Souderton 9 C.B. South 8 OT

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—Souderton and Central Bucks South had quite a shootout Thursday night. With SHSHL playoff positioning and possible Flyers Cup seedings in the mix, the Big Red and the Titans, both of whom were coming off losses 24 hours earlier, took the ice at Hatfield Ice with guns blazing.

What followed was a collection of 17 goals, 16 penalties and a result that posed some interesting questions about what the stretch run if the regular season will look like.

It was Souderton who prevailed in the end. Ben Fadden’s power-play goal 68 seconds into overtime gave the Big Red a 9-8 win in a game that reconfigured the SHSHL National Division’s landscape.

The win lifted Souderton to 6-8 on the season and strengthened its hold on the division’s sixth and final playoff spot.

Souderton coach Ryan Uchniat spoke to the significance of the result.

“It’s huge,” he said. “We lost a tough one {Wednesday to Central Bucks West]. We needed this.”

Fadden’s game winner, his second goal of the game, came while the Titans’ Sean Cutter was in the box serving a holding penalty.

“It was a big win,” Fadden said. “We had to have it, we needed it for the team.”

On only one occasion did either team hold more than a one goal lead. That moment came with 5:32 left in the second period when Seth Grossman completed a hat trick and in so doing gave Souderton a 5-3 advantage.

At that point, South coach Shaun McGinty made a goaltender change, lifting Nathan Napolitano in place of starter Dominic Varacallo.

Aidan Linso and D.J. Lindenmuth scored goals for South to tie the game with 2:35 left in the period and neither team led by more than a goal the rest of the way.

At evening’s end the scoresheet listed some impressive totals. Grossman paced Souderton with four goals and two assists while Maxwell Ryon scored two goals and contributed six assists.

D.J. Lindenmuth had a six-point night for the Titans (10-5-1, 10-4-1 in divisional play) on the strength of three goals and three assists. Aidan Linso added two goals and two assists while Jake Stepp contributed a goal and two assists.

The ramifications of Thursday’s result will likely reverberate for some time.

“This is big for us,” Uchniat said. ”It gives our guys some confidence that we can play with the upper-echelon teams. South is one of the top programs in the league and they have been for years.

“The team rallied tonight. We ran into some penalty trouble but our kill was on. Out goalie [Connor Paulus] played strong and gave us an opportunity to stay in it.”

McGinty said his team was impacted by having to spend much of the night in special-teams situations.

“Lots of penalties is just not our game on both sides,” he said. I don’t want to kill penalties. I want to be five on five; we’re a five-on-five team.

“But kudos to then, you’ve got to tip your hat. It’s a loss for us to take and learn from.”

Fadden believes Thursday’s win will help he and teammates set a tone for the balance of the season.

“Just through work ethic and going out and wanting to just take everything we can,” he said. “Every inch of ice. Every step we can possibly take to get past a team.”

Souderton 2 3 3 1—9

C.B. South 2 4 2 0—8

First-period goals: D.J. Lindenmuth (CBS) from Aidan Linso, :49 (pp); Seth Grossman (S) from Nick Smith, 5:51 (pp); Grossman (S) from Max Ryon and Drew Savarese, 15:09; Lindenmuth (CBS) from Peter Herring, 16:44

Second-period goals: Ryan Frey (CBS) from Jake Stepp and Lindenmuth, :20; Savarese (S) from Ryon, 4:38; Ben Fadden (S) from Grossman and Ryon, 5:16; Grossman (S) from Ryon, 11:28; Linso (CBS) from Lindenmuth, 12:05 (pp); Lindenmuth (CBS) from Linso, 14:25 (sh); Linso from Stepp and Lindenmuth, 16:18 (pp)

Third-period goals: Grossman (S) from Ryon, :41 (pp); Ryon (S) from Savarese and Grossman, 1:14; Keith Waldron (CBS) from Jeff Kvetcher and Logan Good, 2:21; Stepp from Sean Cutter, 13:44; Ryon (S) from Smith, 14:24.

