Plymouth Whitemarsh and Bensalem have moved to the head of the pack in the SHSHL’s American Division. On Thursday night at Hatfield Ice, they began finding out about each other.
Alex Hood’s goal 1:38 into overtime gave the Owls a 4-3 win in what is shaping up as an entertaining season-long series. Thursday’s game was the first of three meetings between the two teams.
The result pushed Bensalem to 5-1 overall and in the division; the Owls have been perfect since an opening-night loss to Wissahickon. They came from behind three times on Thursday.
The Colonials (4-2 overall) lost for the first time in five league starts.
Alex Baylevich set up the winning goal when he put the puck on net from his post at the right point. Hood was on hand to score his second goal of the game and his 22nd of the season. He also contributed two assists to his team’s cause.
Hood described the winning goal.
“All three of their kids were puck watching,” he said, “so I went backdoor. [Baylevich] found me like he always does. Tic tac toe in the back of the net.”
Both teams came into Thursday’s encounter at less than full strength. The Colonials had three regulars out of the lineup including two front-line centers. For their part, the Owls had only eight skaters available. That circumstance forced their coach Bill Hood to do some juggling.
“We had a lot of penalties (8) which hurt,” he said. “But we’ve got kids that play very high level club hockey so they’re used to this kind of pace.”
The scoring started early. David Branigan put Plymouth Whitemarsh in front just 55 seconds into the first period. Hood tied the game at the 2:21 mark.
Jason Segal put the Colonials back in front with 44 seconds left in the middle period and Plymouth Whitemarsh seemed to have the upper hand heading into the third frame, but the momentum shifted dramatically when Cole Salayda tied the game with a shorthanded with 12:13 left in regulation.
Tim Murphy gave Plymouth Whitemarsh the lead for the last time with a one timer from the high slot with 6:33 remaining.
But that wasn’t enough; Lucas Gonzalez poked in a rebound with 4:01 left to kick off the mad dash to the finish line.
Ricky Gonzalez in the Bensalem net might have made the biggest contribution to his team’s win. He finished with 32 saves, many of them difficult.
“Ricky’s been a rock all year,” Bill Hood said. “He definitely gives us confidence back there. We take some risks at times defensively and he’s always back there.”
The loss was a tough one for the Colonials but their coach Dave Cox took a pragmatic view.
“We knew coming in that Bensalem was going to be a tough opponent,” he said, “and I believe it was a good test of our character and what we need to work on.
“I’m proud of our boys for faced the adversity. We had a very short bench tonight, A lot of the boys were playing with different linemate pairs and that took some adjusting to, and our power-play wasn’t working well but they worked hard every shift. Overtime losses are never easy, but we look forward to seeing this team a couple more times.”
Bensalem 1 0 2 1—4
P-W 1 1 1 0—3
First-period goals: David Branigan (PW) unassisted, :55; Alex Hood (B) from Cole Salayda and Brandon Stahl. 2:21;
Second-period goal: Jason Segal (PW) from Tim Murphy and Daniel Molony, 16:16
Third-period goals: Salayda (B) from Lucas Gonzalez and Hood, 4:47 (sh); Murphy (PW) from John Zawislak and Molony, 10:27; Gonzalez (B) from Justin Rapone and Hood, 12:59
Overtime goal: Hood (B) from Alex Baylevich, 1:38
Shots: Bensalem 25, Plymouth Whitemarsh 35; Saves: Ricky Gonzalez (B) 32; Julian Lucks (PW) 21
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