North Penn 4 Erie Cathedral Prep 1

The game was up for grabs. North Penn stepped up and took it.

James Boyle and Daniel Carbrales scored third-period goals 19 apart Saturday afternoon to snap a 1-1 tie and propel the Knights to 4-1 win over Erie Cathedral Prep in the Pennsylvania Class AA hockey championship game at the Robert Morris University Island Sports Center.

It was the first state hockey championship for North Penn (22-3) in the school’s history and the third state championship for the Suburban High School Hockey League in four years: Pennridge won Class AA titles in 2022 and ’24.

There was little to choose between the two teams for the first two periods. The Raiders’ Tucker Kinnear delivered the only goal in that span, 5:19 into the second frame.

With 4:52 left in the period the Knights briefly appeared to have scored the tying goal. Cathedral Prep goaltender Ian Brown denied Norton on a wraparound before Derek Lugera put in the rebound. The apparent goal was disallowed however when it ruled was the net had come off its moorings prior to the puck crossing the goal line.

During the post-second period ice cut, North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis reassured his players.

“I told them we’ve just got to keep moving the puck,” he said, “keep playing our game and our chances are going to come.”

At the start of the third period, Samuel Norton stepped up. With the Ramblers’ Charlie McBrier in the box serving an interference penalty, Norton, a sophomore made a dash down the right wing and beat Brown to tie the game 2:49 into the period.

As the clock wound down, momentum seemed to be shifting in North Penn’s direction. Boyle drove that point home with emphasis with 3:36 left in the game when he found the back of the net with a one-timer from the left point. It was a power-play goal; the Raiders were playing a man down after being caught with too many men on the ice.

Just 19 seconds later Cabrales scored a goal of his own to tighten the Knights’ hold on the game,

Nolan Shingle the evening with a goal into an empty net with 43 seconds remaining.

Vaitis said sened early on this could be a special season.

“At the beginning of the season when we met with them for the first time, we knew with the team we were going to have and the talent we were going to have what we were capable of doing,” he said. “We believed in them and it was a matter of them understanding of they were able to put the work in, just how special the season could be for them.”

North Penn 0 0 4—4

Cathedral Prep 0 1 0—1

Second-period goal: Tucker Kinnear from Ethan Cunningham and Chris Bruschi, 5:19

Third-period goals: Samuel Norton (NP) unassisted, 2:49 (pp); James Boyle (NP) from Norton and Cole Pluck, 13:24 (pp); Daniel Cabrales (NP), 13:43 unassisted; Nolan Single (NP) 16:17 (en) unassisted

Shots: North Penn 35, Erie Cathedral Prep 27; Saves: Andy Norton (NP) 26, Ian Brown (CP) 31

North Penn Takes Flyers Cup AA Final

The game was hanging in the balance. With 4 minutes, 26 seconds gone in the third period of Wednesday’s Class AA Flyers Cup final, second-seed North Penn was holding a 3-2 lead over top-seeded Council Rock South.

But the Knights’ Sam Norton was sitting in the penalty box, having been assessed a minor penalty for high sticking and the Golden Hawks, who were preparing to embark on a two-minute power play, seemed to have momentum flowing their way.

But appearances were deceiving.

Instead of taking a conservative stance, the Knights stayed in an up-tempo mode and were rewarded with a shorthanded goal from Cole Pluck exactly 60 seconds into their supposed penalty kill.

Pluck’s effort led to four additional goals in the third period as North Penn pulled away to an 8-2 to claim the first Flyers Cup in school history. North Penn (20-3) will face Erie Cathedral Prep on Saturday in the Class AA State championship game in suburban Pittsburgh.

Pluck finished with two goals and two assists.

“This feel great he said. “The best moment of my life, so far.”

Pluck described his second goal, which altered the entire texture of the game.

“{C.R. South} needed a goal and were pressing up,” he said. “The {defenseman} just stepped up and I went around him.”

