C.R. South 8 Pennridge 7 OT

Grundy Arena was a theatre of the unexpected Wednesday night. With first place in the SHSHL’s National Division at stake as well as the top seed in the upcoming playoffs, both Pennridge and Council Rock South came out with guns blazing.

The 15^th goal of the evenings settled matters. Nikita Volobuiev scored 26 seconds into overtime to give the Golden Hawks an 8-7 win.

The result leaves the teams deadlocked at the top of the division standings. The Golden Hawks improved to 17-1 overall and 16-1 in the division. The loss was the first this season for the Rams, who now stand at 15-1-1 in the division and 16-1-1 overall. Because loss was in overtime, Pennridge receives a point in the standings. Both teams have 31 points. If both win their regular-season finales next week, the Rams, who defeated the Hawks 7-3 on December 13, would be granted the top seed for the divisional playoffs.

Volobuiev’s winning goal was his fourth goal of the evening in a game that featured numerous instances where defense seemed to be an afterthought.

The teams combined for seven goals in the first period, five of which were scored before the contest was nine minutes old.

The Golden Gawks led 4-3 after the first frame on the strength of two goals from Volobuiev and goals from Gavin Nisenzon, and Illia Mukhin.

Andrew Savona scored twice for the Rams in the opening session; Shane Dachowski also scored for Pennridge.

It was more of the same in the middle period, which concluded with the teams deadlocked at 6-6. By that point Trey Prozzillo was in the South goal in relief of starter Trevor Rakszawski and Pennridge goaltender Jacob Winton was feeling the effects of the incoming fire.

The Golden Hawks’ Chase Tovsky, who assisted on Nisenzon’s first-period goal noted the first two periods were not conducted in the manner he, his teammates, and, more to the point, South coach Joe Houk, would have preferred.

“I think games like that happen,” he said. “But, it says a lot about the team you have when you’re not playing your best, you’re not getting calls or bounces, and you’re able to keep playing your game and keep putting the puck in the net.”

Volobuiev and Pico traded third-period goals; the game was tied seven with 11:55 remaining.

With just under seven minutes left, South’s penalty killers came up big. With 6:43 left, Volobuiev was called for tripping. Thirty-two seconds later Jake Mauer was whistled for same infraction, giving the Rams a two-man advantage for 88 seconds. Matched against the highest scoring offense in the division apart from its own, South held firm.

“We had to step up for [Houk],” said South’s Kevin Koles, “our team, our goalies. Everybody did their jobs and killed it off and we got back to work.”

Even amidst the plethora of goals, Koles said he and his teammates maintained their focus.

“We knew we had to come out hard,” he said. “we knew what this team was about and we stepped up.”

Volobuiev’s winning goal saw him get past Colin Dachowski with a great individual move in the middle of the ice before beating Winton.

Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna was philosophical about the loss.

“That’s what happens when you have high-end offensive talent playing against each other,” he said. “I thought it would be a little lower scoring. But there were some great offensive players.”

Pennridge 3 3 1 0—7

C.R. South 4 2 1 1—8

First-period goals: Andrew Savona (Pr) from Shane Dachowski and Kevin Pico, 3:23; Gavin Nisenzon (CRS) from Jake Weiner and Chase Tovsky, 4:21 (pp); Shane Dachowski (Pr) from Pico, 5:08 (pp); Nikita Volobuiev (CRS) from Illia Mukhin, 6:34, Mikhin (CRS) from Ilya Kudzinau and Volobuiev, 8:58; Savona (Pr) from James Rush, 14:14; Volobuiev (CRS) from Peter Pereborow and Jordan Sarne, 15:04

Second-period goals: John Mikulich (Pr) from Pico and Savona, :44; Savona (Pr) from Colin Dachowski and Shane Dachowski, 2:01 (pp); Tovsky (CRS) from Blaize Pepe, 5:30; Nisenzon (CRS) from Kevon Koles, 16:41 (pp); Pico (Pr from Shane Dachowski and Savona, 16:50

