Council Rock South 5 Holy Ghost Prep 4

WARWICK TOWNSHIP—There was an air of anticipation in the building when Holy Ghost Prep and Council Rock South took the ice at Revolution Ice Gardens Monday night.

The matchup brought together two teams who are legitimate Flyers Cup contenders in their respective classes; the Firebirds in Class AAA and the Golden Hawks in Class AA.

It was the Golden Hawks who prevailed on this occasion overcoming am early 2-0 deficit to post a 5-4 win.

Monday’s game was also a meeting of two of the area’s most respected coaches. Joe Houk has been at Council Rock South for 17 seasons. Gump Whiteside has been at Holy Ghost Prep for 15 seasons and spent eight years at Germantown Academy before that.

Both Houk and Whiteside have won scores of games and have Flyers Cup and state titles on their resumes. They share a passion for the game of hockey—and a mutual respect that goes back to when they played against each other in their high-school days.

“Joe’s a pro,” Whiteside. “Quite honestly, he’s been a mentor to me. I’ve coached Joe for many, many, many, many years and he’s always been a pro,

“He always approaches it the right way. He doesn’t have an ego it’s not about him. It’s about his players.

“And you could see it tonight. He had his team prepared. Joe is the ultimate pro, the ultimate mentor, and quite honestly a great guy.”

Whiteside noted the tenaciousness Houk’s teams regularly bring to the rink.

“They play with grit,” he said.”

Houk similar sentiments.

“Gump is a good guy, a good human being,” he said. “He brings such a good quality of the sport to the game.

“He’s a man of character. And he cares about the kids. It’s not ‘Win at all costs’ with him. It’s more about development and hopefully, you move some of those kids on.

“He’s just a good guy. He’s a good guy for the sport.”

• Jake Weiner scored a pair of goals 45 seconds apart that turned a 2-2 standoff into a 4-2 South lead and the Golden Hawks never trailed again.

The win was South’s 11^th of the season against two defeats with one of the losses coming in overtime.

Houk said going against a team the Firebirds said a lot about his own team’s potential for success.

“If we can at that sustained level we played at tonight,” he said. “The physical part of it, keeping things simple, keeping things to the outside, getting the opportunities on transition. I thought we controlled the whole game (but) they’re good. They’ve got some really, really good skill players. They move the puck well. They’re a good team. They’re going to go far too.”

Brady Baehser scored three goals for the Firebirds, who saw their record drop to 13-6.

“We got up 2-0 and that’s when we started to take them lightly,” he said. “And we just fell apart.”
Baehser said the defeat highlighted the importance delivering a solid effort from the start to finish of each game.”

“We’re a very talented team and we think we can win games based off that. But that outworked us all night, all three periods and it showed on the scoreboard.”

Holy Ghost Prep 2 2 0—4

Council Rock South 2 3 0—5

First-period goals: Landon Stout (HGP) from Patrick Slook and John Seravalli, 1:03; Brady Baehser (HGP) from Seravalli, 5:18; Blaize Peppe (CRS) unassisted, 8:39; Kevin Koles (CRS) from Gavin Nisenson, :41

Second-period goals: Jake Weiner (CRS) from Illia Muckhin, 3:19; Weiner (CRS) from Jeremy Rayher, 4:04; Baehser (HGP) from Seravalli, 8:26 (pp); Joseph Diiulio (CRS) from Weiner and Pepe, 12:04; Baehser (HGP) from Stout, 12:35 (pp)

Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 27, Council Rock South 41; Saves: Jack Unger (HGP) 36 Carson Lopez (CRS) 23