Pluck says the Knights are comfortable playing up-tempo hockey in shorthanded situations.

“We like to try to play offense on the kill sometimes,” he said.

The final period of Wednesday’s matchup was a distinctly separate entity than the first two, which saw Jake Weiner score twice for the Golden Hawks (22-3) and Pluck and Norton match him for North Penn. Daniel Cabrales gave North Penn a 3-2 lead 5:56 into the second frame and the Knights took the lead into the break for the post-second-period ice cut.

“We talked to them between the periods,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “We said we knew we had to come out and take it. They weren’t going to give it to us. {He told his team} we’ve got to come out and finish this game. And that’s exactly what we did, we dominated that third period.”

Pluck’s shorthanded goal gave North Penn a 4-2 lead. Norton followed with his second goal of the night with 7:40 remaining as South slowly unraveled; Nolan Shingle, Declan Leahy and Luke Haftel added goals for North Penn in the closing minutes, all of them coming on power plays; there were nine penalties called in the third period five of them against South. North Penn’s Thomas Sprague and South’s Luke Ralston were each drew simultaneous minors and misconducts as part of the emotional overload down the stretch.

South coach Joe Houk gave full credit to the Knights.

“They were the better team tonight,” he said. “We ran out of gas. We have it everything we had.

‘We’ve said three out of the last four years ‘We’ll be back here next year. But we can’t get over that hump.”

• The All-Tournament Team, selected by the Flyers Cup Committee included:

G Andy Norton North Penn

D Jake Maurer Council Rock South

D James Boyle North Penn

F Sam Norton North Penn

F Cole Pluck North Penn

F Jake Weiner Council Rock South

Norton, a sophomore, was named the winner of the Bobby Clarke Award as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

“It’s a great feeling to know I was the MVP,” he said, “but without the whole team, I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in.”

Norton said winning the Flyers Cup title marked the completion of a season-long journey.

“We had a big goal from the start,” he said, “but completing it and getting ahold of this trophy, it’s unreal.”

Of the 25 players on North Penn’s Flyers Cup roster, only three were seniors and 11 were underclassmen.

North Penn 2 1 5—8

C.R. South 1 1 0—2

First-period goals; Jake Weiner (CRS) from Wesley Mallon, :54; Cole Pluck (NP) from James Boyle, 1:56; Samuel Norton (NP) from Norton, 6:50

Second-period goals; Weiner (CRS) from Jonah Weston and Jagger Smith, 3:34; Daniel Cabrales (NP) from Declan Leahy, 5:56

Third-period goals: Pluck (NP) from Boyle, 5:36 (sh); Norton (NP) from Pluck, 9:40 Nolan Shingle (NP) from Pluck, 13:14 (pp) Leahy (NP), unassisted, 14:05 (pp); Luke Haftel (NP) from Derek Lugura, 14:40 (pp)

Shots and saves unavailable

North Penn 4 Downingtown East 3

It was a contest of championship final caliber. Over the course of 51 minutes at Hatfield Ice Arena Thursday night, North Penn and Downingtown East both proved themselves worthy of playing for a Flyers Cup championship.

But only the Knights will get that opportunity.

Nolan Shingle’s goal with 3:43 left in regulation, his second goal in a span of 88 seconds, got the Knight past the Cougars 4-3 in a Class AA semifinal. The goal was Shingle’s third of the game and put the second-seeded Knights (19-3) into net Wednesday’s final against top-seeded Council Rock South (8:45 at Hatfield Ice). The third-seeded Cougars close their season at 15-7.

In the parlance of pugilism, both team got off the canvas. North Penn took a 2-0 lead into the third period on the strength of a power-play goal from Cole Pluck 11:49 into the first-period, which was followed by Shingle’ first goal of the night 7:48 into the second frame

But the Cougars survived those heavy blows and counterpunched. Ryan Nichols got Downingtown East on the scoreboard 4:19 into the third period and Anderson Frain tied the game with 6:44 left in regulation.

