Malvern Prep 9, Roman Catholic 1

By Rick Woelfel

WEST GOSHEN— It took Malvern Prep some time to get started Thursday night, but it eventually got rolling, right into the Flyers Cup semifinals. Kyle Waskalavitch scored three goals and added two assists to help propel the Friars to a 9-1 win over Roman Catholic in a Class AAA quarterfinal game at Ice Line.

Second-seeded Malvern Prep will face sixth-seeded and defending Cup champion St. Joseph’s Prep in next Thursday’s semifinals (8:30 at the same rink).

The Friars dominated the opening period, but it took them until the waning seconds to score. Kyle Waskalavitch put the puck behind Cahillite goaltender John Lally with 38 seconds left in the period. Prior to that, Lally was first rate, he made 17 saves in the first frame.

“We play on the perimeter a lot,” Waskalavitch said. ” So, for us, we’ve got to focus on getting pucks to the net and crashing and getting those dirty goals. Not every goal is going to be pretty, especially in the playoffs.”

Malvern Prep coach Dave Dorman admitted he was concerned before the opening faceoff about the possibility of his team looking past the seventh-seeded Cahillites.

“That was my message before the game,” he said. “It had nothing to do with Xs and Os, it had northing to do with strategy. It was definitely about living in the moment and making sure that we take care of this game and we’re not overlooking anyone.

“There’s enough good players on any side of the puck that if you’re not playing the game the right way, you can get beat by someone.”

Ryan Sambuco extended Malvern Prep’s lead with a power-play goal 1:57 into the second session, ironically off the initial faceoff after Lally took an elbowing penalty.

Sambuco’s goal opened the floodgates. Washkalavitch and Matthew Harris followed with goals of their own two minutes apart and with 10:04 still to go in the second period the Friars enjoyed a 4-0 advantage.

The Cahillites lifted Lally at that point in favor of Michael Smith whom Konstantinos Harris greeted with a goal at the 8:49 mark.

Roman was able to solve Malvern Prep goaltender Dan Dougherty thanks to Colin Rosener, who scored with 5:53 left in the period before Waskavlavitch completed his hat trick with 2:40 remaining.

Rudloff, Jack Constabile and Aidan Gordinier added goals in the third period.

The Friars outshot the Cahillites 49-16. Dan Dougherty made 12 saves in the Malvern Prep net before being lifted for Anthony Perti with 10:04 left in the third period.

The result assures that an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference team will win the Class AAA Flyers Cup.

Roman Catholic 0 1 0—1

Malvern Prep 1 5 3—9

First-period goals: Kyle Waskalavitch (MP) from Kenny Connors, 15:28

Second-period goals: Ryan Sambuco (MP) from Nick Martino and Waskalavitch, 1:57 (pp); Waskalavitch (MP) from Connors and Andrew Harder, 3:55; Matthew Harris (MP) from Washkalavitch and Jake Rudloff, 5:56; Konstantinos Hionis (MP) from Martino and Harris, 8:49; Colin Rosenberg (RC) from Gilbert Newton, 10:07; Washkalavitch (MP) from Chris Blango and Connors, 13:20.

Third-period goals: Rudloff (MP) from Martino, 13:01; Jack Constabile (MP) from Charles Andress and Harrison Campbell, 13;48; Aidan Gordinier (MP) unassisted, 14:15.

Shots: Roman Catholic 16, Malvern Prep 49; Saves: John Lally (RC) 20 and Michael Smith (RC) 11, Dan Dougherty (MP) 12 and Anthony Perti (MP) 3.

Holy Ghost 9, Father Judge 5

By Rick Woelfel

BRISTOL— Holy Ghost Prep didn’t play its best hockey Wednesday night. But the Firebirds did enough to advance in the Flyers Cup tournament.

Byron Hartley delivered a hat trick and Evan Mudrick and Colin Costello scored twice as the Firebirds downed Father Judge 9-5 in a Class AAA quarterfinal game at Grundy Arena.

