Category: Scholastic Hockey News

PW 3 Bensalem 2

BRISTOL—Plymouth Whitemarsh and Bensalem dressed to impress Thursday night. The Colonials and the Owls took the ice at Grundy Arena looking to impress each other and future opponents well as members of the Flyers Cup Committee charged with constructing that tournament field.

In that sense, the evening was an all-around success.

Blake Ambler’s goal 3:59 into the third period gave Plymouth Whitemarsh a 3-2 win and, for the time being, first place in the SHSHL’s American Division.

The Colonials and the Owls have split two meetings this season; Bensalem prevailed 4-3 in overtime on December 7, and Thursday’s matchup was just as crisply played; each team had an abundance of opportunities and the flow of the game was interrupted by two just penalties, one of which was not enforced because it occurred as a goal was being scored.

The goaltenders were the stars of the evening. Winning netmimder Julian Lucks made 22 stops, a number of them requiring extraordinary effort. His counterpart at the other end of the ice, Rick Gonzalez was even busier, making 38 saves and standing firm against near constant incoming fire, notably in the third period when the Owls, who had only 11 skaters dressed, were running on fumes.

Bensalem (9-2, 7-2 in divisional play) got off to a hot start when Alex Hood beat Lucks from left wing just 13 seconds after the opening faceoff. Hood made it 2-0 with 1:40 left in the period before David Branigan went top shelf for the Colonials with 13 seconds remaining to make it a one goal game.

Chris London scored for Plymouth Whitemarsh (9-3, 8-1 in the division) with 19  seconds left in the second session, setting up what figured to be a scintillating final chapter.

Lucks described himself as ready for whatever came his way.

“I talked to my team,” he said. “They helped me cool down and just stay rested.”

Rest was a luxury the Owls could not afford.

“I liked our start,” said Bensalem coach Bill Hood. “We jumped out on them pretty well at the beginning of the game.”

Eventually however the Owls were hurt by a lack of numbers.

“We had a short bench,” Hood said. “I think the second period we kind of took a step back. They made their push then.”

That trend continued in the third period when Plymouth Whitemarsh outshot Bensalem 13-4.

Colonial coach Dave Cox celebrated the win.

“This is a true team victory,” he said. “We love it. We’ve been waiting for this rematch since we lost to them the first time.

We know in order to be the team we want to be we have to go through tough teams like this. Hats off to Bensalem. They may have tired bodies but they’re always there.”

Ice chips—The Colonials and the Owls will face each other a third time next Thursday night at Grundy.  Both teams are assured of being part of the three-team SHSHL American Division playoffs; as of now the Colonials would be seeded first, the Owls second.
The Colonials are eligible for the Class A Flyers Cup tournament, the Owls are classified Class AA

P-W 1 1 1—3

Bensalem 2 0 0 —2

First-period goals: Alex Hood (B) from Alex Bazylevich, :13; Good (B) from Bazylevich and Nick Gambino. 15:20; David Branigan (PW) from Daniel Guller, 16:47

Second-period goal: Chris London (PW) from Blake Ambler and Luke Smith, 16:41

Third-period goal: Ambler (PW) from London, 3:59

Shots: Plymouth Whitemarsh 41, Bensalem 24; Saves; Julian Lucks (PW) 22, Ricky Gonzalez (B) 38

Flyers Cup Rankings

The Flyers Cup Committee has released its second set of rankings for the 2023-24 season. Rankings are based on a team’s on-ice performance and observations of committee members.

The Flyers Cup is an invitational tournament. There are no automatic qualifiers.


AAA

  1. La Salle (APAC)
  2. Malvern Prep (APAC)
  3. St. Joes Prep (APAC)
  4. Salesianum (ICSHL)
  5. Father Judge (ICSHL)

AA

  1. Pennridge (SHSHL)
  2. Council Rock South (SHSHL)
  3. Boyertown (ICSHL)
  4. Central Bucks South (SHSHL)
  5. Downingtown West (ICSHL)

A

  1. West Chester East (ICSHL)
  2. Garnet Valley (ICSHL)
  3. Marple Newtown (ICSHL)
  4. Lower Dauphin (CPIHL)
  5. Penncrest (ICSHL)

Girls

  1. Avon Grove (ICSHL)
  2. Downingtown West (ICSHL)
  3. West Chester Henderson (ICSHL)
  4. Kingsway (ICSHL)
  5. Conestoga (ICSHL)

C.B. East 6 Pennsbury 1

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—It was a game both teams needed. For Central Bucks East and Pennsbury, Thursday night’s encounter was essentially a pre-playoff game.