When Nichols scored his second goal of the game with 4:36 left in regulation the Cougars appeared to have the upper hand.

Shingle however did not agree with that line of reasoning. He tied the game 3:43 left on the clock before delivering the game winner that started out as a breakaway. Downingtown East goaltender Lucas Fleuty made the initial save on Sam Norton before Shingle followed up.

“Downingtown East is a great hockey team,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “Hats off to them, they’re well coached. We knew, going into the third, up 2-0 that it probably wasn’t going to end 2-0. I didn’t necessarily want to get down 3-2 but I’m proud of the boys. They continued to work, continued to battle.”

Downingtown East coach Mark Bobko praised his team’s resilience.

“Our guy showed a lot of heart,” he said. “Being down 2-0 going into the third, fighting back, and getting a lead.

“What I was telling them in the locker room was in games of this magnitude the margin of error is so tight that if you don’t expend every ounce of energy and focus it can tip the other way just as easily and that’s kind of what we saw here tonight.”

Downingtown East 0 0 3—3

North Penn 1 1 2—4

CR South 7 Spring-Ford 2

Council Rock South got off to a fast start Thursday night and never really slowed down.

Jeremy Rayher scored twice in the first period and the Golden Hawks went on to a 7-2 win over Spring-Ford Thursday night at Hatfield Ice Arena. Top-seeded South (22-2) will try to win its fourth Flyers Cup next Wednesday night when it faces North Penn (8:45 at Hatfield Ice).

Spring-Ford, the 12^th and last seed in the tournament, closed its season at 12-10-1 after winning two games to reach the semifinal round.

Rayher got his team on the scoreboard with 3:23 left in the opening and added a second goal with 57 second left. Those goals, his third and fourth of the tournament, set tone for the evening.

Rayher, a senior, spoke to the importance of the fast start.

“We all knew what my sophomore year with Pennsbury,” he said (the Hawks lost to the Falcons in the Flyers Cup semifinals).

“I just want that ring, everyone on the team wants that ring, so we all just came out hard, we came out with a mindset to win this game.

“We all just took it to them. We hit hard, we got a lot of shots on net. The goalie gave up lots of rebounds and we capitalized on them.”

Koen Gregg scored for the Rams 3:25 into the middle period to make it a 2-1 game but Daniel Filippov answered of South at the 6:34 mark.

The Hawks broke the game open when Jonah Weston, Rayher, and Jackson Mosley all scored goals in a span of 2 minutes, 39 seconds early in the third period. The balance of the period saw Spring-Ford’s Nathan Riley and the Hawks’ Peter Pereborow trade goals.

“We got a little rocky in the second period,” said South coach Joe Houk. “We let them get a real crappy goal, but o thought all in all our puck pursuit was there.

“Maybe a little too much individual play. We got away from our game plan a little bit there.”

But Houk was able to get his troops refocused during the break for the post-second period ice cut.

“I thought we outplayed them from start to finish,” hGoukouk Houk said. “We really didn’t give them much room to breathe.”

Spring-Ford coach Tom Kisela reflected on his first season behind the Rams’ bench.

“For me, this whole season begins and ends with the players,” he said. As a first-year head coach, sometimes ir can take time to establish a culture, but not with these guys. Right from the start, I knew these wanted someone to come in and push them to get better every day.

“For us, having the incredibly successful season we had is a combination of diversity and the lessons learned throughout the year.”

Spring-Ford 0 1 1—2

C.R. South 2 1 4—7

North Penn 5 Pennridge 0

It can be quite a challenge to face the defending state champions.

But North Penn had a resounding answer.

The Knights posted a 5-0 win over defending Flyers Cup and state champion Pennridge in Thursday’s quarterfinal game of the Flyers Cup at Hatfield Ice Arena.

Nolan Shingle got things started for North Penn, netting the first goal of the evening with an assist from Danial Cabrales and Samuel Norton with just over nine minutes to go in the first period.