Fourth-seeded Holy Ghost Prep (9-13) will face top-seeded LaSalle in next Thursday’s semifinals. Fifth-seeded Father Judge closes its campaign at 16-9.

The Firebirds built a 3-1 first-period lead on goals from Mudrick, Costello, and Eric Pohl. But Thomas Scannell and Kevin Rue scored goals for 90 seconds apart to tie the game 3-3 and, with 4:14 gone in the second period, it seemed as if the two teams were starting over from scratch.

The Firebirds regained the lead on Hartley’s first goal of the game at the 4:36 mark. They stayed in front the rest of the way but what may have been the key point in the occurred just over a minute later when the Crusaders’ Keith Wiercinski made a move on goal and collided with Firebird netminder Sean Joyce, knocking him to the ice, and sparking a scrum near the Firebirds’ net.

Wiercinski was accessed a minor penalty for charging plus an automatic 10-minute misconduct. Judge’s Cade McKee and Holy Ghost Prep’s Sean Marshall drew coincidental roughing minors while the Crusaders’ Owen Newhose, who had assisted on a goal earlier in the period, was hit with a game misconduct.

The net result of all this on the ice was the Firebirds had a two-minute power player and the Crusaders were without one of their top offensive for the balance of the game.

Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside saw the incident as a turning point in the game. “That was huge,” he said. “That could have gone either way. Our kids kept their composure and kept things in perspective. We were able to kind of calm the waters a bit and get settled back into the game.”

Hartley spoke of the importance of he and his teammates keeping their emotions in check.

“Sean played a big part in it,” he said. “You never want to see your starting goalie hurt. He told us “…Put a puck in the net and that’s how we’ll get them back.”

Costello extended his team’s lead to two goals when he scored from just inside the blue line just before the sounded to end the second period.

The two teams combined for six goals in the third period. Matt Ryan’s power-play goal with 3:47 remaining in regulation got Judge to within two at 7-5 before Hartley completed his hat trick by scoring into an empty net with 1:40 remaining. Cole Stevens finished the scoring 18 seconds later.

Father Judge 1 2 2—5

Holy Ghost Prep 3 2 4—9

First-period goals: Evan Mudrick (HGP) from Alex D’Angelo, 8:07; Colin Costello (HGP) from Byron Hartley and Luke Panepresso, 9:52; Sean Melso (FJ) from Michael Levush, 14:42 (pp); Eric Pohl (HGP) from D’Angelo and Jake Marek, 14:53.

Second-period goals: Thomas Scannell (FJ) from Matt Ryan and Owen Newhose, 2:44 (pp); Kevin Rue (FJ) from Robert Werner, 4:14; Hartley (HGP) from Panepresso, 4:36; Costello (HGP) unassisted, 15:59.

Third-period goals: Hartley (HGP) from Costello, 1:31; Remy Garant (FJ) from Collin Furey and Melso, 4:14; Mudrock (HGP) from Pohl, 5:21; Ryan (FJ) from Melso, 12:123 (pp); Hartley (HGP) from D’Angelo, 14:20 (en); Cole Stevens (HGP) from Panepress and Carlos Rodriguez, 14:38.

Shots: Father Judge 32, Holy Ghost Prep 40; Saves: Colin McKee (FJ 31. Sean Joyce (HGP) 27

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 range of repairs as well as offer custom hockey jerseys. We recently celebrated our 5th year at the shop but 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!

Parkland 6 Neshaminy 4

By Rick Woelfel

BRISTOL— the combatants battled to the final bell. At the end, it was Parkland that was left standing.

Eric Dennis scored his third goal of the game with 4:24 remaining in the third period and that proved to be the game winner as the Trojans downed Neshaminy 6-4 Wednesday night in the opening round of the Class AA Flyers Cup tournament at Grundy Arena.

The ninth-seeded Trojans (18-3-1) will face top-seeded Downingtown East in Monday’s quarterfinals. Eighth-seeded Neshaminy closed at 7-6-4.