SHSHL Recap 1-25-23

National Division W L T OTL Pts

C.R. South (9-1-0-1) 4 0 0 1 9

Pennridge (9-3) 4 1 0 0 8

C.B. South (7-5-0-1) 4 2 0 0 8

Pennsbury (8-4) 4 2 0 0 8

Neshaminy (8-3-1) 3 1 1 0 7

C.B. East (7-4-1) 3 1 1 0 7

C.R. North (3-8-1-1) 2 3 1 1 6

C.B. West (4-9) 2 4 0 0 4

Souderton (4-8-0-1) 2 5 0 0 4

Bensalem (2-9) 1 3 0 0 2

North Penn (3-7-1-1) 0 4 1 1 1

American Division W L T OTL Pts

Abington (11-0-1-0) 8 0 1 0 17

Plymouth Whitemarsh (7-5) 5 4 0 0 10

Wissahickon (6-6) 4 5 0 0 8

Quakertown (7-4-1-0) 5 4 1 0 11

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

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Scoring

National Division G A Pts

Brendan Macainsh (Pb) 22 11 33

Andrew Savona (Pr) 14 18 32

Seth Grossman (Soud) 17 11 28

Kevin Pico (Pr) 13 15 28

Aydin Thierolf (CBS) 13 12 25

Alex Hood (Ben) 20 5 25

Max Gallagher (Nesh) 16 8 24

Shane Dachowski (Pr) 15 9 24

Corey Kosick (CBE) 14 8 22

Blaise Pepe (CRS) 11 10 21

American Division G A Pts

Matthew Flynn (PW) 15 16 31

Branden McNally (Q) 16 11 27

Ian Heydt (Ab) 11 16 27

Will Hussa (Wiss) 21 5 26

Matt Kramer (Ab) 17 9 26

Seth Abramson (Ab) 12 13 25

Pat Stelacio (Ab) 14 10 24

Dylan Novitski (PW) 13 11 24

David Branigan (PW) 9 15 24

Jordan Heydt (Ab) 16 6 22

Abington 7 Quakertown 2

WARWICK TOWNSHIP—It’s the nature of hockey that teams will skate a portion of each game shorthanded. Abington and Quakertown were shorthanded before Friday’s SHSHL American Division game even began.
Abington was down five players because of injuries and illness while the Panthers had just nine skaters dressed.

The Galloping Ghosts made the most of what they had, rolling to a 7-2 win at the Bucks County Ice Sports Center.

Ian Heydt and Sam Paulik each scored two goals in the winning effort, which pushed Abington to 11-0-1 overall and 10-0-1 in divisional play;

Quakertown dropped to 7-4-1 overall and 6-4-1 in the division.

The Panthers sit in second place in the division, eight points behind the Galloping Ghosts.

The win was Abington’s second in three tries against Quakertown this season. The third, a 2-2 tie on December 23 is the only blemish on Abington’s record. The Galloping Ghosts scored a 5-4 win over the Panthers on December 9.

Abington got off to a fast start. Owen Adamski and Paulik scored goals to give their team a 2-0 lead 4:56 into the opening period.

“It’s always good to get a good first step in the game,” Paulik said, “and try to get one in the net quick to set the momentum of the game.”

Quakertown answered when Jack Diliberto beat Abington netminder Sam Nemec at the 9:16 mark. Lucas Cunnane tied the game 2:58 into the second session. But that was all the Panthers could manage as the lack of numbers caught up to them. Abington scored the last seven goals of the evening.

“I don’t think we gave up a ton of big plays in terms of breakaways and things like that,” Quakertown coach Keith Krem said. “But, there’s a lot in front of the paint, right in front of the net, that’s where they scored. They didn’t score from the outside, they scored from right in front of the net.”

Back-to-back goals from Heydt plus a tally from Matt Kramer gave Abington a 5-2 lead after the second period. Paulik and Griffin Carpenter added goals in the third.

Abington came into the season with high expectations and Carpenter, the Galloping Ghosts’ captain says for the most part, those expectations have been met.

“I’d say we came up to expectations,” he said. “We started off hot, and we keep going.”

Abington hasn’t lost a game since the first round of last year’s Class AA Flyers Cup tournament. Carpenter doesn’t consider the 12-game unbeaten streak to be a burden.

“I don’t feel like it,” he said. “I feel like we can just keep going and keep winning.”