Overtime goal: Fadden (S) from Smith and Ryon, 1:08

Shots: Souderton 40, C.B. South 48 Saves: Connor Paulus (S) 40, Dominic Varacallo (CBS) 16 and Nathan Napolitano (CBS) 15

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

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

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

C.B. East 2 North Penn 1

Even in December, points are precious. Which is Friday’s matchup between North Penn and Central Bucks East, which closed out the pre-Christmas portion of the SHSHL schedule, was so significant.

It was the Patriots who prevailed on this occasion. Charlie Keiser and Alex Wilson scored goals 51 seconds apart midway through the second period to give East a 2-1 win at Hatfield Ice.

Despite being outshot 34-15 the Patriots improved to 6-3 as the SHSHL National Division schedule hit the halfway point. North Penn (6-3) got a goal from Cole Pluck with 1:53 left in the middle period but couldn’t solve Cole Breen the rest of the way.

Breen finished with 33 saves, 15 of them in the third period.

East’s goalie played outstanding,” said North Penn coach Kevon Vaitis. “Hats off to him. We didn’t play well enough in the second period and we didn’t do enough to generate quality scoring chances.”

C.B. East 0 2 0—2

North Penn 0 1 0

Second-period goals: Charlie Keiser (CBE) from Ethan Cenci, 9:29 (pp); Alex Wilson (CBE) unassisted, 10:20; Cole Pluck (NP), 15:07

Shots: C.B. East 15, North Penn 34; Saves: Cole Breen (CBE) 33, Maks-Joseph Harkins (NP) 13)

Souderton 10 C.R. North 9

Souderton and Council Rock North had quite a shootout Friday night. The two teams combined for 19 goals before the Big Red emerged a 10-9 winner at the Bucks County Ice Sports Center.

The Big Red (3-6 in the National Division) built a 5-2 first-period lead and never trailed but had to hang on down the stretch to withstand a four-goal third-period surge from the Indians (0-10).

Souderton used a pair of goals from Nick Smith and another from Max Ryon to build a 3-0 lead just 9:45 into the first period.

By the end of the second frame the Big Red had a 9-5 advantage but the Indians came storming back

“We popped in a couple [early goals] and had a little bit of a lead, said Souderton coach Ryan Uchniat, “but there were a couple really good players on their team. They took it to us a little bit.”

Drew Borden and Nick Hahn scored for goals for North three-and-a-half minutes apart to make it a two-goal game with12:18 still to play in regulation.

Matt Malanga scored what would prove to be Souderton’s winning goal with 6:42 left but North kept coming. A goal from Michael Booth made it a 10-8 game with 4:12 left before Ryan Keil scored his second goal of the game, a power-play effort with 40 seconds remaining, leaving the outcome in doubt.

“It was a back-and-forth game ,” Uchniat said. “We would get a couple, they would get a couple, and it was like that until the very end.

“They scored the power-play goal and get the score to 10-9 and they put a lot of pressure on us the last 40 seconds. I’m very happy that our team was able to lock it down at the very end.”

Smith topped his team in the scoring column with four goals and an assist. Ryon finished with a hat trick of hos own, contributing three goals and an assist. Matt Malanga authored two goals and Carmon Fairweather also scored.

Hahn paced North with three goals and an assist. Kiel had two assists to go with his two goals while Jackson Accardi added two goals and an assist.

“A couple of the players on their teams were really standouts,” Uchniat said.
Uchniat credited his young team for being able to prevail in a close game. “It’s good to see games like that and be able to get that positive outcome,” he said. It’s a strong building block. It’s a long season. We’ve hit the halfway point. We’ll use this break to regroup and hopefully have a stronger second half.”

