Author: 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.

SHSHL Announces Playoff Schedule

The Suburban High School Hockey League has announced its postseason schedule, a schedule that has been impacted by the pandemic.

Because of Covid issues, several teams in playoff contention, will not be able to complete their regular-season schedules by the end of this week; for a variety of reasons related to ice availability and the upcoming Flyers Cup tournament, the regular season cannot be extended beyond that point.

As a result, the SHSHL will determine playoff qualifiers and seedings based on winning percentage. Any scheduled games that are not played by week’s end will be considered ‘no game.’

The six playoff qualifiers in Class AA (the combined National and Continental Divisions) have been determined, although not all the seeds have been finalized.

Pennsbury is assured of being the number-one seed. Council Rock South, Central Bucks South, Neshaminy, and Pennridge will fill positions two through five although the order will not be finalized until Friday night. North Penn will be seeded sixth.

The Class AA playoffs will begin Monday night, March 29 with the third seed facing North Penn and the fourth and fifth seeds facing each other. The sites and times of those games are still to be determined.

The Class AA semifinals are set for Wednesday, March 31 and the two semifinal winners will play for the championship on Thursday, April 1 at Grundy Arena.

The four playoff qualifiers in the American Division are also set. Top-seeded Wissahickon will face fourth-seeded Hatboro-Horsham in a semifinal game next Wednesday, March 31 at Hatfield Ice. That same evening, Abington will face Plymouth Whitemarsh in the other semifinal (site and time TBD). Those two teams will be seeded second and third, although which is seeded where is still to be determined.

The American Division championship game is scheduled for Thursday, April 1 at a site and time to be determined.

The results of the playoffs will have no bearing on the seedings for the upcoming Flyers Cup tournament. Those seedings will be announced this coming Sunday, March 28. The Flyers Cup tournament is scheduled to begin on April 5.

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 full 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!

If you or a family member, or friend are looking for a dentist, we’re proud to recommend All Smiles Family Dentistry. They’re located at 1620 South Broad Street in Lansdale.

Dr. Caroline Hsu, Dr. Azure Pelberg and their staff provide high-quality dental care in a caring, nurturing environment.  They’ve been taking care of my teeth for 25 years and I would recommend them to anyone. Going to the dentist can be an unsettling experience but everyone at All Smiles Family Dentistry will work to put you at ease.

Call for an appointment at 215-616-0609 or e-mail them at allsmilesfamilydentistry@verizon.net. You can also find them on line at www.allsmileslansdale.com. 

Holy Ghost Prep 8, Pennsbury 2

 Holy Ghost Prep scored four goals in the first period and went on to defeat Pennsbury 8-2 on Monday evening at Grundy Arena. Braedon Baehser and Sean Marshall scored twice for the Firebirds. Shaun Marshall, Zach Pers, Dominic Lombardo and Anthony Sparo also scored goals for Holy Ghost Prep (6-6).

Eric Eisler and Shane Siegmund scored for the Galcons (9-2-0-1).
Both teams used the non-league affair to tune up for their respective league playoffs which are scheduled for next week. The game will not impact seedings for the Flyers Cup tournament.

Holy Ghost Prep 4 3 1—8

Pennsbury 1 0 1—2

First-period goals: Shaun Moore (HGP) unassisted, 4:51; Braedon Baehser (HGP) from Sean Marshall and Brian Butler, 9:02; Zach Pers (HGP) unassisted, 12:39; Marshall (HGP) from Baehser, 13:50; Eric Eisler (P) unassisted, 15:21

Second-period goals: Baehser (HGP) from Butler and Marshall, 1:11; Marshall (HGP) from Baehser, 4:42 (sh); Dominic Lombardo (HGP) from Branson Barger, 14:04

Third-period goals: Anthony Sparo (HGP) from Colin Moore, 8:21; Shane Siegmiund (P) from Eisler and Andrew Falkenstein, 12:54

Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 35, Pennsbury 31;  Saves: Colin Mudrick (HGP 13 and Jason Soule (HGP) 16, Dous (P) 27

SHSHL Update

             SHSHL Standings as of 3-21-21

National/Continental                      W      L      T      OTL   Pts.

