North Penn 5 Council Rock South 3

Samuel Norton did it all for North Penn Wednesday night. The sophomore assisted on the first goal of the night, went on to score three goals himself and helped with a crucial four-minute penalty kill in the third period.

All those elements were part a winning formula as the Knights scored a 5-3 decision in a much-anticipated SHSHL National Division showdown with Council Rock South at Hatfield Ice.

The win was the 11^th straight for the Knights (15-2, 14-2 in the division) and lifted then into first place in the division, three points clear of the Golden Hawks (15-2, 14-1) who have a game in hand and three conference games remaining to North Penn’s two.

North Penn also has the inside lane in the race for the top two seeds in the division playoffs, which provide byes into the semifinals.

“It was definitely on our minds, Norton said.

The teams split four goals in the first frame before Norton’s second goal of the night gave North Penn a 3-2 lead with 8:17 left in the middle period. Jordan Sarne responded for South with a power-play goal, his second goal of the night, to tie the game with 2:19 remaining but Norton put North Penn back in front and completed his hat trick when he scored with 6.7 seconds left in the period during a stretch when the Hawks were trying to kill three consecutive penalties.

The game’s most critical sequence commenced with 13:50 left in the third period. North Penn held a 4-3 lead at that point and Norton had already pocketed his three goals but the Knights’ James Boyle was called for two cross checking penalties, giving South a four-minute power play.

At that point, there were some anxious moments behind the North Penn bench.

“They’ve got probably the best power play in the league,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “With [Jake] Weiner and [Jeremy] Rayher and Sarne and [Daniel] Fillipov, and [Jonah] Weston they have a very talented power-play unit when they go out there.

“We did a great job killing that off.”

The threat did not end however when the extended power play expired. The Hawks outshot the Knights 20-8 in the third period but Aidan Quigley stopped everything headed his way.

Cole Pluck added an insurance goal with 3:31 remaining.

{North Penn} played well tonight,” said South coach Joe Houk. “We did not play our best game but that’s only an excuse. North Penn has got a good team.

“I kept telling everybody ‘Listen. We’re not a 14-0 team. We’ve had a couple wins. But we can’t come and play ‘C’ hockey and expect to win games at the end of the year.

“We knew coming into the game it was going to be a challenge,” Norton said. “I think the North Penn boys really performed. It was a solid team game.”

Ice chips—South won the first meeting between the two teams, 6-3 on November … South stands first in the present Class AA Flyers Cup listings. North Penn is ranked third … With two assists on addition to his goal, Pluck went over the 100-point mark for his high-school career.

Council Rock South 2 1 0—3

North Penn 2 2 1—5

First-period goals: Declan Leahy (NP from Cole Pluck and Samuel Norton, :21; Jonah Weston (CRS) from Jake Weiner 8:37; Jordan Sarne (CRS) from Jake Maurer and Weiner 9:01; Norton (NP unassisted, 14:32 (sh)

Second-period goals: Norton (NP) from Leahy and Pluck, 8:43; Sarne (CRS) from Weiner, 14:41 (pp); Norton (NP) from James Boyle and Danial Cabrales, 16:54 (pp)

Third-period goal: Pluck (MP) from Leahy, 13:29 (pp)

Shots: Council Rock South 41, North Penn 34; Saves: Ryan Ayala (CRS) 29 Aidan Quigley (NP) 38

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SHSHL Sets Playoff Dates

The ‘second season’ in the Suburban High School Hockey League will commence on Monday, February 24. Six teams will qualify for the playoffs in the National Division (all are Class AA) and three more in the American Division (Class A).

Two National Division first-round games are set for Opening Night, with the third seed taking on the sixth seed and the fourth seed facing the fifth seed. The winners will advance to the semifinals on Wednesday, February 26 to join the top two seeds who will receive first-round byes.

The American Division semifinal, matching the second and third seeds, is also set for Wednesday, February 26^th; the finals in both classes are set for the following evening, Thursday, February 27^th.

SHSHL Playoff results will not impact the seedings and selections for the Flyers Cup tournament, which will be announced on Sunday, February 23, eight days before the start of the tournament.