Third-period goals: Volobuiev (CRS) unassisted, 2:39; Pico (Pr) from Colin Dachowski, 5:05

Overtime goal: Volobuiev (CRS) unassisted, :26

Shots: Pennridge 39, C.R. South 43; Saves: Jacob Winton (Pr) 35, Trevor Rakszawski 15 and Trey Prozzillo (CRS) 21

Hun School 4 Malvern Prep 3 OT

Andrew Darst scored with 1:35 remaining in overtime to give host Hun School a 4-3 win over Malvern Prep Wednesday afternoon in an APAC game at Ice Land.

The win was the first for the Raiders in seven conference starts and lifted them to 4-9 overall.

Brendan Marino tied the game for Hun School with 3:46 left in regulation; the Raiders scored all three of their regulation goals in the third period. Charles-Etienne Jette and Justin Laplante also scored goals for the hosts. Jette added assists on the game tying and game winning goals.

“It was a full team effort,” said Hun School coach Eric Szeker. “Every single player who dressed played a role in the victory.

“It was great to see Julien get a win in net as he has been nothing but fantastic for us this season.

“Our seniors led the way, Jette, Marino and Laplante played incredible and it was great seeing Andrew Darst bury the game winner in front of the student section. A well-deserved win for this group, couldn’t be more proud as a coach!

Jonathan Holt scored twice for Malvern Prep, which dropped to 8-7 overall and completed conference play with a 4-4 mark. Teague Murray also scored for the Friars.

Malvern Prep 0 1 2 0—3

Hun School 0 0 3 1—4

Second-period goal: Jonathan Holt (MP) from Henry Tesoriero, 12:36

Third-period goals: Charles-Etienne Jette (HS) from Brendan Marino and Jake O’ Connell, 5:50; Justin Laplante (HS) unassisted, 10:43; Teague Murry (MP) from Aidan Kelly, 11:00; Holt (MP) from Matt Barbacane, 12:13; Marino (HS) from Joachim Neverdal and Jette, 13:14;

Overtime goal: Andrew Darst (HS) from Jette, 3:25

Shots: Malvern Prep 27, Hun School 41; Saves: Matt Crawford (MP) 37, Julian Arsenault (HS) 24

Pennsbury, Bensalem Set for Pink Out Game

A full house is expected Friday night at Grundy Arena when Pennsbury and Bensalem meet in the Falcons’ annual Pink Out game.

First played in 2011, the game is a fundraiser for cancer patients; the proceeds support. cancer patients and families of cancer patients to pay for services not covered by insurance perhaps the cost of transportation to a medical appointment for example or having groceries delivered.

The varsity game between Pennsbury and Bensalem is scheduled for a 7:20 start. It will be preceded by a middle school game at 6:00. Between games the Falcons and the Owls will celebrate Senior Night.

There will also be a series of raffles and drawings.

Tickets are five dollars and can be purchased from members of the Pennsbury and Bensalem hockey teams.

Tickets may be available at the door but there is no guarantee they will be available.

Flyers Cup Rankings

Below are the newest Flyers Cup rankings as of 2-5-24. This is the last set of rankings before the tournament field is announced on Sunday, February 25

Class AAA

La Salle
Malvern Prep
St. Joseph’s Prep
Holy Ghost Prep
Father Judge

Class AA

Pennridge
Council Rock South
Boyertown
Downingtown West
Haverford

Class A
1. Garnet Valley

2. West Chester East

3. Hershey

4. Marple Newrown

5. Lower Dauphin

Girls

Avon Grove
Downingtown West
West Chester Henderson
Kingsway

North Penn 5 C.B. East 5

Call it a playoff preview, a preview punctuated by controversy. In the end, North Penn and Central Bucks East skated to a 5-5 overtime draw Friday night in a SHSHL National Division skirmish at the Bucks County Ice Sports Center.

