H-H 5 Plymouth Whitemarsh 2

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The second-seeded Hatboro Horsham Hatters clawed their way into the SHSHL American Division Championship game and brought its grit to the final upsetting the favored and  defending divisional champions the Plymouth Whitmarsh Colonials 5-2 on Thursday night.

The victory marks the first for the Hatters since 2018. The game was also the first win for Hatboro Horsham against the Colonials this season. The teams met four times with Plymouth Whitemarsh claiming victory in all four contests by a combined score of 31-21.

The Hatters came out hot holding a 6-1 shot advantage through the first five minutes before Joseph Magnin Jr. capitalized on the team’s sixth shot of the game thanks to the help of Francis Stanchek and Cole Meyer. Six minutes later Evan Snow collected the loose puck off an initially blocked shot and found the stick of Victor Wilkins to give the Hatters a 2-0 advantage at the end of the first period.

The Colonials offense gained momentum leading the Hatters 11-5 in shots through the first 12 minutes of the second period. Wilkins found himself in the penalty box for a cross check leaving Plymouth Whitemarsh with the advantage firing off five shots in the two minutes. As the penalty expired, Charles Spause collected the puck off to the left and passed into the center for the quick flick into the net by Luke Smith to put the Colonials on the board, 2-1.

Wilkins wasted no time finding the stick of William Moffa to regain a two-goal lead for the Hatters just 14 seconds later. Daniel Guller made it a one-goal game for the Colonials once more off the assist from Cooper Kanze to end the period trailing the Hatters 3-2.

Hatboro Horsham turned up the heat in the final period. The duo of Wilkins and Snow paired up once more just 51 seconds into action to create a two-goal lead for the Hatters for the second time, 4-2.

“I love playing with the younger guys. I like bringing them up and helping them out. He [Snow] stepped up big time. He’s never played like that before and I couldn’t ask for anything more for me or my linemates,” stated Wilkins on the duo’s performance.

Guller saw his chance to cut the deficit to one once more with a breakaway fighting through two defenders but ultimately was stuffed by goaltender Eric Miller. Magnin secured his second goal of the night off the assist from Vincent Graziani securing the 5-2 victory.

Despite the heart-breaking loss, the Colonials look to what lies ahead as they prepare for the Class A Flyers Cup seeded at No. 8 and ready to face Springfield-Delco on Monday night.

“Not the way we wanted to end things, but a good season overall. I think we did a lot of good things and looking to bounce back from this and hopefully roll into the Flyers Cup with a better outcome,” said Plymouth Whitemarsh head coach Vince Forti.

As for the Hatters, head coach Shane Smith touched on the singular message he gave his team heading into the contest.

“Love. We started off with our speech and we did the old Herb Albert. We play them five times. They may beat us four times, but tonight is our night. And tonight proved to be our night,” said Smith.

“We’ve gone to task with them and have had a few close games. I told the boys at the beginning of the season that this is a championship team, and I believed in them and loved them. They came out and have done everything we ever asked. Our goaltender stepped up and had a game like he never has before. We got everything we needed out of the boys. I can’t say enough for them. This was all them.”

As for senior captain Wilkins, this night and this moment was one that he will never forget.

“It means everything. We worked so hard for this. Coming out against an undefeated team like PW. It’s surreal. I couldn’t ask for anything else for my senior season,” exclaimed Wilkins.

The journey isn’t quite over for the Hatters yet as they also move onto the Class A Flyers Cup. Seeded at 14, Hatboro Horsham will celebrate tonight before shifting their focus to Radnor on Monday.

First Period Scoring: Joseph Magnin Jr. (HH) from Francis Stanchek and Cole Meyers, 12:09; Victor Wilkins (HH) from Evan Snow, 6:59

Second Period Scoring: Luke Smith (PW) from Charles Spause, 2:30; Wiliam Moffa (HH) from Victor Wilkins, 2:16; Daniel Guller (PW) from Cooper Kanze, 0:37

Third Period Scoring: Victor Wilkins (HH) from Evan Snow, 16:09; Joseph Magnin Jr. (HH) from Vincent Graziani, 7:03

Shots: Plymouth Whitemarsh 39, Hatboro Horsham 29

Saves: Eric Miller 34, Julian Lucks 27

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Published by Rick Woelfel

Rick has worked in print and broadcast journalism for more than 35 years. He's covered golf in one medium or another for more than 30. He is the co-author of the book So You Want to Play Golf with PGA professional Kim Verrecchio and the host of the Women's Golf Report podcast. Most recently, Rick served as an associate editor for The Mulligan Magazine. He also served as an associate editor for Philadelphia Golf Magazine and New Jersey State Golf from 2004-07. Rick covered his first LPGA Tour event in 1986 and continues to cover women's golf for various media outlets. High on his bucket list is having the opportunity to one day play in an LPGA Tour pro am. Rick is also a longtime correspondent for two suburban Philadelphia daily newspapers, the Intelligencer and the Bucks County Courier Times in Doylestown, PA. Over the course of his career he has coverzed a wide variety of sporting events. He is also a veteran play by play and public address announcer, and handles the PA mic for the nationally ranked Delaware Valley University football program. Rick is also a longtime contributor to Referee, a magazine devoted to sports officiating. He called his first baseball game at age 13 and continues to umpire softball and baseball today.

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