It was the Patriots who prevailed. Jaden Young scored two goals and four other players added one goal each in East’s 6-1 win that solidified its quest for a SHSHL National Division playoff spot.

The result lifted the Patriots to 7-4-1 on the season and put them in fourth place in the division standings, one point ahead of North Penn, which has a game in hand. East is unbeaten in its last three starts.

Pennsbury dropped to 3-9 on the season, putting the Falcons three points behind sixth-place Souderton, which defeated Neshaminy Thursday night and now occupies the sixth and final playoff spot.

Despite missing three players due to injuries and club duty, the Patriots had the necessary ingredients for a winning recipe. Chief among them was a commitment to sharing the puck.

“We had a lot of good production out of everybody tonight,” said East coach Jeff Mitchell. “Even out of Line Three, they were kind of taking care of business and did a good job to get us an overall win tonight.”

Corey Kosick’s goal, which came at the 7:34 mark of the first frame, gave East a 1-0 advantage. David Brown, with Kosick’s help, made it 2-0 with a shorthanded goal just 39 seconds into the middle period. Gavin Wilmer’s shot from the right point made it a 3-0 game with 6:19 left in the period before Young added his first goal of the game with 59 seconds left.

The Falcons, who were also missing several players because of club duty, got on the scoreboard on Chris Sarver’s goal 61 seconds into the third period.

Young responded with his second goal of the game at the 6:05 mark and Ethan Cenci put a wrap on the evening with 1:08 remaining.

Young had an assist to go with his two goals while Alex Wilson contributed two assists.

Mitchell noted that his players have been more focused on the task at hand during their unbeaten streak.

“I think we’ve got our lines kind of settled for the rest of the season,” he said. “So, we’re starting to see some good chemistry with everybody and everybody’s kind of buying into the same page.

“So, we’re seeing a lot of good things out of pretty much all three lines right now. So, we hope it continues.”

Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley praised the work of East netminder Cole Breen, who finished with 30 saves.

“[Breen] had a great game,” he said. “We had our fair share of chances but he was tough to crack.

“I liked the way we played for the most part but a few mistakes ended up in our net, and with the performance they were getting from their net those mistakes are hard to come back from.”

Pennsbury 0 0 1—1

C.B. East 1 3 2—6

First-period goal: Corey Kosick (CBE) from Jaden Young, 7:34

Second-period goals: David Brown (CBE) from Kosick, 1:21 (sh); Gavin Wilmer (CBE) from Alex Wilson and Sam Gottesman, 6:19; Young (CBE) from Wilmer, 16:01

Third-period goals: Chris Sarver (P) unassisted, 1:01; Young (CBE) from Wilson, 6:05; Ethan Cenci (CBE) from Drew Trask and Charlie Keiser, 15:52

Shots: Pennsbury 31, C.B. East 27 Saves: Aaron McDaniel (P) 21, Cole Breen (CBE) 30

La Salle 5 Holy Ghost Prep 2

SCHWENKSVILLE—LaSalle tightened its hold on the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference lead Wednesday night. The Explorers scored twice before the game was two-and-a-half minutes old and went on post a 5-2 in over Holy Ghost Prep in the APAC Winter Classic before an engaged but subdued audience at the Spring Mountain resort.

The win kept La Salle perfect in APAC play at 5-0 and improved its overall mark to 14-2; the Explorers have won seven of their last eight starts,

The Firebirds dropped to 5-10 overall an 1-3 in the APAC.

The Explorers took command early on. Ryan Wiley beat Firebird goaltender John Botthof just 81 seconds after the opening faceoff. Ben Fralicki made it a 2-0 game 59 seconds after that on what appeared to be a harmless flick from the right faceoff circle that Botthof appeared to lose sight of.

For the remainder of the first period and all of the second the Explorers never looked back. Grant LaGrecca and Julian Tarsi added second-period goals to send Bottoff to the bench while La Salle netminder Jake Rossi and his defense corps kept the Firebirds at bay, limiting then to just seven shots over two periods. One of them, from Patrick Slook, found the back of the net with 5:38 left in the second session.

Holy Ghost Prep started the final period with a 1minute, 28-second man advantage but couldn’t capitalize on it. the power-play chance did set the tone for the third period however Emotions boiled over, keeping the referees busy; they called nine penalties in the final 17 minutes six of them against La Salle.

Brian Kinniry drew the Firebirds closer when he scored with 7:40 remaining while his team was enjoying a two-man advantage. But Holy Ghost Prep couldn’t get any closer.