NHS vs Parkland_IH_03062019_4516

Neshaminy’s Charlie Potash (in white) and Parkland’s Tom Boyer (in red) face off during Wednesday’s Flyers Cup game. Parkland won 6-4. Photo by Jesse Garber

The winning goal came on Dennis’s shot from the high slot. Neshaminy goaltender Steve Glick could not be faulted on the play.

The teams traded goals twice through the first period and change with Neshaminy getting tallies from Joey DeMatto and Thomas Gallagher while Joshua Bower and Dennis scored from Parkland.

Both goaltenders, Parkland’s Vincent Byelick and Neshaminy’s Steve Glick, were sharp early on and had to be to keep their respective teams in the game.

Neshaminy coach Matt DeMatteo said his team was hurt by some early mistakes. “We had some problems with turnovers early on that coast us a couple goals,” he said. “I’d like to have those back but I couldn’t be more proud of the boys.”

Dennis scored his second goal of the game at the 9:34 mark of the second period on a rebound of Matt Zager’s original shot to give Parkland a 3-2 lead. Jason Dratch scored just 29 seconds later off a turnover to give the Trojans a two-goal advantage.

Neshaminy looked to have an opportunity when back-to-back tripping penalties gave it a two-man advantage for 1:31. But it managed just one shot on goal during that span and the deficit remained until Matthew Duke scored from the slot midway between the faceoff circles to make it a one-goal game with 1:38 left in the period.

Joey DeMatteo tied the game with his second goal of the night just 36 seconds into the final period.

From that moment on, Glick kept his team in the game; he made 12 saves in the third period. he finished the game with 30. Parkland had a 36-16 advantage in shots.

“I thought it was a good offensive battle back and forth,” Matt DeMatteo said. “I thought the boys played really hard. I couldn’t be more proud of the effort.”

Parkland 1 3 2—6

Neshaminy 1 2 1—4

First-period goals: Joey DeMatteo (M) from Josh Haines and Rob Seewagen, 6:02 (pp) Joshua Bower (P) from Koby Staivecki and Eric Dennis, 10:04.

Second-period goals: Dennis (P) from Staivecki and Gus Schwartz, :35; Thomas Gallagher (N) from Matthew Duke, 2:29; Dennis (P) from Matt Zager and Jason Dratch 9:343; Dratch (P) from Dennis and Zager, 10:03; Duke (N) unassisted, 14:22.

Third-period goals: DeMatteo (N) from Charlie Potash, :36; Dennis (P) unassisted, 10:36; Zager (P) from Dratch, 15:49.

Shots: Parkland 36, Neshamony 16; Saves: Vincent Byelick (P) 12, Steve Glick (N) 30.

St. Joseph’s Prep Sustains a Rich Historical Tradition

The following is advertorial content

St. Joseph’s Preparatory School blends a rich historical legacy and tradition with the mission of preparing today’s students for the future. Founded by the Jesuits, St. Joseph’s Prep traces its roots back to 1851. The school is located in the 1700 block of West Girard Avenue in North Philadelphia. Its student body includes just over 900 young men.

Bill Avington, the school’s director of communications, explains that education is at the heart of the Jesuit mission. “There are a number of Jesuit colleges,” he points out, “and we’re part of a network of Jesuit high schools.

“We stress the classics in a lot of ways. We still require all students to take Latin. So, there’s this classical education but it’s also mixed with kind of looking forward and always trying to figure out ‘What do our students need to succeed in college and of course beyond that, in life?’

“While we stress the humanities, the classics and the writing and the public speaking, we’re also working on our STEM issues; we’re adding engineering classes, we’re putting in updated science labs so our students who are looking go into medicine or research are prepared.

“So, I think there’s kind of a nice balance between being rooted in the traditional education that we’ve always been known for and also looking forward to the next thing our students need to succeed.”