Penncrest 4 Springfield-Delco 2

Chase Francis and Andrew Hausch scored third-period goals to lift Penncrest past Springfield-Delco 4-2 Monday night in a Central League interdivisional matchup at IceWorks. The win kept the Lions unbeaten at 10-0 in the American Division (12-3 overall). They are ranked fourth in the current Class A Flyers Cup rankings. The Cougars dropped to 4-11 overall and 4-7 in the National Division.

Nash Grant gave the Lions a 1-0 lead 11:19 into the opening period. Francis extended that lead 6:18 into the second frame but Alexander Losacco and Brendan Becker scored goals for the Cougars 26 seconds apart to tie the game with 9:36 left in the middle period.

Francis’s game-winner came with 7:55 remaining in regulation on a rebound on a shot from the right point that he put behind Springfield goaltender Aidan Fitti. Hausch added an insurance goal with 1:47 remaining.

“We had trouble keeping up with their energy,” said Penncrest coach Steve Mescanti. That can happen on a Monday after they’ve been playing all weekend.

“We kept at it and grinded one out tonight. We got a couple of gritty goals off hard work. That really was the difference.”

Springfield coach Dan Dilbeck praised his team’s effort after falling behind early.

“It was a very hard fought, competitive game,” he said. “I was very proud of our team for overcoming a 2-0 deficit, but we came up a little short in the end. We were unable to capitalize on our opportunities.”

Olivia Jacobi earned the win in goal with 22 saves.

Penncrest 1 1 2—4

Springfield 0 2 0—2

First-period goal: Nash Grant (P) from Cole McCarty, 11:19;

Second-period goals: Chase Francis (P) from Grant and Michael Iacobucci, 6:18; Alexander Losacco (S) from Joseph Clifford, 6:58; Brendan Becker (S) unassisted, 7:24

Third-period goals: Francis (P) from Iacobucci and Scott Scranton, 9:05; Andrew Hausch (P) unassisted, 15:13

Shots: Penncrest 40, Springfield 24; Saves: Olivia Jacobi (P) 22, Aidan Fitti (S) 36

C.B. East 5 Pennsbury 3

Jaden Young made a big impression Wednesday night. He scored three goals and assisted on a fourth, as Central Bucks East downed Pennsbury 5-3 at Hatfield Ice in a SHSHL National Division matchup with significant postseason implications.

The win moved the Patriots past the Falcons into fifth place in the division standings. It also gave them a sweep of the two-game season series.

Young spoke to the significance of the occasion.

“This game was especially important,” the senior said. “We need to get as many wins as as we can. We need to win the games we need to win.

“In reality, we need to play our game every game regardless of who the competition is.”

Ethan Cenci gave East (7-9, 7-8 in the division) the lead with 2:43 left in the first period when he won a race for a loose puck on the right wing and went on to put a backhander past Falcon goaltender Brendan Millikan. Ben Dempsey made a 2-0 game with 29 seconds left when a rebound of Young’s shot squirted free.

Kevin DeRosa scored for Pennsbury (5-11, 5-10) 2:19 into the second frame but then Young stepped up, scoring two goals 20 seconds apart to give his team a 4-1 lead 3:22 into the period.

Jacob Sarver scored a power play goal for the Falcons with 2:39 left in the period but Pennsbury could get no closer. Young completed his hat trick 1:21 into the third period. Shane Hicks closed out the scoring for Pennsbury with 10:17 left in the game.

East coach Jeff Mitchell said his team’s quick start was huge in light of later stumbles.

“We got great momentum to start the first period,” he said. “We started taking a couple of penalties a let them back into the game; teams make us pay when we go down a man.”

Mitchell noted that Young’s back-to-back goals swung momentum in the Patriots’ direction.

“We doubled up on him within one shift,” he said. “That just goes to show just how big a difference maker {Young} can be.”

Cole Breen got the win in goal, stopping 15 shots along the way. Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley said Breen’s impact on the game was huge.

“We had a lot of great chances in the first period,” he said. “Their goalie had a great night. You just hope you score on some of the chances you worked so hard for. We just couldn’t get them to go in.