Pennsbury (10-2-0-1)                        6      1      0      0        12

Council Rock South (7-3-0-2)        5     2      0      1          11

Neshaminy (6-4-1)                           5      2      0      0        10

Central Bucks South (6-4-1)           5      2      0      0        10

Pennridge (6-4)                                4      3      0      0        8

North Penn (5-5-1-1)                       3      4      0      1        7

Central Bucks East (6-4-1-1)           3      4      0     1        7      

Souderton (2-7)                                 1      5      0      0       2

Central Bucks West (0-10)                0      6     0      0       0

American Division                             W      L      T    OTL    Pts.

Wissahickon (11-1)                           11      1      0      0      22 

Abington (7-3)                                    7      3      0      0       14

Plymouth-Whitemarsh (7-4)            6      4      0      0         12

Truman (5-7)                                       5      7      0      0       10

Hatboro-Horsham (4-5-1-1)              4      5      1      1       10

William Tennent (4-5-1-1)                 4      5      1      1       10

Quakertown (1-10-0-1)                     1      10      0      1        3

National/Continental Scoring                     GP         G       A    Pts     

Brendan Macainsh (Pb)                              12        12     14   26 

Adam Bostock (CBE)                                   11        12     13   25

Thomas Gallagher (Nesh)                            11         9      11    20

Shane Siegmund (Pb)                                   11        8      12    20

Robert Seewagen (Nesh)                             11         11       6     17

Reece Millman (Pb)                                        9        10      6      16

Seth Grossman (Soud)                                   7        14      2        16

Chris Mangiacapre (CBE)                               11       9       7        16

Julian Sarne (CRS)                                          11       4      10      14

Daniel Kvecher (CBS)                                      9         4      10     14

Aeryk Lehrhaupt (Pr)                                      9         11     3         14

American Division Scoring                             GP      G       A      Pts        

Bryan Garry (Wss)                                            12      42     29     71

Nick Hussa (Wiss)                                             11       18     23     41 

Jeremy McCartney (Tr)                                    12       17     17     34

Luke Weikel (PW)                                             11        13      14    27

Joe Stelacio (Ab)                                                10        10     17    27

Eric Orzehoski  (Q)                                            12        14      11      25

Daniel Glazer (Wiss)                                         11        13      12      25

Justin Carrelli (WT                                             11        15     8       23

Aidan Keough (PW)                                          11          8       14     22

A.J. Pounds (Wiss)                                              8        10      10      20

Seth Lerner (HH)                                                9         15      5          20

Possibility of Covid Issues Hangs Over Flyers Cup

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament has already been impacted by Covid issues. Virginia Tech was unable to play its scheduled first-round game against Oregon on Saturday because of an outbreak. The game was declared a no contest; Oregon advanced to the round of 32 and the Commodores are going home.

The same scenario could occur in the upcoming Flyers Cup tournament, which is scheduled to begin on April 5.

Flyers Cup Committee President Eric Tye made it clear that teams that are impacted by a Covid outbreak will not be permitted to participate in/will be removed from the tournament.

“This was addressed at length,” he said. “All the teams who are being considered for selection received an e-mail packet on March 1.

“We stated very clearly if a team cannot play because of a Covid outbreak, no replacement team will be named, the game will be a forfeit and whoever they were playing will move on to the next round.

Tye noted the idea of having replacement teams on standby isn’t practical. “You can’t have a replacement,” he said. “Say we put 10 teams in one bracket, we can’t tell Team 11 to be on call. You can’t put number 11 seed where a number two seed is. There would not be enough time for us to switch all the seeds around, switch all the games around.”
Last year’s Flyers Cup tournament was shut down on March 12 because of Covid issues.