Liam Donahue finished the scoring for La Salle with an empty-net goal with eight seconds remaining.

“I think we did a pretty good job killing penalties,” said Explorer head coach Wally Muehllbronner. “I’ll leave it at that.”

The Explorers have played seven games since December 21 leaving virtually no time for practice. With just two games scheduled the rest of January, Muehlbronner is looking forward to doing some fine tuning with his players.

“We’re going to get into a good stretch where we’re going to have quite a few more practices,” he said. “Honestly, we haven’t had a practice on probably a month.”

Holy Ghost Prep finished with just 17 shots on goal.

Firebird coach John Ritchie was straightforward when accessing his team’s performance.

“I was very disappointed in the effort and the attitude of our team today,” he said.

Ice chips—The first game of the scheduled doubleheader between St. Joseph’s Prep and Malvern Prep was postponed. That game has been rescheduled for February 5 at Spring Mountain.

La Salle 2 2 1—5

Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 1—2

First-period goals: Ryan Wiley (L) from Patrick Brace and Charles Budd, 1:21; Ben Falicki (L) from Liam Donahue and Declan Kelly, 2:20

Second-period goals: Grant LaGreca (L) from Cameron Ross and Will Carpenter, 3:12; Julian Tarsi (L) from Carpenter, 9:37 (pp); Patrick Slook (HGP) from Ryan Lippy and Anthony Valeriote 11:22

Third-period goals: Brian Kinniry (HGP) from Patryk Oszer and Joseph Kaufmann, 9:20 (pp); Liam Donahue (L) unassisted, 16:52 (en)

Shots: La Salle 27, Holy Ghost Prep 17; Saves; Jake Rossi (L) 15, John Botthof (HGP) 20 and Jack Unger (HGP) 3

SHSHL Update for 1-8-24

National Division             W   L   T  OW   OL  Pts

Pennridge  (12-0-1)            11  0   1    0   0   0   23

Council Rock South (12-1-0)    11    1    0   0   0   22

Cent. Bucks South (8-3-1)      8    2    1    0    1   18 

Central Bucks East (6-4-1)      6    4    1    0   0   13

North Penn (6-4-0)            6    4    0    0   0   12

Souderton (4-6-0)                4    6    2    2     0  9

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

Neshaminy (2-6-2)             1    7    2    0    0   4

Cent. Bucks West  (1-10-1)      1    10    1    0   1    4

Council Rock North (1-10-0)   1   10      0   0     0   2

American Division           W    L   T  OW OL  Pts

Bensalem (8-1)                6     1   0     1    1   15

Plymouth White. (7-2)    6     1   0     1    1   13

Abington (3-4-1)             3     2   0    0     0    6

Wissahickon (2-9)          2   7   0   0     1       4

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

 

National Division Scoring   G   A   Pts

Andrew Savona (Pr)           24  22   46

Kevin Pico (Pr)                     15   30  45

Shane Dachowski (Pr)       18   20  38

Kevin Koles (CRS)               17  20  37

Jake Weiner (CRS)             21   16  37

Blaize Pepe (CRS)              14 17    31

Maxwell Ryon (Soud)      18   10   28

Illia Mukhin (CRS)            10   13   23

Corey Kosick (CBE)           16   6   22

Gavin Nisenon (CRS)        11   11 22

Seth Grossman (Soud)     13   9    22

American Division Scoring   G   A   Pts

Alex Hood (Bens)                   34   12   46

Tim Murphy (PW)                  8     15   23

Dylan Novitski (PW)              15    8    23

David Branigan (PW)             12    10  22

Seamus Donofry (Ab)          5    17      22

Alex Bazylevich (Bens)          7     15   22

Daniel Guller (PW)                 7     15   22

Owen Quinn (Sp)                  13    8     21

Jason Segal (PW)                  11     9    20

Michael Tomano (Ab)         9      8       17

St. Joseph’s Prep 10 Haverford School 3

Carter Short and Calum Hartnell each contributed two goals and an assist as St. Joseph’s Prep opened the post-holiday portion of its schedule with a 10-3 win over The Haverford School Friday night at  the Skatium.

Shane O’Neill, Michael Castelli, Patrick Sweeney, Robert McGinn, and Jake Schultz also scored goals for the Hawks (11-4) who broke the game open with five goals in the second period. Brayden Collins provided four assists.

Declan Geary got the win in goal.

Jack Torr scored twice for the Fords. Reece Childs also scored.

“After a sluggish start we played well in the second a third periods,” said Hawk coach David Giacomin. We moved the puck and created many chances. Noah Stuhl and Calum Hartnell both played very well.”