The emotions of the two sides following the final buzzer were a study in contrast.

The Patriots (10-4-2) overcame a 4-1 second-period deficit but also had two goals disallowed. The Knights (8-7-1) benefitted from the awarding of a goal but failed to hold their three-goal advantage before rallying down the stretch to force the deadlock.

East’s Corey Kosick and North Penn’s James Boyle each had two-goal performances. But their efforts were overshadowed by the controversy, which emerged in opening seconds of the second period with North Penn holding a 3-1 lead.

A scramble on front of the East net saw Patriot goaltender seemingly deny the Knights’ Samuel Norton and play moved to the other end of the ice where Kosick put the puck behind North Penn netminder Ian McAteer, apparently making it a one-goal game.

At that point, the two officials huddled and ruled that Norton’s shot had actually crossed the goal line. North Penn was awarded a goal, thus Kosick’s effort did not count and instead of trailing 3-2 the Patriots found themselves down 4-1.

North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis shared the explanation he received from the officials.

“The puck went in,” he said. [The official on the goal line] didn’t see it, the top ref did but let the play continue. Sure enough, they ended up scoring on it but you’ve to back to [the previous play.]”

East got off the canvas however. Jaden Young and Charlie Keiser scored goals before the second period ended and Kosick tied the game with a power-play goal. 1:23 into the third frame. It was East’s third power-play tally of the game.

Gavin Widmer put East in front at 5-4 off a setup from Young at the 5:51 mark.
The Patriots appeared to add a sixth goal off the stick of Kyle McIntyre with 3:09 left in regulation but the goal was disallowed when it was ruled the net was dislodged.

Meanwhile, Cole Breen in goal held the Knights at bay for virtually all of the last two periods but Norton scored his second goal of the game on a deflection with 1:37 left in regulation and that’s the way the evening finished.

The outcome left East coach Jeff Mitchell exasperated.

“I’m very upset at the officiating tonight,” he said. “I don’t really have any kind of excuse for them … It was pretty brutal.”

On the plus side, Mitchell noted his team’s performance over the last month; the Patriots are 5-0-2 in their last seven starts.

“Everybody’s kind of working as a team,” he said. “We’ve got some lines kind of figured out. It takes time to kind of jell together as a team and we’re getting a lot of production out of our top guys, but we’ve got some underclassmen that are shining too and they’re coming up into the ranks.

Vaitis expressed concern about his team’s in ability to hold a three-goal lead.

“I thought we had a couple penalties we probably wish we didn’t take,” he said. They had [three] power-play goals that I think gave them more life.

“They’re a good team. If you give them opportunities on the man advantage, they’re going to take advantage of it.”

Ice chips: The point East received in the standings for the tie assures the Patriots will finish no worse than fourth. If they win their two remaining regular-season games they could possibly finish third.

North Penn will finish fifth or sixth. If the Knights finish fifth, they will likely face the Patriots in the first round of the playoffs.

North Penn 3 1 1 0—5

C.B. East 1 2 2 0—5

First-period goals: Cole Pluck (NP) from Chase Kelly Del Ricci and Samuel Norton, 5:18; James Boyle (NP) from Nolan Shingle, 10:16 (pp); Corey Kosick (CBE) from Ethan Cenci, 12:52; Boyle (NP) from Shingle, 14:13 (pp)

Second-period goals: Norton (NP) from Chris Seward, :25; Jaden Young (CBE) from Gavin Widmer, 5:27 (pp); Charlie Keiser (CBE) from Kosick, 12:59 (pp);

Third-period goals: Kosick (CBE) from David Brown, 1:23 (pp); Widmer (CBE) from Young, 5:51; Norton (NP) from Del Ricci and Pluck, 14:23

Shots: North Penn 38, C.B. East 41; Saves: Ian McAteer (NP) 36, Cole Breen (CBE) 33

Malvern Prep 2 Holy Ghost Prep 1

WEST GOSHEN—In one sense, it was an unfortunate way for a hockey game to end.