Souderton 5 4 1—10

C.R. North 2 3 4—9

First-period goals: Nick Smith (S) unassisted, 2:33; Smith (S) from Jackson Kelly, 4:04; Maxwell Ryon (S) from Cameron Fairweather, 9:45; Nick Hahn (CRN) from Jackson Accardi, 10:06; Smith (S) from Matthew Cross, 12:38 (pp); Smith (S) unassisted,15:41; Accardi (CRN) from Ivan Bondra

Second-period goals: Hahn (CRN) from Ryan Keil, :55; Accardi (CRN) from Michael Booth and Keil, 3:52; Keil (CRN) from Hahn, 7:23 (pp) Ryon (S) from Caden O’Neill, 9:47; Ryon (S) from O’Neill, 10:15; Matt Malanga (S) from Smith and Ryon, 16:07 (pp); Fairweather (S) unassisted, 16:42 (pp)

Third-period goals: Drew Borden (CRN), 1:13; Hahn (CRN) unassisted, 4:42; Malanga (S) from Drew Savarese, 10:18; Booth (CRN) unassisted, 12:48; Keil (CRN) from Bondra, 16:20 (pp)

Shots: Souderton 34, C.R. North 29; Saves: Connor Paulus (S) 20; Michael Jacoby (CRN) 24

Pennridge 6 C.B. South 5 OT

HATFIELD TOWNSIP—It was quite a comeback. Trailing 5-1 early in the third period, Pennridge rallied for a 6-5 overtime win over Central Bucks South Thursday night at Hatfield Ice in a SHSHL National Division encounter.

James Rush scored the winning goal 1:23 into overtime.

The win, the Rams’ 10^th without a blemish this season, comes 24 hours after Wednesday’s much-celebrated win over Council Rock South. From the Rams’ perspective, Thursday’s comeback win was just as emotional, a comeback fueled in part by an injury to a goaltender.

With 2:29 left in the second period and the Titans (6-3-1, 6-2-1 in the division holding a 2-1 lead, Pennridge netminder Jacob Winton was involved in a collision with a South player in his crease. After a lengthy delay, Winton, the only goaltender the Rams had dressed, remained in the game.

No penalty was called on the play but when play finally resumed the emotional temperature of the game rose exponentially.

“I don’t think he tried to run the goalie,” said the Rams’ Colin Dachowski, “but if your goalie goes down like that, you always want to have his back and come back for him.”

Winton himself seemed to be feeling the effect of the collision. Ryan Frey extended South’s lead with 56 seconds remaining in the second period before D.J. Lindenmuth and Joey Slobodrian connected two miutes apart in the third to give the Titans a four-goal lead with 11:05 remaining in regulation.

Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna knew Winton was struggling.

“He wasn’t right,” Montagna said. “I think three of the next five shots they scored on. I don’t know what [the collision] did. I think it kind of ignited some of them because they were upset that it happened. I’m not really sure what happened on the play. But it did wake us up a little bit.”

Andrew Savona, with help from Kevin Peco, got Pennridge back in the game with a pair of shorthanded goals just 18 seconds apart to make it a 5-3 game with 9:43 left in regulation.

Pico scored a goal of his own during a power play to make it a one-goal game with 7:56 still left, the key question was whether the Titans could stymie the Pennridge assault.

Savona gave an emphatic answer when he completed a hat trick and tied the game with 4:19 remaining.

Rush’s winning goal came on his team’s only shot of the extra session.

South coach Shaun McGinity said his team’s lack of experience in pressure situations led to its undoing.

“Individuals allowed themselves to become individuals rather than team,” he said, “and we had about a minute-and-a-half of a lapse. Pennridge, being the team they are with the experience they have, they were able to capitalize on two shorthanded goals.

“Once that ball starts to roll. It’s a challenge for young players to gather themselves back together.

“I’ll take the onus on that; I’ve got to do a better job of helping them regain that focus.”

Coming just a day after the emotional won over Council Rock South, Montagna praised his team’s resolve.