St. Joseph’s Prep returns to action Wednesday evening against Malvern Prep (5:00) at the Spring Mountain resort as part of the APAC’s outdoor doubleheader.

The other half of the twin bill will match La Salle and Holy Ghost Prep at 7:15.

Haverford School 1 0 2—3

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 5 4—10

First-period goals: Jack Torr (SJP) unassisted, :26; Robert McGinn (SJP) from Jake Schultz and Brayden Collins, 12:35 (pp)

Second-period goals: Michael Castelli (SP) from Caden Kelly and Calum Hartnell, 2:26; Patrick Sweeney (SJP) from Collins and Noah Stuhl, 3:57; Shane O’Neill (SJP) unassisted, 10:29; Schultz (SJP) from Carter Short and John Lynch, 12:49; Hartnell (SJP) from Thomas Ely, 14:05

Third-period goals: Jack Torr (HS) from Esref Erkmen, 3:19 (pp); Hartnell (SJP) from O’Neill and Declan Geary, 7:15; Short (SJP) from Collins and McGinn, 10:10; Stuhl (SJP) from Tyler DeGirolamo and Lynch, (pp); Short (SJP) from Collins and Geary, 13:12; Reese Childs (HS) from Connor Gillespie, 13:46

Shots: Haverford School 30, St. Joseph’s Prep 47; Saves: Andrew Bradley (HS) 37, Declan Geary (SJP) 27

Pennridge 3 C.B. East 3

The bubble of invincibility that has surrounded the Pennridge Rams all season long burst Thursday night.

Ethan Cenci’s goal with 1.3 seconds remaining in regulation gave Central Bucks East a 3-3 draw with the Rams at Hatfield Ice. It was the first blemish of the season for Pennridge, which now stands 11-0-1 in the SHSHL National Division and 12-0-1 overall.

Pennridge took a 2-1 lead into the third period but Jaden Young tied the game for East with 4:19 left in regulation off a Pennridge breakdown.

The Rams seemingly dodged a bullet when Tyler Manto beat Cole Breen with a rocket from the left circle with 2:11 remaining to put his team back in front. It was Manto’s second goal of the game.

But just 30 seconds later, he was sent to the box for roughing, giving the Patriots a power play. With 5.8 seconds showing on the clock, Manto’s teammate Shane Dachowski was whistled for cross checking, giving East a two-man advantage and, more importantly, the offensive zone faceoff it needed to set up the game-tying goal which came off a scramble in front of Pennridge netminder Jacob Winton.

Dachowski’s penalty also allowed the Patriots to start the overtime with a four-skater-to-three advantage.

Pennridge had seemingly more opportunities during the extra five minutes but the clock struck zero with the two teams and seemingly headed in opposite directions.

For the Patriots (6-3-1 overall and in the division) it was a result that felt like a win.

“I can’t explain how proud I am of the boys,” said East coach Jeff Mitchell, “for just sticking there at the end.

“We pretty much had a good momentum on the bench the entire game. It started to get a little chippy at the end of the second, getting into the third. We started to lose our way a little bit but the boys banded together. 

We had pretty much production from all three lines. Not so much points, but getting the puck out and maintaining great possession. And Cole kept everything out he should have.”

Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna minced no words while accessing the performance of his own team.

“We were terrible tonight,” he said. “We took penalties that cost us, but when you play the way we did and let them hang around the way we did, it was only a matter of time.

“We did not deserve to win that game. Period. It was as bad as we’ve been all year. And it’s as angry as I’ve been all year.”

Pennridge 2 0 1—3

C.B. East 1 0 2—3

First-period goals: Corey Kosick (CBE) unassisted, 5:24; Andrew Savona (P) from Colin Dachowki and Kevin Pico, 5:49; Tyler Manto (P) from Colin Dachowki, 16:56

Third-period goals: Jaden Young (CBE) from Drew Trask and Ryan Gergen, 12:41; Tyler Manto (P) from James Embert, 14:49;  Ethan Cenci (CBE) unassisted, 15:59

Shots: Pennridge 36, C.B. East 25; Saves: Jacob Winton (P) 22, Cole Breen (CBE) 33

Souderton 6 Pennsbury 5 OT

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—Two precious points. That’s what was at stake when Pennsbury and Souderton laced up their skates at Hatfield Ice Wednesday night.

The two points at stake would enhance the winner’s status in the fight for a SHSHL National Division playoff spot and hopefully attract the notice of the Flyers Cup Committee.

