe IceCats have found a star in sophomore Joey Crimboli. Crimboli started on varsity last year as a freshman, and led the team in points with 32. He’s well on his way to crushing last year’s number, as Crimboli has 23 points with still months left in the season. His 23 points are first on the team once again, as well as first in the PIHL.
The son of Frank Crimboli, a former Division III hockey player at Fredonia State in New York, Joey says his father is his biggest inspiration. “…He played NCAA Division III, and I strive to be better than him.”
Crimboli credits his success to his coaches. “[They’re] always pushing me and helping me be the best that I can be.” Crimboli said.
Crimboli has a team and league leading three hat-tricks on the season, with his first one coming in the Icecat’s 4-1 victory over the Armstrong River Hawks. He contributed to every goal scored, as he assisted captain Dylan Morris late in the first period.
The young star recorded his second hat-trick of the season in the team’s third game, a 5-1 win over the Baldwin Fighting Highlanders. Crimboli tallied the game’s first goal midway through the first period. He also collected the final two goals of the game, including a powerplay goal assisted by Morris.
Morris had very high praise for the youngster. “Joey is a big help offensively,” Morris said. “His hands are absolutely one of his strongest assets and being a smaller player he’s able to slide through traffic super well. Definitely one of our top producers.”
The IceCats took a road trip to Erie to battle Cathedral Prep in the final week of October. The Cats took a 6-3 loss but Crimboli once again found himself on the score sheet with a powerplay goal early on in the second period.
Back at Kirk S. Nevin Arena the next week, the IceCats faced off against their biggest rivals in the Hempfield Spartans. It took just five minutes for the Cats, and Crimboli, to get on the board, with a goal from senior Dale Henigin. The Cats and Spartans traded goals for the first two periods of the game until Crimboli broke the game open with a powerplay goal just 28 seconds into the third frame. Three more Latrobe goals followed, with Crimboli assisting Morris for the teams sixth goal, and scoring the seventh himself. A season-high five-point effort from Crimboli capped off a 7-2 win in a chippy rivalry game with both student sections showing their dislike for one another.
Latrobe hosted the then-undefeated Penn-Trafford Warriors in a late-night game on November 14th. Penn-Trafford’s goaltender, sophomore Tyler Funk, came into the night with a three-game shutout streak. Crimboli would end that streak midway through the first period and would follow up with another goal in the third period to extend the Cats’ lead. With the help of their sophomore star, Latrobe had upset the Warriors and handed them their first loss of the season.
Crimboli notched his 12th goal of the season in a 5-2 win over the Canon-McMillan Big Macs a week after the upset of Penn-Trafford.
In the IceCats’ recent matchup with the Norwin Knights, it was just another night at the office for Crimboli. He matched his season-high five points with his third hat-trick of the year. It was in this game that Crimboli recorded his 50th career point.
Crimboli tallied his 23rd point of the season with an assist on the game winning goal against the Armstrong River Hawks on December 5th.
Along with being the leading scorer in the PIHL, Crimboli plays travel hockey for the Esmark Stars, a AAA club located in Pittsburgh that plays other AAA teams around the country. This allows Crimboli to not only match up with the best of the PIHL, but also in his age group around the nation.