James Boyle added a goal, assisted by Cabrales, with five minutes left in the second period to extend North Penn’s lead.

Cole Pluck scored back-to-back goals to put the game away in the third period. His first goal, coming less than two minutes into play, was assisted by Samuel Norton and Boyle while his second, coming six minutes later, was assisted by Shingle and Cabrales.

With 2:36 to go, Landon Hostetter iced the cake for the Knights with an assist from Chris Silvotti.

“We had a good team effort,” Pluck said. “We’ve got a great goaltender (Andy Norton) and we put a lot of trust in him.

“Late in the game, they were really trying to score and that opened up the ice a lot for us.”

The two teams are very familiar with each other. This was the third meeting between them this year. North Penn won the first game, 5-0, on December 19 and the rematch, 4-3, in overtime, on Jan. 29.

“We knew they were going to be good,” Andy Norton said. “We beat them two times this year, one in overtime, and coming into this game, we really knew that we had it.

“Our offense was really our defense. They played amazing.”

Norton made 24 saves in goal for North Penn.

“The second period I was definitely nervous just having that 1-0 lead but I had confidence that we’d score again,” he said.

It was the second time North Penn had shut out the Rams.

“That shows a lot,” Andy Norton said.

North Penn will take on third seed Downingtown East, a 4-0 winner over No. 6 Downingtown West, in the semifinals. The game will be Thursday at Hatfield at 8:45 p.m.

“This is the furthest we’ve gone in my four years here,” Pluck said. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

The loss wasn’t just the end of the season for Pennridge; it was the end of an era. Longtime head coach Jeff Montagna is stepping down.

“We’re not built to come back,” Montagna said. “When they got the lead they were able to put three guys back there and we didn’t play very smart. We didn’t play a good game today. Sometimes that just happens.

“You go as far as your talent takes you. You lose enough guys, eventually it has to end. I’d rather it was 5-0 than 2-1 in overtime.

“To come out here and get a Flyers Cup win (Tuesday’s 7-2 opening round victory over Avon Grove), we’ve done that for nine straight years and I don’t think any other team in the league has done that, I’m proud of them.”

Montagna guided the Rams to the Flyers Cup and state championships in both 2022 and 2024.

“This was the first high school job I had, and I didn’t really know what I was doing,” he said. “It’s a vastly different experience from club hockey. I was blessed with talent and talent has a way of making coaches look a lot better than they are.

“To know that our players, that every time they walk in this rink for the rest of their lives, they can look up and see the banners and go to their drawers and get their rings out, to know that the players get to do that, it’s really special.”

Pennridge 0 0 0—0

North Penn 1 1 3—5

First-period goal: Nolan Shingle (NP) from Danial Cabrales and Samuel Norton, 7:53

Second-period goal: James Boyle (NP) from Cabrales, 16:56

Third-period goals: Cole Pluck (NP) from S. Norton and Boyle, 1:16; Pluck (NP) from Shingle and Cabrales, 7:33; Landon Hostetter (NP) from Chris Silvotti, 15:24

Shots: Pennridge 24, North Penn 30; Saves: Jacob Winton (P) 21, Andrew Slutsky (P) 4; Andy Norton (NP)

C.R. South 5 Boyertown 3

This was absolutely the comeback of the season. And it couldn’t have come at a better time.

Council Rock South overcame a 3-0 deficit in the final 11:19 of the third period to defeat Boyertown, 5-3, in Thursday’s quarterfinal round of the Flyers Cup at Hatfield Ice Arena.

“We flipped a switch,” said CR South senior defenseman Peter Pereborow. “We went into the locker room for that intermission (when the Zamboni was resurfacing the ice) and just changed everything. We realized we can’t let any team get to us and that we had to come out battling. Any team can beat any team and we just had to find a way to win.

“This is a lesson learned. When they scored that third goal, I was like, ‘We’re going to dig down and find a way to win this one’ and we did. I’m so proud of us.”