Quakertown 1 1 0—2

Abington 2 3 2—7

First-period goals: Owen Adamski (A) from Brian Murdoch, 3:41; Sam Paulik (A) from Griffin Carpenter, 4:56; Jack Diliberto (Q) from Josh Tolchin, 9:16

Second-period goals: Lucas Cunnane (Q) from Cole Slemmer, 2:58; Ian Heydt (A) from Sam Abramson and Matt Kramer, 4:56 (pp); Heydt (A) from Kramer, 8:53; Kramer (A) from Abramson, 15:10

Third-period goals: Paulik (A) from Seamus Donofry, 2:49; Carpenter (A) from Heydt, 111:58 (pp)

Shots:Quakertown 39, Abington 46; Saves: Matt Krem (Q) 39, Sam Nemec (A) 37

Pennridge 7 C.B. South 2

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP— An evening that began with a lot of buildup evolved into a blowout.

Pennridge dominated from start to finish Wednesday in the course of a 7-2 win over Central Bucks South in a key SHSHL National Division matchup in front of a full house at Hatfield Ice.

Shane Dachowski fueled the Rams effort, contributing a pure hat trick plus two assists as his team won its fourth straight game and served notice that it is not prepared to surrender its SHSHL, Flyers Cup, and state titles, at least not without first making a vigorous defense of those laurels.

The Rams started the evening in aggressive fashion by jumping to a 2-0, and were never headed.

“That was our plan,” Dachowski said. “We weren’t supposed to let them have space at all. We know how they play. We play them all the time and we have a thing going with them.”

The Rams (9-3, 4-1 in divisional play) got things started 5:06 into the first frame when Tyler Manto scored off a scramble in front of Titan goaltender Dom Varacallo via a setup from Dachowski. It became a 2-0 game with 40 seconds left in the period when Dachowski sent a pass up the center of the ice Andrew Lizak collected the puck and beat Varacallo at the end of a breakaway.

The Titans (7-4-0-1 overall, 4-2 in the division) got on the scoreboard 2:26 into the middle period thanks to a goal from Aydin Thierolf.

But after that it was all Pennridge. Varacallo found himself under heavy fire and his support was lacking. Dachowski scored a power-play goal at the 5:09 mark, then promptly scored his second goal of the night 14 seconds later. He completed a pure hat trick with a shorthanded goal at 9:25. Andrew Savona made it a 6-1 game with 4:56 left in the period. South coach Shuan McGinty eventually rescued Varacallo from the barrage while making it clear the scoreline was not the netminder’s fault.

“Our goalie has been playing well all season,” he said, “we let him hang out to try. I pulled him because it’s just not good for his confidence.

“All in all, they played well, we didn’t.”

The Titans Aidan Linso and Lizak traded goals in the third period.

Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna says his team is playing as well now as it has all season. “That’s three games against good teams with Pennsbury, this game, and Neshaminy,” he said. (The Rams won all three games and scored 23 goals in the process). “We’ve really started to find out who we are. It took some time this year but they’re really starting to click. It’s cool to watch.”

The Titans suffered a major loss with 3:01 left in the game when Matt Crouch was accessed a major penalty plus a game misconduct for a check from behind; he’ll serve as suspension when South faces Council Rock South net Thursday in another game with significant playoff and Flyers Cup implications.

“We’ve got to finish up the season hard here,” McGinty said. “We have (Council Rock South) net and we won’t have our captain because of a selfish play.

“Guys are going to have step up.” and we have Pennsbury still to go.”

Pennridge 2 4 1—7

C.B. South 0 1 1—2

First-period goals: Tyler Manto (P) from Shane Dachowski 5:06; Andrew Lizak (P) from Shane Dachowski, 16:20

Second-period goals: Aydin Thierolf (CBS) from D.J, Lindenmuth and Colin Mendham, 2:26; Shane Dachowski (P) from Colin Dachowki and Kevin Pico, 5:09 (pp); Shane Dachowski (P) from Andrew Savona, 5:23; Shane Dachowski (P) from Pico, 9:25 (sh); Savona (P) from Ian Brouse, 12:04

Third-period goals: Aidan Linso (CBS) from Sean Cutter and Ryan Frey, 6:59 (pp); Lizak (P) unassisted, 9:06

