Category: Hockey News

Council Rock South 4 Neshaminy 1

BRISTOL—  A month into the Suburban High School Hockey League season, a lot of knowledgeable observers are looking at Council Rock South as the team to beat.

Nothing the Golden Hawks did Wednesday night would discourage that sentiment.

Jake Weiner scored two goals and Sam Reiter and Chase Tovsky added one goal each as South remained unbeaten with a 4-1 decision over Neshaminy at Grundy Arena.

The win was the fifth without defeat for the Golden Hawks, who were runners up in the SHSHL’s National Division and the Class AA Flyers Cup tournament last season.

The loss was the first for Neshaminy after three season-opening wins. 

The Golden Hawks didn’t create any highlight videos Wednesday night but they moved the puck effectively and did all the little things well. 

“Little things make a difference in whether you win or lose,” said South coach Joe Houk. “I thought our backcheck was pretty good tonight. I thought (goaltender Carson Lopez) was rock solid.”

Lopez, whose GAA now stands at 1.29 points out that hockey games are not decided by style points.

“A goal is a goal, a save is a save,” he said. “I think our goal this season is to score three and let me do the rest.”

The Hawks won a battle for a loose puck in their offensive left-wing corner set up the first goal of the evening. It came off Weiner’s stick with 8:34 left in the opening period.

Reiter made it 2-0 1:37 into the second frame off a feed from Evan Mostoller who was set up in the high slot at the time.

Nolan Geria answered for Neshaminy at the 5:45 mark and with Cory Hemberger matching Lopez with his effort in the ‘Skins net, the game was still very much for grabs.

Tovsky’s goal, which came with 3:35 left in the second period, gave the Golden Hawks some breathing room.

“The third goal was a big one before the end of the second period,” Houk said.

The Golden Hawks went on to dominate the period. The period featured just one goal, from Weiner with 3:35 left in the game, but South outshot Neshaminy 16-3 in the final period.

With four varsity players missing because of injuries and illness, the ‘Skins simply ran out of gas.

“They’re a very good team,” Neshaminy coach Matt DeMatteo said of the Hawks. “There were some things we could have done better. I thought our transition game wasn’t great and I thought our defensive zone was a little shaky. But, tired legs hurt you in the end.”

Ice chips—While Wednesday’s result won’t factor into the SHSHL National Division standings since the teams will play again in February, it will be part of Flyers Cup seedings calculations at year’s end.

Neshaminy 0 1 0—1

C.R. South 1 2 1—4

First-period goal: Jake Weiner (CRS) from Jeremy Rayher and Illia Mukhin, 8:26

Second-period goals: Sam Reiter (CRS) from Evan Mostoller and Blaize Pepe, 1:37; Nolan Geria (N) from David McColligan and Michael Rago, 5:45; Chase Tovsky (CRS) from Bobby Gilbert, 13:25

Third-period goal: Weiner (CRS) unassisted, 4:28

Shots: Neshaminy 26, Council Rock South 39; Saves: Cory Hemberger (N) 35, Carson Lopez (CRS) 25

Game of the Week YouTube Schedule

The Flyers Cup Committee has announced its Game of the Week streaming package. All 10 games will be televised live on the Flyers Cup YouTube Channel