Boyertown, the tourney’s ninth seed, started strong with a pair of first period goals, scoring on their first shot when Noah Cutillo took a feed from Braydon Havrilla while the Bears were on a power play barely two minutes into the game.

Logan Brown added a second goal for Boyertown, assisted by Cutillo.

After a scoreless second period, the Bears added a third goal while playing shorthanded when Cutillo’s pass found Jax Drost, who got it into the net.

“I think in the early portion of the game we were playing good,” CR South senior center Jackson Mosely said. “We just weren’t playing to our potential. We were getting a lot of shots, but they weren’t going on net. I think we got away from our game a little bit. Obviously, it was frustrating because we were shooting so much and we couldn’t get a goal but eventually we were able to get them in.

“When they put in that third goal, I thought it was just going to be a harder game for us to win. I knew we were going to have to go through some adversity.”

Then everything changed.

The Golden Hawks, seeded first in the tournament, netted a power play goal on their 56th shot of the game when Jeremy Rayher took a pass from Jack Weiner and Jackson Mosley with 11:19 to go.

That was the first of many, as Weiner scored with an assist from Jake Maurer on CR South’s next shot on goal with 10 minutes to go. A minute and a half later, Jordan Sarne (Rayher assist) tied it up with a power play goal.

Less than a minute later, Jagger Smith netted the game winner with an assist from Weiner, who iced the cake with an empty net goal with 38 seconds to go.

“We had some good bursts of momentum in the first and second periods, but I think we really got on board when we got that first goal,” Mosely said. “We needed to get one to get a few. I think they knew how good we are and once we got that first one, they were shaken a little bit.”

The Golden Hawks held an astounding 68-23 advantage in shots on goal.

“They have a great goalie (Tyler Griffith) and that’s hard to work against,” said Weiner, a junior forward. “In playoff hockey, anything can happen any time. We were going hard the whole game; we were taking a lot of shots. We just needed to bury one. There was never a doubt in my mind that we would pull it off.

“Being the one seed puts a target on our backs, but I love that. I love teams coming at us. It makes us work harder and not want to give up.

We’re excited for the next game. We know business is on the table and we have to finish, and we’ll take what we learned in this game as we move forward. Never give up. Keep shooting. Find a way to win.”

CR South advances to the semifinals and will take on 12th seeded Spring-Ford, a 4-0 winner over fourth seed Haverford.

Boyertown 2 0 1—3

Council Rock South 0 0 5—5

First-period goals: Noah Cutillo (B) from Brayden Havrilla, 2:10; Logan Brown (B) from Cutillo, 9:40

Third-period goals: Jax Drost (B) from Cutillo, :40; Jeremy Rayher (CRS) from Jack Weiner and Jackson Mosely, 5:41; Weiner (CRS) from Jake Maurer, 6:59; Jordan Sarne (CRS) from Rayher, 8:34; Jagger Smith (CRS) from Weiner, 9:06; Weiner (CRS), 16:22

Shots: Boyertown 23, Council Rock South 68; Saves: Tyler Griffith (B) 63; Trey Prozzillo (CRS) 20

P-W 9 Springfield-Delco 6

The goals came in bunches Monday night. Plymouth Whitemarsh stuck with the up-tempo approach that serve them so well during the season and continued to do so in its Flyers Cup debut.

Don Guller and Don Moloney each scored three goals as the Colonials overpowered Springfield Delco 9-6 in a Class A first-round game at Hatfield Ice Arena. Eighth-seeded Plymouth Whitemarsh (17-2) moves on to face top seed Garnet Valley Thursday night in the quarterfinals.

After falling to Hatboro-Horsham in the SHSHL American Division final last Thursday, Guller said his team came into the Flyers Cup with something to prove.

“Unfortunately we lost the championship to Hatboro-Horsham,” he said, “so I think that gave the urge to this team that ‘We need to go out here and win the game.'”