Shots: Pennridge 39, C.B. South 31

SHSHL Update 1-17-23

National Division W L T OTL Pts

C.B. South (7-4-0-1) 4 1 0 0 8

Pennsbury (8-3) 4 1 0 0 8

Pennridge (8-3) 3 1 0 0 6

C.R. North (2-8-1-1) 2 3 1 1 6

C.R. South (7-1-0-1)) 2 0 0 1 5

C.B. East (6-4-1) 2 1 1 0 5

Neshaminy (7-3-1) 2 1 1 0 5

Souderton (4-7-0-1) 2 4 0 0 4

C.B. West (3-8) 1 3 0 0 2

Bensalem (2-7) 1 2 0 0 2

North Penn (3-7-1) 0 4 1 0 0

American Division W L T OTL Pts

Abington (10-0-1) 9 0 1 0 19

Plymouth Whitemarsh (7-4) 6 3 0 0 12

Wissahickon (5-5) 5 4 0 0 10

Quakertown (5-3-1) 4 3 1 0 9

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

Scoring

National Division G A Pts

Brendan Macainsh (Pb) 19 11 30

Andrew Savona (Pr) 13 17 30

Seth Grossman (Soud) 16 11 27

Kevin Pico (Pr) 13 12 25

Aydin Thierolf (CBS) 12 12 24

Alex Hood (Ben) 16 4 20

Shane Dachowski (Pr) 12 7 19

Corey Kosick (CBE) 12 6 18

Max Gallagher (Nesh) 12 5 17

D.J. Lidenmuth (CBS) 8 9 17

American Division G A Pts

Matthew Flynn (PW) 14 14 28

Will Hussa (Wiss) 20 5 25

Pat Stelacio (Ab) 14 10 24

Ian Heydt (Ab) 9 15 24

Dylan Novitski (PW) 13 10 23

Matt Kramer (Ab) 16 7 23

Branden McNally (Q) 13 9 22

David Branigan (PW) 7 15 22

Danny Hussa (Wiss) 12 6 18

Sam Paulik (Ab) 9 9 18

Jordan Heydt (Ab) 11 6 17

Seth Abramson (Ab) 8 9 17

SHSHL Compresses Playoff Field

The Suburban High School Hockey League playoff brackets will be more compact this season.

The fields in both divisions will be reduced; the National Division playoff bracket will contain six teams instead of the eight that has been customary in recent years, while the American Division bracket will feature three teams rather than four.
The SHSHL has not announced playoff dates; the regular season is scheduled to conclude on Thursday, February 16 subject to weather-related postponements and ice availability.

The National Division bracket will see the top two seeds receiving byes into the semifinals while the third seed will face the sixth seed and seeds four and five will square off in the opening round.

In the American Division, the regular-season champion will receive a bye into the championship game while seeds two and three will face off in a semifina

Pennridge 5 Neshaminy 3

BRISTOL— The atmosphere inside Grundy Arena was crackling with energy Wednesday night. Pennridge and Neshaminy were both looking to make a statement.

The Rams did just that, overcoming a two-goal first-period deficit before dominating the last two periods en route to a 5-3 win.

The result will not factor into the SHSHL National Division standings but will doubtless attract the attention of the Flyers Cup Committee when the next set of rankings is unveiled.

Josh Kelly and Shane Dachowski each scored twice for

Pennridge, the defending Class AA Flyers Cup and state champion. The Rams improved to 6-3 overall.

Kelly said he and his teammates refocused after falling behind early.

“We kind of realized we needed to start going,” the sophomore said. “We needed to put something in the back of the net. We kind of realized who we are. We came out slow and ended the game how we wanted to.”

The ’Skins (6-3) killed off two early penalties before taking a 1-0 lead 6:12 into the opening period. Noah Seewagen scored the power-play goal while the Rams’ Colin Dachowski was serving a tripping minor.

Max Gallagher made it 2-0 with a shorthanded goal at the 11:06 mark off a rush down the right wing that finished with a slapshot along the ice that beat Pennridge goaltender Jacob Gilbert through the five hole.

That goal turned out to be the high point of the evening from Neshaminy’s point of view.

