WARWICK—The calendar has turned to January. And, as predictably as an appearance of the full moon, Council Rock South is rounding into form.
Four unanswered third-period goals enabled the Golden Hawks to pull away from Neshaminy 5-1 Wednesday night in a Suburban High School Hockey League Class 2A matchup at Revolution Ice Gardens. Five different players scored goals as South improved to 2-1-1 in league play and 5-2-2 overall. The Hawks have three wins and a tie in their last five starts dating back to Thanksgiving Eve. Neshaminy dropped to 3-4-1 and 2-3.
“It’s good when you get contributions from everybody,” said South coach Joe Houk. “That’s the key to everything. That’s all different lines too. The third line was we had was basically a line of (junior varsity) guys.”
Andrew Stoychev led the way for South with a goal and two assists. His goal 30 seconds into the third period provided to be the game winner. Logan Hurwitz also had a three-point night; three assists.
Despite the fact that there were several junior varsity players in the South lineup, Stoychev said all the pieces fit.
“Both our teams work together,” the senior said. “We saw what was happening with all of our lines, we know how to play with each other and we just make stuff work out.”
The game was scoreless for virtually all of the first two periods. Neshaminy’s Zach MacNamee broke the scoreless deadlock when he beat South netminder Jimmy Sweeney from close range with just 52 seconds left in the second session.
It took only 22 seconds for John Hearn to deliver the equalizer, a one-timer from the left faceoff circle.
Stoychev put South in front for good 30 seconds into the final period. Billy Harrelson, Cameron Schwartz, and Kenny Duffield followed with goals of their own over the next 7:42.
“We came out flat,” said Neshaminy coach Matt DeMatteo. “The biggest thing for us I think is that we turned too many pucks over in transition and we did a poor job getting the puck out of the zone. And when you let that team keep the puck in, and sustain pressure, sooner or later the puck is going to go in your net.”
Notes—South had a 21-16 wedge in shots. The game featured just three minor penalties.
Neshaminy 0 1 0—1
C.R. South 0 1 4—5
Second-period goals: Zach MacNamee (N) from Brett Nelson, 15:08; John Hearn (CRS) from Logan Hurwitz and Andrew Stoychev, 15:30.
Third-period goals: Stoychev (CRS) from Hurwitz and David Mueller, :30; Billy Harrelson (CRS) from Jimmy Purcell, 3:45; Cameron Schwartz (CRS) from Sam Cherkassky and Julian Wagenmann, 5:01; Kenny Duffield (CRS) from Hurwitz and Stoychev, 8:12.
Shots: Neshaminy 16, Council Rock South 21; Saves: Steven Glik (N) 16, Jimmy Sweeney (CRS) 15
Hockey Happenings 