It took overtime to settle the issue. Seth Grossman’s goal 2 minutes, 40 seconds into the extra session gave the Big Red a 2-1 win. It was Souderton’s second-one goal win over the Falcons this season; the first was a 9-8 decision on November 15.

Both sides took something away from the evening. Since the game went to overtime each team got a point in the standings with the Big Red (4-6) getting an extra point for the win.

Souderton coach Ryan Uchniat left no doubt as to the significance of those two precious points.

“Huge,” he said. Pennsbury is playing great hockey. We’re locked in with them in the standings [Off Wednesday’s result, Souderton is one point ahead of the Falcons with a game in hand]. We’re taking it one game time but [the playoffs] are the end goal. That’s where we’re hoping to be at the end of the year.”

Max Ryon scored two goals and added an assist for the Big Red and four of Ryon’s teammates also scored goals, but the most important player on the ice in Souderton colors was goaltender Connor Paulus. A junior who only started playing hockey as a freshman, and a first-year goaltender to boot, Paulus came up big on a night when his team needed him, he finished with 26 saves.

“He excelled,” Uchniat said. “He win this game for us.”

Paulus said he put the pads on because his team needed a goaltender.

“I think I’m getting a feel for it,” he said.

Grossman saluted his goaltender’s effort.

“[Paulus] been making extreme strides in his play throughout the season,” he said. “He’s been getting better each game. I think you could see this game, he stood on his head. He really bailed us out a couple times.”
Paulus’s effort also drew raves from Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley. [Paulus] was playing out of his mind,” he said. “It was a very special game for him.”

The Falcons (3-8) appeared to have the momentum late in the second frame when Souderton, which was leading 4-3 at the time, drew two penalties 39 seconds apart, giving Pennsbury a two-man advantage.

The Falcons made the most of the opportunity; Logan Doyle and Jason Fowler scored power-play goals 33 seconds apart to give Pennsbury a 5-4 lead with 2:20 left in the period.

But the Falcons could not solve Paulus again. Ryon tied the game with 4:30 left in regulation to set up the finish.

Fittingly enough, he made of his best saves when he denied Chris Sarver 59 seconds into overtime.

For the Falcons, the defending Class AA Flyers Cup champions, it was another case of ‘Almost.’ Four of their eight losses have come by one goal.

“Truly the record doesn’t reflect the talent of our team,” Daley said. “We’ve definitely improved since the beginning of the season. We’re a couple plays away from having six wins.”

Pennsbury 2 3 0 0—5

Souderton 2 2 1 1—6

First-period goals: Chris Sarver (P) unassisted, 7:12; Jackson Kelly (S) from Nick Smith, 8:52; Max Ryon (S) from Matt Malagna, 10:50; Stephen Grosscup (P) from Shane Gleisner and Kevin Derosa, 16:20

Second-period goals: Marcus Roberts (P) from Evan Eisler and Derosa, 5:10; Matthew Cross (S) from Ryon and Pierceson Egan, 6:07 (pp) Smith (S) unassisted, 12:03; Logan Doyle (P) from Sarver and Jason Fowler, 14:07 (pp): Fowler (P) from Doyle, 14:40 (pp)

Third-period goal: Ryon (S) unassisted, 12:30

Overtime goal: Seth Grossman (S) from Smith, 2:40

Shots: Pennsbury 31, Souderton 25; Saves: Aaron McDaniel (P) 19, Connor Paulus (S) 26

Holy Ghost Prep 7 Kiski School 1

The Firebirds scored three first-period goals and went on to the win Wednesday night on the first leg of their trip to Pittsburgh.

Brian Kinniry scored two goals for the winners and assisted on two others. Patryk Oszer had a three-point night with a goal and two assists while Anthony Valerote collected three assists.

Dillon Gallagher made 17 saves in goal.

Holy Ghost Prep 3 3 1—7

Kiski School 0 1 0—1

First-period goals: Colin Bara (HGP) from Brian Kinniry, 2:17; Kinniry (HGP) from Patrick Oszer, 6:33; Santino Tiberio (HGP) from Oszer, 12:33

Second-period goals: Oszer (HGP) from Kinniry, 1:48 (pp); KInniry (HGP) from Anthony Valerote and Joseph Kauffman, 4:38; Chris Marshall (HGP) from Michael Holt and Valerote, 8:13; Jack Williams (K) unassisted, 14:26 (pp)

Third-period goal: Patrick Slook (HGP) from Matt Cholaj and Valerote, 14:26 (pp)

Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 30, Kiski 18; Saves: Dillon Gallagher (HGP) 17, Maxim Ingerman (K) 23