To hear the latest Hockey Happenings podcast CLICK HERE

Malvern Prep 5, St. Joseph’s Prep 1

Malvern Prep scored four times in the first period and went on to a 5-1 over St. Joseph’s Prep Friday night in an APAC game at the Skatium.

Chris Blango, Ryan Sambuco, Pierre Laropcque, Gavin Wilson, and Jack Constabile all scored goals as the Friars improved to 11-1 overall and 5-1-3-0 in the APAC.

Jeffrey Hammond scored for the Hawks (3-7, 1-7) who will conclude their regular season next Friday against La Salle.

The result of this game, combined with La Salle’s 5-1 win over Holy Ghost Prep Friday night, locks in the matchups for the Founders Cup semifinals, which are set for the week of March 29. Malvern Prep will be seeded first, followed by La Salle, Holy Ghost Prep, and St. Joseph’s Prep in that order.

Malvern Prep 4 1 0—5

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 1 0—1

First-period goals: Chris Blango (MP) unassisted, 2:38; Ryan Sambuco (MP) from Matt Harris, 3:58 (sh); Pierre Larocque (MP) unassisted (pp); Gavin Wilson (MP) from Anthony Perti, second assist unavailable, 14:40

Second-period goals: Jeffrey Hammond (SJP) assist unavailable, 4:33; Jack Constabile (MP) from Jimmy Kirk and Quinn Dougherty, 12:25

Shots: Malvern Prep 44, St. Joseph’s Prep 40

The scholastic hockey season will conclude in April with the Flyers Cup tournament. We’d love to help you promote your product, service, or event during the tournament with your own personalized podcast or advertorial content, tournament. Contact us at rwoelfel2013@gmail.com for more information.

La Salle 5, Holy Ghost Prep 1

                  

BRISTOL—La Salle has been playing some very good hockey lately. And the timing couldn’t be better.

The Explorers were dominant from the start Friday night in the course of a 5-1 win over Holy Ghost Prep in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference game at Grundy Arena.

Michael Casey’s hat trick helped La Salle (6-4, 5-3 in conference) to its fourth straight win and fifth in its last six outings. David Kimmel provided three assists.

Senior defenseman Nick Astolfi says all the pieces are fitting together for the Explorers after a slow start to this abbreviated season.

“We all came together,” he said. “It started with our coach (Wally Muhlbronner). He got us all together. We’re finally playing as a team, there are no individuals out there, we’re all playing together.”

Jake Hannon got the party started for the Explorers with a power-play goal 8:10 into the first period. With the Firebirds’ Michael Connolly in the box serving a slashing minor, La Salle’s Max Maddalo got position to the net and flopped a blind, backhanded pass in the direction of the crease. Hannon poked the puck in the net during the ensuing scramble.

Casey made it a 2-0 game at the 9:42 mark.

La Salle senior forward Jake Armstrong said the two first-period goals against a traditional rival gave the Explorers a big lift. “I think those two goals kind of took the nerves off,” he said. “Because we have a lot of young guys on the team so getting those two goals early really helped us get the momentum for the rest of the game.”

Casey added his second goal of the night 8:16 into the second period and completed his hat trick at 10:21.

Jack Lindmar extended La Salle’s lead with 56 seconds left in the period.

Armstrong said the circumstances surrounding the 2021 season it tougher for he and his teammates to jell as a unit at first. “I feel like it’s taken a little bit longer this year because of Covid and everything,” he said. “We haven’t had chances like last year to come together and have that team bonding but we’ve kind of found what works for us and were just keeping it rolling game by game.”

Holy Ghost Prep (5-6 overall, 3-3-0-3 in conference) finally got on the scoreboard when Brady Baehser scored a power-play goal with 5:45 left in the game.

“I like how we responded in the third,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside. “We kind of challenged them between periods and I thought we played well in the third period, but it was just a bad start all around.”