James Young scored in the second round of a shootout to give Malvern Prep a 2-1 win over Holy Ghost Prep Thursday evening at Ice Line. Young’s goal, the only one of the shootout, brought down the curtain on a splendid display of high-school hockey between two teams looking to bolster their positions for the upcoming APAC playoffs and the Class AAA Flyers Cup tournament.

Young, a freshman, noted the importance of a stuck-to-basics approach.

“We’ve got to focus on the goal,” he said. “You’ve got to keep playing and pursue what you want to do.”

The Friars (8-6, 4-3 in the APAC) did just that for 56 minutes and beyond, none more so than their goaltender Matt Crawford, who faced 43 shots and stopped 42 of them; Malvern Prep was outshot 43-27.

“Facing a lot of shots like that isn’t much to me,’ Crawford said. “It’s just a game. It’s keeping me active, it’s keeping my focus on the game.”

Crawford feels he’s more effective when he’s busy.

“As a goalie, getting a lot of shots, you’re always focusing on the next shot,” he said. “So, I feel like when there’s no pressure in the zone it’s a mental struggle.”

Jeremy Jacobs gave Malvern Prep a 1-0 lead with 2:32 left in the second period when he launched a rocket from the top of the slot that beat Holy Ghost Prep netminder Jack Unger. The goal came while the Firebirds’ Matt Cholaj was in the box serving an interference penalty.

Caiden Canale and Brady Doyle assisted on the goal.

Canale, one of six Malvern Prep seniors who were recognized Thursday night, noted that he and his teammates are comfortable in close games.

“It definitely matters,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of games like this this season and we know what it takes. So, we just went out and did everything we could to win.”

Doyle said the goal gave he and his teammates a lift they needed.

“It gave us a huge advantage the rest of the game,” he said. “Our energy was kind of bad to start the game and once we [scored] t was a lot better.”

Unger came up big for his team with 8:29 left in the third frame when he denied Jacobs on a breakaway. That set the stage for A.J. Prete’s game-tying goal with 3:26 remaining.

The Firebirds (7-12, 3-5 in conference) had additional opportunities, but couldn’t solve Crawford a second time. But their coach, John Ritchie, took a lot of positives away from the encounter.

“I thought it was the most complete game we’ve played all year,” he said. “I think after a huge letdown in terms of our effort against St.Joe’s Prep [Wednesday night] I couldn’t have asked for any better response from our guys tonight.

“Unfortunately a couple of the bounces didn’t go our way but Malvern played just as well and kept it close.”

With one APAC game remaining and the postseason to come, Doyle says Thursday’s win will give the Friars an energy boost.

“We’ve got to get the win and carry that momentum with us,” he said.

Holy Ghost Prep 0 0 1 0 (0)—1

Malvern Prep 0 1 0 0 (1)—2

Second-period goal: Jeremy Jacobs (MP) from Caiden Canale and Brady Doyle, 14:28

Third-period goal: A.J. Prete (HGP) from Chris Marshall and Andrew Morgan, 13:34

Shootout goal: James Young

Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 43, Malvern Prep 27; Saves: Jack Unger (HGP) 26, Matt Crawford (MP) 42

Pennridge 9 Pennsbury 1

For the first time in some time, Pennridge put all the pieces together at the same time.

After falling behind six minutes after the opening faceoff, the Rams got down to business and posted a 9-1 win over Pennsbury in a SHSHL national Division encounter at Hatfield Ice.

With the win, the Rams improved to 16-0-1 overall and 15-0-1 in divisional play. The Falcons fell to 3-12 overall and in the division. The loss eliminates Pennsbury from SHSHL playoff contention.

The contest was far more competitive than the final score indicates. The Rams but the game away with five goals in the third period but they worked for everything they got; to the immense satisfaction of their coach, Jeff Montagna.

