Murrysville native headed to World Championships with U.S. ball hockey team

When Matthew Fischetti was 16, he had visions of following in his older brother Tyler’s footsteps by being a member of the USA junior ball hockey team. After trying out, he didn’t make the cut.

The news was tough, but it lit a fire under him to train for the next chance a couple of years later.

“It made me work even harder,” Fischetti said. “I was even hungrier after that. I was really disappointed in myself, and I thought I could be a lot better. From that point on, I really didn’t stop. I kept my head down and kept working as hard as I could.”

With one last shot to make it, Fischetti went to tryouts in New Jersey this year, and this time, he made the roster.

Fischetti, a Murrysville native, is on the Under-20 USA ball hockey team and will play in the 2020 World Championships on June 24-28 in Switzerland.

“I definitely feel very honored to wear the USA jersey,” Fischetti said. “I really just want one thing and that’s to win the gold medal.

“I want to thank my family for the all the time and money they spent on me to get me where I am today. If it wasn’t for my father (Ralph), I probably wouldn’t be playing hockey right now. His side of the family all played hockey when they were growing up.”

The World Championships are held biannually, and the first U20 junior championship was in 2000.

Tyler made the U16 team and the U20 team. He won bronze with the U20 team in Slovakia in 2014. Fischetti watched his brother play on an internet stream with the goal of one day playing in the same event.

“I really looked up to him, and I wanted to play the best I could,” Fischetti said.

Ball hockey is similar to ice hockey, but it is played on a floor. Aside from a few minor rule changes, the game is similar to ice hockey.

One major separator is ball hockey players run instead of skate.

“It’s really all about speed, because you can’t slow down like when you’re skating and keep gliding,” Fischetti said. “When you stop, you’re stopped. You have to be in great physical shape and be able to run a lot. It’s all about running.”

Fischetti is part of a large contingent of eight players from Western Pennsylvania on the team. The others are Bradley Bujdos, Jordan Albright, Brendan Crousey, Ricky Anesin, Shane Ferris, Navarro Lotenero and Riley O’Neill.

Fischetti has never been to Europe and is excited for his first trip overseas. The team is staying a night in Milan, Italy, and then taking the train to Switzerland.

The main goal is to leave with the USA’s second gold medal in the junior championships. Current coach Jim Daugherty and one of his assistants won the USA’s lone gold medal in 2006.

The Czech Republic won gold in 2018. Canada has the most gold medals in the U20 event with four.

“I believe that this team that we are taking over has a really good shot of winning a gold medal,” Fischetti said. “The big guns over there are Slovakia, Canada and the Czech Republic. There are tough teams to play against. They are all really well-coached, too.”