Springfield (5-15) goy things started with a goal from Gavin Ruppert 5:03 into the first period but tallies from Moloney, Blake Ambler, and John Zawislak have the Colonials a 3-1 advantage before the first period ended.

In the second frame, it was more of the same. Rocco Trivarelli scored for the Cougars 42 seconds into the period, but Guller, Ambler, and John Zawislak scored for Plymouth Whitemarsh in an eight-and-a-half minute span to make it a 6-3 game with 7:04 still left in the period.

In short, the game was evolving at pace the Cougars wanted to avoid.

“Offensively I thought we did a lot of things right,” said Springfield coach Dan Dilbeck. “The problem was, we broke down defensively too many times. We did not want to get into a run-and-gun match with these guys (the Cougars outshot the Colonials 39-31). We wanted to play a much more solid game on defense. That’s where we struggled this year and that’s where we struggled tonight.”

Springfield’s Mason Stallings made it a 6-3 game before Guller and Alexander Losaco traded goals to give the Colonials a three-goal cushion headed into a third period that saw Guller and Moloney complete their respective hat tricks with empty-net goal.

Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Vince Forti was pleased with the way his team recovered from their SHSHL finals loss.

“I think we really bounced back and responded,” he said. “and got back to playing the game the way we know we can.”

Forti said it was important for his team to see to their other responsibilities as well as score goals.

“That was the biggest thing we talked about going into this game,” he said. “Just keeping things simple, winning in the dirty areas, and doing the little things.

“At this point, when every game is must-win, you can’t take shifts off, you can’t take things lightly, and I think whatever team makes the least amount of mistakes ends up winning most of the time.”

Springfield 1 3 2—6

PW 3 4 2—9

First-period goals: Gavin Rupert (S) unassisted, 5:03; Don Moloney (PW) from Dan Guller, 6:19; Blake Ambler (PW) unassisted, 12:44 (sh); John Zawislak (PW) from Ryan Jagher 14:46

Second-period goals: Rocco Trivarelli (S) from James Happas and Jake Heston, :42; Ambler (PW) From Guller, 3:41 (pp); Guller (PW) from Luke Smith, 7:47; Moloney (PW) from Morgan Hulitt, 9:56; Mason Stallings (S) from Joe Clifford, 11:51; Guller (PW) from Smith, 14:05; Alexander Losacco (S) from Brendan Becker, 15:57

Third-period goals: Losacco (S) from Clifford, 6:19: Guller (PW) unassisted, 15:21 (en); Rupert (S) from Brandon Truax and Brett Rosser, 16:12; Moloney (PW) from Jagher, 16:46 (en)

Shots: Springfield 39, Plymouth Whitemarsh 31; Saves: Aidan Fitti (S) 22, Julian Lucks (PW) 33

Council Rock South 4 Central Bucks South 3

There wasn’t a lot of sizzle and finesse on display during Thursday night’s SHSHL National Division final. Instead, Central Bucks South and Council Rock South offered the near-capacity crowd at Grundy Arena a display of grind-it-out, blue-collar hockey.

It was the Golden Hawks who prevailed.

Jake Weiner’s goal with 4:31 left in regulation gave Council Rock South a 4-3 win. It marks the third consecutive SHSHL title for the top-seeded Hawks (20-2) and the fifth in school history.

“I don’t really think back about that kind of stuff,” said longtime South coach Joe Houk. “Because you always have a different group of kids.

“I was happy for these guys. We fought all year didn’t play our best hockey all year. We played our best hockey {in the semifinals against Pennridge}. We didn’t play our best tonight but we hung in there.”

The Hawks had to come from behind two to claim their championship laurels. The third-seeded Titans (17-6) took a 1-0 lead when Sean Cutter scored off an offensive right-circle faceoff 6:27 into the first period.

