WARWICK—After spotting their opponent a significant head start, Wissahickon took control of its Suburban High School Hockey League Class A semifinal against Hatboro-Horsham Wednesday night.
Trailing 3-0 in the first period, the Trojan scored nine goals in the equivalent of one period of hockey and went on to a 10-6 win at Revolution Ice Gardens. The third-seeded Trojans (10-8 overall) will face top-seeded Plymouth Whitemarsh in Thursday’s final (8:30) at Hatfield Ice.
Prior to the opening faceoff, Wissahickon figured to be playing uphill. Leading scorer Nicholas Hussa and Daniel Glazier were serving suspensions while Ben Junker was sidelined with an injury. With next week’s Flyers Cup opener against Unionville already set, it would have been understandable had the Trojans struggled.
Alex Carrozza, their captain, admitted that focusing was a bit difficult. “A little bit,” he said. “Especially since we played them the last game of the regular season (a 9-1 win for the Hatters last Friday). They kind of put a couple goals in on us. It was tough for us to play. We were able to come back and actually put a good team together.”
The second-seeded Hatters (11-6-0-1) were in command at the start, thanks to a goal from Nick Long and two from Aidan Esack, which gave them a 3-0 lead just 6:07 into the first period.
The flow of the game changed however when Carrozza scored for the Trojans with 54 seconds left in the opening session.
“I thought it was important to score that goal.” said Wissahickon coach Ken Harrington.”
It wasn’t apparent immediately, but Carrozza’s effort was a preview of what was to come. Wissahickon’s Bryan Garry and the Hatters’ Seth Lerner traded girls early in the second period before the Trojans scored seven times in a span if 5 minutes, 49 seconds to take a 9-5 lead with 48 seconds left in the 17-minute period.
Garry scored three times in that span. A.J. Pounds added two goals during the spurt, while Carrozza and Nolan Ryan also scored.
Hatter coach Gianni Lafratta felt his team got away from what it defensively in the opening period. “We had guys in the slot, we kept everything outside,” he said.” Gary, I think, had three shots on net.
“We had that three-goal lead and the little things started to fall apart, the passing, the presence in the defensive zone.”
Garry added a fifth goal in the third period. He also had an assist.
Ice Chips—Plymouth Whitemarsh defeated Truman 12-2 in the evening’s other semifinal. Aidan Keogh scored four goals for the Colonials before the game was called with 10:54 left in the third period. Luke Weikel, Colin Franzoni, and Dean Keller added two goals each.
Wissahickon 1 8 1—10
Hatboro-Horsham 3 2 1—6
First-period goals: Nick Long (HH) unassisted, 1:28; Aiden Esack (HH) from Alex Howieson and Jack Steinberg, 3:31; Esack (HH) from Marcus Soucy, 6:07; Alex Carrozza 
from Nolan Ryan, 16:06.
Second-period goals: Bryan Garry from Michael Bonanni, 3:23; Howieson (HH) from Tarek Eisabbagh, 4:38; A.J. Pounds from Ty Schiff, 10:23; Garry unassisted, 10:32; Carrozza unassisted, 11:27 (pp); Seth Lerner (HH) from James McCoy and Howieson, 12:19; Pounds from Garry, 13:17; Nolan Tyan uunassisted. 15:40; Garry from Pounds and Schiff 15:49; Garry from Pounds, 16:12
Third-period goals: McCoy (HH) unassisted, 4:13; Garry unassisted, 15:36
Shots: Wissahickon 47, Hatboro-Horsham 27; Saves: Chris Shea 20, Joe Gambino (HH) 37
Class AA Semifinals
Central Bucks South 5, Neshaminy 2
Council Rock South 4, North Penn 2
Thursday Schedule
6:30 Central Bucks South vs. Council Rock South
8:30 Plymouth Whitemarsh vs. Wissahickon
Both games at Hatfield Ice
Hockey Happenings 