The school also has a commitment to community service and spirituality. Avington, a St. Joseph’s Prep graduate himself (one of his sons is a graduate, another is a current student), says the staff and faculty work to implement that commitment on a day-to-day basis.

“Everything we do here at the school is (based on) AMDG; Ad maiorem Dei gloriam,” he says, “which in English is ‘For the greater glory of God. So, everything you do is being done to give glory to God. Because you’ve been given great talents by God you then need to do something with them and do the best you can. Not for yourself, not for your own success only but for the betterment of the world.

So, that influences everything we do. In the classroom, we’re teaching students to be successful in their fields so that they can become leaders in their community who have been trained to do these kinds of things. We definitely stress that. In all the classes, you’re taught that, but also in extracurriculars.

“Every student, by the time they graduate, is required to do 75 hours of community service, spread out over four years. And so, we really kind of make sure we value this. And it’s a requirement because we know it’s important for you to learn how to be of service to others.

“To graduate from St. Joe’s Prep, there are certain things you need to have accomplished. Obviously high-level academics but then equally important is service to our world.

“Father Frederico, who is our director of mission ministry, always says ‘We are called to be the hands and feet of God.’ And so being of service and doing service in the community is a way to do those things. To be God’s hands and feet and to go out there and walk with others, learn what they need in their community. How can we help? What do we get from them, from being in service with them?”

Arguably the most significant event in the school’s history was a fire in January of 1966 that destroyed two thirds of its infrastructure. The school considered relocating in the suburbs but ultimately decided to remain where it was and where it remains today.

“I think that says a lot about what we do and who we are as an institution,” Avington says. “We’re a proud city school. We’ve been neighbors with many of our north Philadelphia neighbors for their whole lives here. So, it’s very important for us to stay and I think that decision in 1966 is vital to who we are today in 2018.”

The school is recognized for its athletic prowess. The hockey team won the Class 3A and Flyers Cup titles as year ago and the football team is a state and national power.

Avington notes it’s essential that the athletic program mesh with the overall philosophy of the school. “Everything you’re doing is for God’s glory,” he says. “So, if God give you the ability to shoot a hockey puck better than other people you need to do it to the best of your ability, or be on the football field or sing and dance on the stage, or being a Latin scholar or a scientist.

“Having a successful athletic program is important because God gives talents to you and you’re supposed to use them to the best of your ability. We definitely aspire to be excellent in all the things we do here, whether it’s our forensics team going to Harvard and competing there, or our broadcasting team doing the best broadcast they can, or being picked by Disney to be one of four schools in the country to do Newsies first. These are things that we’re aspiring to.
“But each of those (groups) are encouraged to do more. So, the football team every summer goes on a service trip to an area where they can really help the community. Our hockey team helps with Special Olympics and brings kids out on the ice.

“It’s infused in everything we do, that service component.”

For more information on St. Joseph’s Prep, CLICK HERE

Flyers Cup Schedule for Wednesday, March 6

Class AA First Round

Downingtown East 4 Council Rock South 1

Parkland 6, Neshaminy 4——See story on this site

Pennridge 6, Garnet Valley 5—The fourth-seeded Rams trailed 5-4 going into the third period, but Eric Slater and Frankie Rota scored goals to secure the win over the 13th-seeeded Jaguars.

North Penn 9, Pennsbury 5—The fifth-seeded Knights scored five goals in the second period to dispatch the 12th-seeded Falcons at Hatfield Ice

Conestoga 5 Perkiomen Valley 1

Haverford 7 Central Bucks East 1

Boyertown 4 Central Bucks West 0

Downingtown West 5 Central Bucks South 2

Quarterfinals will be Monday, 3/11

Class AAA Quarterfinals

Holy Ghost Prep 9 Father Judge 5

St. Joseph’s Prep 4, Cardinal O’Hara 0

Flyers Cup Class A First Round: Unionville 12 Lower Moreland 4

By Rick Woelfel

The numbers didn’t add up for Lower Moreland Monday night. With just eight skaters in uniform, the Lions ran out of gas against Unionville in the opening round of the Class A Flyers Cup. The result was a 12-4 loss at Revolution Ice Gardens.