Tyler Manto got the Rams on the scoreboard 1:28 into the second frame on a shot that caromed of the stick of Neshaminy goaltender Cory Hemberger. Kelly the game when he scored on a rebound with 2:41 left in the period to send the teams into the third frame all even.

Shane Dachowski put Pennridge in front for good 2:49 into the final period when he converted a feed from Kevin Pico who set up the goal with a dash down the left wing.

Pico and Neshaminy’s Nolan Geria got some extended time in the penalty box after the two got into a skirmish with 13:48 remaining in regulation. Both drew minor penalties for head contact and automatic 10-minute misconducts but the incident had little bearing on the final result.

Kelly scored his second goal of the night with 9:23 remaining to give Pennridge a two-goal advantage. J.J. Hathaway scored during a Neshaminy power play wirg the Neshaminy net empty with 1:19 remaining but Shane Dachowski’s empty-net goal with 11.4 seconds left settled matters.

Pennridge’s dominance over the final two periods showed up on the scoresheet. After being outshot 12-7 in the first period the Rams outshot the ‘Skins 31-10 over the last two for a final margin of 38-22.

Rams coach Jeff Montagna cited his team’s comeback after a difficult beginning.

“It was a terrible start,” he said. “It was a terrible first period, which has been a strength for us. But, like they’ve done all year, they came back and they played a fabulous two periods.

“But, I told them, we’ve got to figure out these slow starts.”

The ‘Skins spent an inordinate amount of time skating shorthanded; they were whistled for 11 penalties (the Rams were flagged for eight). But Coach Matt DeMatteo was quick to point out his team came up short in other areas.

“Penalties were part of it,” he said, “(but) we had a really good first period, and stuck to the game plan, but we came out in the second period and they brought up the intensity and we did not.

“That was the difference in the game. They came out with urgency, we didn’t match it. they took the momentum of the game over.”

Pennridge 0 2 3—5

Neshaminy 2 0 1—3

First-period goals: Noah Seewagen (N) from Michael Knipple, 6:12 (pp); Max Gallagher (N) unassisted, 11:06 (sh)

Second-period goals: Tyler Manto (P) unassisted, 1:28; Josh Kelly (P) from Colin Dachowski and Nate McKean, 14:19

Third-period goals: Shane Dachowski (P) from Kevin Pico and Andrew Savona, 2:49; Kelly (P) from McKean, 7:37 J.J. Hathaway (N from Gallagher, 15:41 (pp); Pico (P) unassisted, 16:49 (en)

Shots: Pennridge 38, Neshaminy 22; Saves: Jacob Gilbert (P) 20, Cory Hemberger (N) 33

Flyers Cup Rankings #1

The Flyers Cup Committee has released its firsts et of rankings for the 2022-23 season. The rankings are based on won-loss records, strength of schedule, and observations by members of the committee.

Non-league games scheduled by individual teams are not factored into the rankings, but are included here where applicable.

Records listed below are based on information available through December 29.

AAA

Holy Ghost Prep (APAC) 9-2
La Salle College High School (APAC) 5-6-2
Malvern Prep (APAC) 6-2
St. Joes Prep (APAC) 9-2-2
Father Judge (ICSHL PCL) 6-4

Council Rock South (SHSHL National) 6-1
Avon Grove (ICSHL Ches-Mont) 6-1
Pennsbury (SHSHL National) 7-2
Conestoga (ICSHL Central) 8-1-1
Neshaminy (SHSHL National) 6-2

West Chester Rustin (ICSHL Ches-Mont) 5-3
West Chester East (ICSHL Ches-Mont) 5-3
Marple (ICSHL Central) 7-4-0-1
Garnet Valley (ICSHL Central) 5-4
Lower Dauphin (CPIHL) 9-3

NJ/DE

Salesianum (ICSHL PCL) 6-0
Cherokee (SJHSHL) 9-0-1
Washington TWP. (SJHSHL) 4-1-2
Eastern (SJHSHL) 2-3-1
Moorestown (SJHSHL) 1-5

Girls

Downingtown West (ICSHL National) 5-5
Avon Grove (ICSHL National) 6-4
Unionville (ICSHL National) 3-6
West Chester Rustin (ICSHL American) 7-2
Kingsway (ICSHL American) 6-2-1

SHSHL Returnee Springfield Laying a Foundation

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—For Springfield (Montco), the 2022-23 hockey season is the beginning of a new era. Springfield has fielded teams in the past, but this season marks the first time in an estimated 17 years that the Spartans have a team on the ice.