“It’s really difficult, after last night’s emotion, to go down 5-1 and somehow summon the energy and emption to rally like they did,” he said. “That’s as good a rally as you’re ever going to see especially coming off last night,

Pennridge 0 1 4 1—6

C.B. South 0 3 2 0—5

Second-period goals: Jeff Kvetcher (CBS) unassisted, 7:54; Nolan Shaw (P) unassisted,9:29; Sean Cutter (CBS) from Kvetcher and Jake Kunkle, 13:55; Ryan Frey (CBS) from Ryan Montagna,16:04

Third-period goals: D.J. Lindenmuth (CBS) unassisted, 3:50; Joey Slobodrian (CBS) from Aidan Linzo, 5:55; Andrew Savona (P) from Kevin Pico, 6:59 (sh); Savona (P) from Pico, 7:17 (sh); Pico (P) from James Rush and John Mikolich, 9:04 (pp); Savona (P) from Mikolich, 12:41

Overtime goal: Young (P) from Colin Dachowski, 1:23

Shots: Pennridge 35, C.B. South 41; Saves: Jacob Winton (Pr) 36: Dominic Varacallo (CBS) 29

Pennridge 7 C.R. South 3

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—The level of anticipation could not have been higher for a regular-season game, particularly one being played nearly two weeks before Christmas.

A full house at the Hatfield Ice Blue Rink greeted Pennridge and Council Rock South when they took the ice Wednesday night for a matchup between two bona fide SHSHL and Flyers Cup title contenders.

On this night, it was Rams who emerged victorious by a count of 7-3 to remain unbeaten at 9-0 overall and in SHSHL National Division play. The Golden Hawks suffered their first setback of the season; they stand at 8-1 overall and 7-1 in the division.

Both teams rely on potent offenses and the stars were shining brightly. Shane Dachowski collected a hat trick for the Rams and added two assists. Andrew Savona’s two goals were accompanied by three assists.

Kevin Koles and Blaize Pepe had two-point nights for South; each contributed a goal and an assist.

But even amidst all this firepower, a goaltender stood out, namely Pennridge’s Jacob Winton. The Rams were outshot 40-30 but Winton a junior, finished his evening’s work with 37 saves.

“They’re an absolutely amazing high-output team,” Winton said of his opponents. “We knew that coming into it. They’re an absolutely great hockey team.”

Winton made some big stops at key times when the outcome was still in doubt. Among them was his denial of Illia Mukhin on a backhander five minutes into the second period.

“Obviously, that boosts my confidence,” he said, “giving me that extra jump when they come down. And I think it gives my team an extra jump when they go down to the other end of the ice.”

The Golden Hawks drew first blood when Jackson Mosley beat Winton 6:54 into the opening period. Colin Dachowski answered for Pennridge when he put in his own rebound with 1:37 left in the period, allowing his team to draw even in a period that saw it outshot 12-9.

Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna noted that his netminder stepped up on a night when the spotlight was shining bright.

“He was never in this environment,” Montagna said, “even in the Flyers Cup finals. He was awesome tonight.

“In a 1-1 game I thought he made one of the best toe saves that you’ll see a goalie make. I thought that was the turning point in the game.”

Kevin Pico’s goal 5:33 into the second frame gave Pennridge the lead for good. Shane Dachowski extended the lead at 9:00 before Kevin Koles put in a rebound to make it a one-goal game with 8:22 left in the middle session.

Shane Dachowski took over from there, completing his hat trick before the period ended.

The Hawks found themselves shorthanded more than they would have preferred, they drew 14 penalties for 36 minutes. The Rams were whistled for nine infractions for 26 minutes. The two teams will have a rematch on February 7 at Grundy Arena.