Seventh-seeded Lower Moreland (12-4-3) trailed just 4-2 early in the second period but were outscored by the 10^th-seeded Indians (8-11 with one loss in OT) the rest of the way.

Junior Jake Petrillo scored four goals and added two assists for Unionville which will face either Strath Haven or Hatboro-Horsham in Thursday’s quarterfinals (7:30 at Ice Works in Aston). Dylan Blackburn scored three times

Coleman Peppelman scored three times for Lower Moreland in his final high-school game and added an assist.

“Don’t take anything away from (Unionville) said Lower Moreland coach Gus Salfiti. “They’re skilled through all their lines. They didn’t have really any weak skaters and with them resting up and coming out every minute, minute-and-a-half, actually, it was probably shorter than that, they just wore us out. There is absolutely nothing you can do about that,”

The Indians also got an excellent effort in goal from Keigan Craig, who stopped 31 of 35 Lower Moreland shots.

“He started off the season I would say just a mediocre or average goalie,” said Unionville coach Stephen King. “But probably since Game Four he’s been really steady … He’s been giving us a good job every night.”

Consecutive goals from Steven Cicchino, Petrillo, and Dylan Blackburn snapped a 1-1 tie and put the Indians three goals up with 5:51 left in the first period.

Adam Bostock scored for the Lions 3:48 into the second frame to make it a 4-2 game but Unionville responded with three goals in 90-second span to take a 7-2 lead with 7:50 left in the period to break the game open.

Peppelman scored his second goal of the game with 4:47 left in the second session and completed his hat trick with 3:58 left in the game to finish his final high-school season with 50 goals.

“We were struggling,” Peppelman said. “We were missing one player (defenseman Devin Green) and were all so tired. That team, I don’t think they had a weak spot at all.”

Notes: Unionville won a Class AA Flyers Cup title in 1998.

The following box score has been updated

Unionville 4 3 5—12

Lower Moreland 1 2 1—4

First-period goals: Steve Cicchino (U) from Cole Spano, 2:47; Coleman Peppelman (LM) unassisted, 6:53 (sh); Steve Cicchino (U) from Connor Malloy, 7:03; Jake Petrillo (U) from Nolan Masters and James Kulp 8:33; Dylan Blackburn (U) from Cicchino, 10:09.

Second-period goals: Adam Bostock (LM) from Peppelman, 3:41; Blackburn (U) from Jay Kulp, 6:40; Spano (U) unassisted, 7:00; Masters (U) from Petrillo, 8:10; Peppelman (LM) from Tyler Scolnick, 11:13.

Third-period goals: Blackburn (U) from Malloy and Ben Brucker, 3:41 (pp); Petrillo (U) from Phillippe Doucette and Cicchino, 7:46; Petrillo (U) unassisted, 8:27; Brucker (U) from Petrillo, 10:25; Peppelman (LM) from Bostock, 12:02; Petrillo (U) from Spano, 14:19.

Shots: Unionville 35, Lower Moreland 35

Saves: Keigan Craig (U) 31, Jacob Lungrin (LM) 23

Flyers Cup Schedule for Monday 3-4

Five Class A first-round games kick off the 40th annual Flyers Cup tournament.

Class A First Round

West Chester East 8, Wissahickon 5—Nick Castura scored three goals and assisted on two others to lead West Chester East to the win over the Trojans Monday night in a first-round Class A Flyers Cup game at Ice Line. Jack Hamilton scored twice for the fourth-seeded Vikings who will move on to Thursday’s quarterfinals against either Palmyra or Springfield Delco.

Sean Garry scored two goals for the 13^th-seeded Trojanss and added an assist. Alex Carrozza Nolan Ryan, and Bryan Garry also scored goals.