Pennsbury 0 2 1—3

C.B. East 2 2 1—5

First-period goals: Ethan Cenci (CBE) from David Brown, 14:17; Ben Dempsey (CBE) from Jaden Young and Brown, 16:31 (pp)

Second-period goals: Kevin DeRosa (P) from Chris Sarver, 2:19; Young (CBE) from Gavin Wilmer, 3:02; Young (CBE) from Cenci, 3:22; Jacob Sarver (P) from Chris Sarver, 14:21(pp)

Third-period goals: Young (CBE) unassisted, 1:21; Shane Hicks (P) from DeRosa, 6:43

Shots: Pennsbury 18, C.B. East 28; Saves: Brendan Millikan (CBE) 23, Cole Breen (CBE) 15

Holy Ghost Prep 5 Hun School 1

It was a first step for a team with lofty ambitions for the days to come. Brady Logue scored twice and three other players contributed one goal each as Holy Ghost Prep downed The Hun School 5-1 Friday night at Grundy Arena.

The win gave the Firebirds (13-4-2, 6-2 in the APAC) the APAC regular-season title, but far more importantly, the top seed for the Founders Cup playoffs next month. The result also solidifies Holy Ghost Prep’s position atop the latest Class AAA Flyers Cup rankings.

The Firebirds are 9-1-1 in their last 11 starts. Their captain, senior defenseman Ryan Lippy says cohesiveness has been at the foundation of that record.

“I think coming together as a team in the locker room {has been a factor},” he said. “We’ve been getting more involved as a team. We can bring it together and make it more of a team so everyone can work together better.”

The hosts were in control from the start. Logue scored the first goal of the game 4:10 into the opening period. Joe Spadaccino made a 2-0 with 4:02 left in the period when he stole the puck at center ice and went in alone on Raider goaltender Elliott Wong.

Logue made a big run of his own less during a power play than two minutes into the second frame when he rocketed down the right wing before dishing off to Anthony Valeriote who finished the play.

William Harmar made it a 4-0 affair with 6:33 left in the period before Jake O’ Connell got Hun School (3-10-2, 0-5) on the scoreboard by beating Firebird goaltender Matt Salita through the five-hole.

Logue’s second goal of the night was the only goal of the third period but the final session did not lack for fireworks. There were 12 penalties called in the period, five of them as the result of a scuffle with 9:11 left in regulation that sent three players to the penalty box.

With 2:44 remaining, Hun School’s Justin Bibeau, who assisted on his team’s goal, was called for spearing and was accessed a major penalty plus a game misconduct.

Senior defenseman Joe Kaufmann, the Firebirds’ alternate captain, stressed the importance of he and his teammates maintaining their poise.

“We kept our composure,” he said. “We tried not to get any guys not able to play in the APAC playoffs.”

Hun School coach Eric Szeker was missing half a dozen players from his lineup due to illness but was pleased with the effort he got from the players who were available.

“You can either show up or decide not to,” he said. “We showed up and tried to play our best.

The Firebirds celebrated the win but Kaufmann was quick to point out there’s a long way to go.

“The job’s not done yet,” he said. “We’ve still got a lot of games ahead of us. We’ve got to take it one day at a time.”

• Holy Ghost Prep will host the Founders Cup semifinals on February 19. The semifinal results will factor into the Flyers Cup selection/seeding process.

Hun School 0 1 0—1

Holy Ghost Prep 2 2 1—5

First-period goals: Brady Logue (HGP) from Lucas Gonzalez and Joe Spadaccino, 4:10; Spadaccino (HGP) unassisted, 15:20 (sh)

Second-period goals: Anthony Valeriote (HGP) from Logue, 1:51 (pp); William Harmar (HGP) from Nathan Romer, 10:27; Jake O’ Connell (HS) from Justin Bibeau, 15:07

Third-period goal: Logue (HGP) unassisted, 13:31 (sh)

Shots: Hun School 10, Holy Ghost Prep 44; Saves: Elliot Wong (HS) 39, Matt Salita (HGP) 9

For more information about The Hun School CLICK HERE

For more information aout Holy Ghost Prep CLICK HERE

Malvern Prep 4 Hun School 0

Four different player scored goal as Malvern Prep shut out Hun School 4-0 Wednesday afternoon in an APAC game at Ice Line.