Monday 12-12 5:15 La Salle vs. Malvern Prep

Friday 12-16. 8:45 Lower Dauphin vs. Hershey

Thursday 12-22 7:00 Conestoga vs. Penncrest

Thursday, January 5 7:10 Plymouth Whitemarsh vs. Abington

Friday, January 13 6:30 Radnor vs. Owen J. Roberts

Friday, January 20 9:00 Eastern vs. Washington Township

Friday, January 27 6:30 Father Judge vs. Salesianum

Wednesday, February 1 7:20 Pennridge vs. Council Rock South

Friday, February 10 6:30 West Chester East vs. Avon Grove

2-13 9:00 West Chester Rustin vs. Conestoga Girls

SHSHL Roundup 11-29-22

National Division         W      L      T      OTL Pts

C.B. West (1-3)            1       0      0      0      2

C.R. North (1-4)           1       1     0       0      0

C.B. East (4-0)              0       0      0      0      0

C.R. South (4-0)           0       0      0      0      0

Neshaminy (3-0)         0       0      0      0      0

C.B. South (2-1-0-1)   0       0      0      0      0

North Penn (2-3)         0       0      0      0      0

Pennridge (1-1)            0      0      0       0      0

Pennsbury (1-2)           0       0      0      0      0

Bensalem (0-3)            0       0      0      0      0

Souderton (1-4)           0       1      0      0      0

American Division                  W      L      T      OTL    Pts

Abington (3-0-0)                      3       0     0        0        6

Quakertown (3-0)                   2        0    0        0         2

Wissahickon (2-1)                   2       1     0        0        2

Plymouth Whitemarsh (2-2) 1       1     0        0        2

Springfield (0-2)                      0        3     0        0        0

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Scoring

National Division            G           A          Pts

Seth Grossman (Soud)   5           7           12

Kevin Koles (CRS)           3           8            11

Blaise Pepe (CRS)          6           5            11

Corey Kosick (CBE)        6           4            10

Andrew Savona (Pr)      4           6            10

Aydin Thierolf (CBS)      4           4             8

Chase Tovsky (CRS)       1          6             7

Nick Hahan (CRN)         2           4            6

Nick Smith (Soud)         4            2            6

Maxwell Ryon (Soud)   3            3            6

American Division        G            A            Pts

Matt Kramer (Ab)         10          4            14

Branden McNally (Q)    8           4            12

Matthew Flynn (PW)     7          4             11

David Branigan (PW)     4          6             10

Pat Steleacio (Ab)          6           4            10

William Shaw (Q)           4          5              9

Seth Abramson (Ab)       4          5             9

Goaltending Statistics (Minimum 102 minutes played)

National Division

Goals Against                      Min.Played    GA          GAA

Cory Hemberger (Nesh)         153              3             1.00

Cole Brown (CBE)                    102              2            1.00

Carson Lopez (CRS)                187               5            1.36

Matt Mangiacapre (CBE)       102               3            1.50

Nick Crist (NP)                        255              15           3.00

Save Percentage                  Shots        Saves    GA          Save Pct.

Cole Brown (CBE)                 49              47          2          959

Cory Hemberger (Nesh)      67             64           3           .955

Carson Lopez (CRS)              87             82           5        943

Matt Mangiacapre (CBE)     53             50          3           943

Nick Crist (NP)                       138          123        15        .891

American Division

 Goals Against                   Min. Played     GA            GAA 

Matt Krem (Q)                        153              6              2.00

Chris Majlij (PW)                    153              7              2.33

Sam Nemec (Ab)                    136              15            5.62

Save Percentage               Shots         Saves     GA            Save Pct.

Matt Krem (Q)                   65              59           6                 .908

Chris Majlij (PW)                72             65           7                 .903

Sam Nemec (Ab)                85             70          15                .824

Fort Erie International Academy 5 Hun School 3

Hun School jumped to a 3-0 first-period lead Sunday afternoon but fell 5-3 to Fort Erie International Academy Sunday afternoon in the final round of the Shady Side Academy holiday tournament.

Mark Gall, Jack Neckritz, and Brandon Marino scored for the Raiders who went 2-2 against elite competition during the weekend. Both losses came in shootouts.

St. Joseph’s Prep 2 Gonzaga 1

Jeffrey Hammond’s goal in the opening seconds of the third period gave St. Joseph’s Prep a 2-1 win over Gonzaga Friday evening in their traditional holiday matchup at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 rink. John Lynch also scored for the Hawks, who improved to 5-1 on the season.

Lynch gave the Hawks a 1-0 with 4:39 left in the first period before Will Gletner tied the game for the Eagles with 10:31 left in the second frame.

Ajay White got the win goal, making 36 saves.

Gonzaga 0 1 0—1

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 0 1—2

First-period goal: John Lynch (SJP) from Caden Kelly, 12:21

Second-period goal: Will Gletner (G) from Andre Lucas Abrantes, 6:29

Third-period goal: Jeffrey Hammond (SJP) unassisted, :14

Shots: Gonzaga 37, St. Joseph’s Prep 31; Saves: Jack Trevisan (G) 13 and Carsten Komorowski G) 16; Ajay White (SJP) 36

La Salle 4 Malvern Prep 3

La Salle built a 4-1 lead and held on for a 4-3 win over Malvern Prep Wednesday night in an APAC game at Ice Line.

Charlie Kennedy scored two goals for the Explorers, who picked up their first win after two season-opening losses. James Carpenter and Declan Kelly also scored for La Salle.

Jack Sharer scored twice for Malvern Prep, which lost for the first time in five starts. Both teams are 1-1 in the APAC.

Kennedy’s opening goal came with 9:01 left in the first period while his teammate Grant LaGreca was serving a roughing minor. The Friars lost the puck at the La Salle blue line and Kennedy took it the distance before beating Malvern Prep netminder Brandon Novabilsky with a backhander.

The goal proved a jump start to the Explorers in the game and perhaps for their season.