The game was tied 2-2 after one period before the Vikings took control on second-period goals from Richard Mullineaux, Castura, and Tristan D’Elia.

Wissahickon closed the season at 13-5-2.

Hershey 10, Plymouth Whitematsh 0—Jason Rippon scored three goals and added two assists as Hershey blanked Plymouth Whitematsh 10-0 Monday night in a first-round Class A Flyers Cup game at Ice Line Toby Kauffman scored two and added three assists.

Sixth-seeded Hershey outshot the 11th seeded Colonials 55-10. Hershey will face West Chester Henderson in Thursday’s quarterfinals. Plymouth Whitemarsh closed the season at 10-6-1.

Other Class A Scores

Lower Merion 6, Owen J. Roberts 3

West Chester Henderson 9 Kennett 3

Unionville 12, Wissahickon 4—Çheck this site for a story

If you or a family member, or friend are looking for a dentist, Hockey Happenings is 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.

If you’d like to promote your product, service, or event on Hockey Happenings during the Flyers Cup, contact us HERE

The Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference in the Flyers Cup

The four members of the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference have won 25 Flyers Cup titles between them; 23 in Class AAA and two in Class AA

Here is the breakdown (Class AA titles in italic)

LaSalle 10: 1996, ’98, 99, 2008, ’09, 2011-14, 2016

Malvern Prep 10: 1987, 1990, 1992, ’93, ’97; 2001-05,

Holy Ghost Prep: 4: 2003, 2007, ’15, ‘17

St. Joseph’s Prep 1; 2018

Pennridge Wins SHSHL Class AA title

By Rick Woelfel

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—The combination of solid defense and quality goaltending will win a lot of hockey games, especially in the postseason. The Pennridge Rams utilized that formula to become champions Thursday night.

Luke Stranick stopped 35 shots and Matt Guinette and Michael Eissler provided the necessary scoring as the Rams downed Central Bucks South 2-0 in the Suburban High School Hockey League Class AA championship game at Hatfield Ice

It’s the second SHSHL title in history for the second-seeded Rams, who improved their record to 14-2-3. The top-seeded Titans (13-4-2) were attempting to capture an unprecedented fifth straight SHSHL crown and their ninth in history.
After shutting down one of the most potent offenses in the area, the Rams were savoring their success.

“I’ve only gone here for two years, and it feels great to me” said junior defenseman Frankie Rota, who transferred from Quakertown prior to last season. “I can imagine the guys that have been going here for four, I imagine it feels incredible.”

The Rams outshot the Titans by just 40-35 but the efforts of the blueline corps limited South’s quality chances and made life easier for their goaltender.

“My defense played perfect,” Stranick said. “They did everything I could have asked for. They kept the shots to the outside, they kept the screens out of my way, they made it real easy.”

The Titans had the better of things early on until the pace picked up midway through the opening period. Guinette got the Rams on the board at the 8:18 mark of the first frame with a shot from midway between the tops of the two faceoff circles that beat South netminder Oscar Levin, who had a solid game between the pipes despite the defeat.

Pennridge’s second goal, which came 3:30 into the middle period, was the result of a picturesque individual effort by Eissler, who went up the middle and over the blue line before deking around a South defender and beating Moyer. That was all the scoring there was but that was all that was needed.

“Defensively, we gave up some chances,” said Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna, “but we did a real good job not giving up second-chance opportunities. Our defensemen blocked a ton of shots in this game and we swept everything up.

“(South) is a hard team to hold off for 51 minutes and we did.”

Notes: The Rams won their first league crown in 2008 …Both teams will see action in the Flyers Cup tournament next Wednesday. The second-seeded Titans will face 15th-seed Downingtown West on Wednesday at Revolution Ice Gardens at 7:15. The fourth-seeded Rams will take on 13th seed Garnet Valley the same evening at Hatfield Ice at 8:40 … Shaun McGinty was not behind the Titans’ bench Thursday night because of work commitments. Assistant Tyler Skronski stepped in for him.