The win broke the Friars’ seven-game losing streak and lifted them to 3-8 overall and 2-4 in conference play. The Raiders fell to 3-9-2 and 0-4 in the APAC.

Gabe Bdwell gave his team the lead with a shorthanded goal 8:19 into the first period.

The hosts broke the game open in the third period when Jake Weingartner, Teague Murray, and Finn Gatta scored goals in a span of 7 minutes, 26 seconds.

Matt Crawford earned the shutout in goal with 28 saves.

Hun School 0 0 0—0

Malvern Prep 1 0 3—4

First-period goal: Gabe Bedwell (MP) unassisted, 8:19 (sh) Teague Murray (MP) from Matt Barbacanem 7:41 (pp); Finn Gatta (MP) from James Young, 11:29

Third-period goals: Jake Weingartner (MP) unassisted, 4:03;

Shots: Hun School 28, Malvern Prep 40; Saves: Elliot Wong (HS) 36, Matt Crawford (MP) 28

SHSHL Update 1-20-25

National Division W L T PTS OTW OTL

C.R. South (14-1) 12 0 0 45 3 0

North Penn (12-2) 11 2 0 45 0 1

Pennridge (10-3) 9 3 0 38 0 2

C.B. South (9-4) 9 2 0 33 3 0

Pennsbury (5-8) 5 7 0 22 0 2

C.B. East (4-8) 4 7 0 16 0 0

Neshaminy (4-7) 3 8 0 13 0 1

Souderton (3-9) 3 8 0 12 0 0

C.R. North (3-10) 3 10 0 12 0 0

C.B. West (0-12) 0 12 0 0 0 0

American Division W L T PTS OTW OTL

Plymouth Whitemarsh (11-0) 10 0 0 40 0 0

Hatboro-Horsham (6-5) 6 4 0 24 1 1

Wissahickon (6-4) 6 3 0 23 1 0

Springfield (2-8) 2 8 0 9 0 1

Abington (0-10) 0 9 0 0 0 0

National Division Scoring G A Pts

Shane Dachwski Pr 28 20 48

Jeremy Rayher 23 22 45

Cole Pluck NP 17 25 42

James Rush Pr 19 20 39

Jackson Accardi CRN 23 15 38

Samuel Norton NP 16 22 38

Jake Weiner CRS 25 11 36

Jordan Sarne CRS 11 19 30

Nolan Shingle NP 17 12 29

Ivan Bondra CRN 16 10 26

Matthew Cross Soud 17 8 25

Landon Bishop Pr 9 16 25

Chris Sarver Pb 10 14 24

American Division Scoring G A Pts

Vincent Graziani HH 14 17 31

Dan Guller PW 10 20 30

Nathan Nemchinov HH 15 12 27

Darius Graziani HH 9 13 22

Ben Raebiger Wiss 16 4 20

Victor Wilkins HH 15 5 20

Cooper Kanze PW 10 9 19

Luke Smith PW 6 12 18

Blake Ambler PW 9 7 16

Flyers Cup Rankings #2

Class AAA

Holy Ghost Prep
La Salle
St. Joseph’s Prep
Malvern Prep
Salesianum

Class AA

Council Rock South
Haverford High
North Penn
Downingtown West
Pennridge

Class A
1. West Chester Henderson

2. Garnet Valley

3. Kennett

4. Penncrest

5. Hershey

Girls

Avon Grove
Downingtown West
Conestoga
Kingsway
West Chester Henderson

This is the second of four sets of rankings that will be released prior to the Flyers Cup Selection Show on Sunday, February 23.

St. Joseph’s Prep Hoping for a 3-Peat at Purple Puck Tournament

The Purple Puck Tournament has been a fixture on the St. Joseph’s Prep schedule for well over a decade. This year, the Hawks will make the trip to Washington D.C. as the two-time defending champion of the Prep Division.

They’ll open tournament play on Friday against Loyola High School from Montreal, On Saturday, they’ll face Archbishop Spalding from Annapolis, Md. and St. Ignatius.

The tournament field also includes Paul VI from Ashburn, Va. from and Gonzaga College High School, the tournament host.

St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin says the trip offers his team a number of benefits.

