By Karen Sangillo
It was an early season matchup that could become a harbinger for the post-season.
Council Rock South hosted the defending National Division, Flyers Cup and state champion North Penn and fell to the Knights, 5-2, on Wednesday night at Grundy Ice Arena.
Both teams entered the game undefeated at 3-0.
CR South got on the board first with a goal by Jake Weiner, midway through the first period.
“Scoring first definitely gave us a lift, but we have to learn to keep our heads up and keep moving when the other team scores,” said CR South goaltender Trey Prozzillo, a senior.
Late in the first period the Golden Hawks (5-1 overall) got into some trouble when they were issued a bench minor, served by Xavier Prozorov. He joined Jordan Sarne, already in the penalty box for cross checking.
The five-on-three power play was too good of an opportunity for the Knights to miss, and they didn’t. Samuel Norton stuffed it in with an assist from goaltender Andrew Norton and the period ended tied, 1-1.
“We knew they were going to come out strong right away, so it wasn’t too surprising when they scored first, but we bounced back pretty fast,” said Norton, a junior forward. “We thought this was going to be one of the toughest games of the year for us and we came out of it pretty well.
“We did a good job of moving the puck into the neutral zone and we played pretty good defense. Our offense needs a little work but it’s still early in the season so I think we’ll get it down by the time the playoffs come around.”
North Penn’s Chris Silvotti IV made it 2-1 three minutes into the second period, but CR South tied it up on a goal by Keegan Spence.
North Penn (5-0 overall) took control in the third period, with Samuel Norton netting the game winner two minutes into play and Declan Leahy and Silvotti providing a pair of insurance goals.
“Being the defending state champions hasn’t changed anything for us,” said North Penn senior Danial Cabrales, a defenseman. “We aren’t doing anything different, but I do feel like we’re more of a target this year. Everyone knows we’re the defending state champion so everyone wants to beat us.
“But we pretty much have the same team back again so I feel like we definitely can do it again.”
There are quite a few new faces on the CR South squad, which graduated nine from last year.
“This was a good early test for us,” Prozzillo said. “Next time we see them we’re going to work harder and not take our foot off the gas.
“We hung in there for a while but we have kids who have to fill new roles and they’re still learning. We’re definitely going to go to practice on Monday and work on the things we need to work on.
“I think they’ll figure out their assignments and know what they need to do next game. This was the toughest game we’ve had all year against probably the toughest team we’ll see all year, and we’ve got to learn from it.”
North Penn 1 1 3—5
Council Rock South 1 1 0—2
First-period goals: Jake Weiner (CRS) from Allen Pronin, 8:44; Samuel Norton (NP) from Andrew Norton, 16:16 (pp)
Second-period goals: Christopher Silvotti IV (NP) from James Boyle and Declan Willison, 14:00; Keegan Spence (CRS) from Brendan Rooney, 14:24
Third-period goals: S. Norton (NP) from Danial Cabrales, 1:48; Declan Leahy (NP) from Luke Haftel and Chase Kelly Del Ricci, 10:29; Silvotti (NP) from Del Ricci, 12:47
Shots: North Penn 38, Council Rock South 24; Saves: A. Norton (NP) 22, Trey Prozzillo (CRS) 33
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