Colin Abbonizio scored with 2:47 left in the third period to give Central Bucks South a 3-3 tie with Pennridge Thursday night in a Suburban High School Hockey League game at Hatfield Ice.
The win assured the Titans (11-3-2, 9-0-2 in league play) of the SHSHL Class AA regular-season title and the top seed in next week’s playoffs.
Pennridge now stands at 11-2-2 overall and 8-1-1 in the league heading into its scheduled regular-season finale against Council Rock South Thursday night.
Abbonizio’s goal concluded a four-goal flurry in the third period, that saw each team score twice.
Dominic Liberta opened the scoring for the Titans when he scored with 5:58 left in the opening period.
The score stayed unchanged deep into the second session when the Rams killed off a 1 minute, 15-second two-man disadvantage as a prelude to Eric Slater’s goal with 4:59 left in the period. It came just two seconds after the second penalty expired.
Pennridge took the lead for the first time when Matt Guinette scored 51 seconds into the final period. Harry McLaughlin answered back for the Titans at 9:12 to set up what turned out to be a frantic finish.
Slater scored his second goal of the game with 3:54 remaining before Abbonizio responded just 67 seconds later.
“It was a really good game,” said Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna. “They made then last play.”
The Titans had a 23-20 edge in shots. South coach Shaun McGinty was concerned about his power play, which failed to score in five opportunities. “It was a good game,” he said, “a good defensive game. They blocked a lot of shots. We’ve got to do better on special teams.”
Notes: The Rams beat the Titans 3-2 in a non-league game on January 9 … Montagna praised defenseman Frankie Rota for his shot-blocking efforts. “He’s going to be sore tomorrow,” Montagna said. The result means that Pennridge will be seeded second on third for the playoffs depending on their result Thursday and the result of the game between North Penn and Central Bucks West, which was postponed to Thursday.
Pennridge 0 1 2—3
C.B. South 1 0 2—3
First-period goal: Dominic Liberta (CBS) from David Kvcher and Harry McLaughlin, 10:02.
Second-period goal: Eric Slater (P) from Michael Walker, 11:01.
Third-period goals: Matt Guinette (P) from Slater and Walker, :51; McLaughlin (CBS) unassisted, 9:12; Slater (P) from Frankie Rota, 12:06; Colin Abbonizio (CBS) from D.J. Loverdi, 13:13.
Shots: Pennridge 20, Central Bucks South 23; Saves: Luke Stranik (P) 20, Oscar Levin (CBS) 17.
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