But when C.B. South was accessed three consecutive penalties, Jordan Sarne stepped up for the Hawks, first by redirecting Dan Fillipov’s shot from the left point to tie the game with 4:40 left in the period and then connecting on a shot from between the circles a little over three minutes later.

Sarne cited the strength of his team’s power-play unit.

“In practice we really work on it,” he said. “All the boys have come together, we work on our passing, shooting, we just work on everything. So, it works out.”

Keith Waldron tied the game for the Titans with 3:46 left in the middle period and Joey Slobodian who put Central Bucks South in front for the second time when he took advantage of a Central Bucks South turnover near the Hawks’ net.

But momentum shifted dramatically in the Hawks’ favor when, with exactly six minutes remaining in regulation during a protracted tussle along the wall behind his own net, the Titans’ Jeff Kvecher was flagged for delay of game.

Forty-nine seconds later, Jeremy Rayer’s goal tied the game and 40 seconds after that, Weiner delivered the game winner. He said he and his teammates felt they had something to prove.

“We’re not the {number one seed} for no reason,” he said. “They outworked us a little bit in the beginning and we came out stronger and we showed why we’re the better team.”

Weiner said he found the physical tone of the game appealing.

“That’s fun,” he said. “I love the blue-collar game. It makes it more fun, Big hits, working in the corners, I like that part of the game.

Central Bucks South coach Shaun McGinty came up short in bid for his team’s eighth SHSHL title.

“The right two teams were here,” he said. “Shots 28-25 (in the Hawks’ favor, 4-3 back and forth. It’s great for high-school hockey … I give my kids a ton of credit for losing with respect. Nothing at the end to interfere with our moving forward or their moving forward.”

Council Rock South is the top seed in the Class AA Flyers Cup and will face either Conestoga or Boyertown in a quarterfinal game on Thursday, The Titan, the fifth seed, will face Spring-Ford on Tuesday.

C.B. South 1 1 1—3

C.R. South 2 0 2—4

First-period goals: Sean Cutter (CBS) from Jake Stepp and Joey Slobodrian, 6:27; Jordan Sarne (CBS) from Dan Filippov and Jackson Mosley, 12:20 (pp); Sarne (CRS) from Jeremy Rayher and Mosley, 15:39 (pp)

Second-period goal: Keith Waldron (CBS) from Jeff Kvecher, 13:14

Third-period goals: Slobodian (CBS) from Ryan Frey and Cutter, 10:01; Jeremy Rayher (CRS) from Sarne, 11:49; Jake Weiner (CRS) from Jagger Smth, 12:29

Shots: C.B. South 25, C.R. South 28; Saves: Nate Neapolitano (CBS) 24, Trey Prozzillo (CRS) 22

H-H 5 Plymouth Whitemarsh 2

The second-seeded Hatboro Horsham Hatters clawed their way into the SHSHL American Division Championship game and brought its grit to the final upsetting the favored and defending divisional champions the Plymouth Whitmarsh Colonials 5-2 on Thursday night.

The victory marks the first for the Hatters since 2018. The game was also the first win for Hatboro Horsham against the Colonials this season. The teams met four times with Plymouth Whitemarsh claiming victory in all four contests by a combined score of 31-21.

The Hatters came out hot holding a 6-1 shot advantage through the first five minutes before Joseph Magnin Jr. capitalized on the team’s sixth shot of the game thanks to the help of Francis Stanchek and Cole Meyer. Six minutes later Evan Snow collected the loose puck off an initially blocked shot and found the stick of Victor Wilkins to give the Hatters a 2-0 advantage at the end of the first period.

The Colonials offense gained momentum leading the Hatters 11-5 in shots through the first 12 minutes of the second period. Wilkins found himself in the penalty box for a cross check leaving Plymouth Whitemarsh with the advantage firing off five shots in the two minutes. As the penalty expired, Charles Spause collected the puck off to the left and passed into the center for the quick flick into the net by Luke Smith to put the Colonials on the board, 2-1.