La Salle 2 3 0—5

Holy Ghost Prep 0 0 1—1

First-period goals: Jake Hannon (L) from Keenan Schneider and Max Maddalo, 8:10 (pp); Michael Casey (L) from David Kimmel and Chase Hannon, 9:42

Second-period goals: Casey (L) from Dan Whitock and Kimmel, 8:16; Casey (L) from Kimmel and Dan Whitock, 10:21; Jack Lindmar (L) from Ryan Desmond and Tim Whitock, 15:04

Third-period goal: Brady Baehser (HGP) from Evan Mudrick and Shaun Moore, 10:15 (pp)

Shots; La Salle 31, Holy Ghost Prep 30; Saves: Liam Gross (L) 29; Bobby Baehser (HGP) 26

The scholastic hockey season will conclude in April with the Flyers Cup tournament. We’d love to help you promote your product, service, or event during the tournament with your own personalized podcast or advertorial content, tournament. Contact us at rwoelfel2013@gmail.com for more information.

Neshaminy 5, Pennsbury 4

BRISTOL— It was a rivalry game that matched all expectations. Noah Seewagen scored with 7:52 remaining in the third period to give Neshaminy a 5-4 win over Pennsbury Thursday night at Grundy Arena in a Suburban High School Hockey League game that had significant ramifications.

The ‘Skins improved to 6-4-1 overall and 5-2 in National/Continental Division play and, it should be noted, 2-0 against Pennsbury this season. The Falcons (9-1-0-1, 6-1 in divisional play) suffered their first regulation loss.

Both teams were trying to strengthen their case for a favorable placement on the Flyers Cup bracket when the field is revealed on March 28.

Neshaminy was taking the ice 24 hours after a loss to Central Bucks East and ‘Skins coach Matt DeMatteo said the loss gave his team a jolt.

“I think (Wednesday) night was a huge wakeup call,” he said. “I think the older guys realized how few games are left and they knew they had to being it tonight.”

The key sequence in the game commenced 63 seconds into the second period. With Pennsbury holding a 1-0 lead, the Falcons’ Eddie Bossler drew a five-minute major penalty for high sticking.

It took Nolan Geria just 30 seconds to tie the game and Matt Buchinski put Neshaminy in front just 26 seconds after that.

The ‘Skins never trailed again. 

Brendan MacAinsh tied the game for the Falcons at the 5:29 mark of the period while the teams were skating four on four but goals from Max Gallagher and Jacob Helms gave Neshaminy a two-goal lead before the period ended.

Erik Eisler and Justin Marlin scored third period goals for the Falcons but Seewagen’s goal off a Pennsbury turnover proved decisive.

“They came to play and we were just a little undisciplined,” said Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley. No matter the circumstances, these games are always tight and that’s what makes a great rivalry.”

•Thursday’s game was the third annual Gannon Cup game, played in memory of former Neshaminy School District students and hockey players Patrick Gannon and Phil Oseredzuk. Both would have been seniors this year and both played club hockey with many of the players who took the ice Thursday night,

Gannon died as the result of an an accident in July of 2016 at age 13 and Oserdzuk perished in an accident in May of 2019 at age 16.

More than $6,100 was raised Thursday night for charitable organizations that were established in memory of the young men who perished.

Neshaminy’s Rob Seewagen noted that while Thursday’s win meant a lot to he and his teammates, the evening was about something more important.

“At the end of the day, it’s more remembering Pat and Phil,” he said. “They were our age group in terms of the class of 2021. It hurts that they’re not here but this why we come out and do this every year. We love them and we want to honor them and their families.”

The Gannon Cup is named for Mike Gannon, Patrick’s father a longtime coach with the Grundy Senators youth program.

