One of the youngest teams in the PIHL has one of its youngest coaches.

But that hasn't meant poor results thus far or tempered expectations for the season for West Allegheny. The Indians (4-2-1) are unbeaten in their past four after edging Moon, 4-3, Monday.

"We are happy with where we are," rookie coach Tyler Webb said. "We're a young team, we've had some success against some better teams and some ups and downs, but I think that the big thing for our team is we work on progressing.

"I want to see this team peak in March and play its best hockey at the end of the year. I see positive signs we're headed that way. If we do, we'll be all right and the wins will take care of themselves."

Webb, 24, was hired late this spring. A former center for Division I Robert Morris, he replaced Norm Cook. Webb, whose family roots are in Western Canada but who is a native of Texas, played three injury-riddled seasons for the Colonials.

Shoulder problems forced him to give up his playing career, and when the West Allegheny hockey board contacted RMU coach Derek Schooley to pick his brain about a viable candidate to take over the Indians program, Schooley suggested Webb, who subsequently met with the board.

"It just kind of fell into place," Webb said. "I planned on playing another year and things didn't quite go that way. I'm having a really good time doing it so far."

Coming off a 14-5-3 campaign, West Allegheny lost plenty of seniors and now has as many as 10 sophomores and a freshman in the lineup for games. But the Indians are a pair of one-goal losses away from being undefeated and have played a schedule thus far that includes two first-place teams.

"He is a little different style of coach than our old one," said defenseman Chris Muffi, one of five seniors on the team. "He helps us out a lot and makes all our hockey skills a lot better and keeps us in line a lot more than we're used to."

The Indians pride themselves on balance with Webb maintaining that any of his forward lines can contribute offensively.

He pointed to a 4-0 win against Montour Nov. 9 as a prime example. Eight different players had at least a point in that game, with only one (Taylor Carlisle) posting two (a goal and an assist).

"Our team is getting contributions from pretty much everybody," Webb said. "We like to have everybody involved. We have five seniors, and they take on the leadership mantle, and everyone else is following suit.

"We try to stay away from the individual stuff and kind of keep on with what we have with everybody contributing. A lot of teams rely on one or two guys; we try to get away from that mindset and have everyone get involved."

Of the seniors, three are mainstays on the blue line: Muffi, Carlisle and Kurt Habazin. Scoring forward Tyler Fitzgerald and backup goalie Matt Yurkowksi are the other seniors. The remainder of the defensemen are mostly sophomores, Chris Allison, Jim Bing and Zach Hayes, although Derek Allman is a junior.

Sophomores also make up West Allegheny's top three scorers heading into the week, Jon Levitt, Jonathan Grebosky and Patrick Coburn, and its standout goalie, Jason Kumpfmiller.

Levitt had 10 goals as a freshman and had nine through six games this season. Grebosky was the Indians' leading scorer last season and Coburn was third on the team in assists.

In his first season as the starter, Kumpfmiller had a goals-against average of 2.20 with a .926 save percentage and two shutouts before Monday's match against Moon.

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