Pennridge 1 1 0—2

C.B. South 0 0 0—0

First-period goal: Matt Guinette (P) from Eric Slater, 8:18

Second-period goal: Michael Eissler (P) from Jeff Manto, 3:30

Shots: Pennridge 40, C.B. South 35; Saves: Luke Stranick 35 Oscar Levin (CBS) 33

Pennridge 6, North Penn 4

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—Truly great players step up when it matters. That’s the case in every sport and it was certainly the case when North Penn and Pennridge squared off Wednesday night in their Suburban High School Hockey League semifinal.

Michael Walker scored what proved to be the winning goal with 9:55 left in the third period and followed up by scoring into an empty net with 18 seconds to go to give the Rams a 6-4 win on a night when some of the SHSHL’s elite players showed the audience at Hatfield Ice why they have achieved that status.

Walker provided an assist to go with his two goals. Eric Slater, perhaps the premier sniper in the SHSHL’s Class AA division, helped the Rams’ cause with a goal and an assist while Luke Stranick was impressive in goal.

Meantime, Josh Albano was contributing three goals for the Knights while Nathan Oh was helping out with three assists.

As a result of all this, it was anyone’s game until the late going. With the game tied 4-4 the third-seeded Knights (11-4-3) lost Luke Van Why to a tripping penalty. It took Walker just 17 seconds to put the Rams (13-2-3) in front; he scored via a feed from Slater off a faceoff.

But Stranick knew he and his teammates couldn’t relax. “It definitely keeps me dialed in,” he said. “My defense does a really good job of keeping the pucks coming from the outside and when they do that, it makes it a lot easier for me and the team.”

Blake Stewart and Tommy Pichardo sported the Rams two goals to the good by the 5:18 mark of the first period but Albano answered back, scoring two goals in a span of 2 minutes, 9 seconds to tie the game.

“I thought that early on we struggled a little bit defensively,” said Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna. “We started to settle down. I told them ‘The mark of a good team is when you do struggle and don’t have your ‘A’ game’ … The older guys made a play every single time we needed one.”

Freshman Aidan Boyle scored his first varsity goal to put Pennridge up 3-2 at the 3:02 mark of the second frame. Thomas Boyle answered for the Knights just 41 seconds later.

Slater put the Rams back in front when he scored with 39 seconds left in the period but Albano finished his hat trick at 5:19 of the third frame to set the stage for the conclusion.

“We knew they had a number of talented players up front,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “I don’t think you’re ever going to stop them, I think you just look to contain them. I thought we did a decent job of that but they’re still (dangerous).”

The win puts second-seeded Pennridge into Thursday’s championship game (6:50 at Hatfield Ice) against top-seed Central Bucks South which is seeking an unprecedented fifth straight SHSHL title.

Pennridge is seeking to claim its first title since 2008.

Notes: The semifinal featured 17-minute periods (instead of 16) and in ice cut after the second stanza, the same format that will be utilized for the Flyers Cup semifinals and finals … Four officials were on the ice.

North Penn 2 1 1—4

Pennridge 2 2 2—6

First-period goals: Blake Stewart (P) from Matt Guinette, 3:14; Tommy Pichardo (P) from Guinette, 5:56; Josh Albano (NP) from Nathan Oh and Tommy Tuozzo, 10:06; Albano, (NP) from Tyler Greenstein and Oh (pp).

Second-period goals: Aidan Boyle (P) from Frankie Rota, 3:02; Thomas Boyle, (NP) from Oh, 3:44; Eric Slater (P) from Stewart, 16:39.

Third-period goals: Albano (NP) from Oh and Josh Kaufhold, 5;17 (pp); Michael Walker (P) from Slater, 7:05 (pp); Walker (P) unassisted, 16:42.

Shots: North Penn 32, Pennridge 35; Saves: Nick Ebbinghaus (NP) 29, Luke Stranick (P) 28.

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

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.

That’s All Smiles Family Dentistry of Lansdale.