 Neshaminy 0 4 1—5

Pennsbury 1 1 2—4

First-period goal: Brendan MacAinsh (P) from Shane Siegmund and Reece Millman, 13:51

Second-period goals: Nolan Geria (N) from  Thomas Gallagher, 1:43 (pp); Matt Buchinski (N) from Max Gallagher and Geria, 2:09, (pp); MacAinsh (P) from Shane Siegmund and Reece Millman, 5:29; Max Gallager (N from Michael Knipple, 7:15; Jacob Helms (N) unassisted, 13:57

Third-period goals: Erik Eisler (P) from Justin Marlin, :33 (pp); Marlin (P) from Jake McCaw, 7:49; Noah Seewagen (N) from Max Gallagher, 8:08
Shots: Neshaminy 40, Pennsbury 36; Saves: Brian Nelson (N) 32, Marek Jorgenson (P) 35

SHSHL Announces Playoff Format

                                  

The Suburban High School Hockey League has officially announced its playoff format.  The postseason will begin on Monday, March 29. Six teams vie for the National/Continental division championship while four other teams will square off for the American Division crown.

On Match 29, the number National/Continental seed will face the number six seed while the fourth seed will face the fifth seed. The winners will advance to play the top two seeds in the semifinals Wednesday, March 31.

The American Division semifinals will also be contested on March 31 with Wissahickon, the top seed, facing the fourth seed and the second seed going against the third seed. The championship games in both classes will be played on Thursday, April 1.

The results of the playoffs will have no bearing on the seedings for Flyers Cup tournament, which will be announced on March 28.

Abington Using Win over Truman to Launch Playoff Push

          Abington 6, Truman 1

  The postseason doesn’t officially begin for another week and a half but Abington has already adopted a playoff mindset. The Galloping Ghosts are in a stretch that wills see than play four games in a span of 10 days. The results will determine not only their status for the SHSHL American Division playoffs but perhaps earn them a place on the Class AA Flyers Cup bracket,

The first step in the process took place Wednesday night as Abington scored a 6-1 decision over Truman at the Bucks County Ice Sports Center.

Griffin Carpenter scored twice and four other players added one goal each as Abington improved its record to 6-3

“Tonight’s game started Monday night,” said Abington coach Ken Brzozowski. “We had an outstanding practice. We knew that we had four games coming up, games we know that we can compete in. We had an outstanding practice and that transferred into tonight. They did everything that I asked them to do.”

The Galloping Ghosts were forced off the ice for a time earlier this year because of Covid issues. But the team made the most of the down time,

“We got shut down for 10 days,” Brzozowski said. “we got together, we watched some game film over Zoom. I think that helps as well, whenever the kid can see themselves on the ice, and then come to practice and try to fix those things, as simple as they may be, I think paid dividends tonight.”

Senior Defenseman Holden Brooker said the Monday practice helped he and his teammates get their skates back under them following the layoff.

“We didn’t have a game for one week and we were looking a little sluggish,” he said. That practice definitely helped us out a little bit. It definitely got us moving tonight and hopefully we can do that our next game too.”

With three games remaining in the regular season, the Galloping Ghosts still have hopes of a Flyers Cup invitation; despite the fact they are competing the SHSHL’s American Division they are classified as a Class AA team for Flyers Cup purposes. 

“I can’t remember the last time we were in the Flyers Cup,” Brooker said. “it would be great, it would keep (our) spirits up. We’ll try to do the best we can.”

• The SHSHL playoffs will be contested the week of March 29. Four American Division teams and six National/Continental teams will qualify and play for separate championships.

Truman 0 1 0—1

Abington 1 3 2—6

First-period goals: Colin Bruton (A) from Ian Heydt, 10:47

Second-period goals: Ian Heydt (A) from Nick Kleinwski and Jordan Heydt, :25; Jarrett Wolf (T) from James Gallagher and Jeremy McCartney, 2:28; Griffin Carpenter (A) from Joe Stelacio, 8:38; Sam Pavlik (A) from Stelacio, 10:59

Third-period goals: Carpenter (A) unassisted, 1:40; Sean Faye (A) from Pavlik and Ian Heydt, 7:59 (pp)

Shots: Truman 19, Abington 46; Saves: Connor Pilla (T) 40, Sam Nemec (A) 18