HATFIELD— Central Bucks East and Pennridge came into Friday night’s Suburban High School Hockey League matchup shorthanded. The Patriots were without leading scorer Sean Gorman who was serving a suspension. The Rams were minus goaltender Ryan Pico (3.43 GAA) who was absent.
It was East that earned the decision, 4-1 at Hatfield Ice to improve to 5-1-0-1 overall and 2-1-0-1 in SHSHL Class AA play. The Rams slipped to 4-5 overall and 1-4 in league play. It was their second loss in a 24-hour span; they dropped a 5-1 decision to Council Rock South on Wednesday.
Pennridge actually had a 36-31 edge in shots but junior Chris McIntyre was sharp in the East net.
“I think he’s the best in the league,” said Central Bucks East assistant coach Mike Capps. He works very hard at it. He keeps us in every game.”
The Patriots gave McIntyre some breathing room when Bogen Borodenko beat Pennridge netminder Jacob Gilbert at the 6:31 mark of the first period. Aiden Schmidt, Phil McIntryre, and Borodenko added goals in a span of 4:45 to give East a 4-0 lead with 6:17 left in the second session.
None of the goals were Gilbert’s fault. The freshman was making his first varsity appearance and more than acquitted himself well by stopping 27 shots.
“I thought he would play well,” said Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna. “I didn’t know if (the setting) would be too big for him. They were legit goals, there were no softies.”
The Rams had two big opportunities to get back in the game. The first occurred with 1:18 left in the second period when the Patriots’ Connor Keiser drew a five-minute major penalty plus a game misconduct for a hit on Pennridge’s Dane Fichett. The Rams’ power play sputtered however and they never mounted a serious threat during the man advantage.
Pennridge got another chance at the 4:28 mark of the third period when the Patriots’ Max Ermigiotti received a major penalty for head contact plus a game misconduct. The Rams scored a goal during the subsequent power play when Jack Lowery found the net at the 6:25 mark but that was his team’s only serious chance during two extended power plays.
“With a lot of new guys, we really haven’t had a chance to work on that with a lot of the things we’ve had to do,” Montagna said, “I just told them, we’ve got to be better. For as well as we played, we just gave away opportunities there.”
C.B. East 1 3 0—4
Pennridge 0 0 1—1
First-period goal: Bogen Borodenko (CBE) from Matt Cipriano and Aiden Schmidt, 6:31.
Second-period goals: Schmidt (CBE) from Phil McIntyre (CBE) and Tyler Godown, 4:58; McIntyre (CBE) from Schmidt and Ian Treger, 7:37; Borodenko (CBE) from Schmidt and McIntyre, 9:43.
Third-period goal: Jack Lowery (P) from Conrad Frisch, 6:25 (pp).
Shots: Central Bucks East 31, Pennridge 36; Saves: Chris McIntyre (CBE) 35, Jacob Gilbert (P) 27
Elsewhere:
Holy Ghost Prep 2, St. Joseph’s Prep 1 OT—Brady Baesher scored in overtime to give the Firebirds the win over the Hawks at the Class of 1923 Arena. The two teams traded goals in the second period.
The Grundy Skate Shop is a full-service hockey pro shop inside the Grundy Arena, offering a great selection of equipment, brands and various services. We do a range of repairs as well as offer custom hockey jerseys. Owner Bill Keyser, has over 25 years experience in the industry and specializes in skate sharpening, including profiling. Please visit our Facebook page or stop in and check us out!
Hockey Happenings 