Wilkins wasted no time finding the stick of William Moffa to regain a two-goal lead for the Hatters just 14 seconds later. Daniel Guller made it a one-goal game for the Colonials once more off the assist from Cooper Kanze to end the period trailing the Hatters 3-2.

Hatboro Horsham turned up the heat in the final period. The duo of Wilkins and Snow paired up once more just 51 seconds into action to create a two-goal lead for the Hatters for the second time, 4-2.

“I love playing with the younger guys. I like bringing them up and helping them out. He [Snow] stepped up big time. He’s never played like that before and I couldn’t ask for anything more for me or my linemates,” stated Wilkins on the duo’s performance.

Guller saw his chance to cut the deficit to one once more with a breakaway fighting through two defenders but ultimately was stuffed by goaltender Eric Miller. Magnin secured his second goal of the night off the assist from Vincent Graziani securing the 5-2 victory.

Despite the heart-breaking loss, the Colonials look to what lies ahead as they prepare for the Class A Flyers Cup seeded at No. 8 and ready to face Springfield-Delco on Monday night.

“Not the way we wanted to end things, but a good season overall. I think we did a lot of good things and looking to bounce back from this and hopefully roll into the Flyers Cup with a better outcome,” said Plymouth Whitemarsh head coach Vince Forti.

As for the Hatters, head coach Shane Smith touched on the singular message he gave his team heading into the contest.

“Love. We started off with our speech and we did the old Herb Albert. We play them five times. They may beat us four times, but tonight is our night. And tonight proved to be our night,” said Smith.

“We’ve gone to task with them and have had a few close games. I told the boys at the beginning of the season that this is a championship team, and I believed in them and loved them. They came out and have done everything we ever asked. Our goaltender stepped up and had a game like he never has before. We got everything we needed out of the boys. I can’t say enough for them. This was all them.”

As for senior captain Wilkins, this night and this moment was one that he will never forget.

“It means everything. We worked so hard for this. Coming out against an undefeated team like PW. It’s surreal. I couldn’t ask for anything else for my senior season,” exclaimed Wilkins.

The journey isn’t quite over for the Hatters yet as they also move onto the Class A Flyers Cup. Seeded at 14, Hatboro Horsham will celebrate tonight before shifting their focus to Radnor on Monday.

First Period Scoring: Joseph Magnin Jr. (HH) from Francis Stanchek and Cole Meyers, 12:09; Victor Wilkins (HH) from Evan Snow, 6:59

Second Period Scoring: Luke Smith (PW) from Charles Spause, 2:30; Wiliam Moffa (HH) from Victor Wilkins, 2:16; Daniel Guller (PW) from Cooper Kanze, 0:37

Third Period Scoring: Victor Wilkins (HH) from Evan Snow, 16:09; Joseph Magnin Jr. (HH) from Vincent Graziani, 7:03

Shots: Plymouth Whitemarsh 39, Hatboro Horsham 29

Saves: Eric Miller 34, Julian Lucks 27

Championhip Thursday 2-27

SHSHL

American Division Final

Hatboro-Horsham 5 Plymouth Whitemrash 2

National Division Final

Council Rock South 4vs. Central Bucks South 3

ICSHL

Prep/Catholic Final

Salesianum 6 Devon Prep 2—The Sallies overcame a 2-1 second-period deficit with five straight goals over the last period and a half. Connor Davis scored twice foe Salesianum with both goals coming in the third period.

Ches-Mont Final

Kennett 2 West Chester Henderson 1—Luke Ganley scored the winning goal with 5:11 left in the third period. Lucas Mott also scored for Kennett. Nick Denrdi’s goal gave Henderson a 1-0 lead late in the first period.

Central Final

Garnet Valley 10 Haverford High 0—A.J. Tenhuisen scored three goals and Dylan Orr added two more as Garnet Valley rolled to the Central League title at Ice Works. jake Morrow and Jake Robinson each recorded three assists.