“It was our best effort in about two months,” he said, “since the Council Rock South game.

“I told them the blueprint of how we want to play. You just wear teams down and we wore that team down.”

The Falcon took it to the Rams early on. Chris Sarver have Pennsbury a 1-0 lead 5:47 into the first frame with a splendid dash down the right wing that finished when he backhanded the puck past Pennridge goaltender Jacob Winton.

Tyler Manto and Andrew Savona answered to give Pennridge a 2-1 lead after one period. Kevin Pico and Colin Dachowski added goals in the second stanza.

It was still a contest at that point and Dachowski was impressed with the fact that he and his mates were staying focused on the business at hand.

“I think the last couple games, we haven’t been playing like that,” he said. “We haven’t been playing more like a team. Going into the playoffs in four weeks, we’ve got to be ready and I think we showed that tonight.

Shane and Colin Dachowski, Savona, Dean Venner, and Nolan Shaw all scored third-period goals for Pennridge as the falcons’ gas tank dropped toward empty.

But Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley was impressed with his team’s effort.

“I think for two periods we were right there with them,” he said. “Their goalie is good. I feel like I say that a lot but he had a great game.

Daley noted his team had a number of quality chances.

“If you were really watching that game, we really did have a lot of scoring chances,” he said. “And the puck just wasn’t finding our stick, or [Winton] made a great save, or his defensemen blocked it. They were right spots at the right time.

“But, I was happy with the way we played, I was happy with the effort.”

Pico had a five-point night that included four assists. Shane Dachowski finished with three assists.

With the results of Wednesday’s games, the field for the National Division playoffs has been finalized. The six teams include Pennridge, Council Rock South, Central Bucks South, Central Bucks East, North Penn, and Souderton. The Rams and the Golden Hawks will have byes into the semifinals.

Pennsbury 1 0 0—1

Pennridge 2 2 5—9

First-period goals: Chris Sarver (Pb) unassisted, 5:47; Tyler Manto (Pr) unassisted, 8:33; Andrew Savona (Pr) from Kevin Pico and Shane Dachowksi, 13:11

Second-period goals: Pico (Pr) from Shane Dachowski and Savona, 7:09; Colin Dachowski (Pr) from Pico, 12:45 (pp)

Third-period goals: Shane Dachowski (Pr) from Nolan Shaw and Pico, 1:20; Dean Venner (Pr) unassisted, 5;10; Shaw (Pr) from Justin Dinsmore, 10:22; Savona (Pr) from Pico and Shane Dachowski, 11:20; Colin Dachowski (Pr) unassisted, 12:29

Shots: Pennsbury 26, Pennridge 46; Saves: Aaron McDaniel (P) 37, Jacob Winton (P) 25

St. Joseph’s Prep 4 Holy Ghost Prep 0

Brayden Collins scored two goals to lead the Hawks to the shutout win over the Firebirds on Wednesday in an APAC matchup at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 Arena.
The win lifted the Hawks to 12-4 overall and 3-3 in conference play. The Firebirds dropped to 7-11 overall and 3-4 in conference play.

Collins’ two goals gave St. Joseph’s Prep a 2-0 lead 6:14 into the second period. Parker Tumelty and Jake Schultz added goals in the third frame.

Jacob Aranda earned the shutout in goal with a 19-save effort. His teammates supported him by denying the Firebirds on three power-play chances.

“We played a lot better on the penalty kill tonight,” said St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin. [Aranda] was sharp tonight. We really played hard in all three zones especially with our offensive forecheck.”