The road has been arduous at times. Springfield has lost its first seven games in the Suburban High School Hockey League’s American Division, including an 8-0 setback at the hands of Quakertown Wednesday night at Hatfield Ice. The Spartans have been outscored 79-10.

But they made a vivid impression when they took the ice Wednesday night in their Navy blue and silver uniforms.

Despite the team’s won-loss record, defenseman Lucas Davidson, Springfield’s captain and the only senior on the 13-player roster, sees the big picture.

“It’s always more fun to win,” he said, “but this season isn’t necessarily about winning. It’s about starting up a new team, staring a new program and trying to carry this on, so that future years can play hockey.”

Davidson says the process of putting a team on the ice this season was fueled by interest within the Springfield student body.

“There’s a lot of interest in the sport,” he said. “There was just never really enough money or financial support to pour into it. And then one day, we got an e-mail, there were a couple of parents that really wanted to put one together. (And) one of the coaches from my club team, he was all about it. So, they put a team together and here we are.’

Davidson says there was enthusiasm mixed with some trepidation as word got around that the Spartans would be part of the SHSHL this season.

“A lot of people were really excited,” he said. “(But) we were also really nervous. It’s been a good while since we’ve had a team and we’re staring one up.

“It was a double-edged sword. It was really awesome on one end but a little nerve wracking on the other.”

Davidson embraces his role in launching the program and laying a foundation for future seasons.

“I love it,” he said. “I always wanted a high-school hockey team. I reached out to a couple of other high schools but because (of SHSHL rules) I couldn’t.”

• Brandon McNally scored three goals for the Panthers Wednesday night and assisted on three others. Connor Elmore, Brandon Bishop, Randy Rhodomeyer, Cole Stemmer, and Lucas Cunnane also scored goals while Keira Shaw provided four assists.

Matt Krem got the shutout on goal as Quakertown improved to 5-3 overall and 4-3 in divisional play.

Springfield 0 0 0—0

Quakertown 2 3 3—8

First-period goals: Connor Elmore (Q) from Keira Shaw and Brandon McNally, 3:22; Brandon Bishop (Q) from McNally, 15:21.

Second-period goals: Randy Rhodomeyer (Q) from Lucas Cunnane, 6:17; McNally (Q) from Keira Shaw, 10:42; McNally (Q) from Will Shaw and Keira Shaw, 12:22 (pp).

Third-period goals: McNally from Keira Shaw, 5:14; Cole Stemmer (Q) from McNally, 11:48; Cunnane (Q) from Stemmer, 12:59.

Shots: Springfield 22, Quakertown 41. Saves: Liam Baskin (Q) 33, Matt Krem (Q) 22

Holy Ghost Prep 7, Pennridge 3

Kieran Mulholland and Zach Pers each scored twice as Holy Ghost Prep built a 5-0 lead en route to a 7-3 win over Pennridge Wednesday night in a non-league game at Grundy Arena. Shaun Moore Brady Baehser and John Seravalli also scored for Holy Ghost Prep, which advanced to 9-2 on the season.

Kevin Pico, Andrew Savona, and Shane Dachowski scored for Pennridge (4-3).

Two goals from Pers and goals from Mulholland, Baehser, and Moore put the Firebirds up 5-0 seven minutes into the second period.

Pico and Savona scored for the Rams before the period ended and Dachowski’s goal made it a 5-3 game with 10:51 left in regulation, before Mulholland gave the Firebirds some insurance with 1:42 remaining. Seravalli added an empty-net goal with one minute left in regulation.

Six of the game’s 10 goals came on power plays. The game featured 16 penalties for 72 penalty minutes.

Pennridge 0 2 1—3

Holy Ghost Prep 4 1 2—7