“It 100 percent did,” Kennedy said. “Definitely, I would have to say that. It definitely got us going, 100 percent, got us hyped.”

James Carpenter made it a 2-0 game just over two minutes later. Sharer scored for Malvern Prep with 3:24 remaining before Kelly answered for La Salle.

When Kennedy scored his second goal with 7:42 left in the second frame, it gave his team a three-goal advantage.

But the defending APAC and Class AAA Flyers Cup champions didn’t go away and outshot La Salle 15-6 in the third period.

Sharer scored his second goal of the night on a blast from the left point with 8:22 remaining and Caiden Canale followed with 4:12 remaining.

La Salle netminder Aries Carangi had to make some big saves down the stretch but the Explorers hung on.

Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan “We knew La Salle was coming off a loss against (Holy Ghost Prep),” he said, “And we knew they were going to come out firing. “They outskated us, they outworked us. They were the better team tonight.”

Kennedy said he and his teammate were confident they would get things turned around after starting the season with two losses.
“We’ve had some good practices thanks to (Coach Wally Muehlbronner,” he said. “He definitely worked us hard and got us to do what we needed to do in order for us to get that work ethic that we needed, and it showed up.”

La Salle 3 1 0—4

Malvern Prep 1 0 2—3

First-period goals: Cgarlie Kennedy (L) unassisted, 7:59; (sh); James Carpenter (L) from Tim Whittck, 10:12; Jack Sharer (MP) from Jimmy Jacobs and Matt Barbacane, 13:36; Declan Kelly (L) unassisted, 15:12

Second-period goal: Kennedy (L) from Liam Donahue and Thomas Doucet, 9:18

Third-period goals: Sharer (MP) from Jeremy Jacobs, 8:38; Caiden Canale (MP) from Jacobs, 13:48

Shots: La Salle 30, Malvern Prep 31; Saves, Aries Carangi (L) 28, Brandon Novabilski (MP) 26

More details on this game to follow.

Elsewhere:

Central Bucks East 6, Central Bucks West 2

Pennridge 6, Souderton 5

Bux-Mont Catholic 8, HH/William Tennent 3

Council Rock North vs. Council Rock South

North Penn vs.  Central Buck South

Neshaminy vs. Pennsbury

Holy Ghost Prep 8 Father Judge 1

Rocco Bruno’s Time at St. Joseph’s Prep Has Seen Him Evolve On and Off the Ice

It could be argued that a hockey goaltender occupies the most demanding position in any team sport More so than a quarterback in football, or a baseball pitcher, a goaltender puts his team his shoulders every time out.

Rocco Bruno has embraced that challenge. The St. Joseph’s Prep senior and Springfield Township, Delaware County resident has achieved success on the ice and in the classroom.

Bruno prides himself on his ability to maintain his concentration in the heat of battle. He considers that attribute that one of his strengths.

“It’s definitely (about) staying focused,” he said. “Not letting anything distract you. I’ve got to make sure I’m paying attention to my D-men and I’m talking to them.

I have to keep control of a lot of things at once, but I can’t get distracted by anybody other than who’s on the ice.”

Bruno has enhanced his ability to concentrate in the classroom as well, although admittedly that ability didn’t come easily. He learned about St. Joseph’s Prep though his coach, David Giacomin.

“I did a couple of open houses and I fell in love with the school,” Bruno recalls.

Adapting to academic rigors of St. Josephs Prep proved challenging at first.

“I definitely had to learn it the hard way,” Bruno said. “Freshman year was a struggle for me, just because I really didn’t know how to manage my time the correct way, but as the year went on, I started to figure stuff out. I took a lot of bad grades on tests but I definitely got in shape the last three years.”

Over time, Bruno learned that meeting his academic responsibilities while also playing high-school and club hockey demanded that he reorder his priorities.

Rocco Bruno (photo by. R. Woelfel)

“(Make) sacrifices honestly,” said. “A lot of late nights studying, a lot of early getting to school and finishing up things that I didn’t get done the night before. At school, in my free periods, getting work done, trying to stay ahead of the game so I don’t fall behind and just time management. Managing my time was the biggest part in making sure everything was done.”

Bruno has enjoyed his time at St. Joseph’s Prep and bonding with his teammates and classmates.
“I’ve met a lot of great people there,” he said. “It’s something you have to be a part of to understand, honestly.”

Bruno sees the college application process as a reward for all the hours he’s spent pursuing better grades.

“The most satisfying thing has been just getting into the colleges,” he said. “It’s really weird right now for me because I’m going through the who college application process. Getting into colleges, and then acknowledging my hard word that I put into high school. It’s really, really refreshing.”

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