“It’s a time to get away from [the Philadelphia area],” he said. “and play some different teams. They get to stay and room together. So, it’s more of a bonding issue for us. Usually the tighter a team is going own the home stretch, the better you’re going to play.”

Giacomin says the Hawks will be tested against elite competition.

“I think this year is going to be a lot stronger than it was last year and the year before,” he said. “This year they have Loyola in Quebec, which we played probably seen or eight years ago and it was a very tough game. they also have St. Ignatius out of Cleveland who has won the state championship there something like 12 years in a row.

So, it’s going to be more of a challenge for is on the ice but one that we look forward to.”

Giacomin said one purpose of the trip is to build team chemistry that will been something to build on come the postseason.

“Hopefully, down the stretch the kids are fresh and enjoy being around each other a little bit more,” he said, “and play their best hockey come the end of the season.”

Pennsbury 9 Souderton 7

It was an evening Dylan Nink is likely to remember for some time.

Nink, a senior and a first-year varsity player scored his first varsity goal for Pennsbury Thursday night. His shot from the left point with 4:54 remaining the third period turned out to be the winning goal as the Falcons bested Souderton 9-7 in a SHSHL National Division shootout at Grundy Arena.

The win was just the second for the Falcons in seven divisional games (2-6 overall). The teams combined for 13 goal in the last two periods including four in the last 7:02 of the third period. Nink said he and his teammates had one thought in mind.

“All we wanted to do was get pucks on net,” he said, “drive the middle and just score. We were in a little bit of a stretch where we’ve been losing [Pennsbury had lost four straight prior to Thursday night], we really needed this.”

Shane Gleisner put the Falcons on his back in the early going, scoring their first four goals. His fourth goal of the night gave his team a 4-3 lead just 1:20 into the second period.

By the time the period ended, the game was tied 5-5. Patrick Callahan had scored twice for Souderton (3-5, 3-4 in the division) and three other players had one goal each.

The game’ defining sequence commenced four-and-a-half minutes into the third period and the game tied 6-6 when the Big Red was presented with a seven-minute power play. The chain of events began when a referee raised his arm to signal a delayed penalty against Gleisner for cross checking. Before the whistle blew, Gleisner delivered a forearm blow to the head of a Souderton player and was given a five-minute major penalty for head contact.

Gleisner’s penalty time started with 12:27 left in regulation; for 25 seconds the Big Red had a five skater-to-three advantage. But more importantly, by rule, he served the major penalty first, so when Matthew Cross scored his second goal of the game for Souderton to give it the lead with 7:08 remaining, the power play concluded.

By that point however, the Big Red who had just 12 skaters available, were running out of energy and the Falcons, first Chris Saver, then Nink, then Sarver once more into an empty net, scored the game’s last three goals.

“We took too many penalties as a team” said Souderton coach Scott Ryon. “That put us down quite a bit in the second period, and ultimately caught up to our legs in the third.”

Ryon lamented not having gotten more out of the extended power play.

“We wanted to put a lot more in the net,” he said. “But, with a short bench plus the penalties, we were gassed even during the seven-minute power play.

Souderton 1 4 2—7

Pennsbury 2 3 4—9

First-period goals: Shane Gleisner (P) from Kevin DeRosa, :20; Patrick Callahan (S) from Cameron Fairweather and Jackson Kelly, 7:13 (pp); Gleisner (P) from Chris Sarver and Jason Fowler, 7:54

Second-period goals: Nick Smith (S) from Fairweather, :52; Gleisner (P) from DeRosa, 1:20; Fairweather (S) from Smith, 1:37; Gleisner (P). from Logan Weed and Shane Hicks, 2:31; Matt Cross (S) from Fairweather and Caden O’Neill, 10:35 (pp); Jacob. Sarver (P) from Chris Sarver and Connor Gray, 16:45; Callahan (S) from Fairweather and Cross, 16:52

Third-period goals: Hicks (P)) from Chris Sarver, :28; Fairweather (S) from Smith, 2:05; Cross (S) from Luca Ferretti, 9:58; Chris Sarver (P) from Brendan Milliken, 10:28; Dylan Nink (P) from Fowler and Jacob Sarver, 12:06; Chriss Sarver (P) from DeRosa and Jacob Sarver, 16:55 (en)