Holy Ghost Prep 0 0 0 —0

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 1 2—4

First-period goal: Brayden Collins (SJP) from Cole Gargon and Jake Schultz, 6:51

Second-period goal: Collins (SJP) from Schultz, 6:14

Third-period goals: Parker Tumelty (SJP) from Calum Hartnell, 9:03; Schultz (SJP) from Noah Stuhl, 15:14

Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 19, St. Joseph’s Prep 23; Saves: John Botthof (HGP) 19, Jacob Aranda (SJP) 19

SHSHL Update 1-31-24

National Division W L T OW OL Pts

@ Pennridge (15-0-1) 14 0 1 1 0 0 29

@ Council Rock South (15-1-0) 14 1 0 0 0 28

@ Cent. Bucks South (10-5-1) 10 4 1 0 2 23

@ Central Bucks East (9-4-1) 9 4 2 0 0 19

North Penn (8-6-0) 8 6 0 0 0 16

Souderton (6-9-0) 6 9 0 4 1 13

Pennsbury (3-11-0) 3 11 0 0 2 8

Cent. Bucks West (3-11-1) 3 11 1 0 1 8

Council Rock North (2-13-0) 2 13 0 0 1 5

Neshaminy (1-11-2) 1 11 2 0 0 4

American Division W L T OW OL Pts

@ Plymouth White. (10-3) 9 1 0 0 1 19

@ Bensalem (9-3) 7 3 0 1 1 15

@ Abington (6-5-1) 5 3 0 0 0 10

Wissahickon (2-11) 2 9 0 1 4

Springfield (1-12) 1 8 0 0 0 2

@ Clinched playoff spots

National Division Scoring G A Pts

Kevin Pico (Pr) 25 36 61

Andrew Savona (Pr) 31 27 58

Maxwell Ryon (Soud) 33 18 51

Shane Dachowski (Pr) 23 27 50

Kevin Koles (CRS) 22 22 44

Jake Weiner (CRS) 23 18 41

Seth Grossman (Soud) 20 20 40

Blaize Pepe (CRS) 15 21 36

Nolan Shingle (NP) 6 22 28

Illia Mukhin (CRS) 11 16 27

American Division Scoring G A Pts

Alex Hood (Bens) 44 14 58

Alex Bazylevich (Bens) 11 19 30

David Branigan (PW) 17 12 29

Seamus Donofry (Ab) 6 22 28

Dylan Novitski (PW) 17 10 27

Tim Murphy (PW) 9 17 26

Daniel Guller (PW) 7 18 25

Owen Quinn (Sp) 13 9 22

Jason Segal (PW) 11 11 22

Michael Romano (Ab) 10 9 19

Cole Salayda (Bens) 6 13 19

APAC Update for 1-30-24

W L OTW OTL Pts GF GA

La Salle (15-2) 6 0 0 0 18 24 5

Malvern Prep (7-6) 3 3 1 1 9 13 15

Holy Ghost Prep (7-10) 3 3 0 0 9 12 14

St. Joseph’s Prep (11-4) 2 3 1 0 5 15 15

Hun School (3-8) 0 3 0 1 1 6 21

Scoring (Conference Games) GP G A Pts. PPG

Jeremy Jacobs (MP) 6 4 6 10 1.67

Dan Carvalho (L) 6 3 4 7 1.17

Jake McCaw (HGP) 6 3 3 6 1.00

William Carpenter (L) 6 1 5 6 1.00

Declan Kelly (L) 6 1 5 6 1.00

Ryan Levesque (HS) 5 1 4 5 1.00

Tristan Winata (SJP) 5 5 0 5 1.00

Patrick Brace (L) 6 3 2 5 0.83

Scoring (All Games) GP G A Pts. PPG

Jeremy Jacobs (MP) 13 16 15 31 2.38

Dan Carvalho (L) 17 9 8 17 1.00

Cole Gargon (SJP) 14 9 5 14 1.00

Caiden Canle (MP) 13 6 6 12 0.92

Brayden Collins (SJP) 15 4 9 13 0.87

Tristan Winata (SJP) 14 8 4 12 0.86

Patrick Brace (L) 17 6 8 14 0.82

Jake McCaw (HGP) 16 9 4 13 0.81