C.R. South 1 1 1—3

Pennridge 1 4 2—7

First-period goal: Jackson Mosley (CRS) from Blaize Pepe, 6:54; Colin Dachowski (P) unassisted,15:23

Second-period goals: Kevin Pico P) from Nick Young and Andrew Savona, 5:33; Shane Dachowski (P) from Pico, 8:00; Kevin Koles (CRS) from Jake Weiner and Illia Mukhin, 8:38; Shane Dachowki (P) Savona 9:26; Shane Dachowski (P) from Pico and Savona, 14:56 (pp)

Third-period goals: Savona (P) from Shane Dachowski and Pico, 1:04; Savona (P) from Pico and Shane Dachowski, 6:15 (pp); Pepe (CRS) from Koles, 14:52

Shots: C.R. South 40, Pennridge 30; Saves: Trevor Rakszawski (CRS) 32, Jacob Winton (P) 37

C.B. South 8 C.B. East 1

In boxing, there are crossroads fights. In hockey, there are crossroads games. Central Buck East and Central Bucks South found themselves at a crossroads Friday night, with each looking to vault themselves into the top tier of the SHSHL National Division standings.

It was the Titans who made the climb, on the strength of seven unanswered goals over the last two periods-plus to post an 8-1 win at the Bucks County Ice Sports Center that boosted their record to 6-1-1 in league play (6-2-1 overall. The result put South within three points of first-place Pennridge and a single point behind second-place Council Rock South, which has a game in hand.

Jeff Kvecher scored twice for the winning side, six other players scored one goal each.

Perhaps the most eye-catching stat of the evening however was the Titans limiting the Patriots (4-3) to just one goal.

South defenseman Aiden Linso touted his team’s defensive effort.

“We play together as a team,” he said, “so really we knew what we had to do.

“The offense comes back, plays [defense] and we work the puck out to our wingers, so we knew they weren’t scoring a lot of goals tonight.”

D.J. Lindenmuth gave South a 1-0 lead 2:56 into the opening period on a shot from the deep right wing. Corey Kosick tied the game at the 14:56 mark when he forced a turnover in the South defensive zone and scored on a solo effort.

The East offense, which been averaging better than four goals a game prior to Friday night, was not heard from thereafter, to the chagrin of Patriot coach Jeff Mitchell.

“I don’t know what was up with my team tonight,” he said. “It’s completely unacceptable in my opinion.”

Leading 2-1 after the first frame, the Titans broke the game open with two goals in the second period and four more in the third.

Linso, who assisted on three goals himself, stressed the importance of he and his teammates maintaining their focus after they built their lead.

“It’s real important,” he said. “Teams can come back just like that. We had to make sure everybody was doing their job. People can’t be getting goal hungry. If we stay together as a team, we’ll keep winning games like that.”

South coach Shaun McGinty noted that his team’s defensive work could have been better.
“I don’t want to take anything away from East,” he said. “They’re a good team, they’ve got some guys that can put the puck in the net but we had some guys that were trying to fly the zone a little earlier than normal and not protecting the house as we call it.

“That stuff’s going to haunt you against a C.R. South, Pennridge, against East when they’re firing.”

Ice chips—The National Division standings may look different at the end of next week. Council Rock South and Pennridge will met on Wednesday before the Rams take on the Titans the following night. Both games will be at Hatfied Ice.

C.B. East 1 0 0—1

C.B. South 2 2 4—8

First-period goals: D.J. Lindenmuth (CBS) from Jake Stepp and Aidan Linso, 2:51; Corey Kosick (CBE) unassisted, 14:56 (sh); Joey Slobodrian (CBS) from Jeff Kvecher, 16:34

Second-period goals: Jake Kunkle (CBS) unassisted, 1:50; Kvecher (CBS) from Sean Cutter 16:27 (pp)

Third-period goals: Ryan Frey (CBS) from Cutter, 2:27 (sh); Colin Mendham (CBS) from Linso and Alex Cannon, 6:21; Stepp (CBS) unassisted at 7:12; Kvecher (CBS) from Linso and Logan Hood, 9:32

Shots: C.B. East 14, C.B. South 31; Saves: Cole Breen (CBE) 23, Dom Varacallo (CBE) 13