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

Abington, PW To Meet at Wells Fargo Center

Senior Nights are special for high-school hockey players, as they are for athletes in other sports, but Abington and Plymouth Whitemarsh are set to have an experience that is truly unique.

The Galloping Ghosts and the Colonials will honor their seniors when they face each other in a non-league game on Wednesday, January 18—at the Wells Fargo Center.

Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Dave Cox the game was arranged by the two club presidents, Abington’s Ed Stelacio and Plymouth Whitemarsh’s Bob Shoemaker.

“We have come together and kind of forged a relationship,” Cox said.

The experience will allow the two teams to recognize their seniors in traditional fashion, prior to game time which is set for 7:30. The SHSHL, at the insistence of local rinks, has prohibited Senior Night observances prior to league games this season because they tended to delay games and force games in later ice slots to start later than scheduled.

Abington coach Ken Brzozowski says each club’s desire to recognize its seniors led to the game being arranged.

“The presidents of the two clubs started talking,” he said, “and said ‘Hey, what can we do to still honor this great tradition?’

“It’s a tremendous opportunity for us. Last year we had a special game against Wissahickon (outdoors at the Spring Mountain resort) and to have this kind of great event again is something to look forward to.”

To cover the cost of purchasing the ice at the Wells Fargo Center for the event, both clubs are selling tickets to Flyers home games in February.

Plymouth Whitemarsh is selling tickets for the matchup between the Flyers and the New York Islanders on Monday, February 6 while Abington is selling tickets for a meeting with the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, February 9. Tickets are $40 and $60 depending on location.

Cox, who played for Plymouth Whitemarsh, is anticipating the emotions the two teams will experience when they step on the ice at the Wells Fargo Center.

“I can only imagine how excited these kids will be,” he said. “Not too many kids can say they had that (experience).”

SHSHL Update 12-20-22

Standings

National Division W L T OTL Pts

C.R. North (2-6) 2 2 0 0 4

C.R. South (6-1) 1 0 0 0 2

Pennsbury (5-2) 1 0 0 0 2

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

C.B. West (3-5) 1 0 0 0 2

Bensalem (2-5) 1 0 0 0 2

Pennridge (4-2) 1 1 0 0 2

C.B. East (4-2) 0 0 0 0 0

Neshaminy (5-2) 0 1 0 0 0

North Penn (3-5) 0 2 0 0 0

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

American Division W L T OTL Pts

Abington (6-0-0) 5 0 0 0 10

Wissahickon (4-3) 4 2 0 0 8

Plymouth Whitemarsh (5-3) 4 2 0 0 8

Quakertown (4-3) 3 3 0 0 6

Springfield (0-5) 0 5 0 0 0

Scoring

National Division G A Pts

Brendan Macainsh (Pb) 13 8 21

Seth Grossman (Soud) 12 8 20

Alex Hood (Ben) 14 3 17

Andrew Savona (Pr) 7 10 17

Aydin Thierolf (CBS) 8 7 15

Blaise Pepe (CRS) 8 7 15

Corey Kosick (CBE) 9 5 14

Kevin Pico (Pr) 7 6 13

John Stinson (NP) 9 2 11

Max Gallagher (Nes) 8 3 11

Kevin Koles (CRS) 3 8 11

American Division G A Pts

Matthew Flynn (PW) 12 9 21

Pat Steleacio (Ab) 12 9 21

Matt Kramer (Ab) 12 7 19

David Branigan (PW) 7 12 19

Will Hussa (Wiss) 12 4 16

Danny Hussa (Wiss) 11 5 16

Branden McNally (Q) 10 5 15

Ian Heydt (Ab) 5 10 15

Dylan Novitski (PW) 7 7 14

William Shaw (Q) 7 7 14

Souderton 9 Bensalem 4

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—For Seth Grossman, it was a night to remember. The Souderton senior tallied a career high six goals as the Big Red pulled away from Bensalem to record a 9-4 win Thursday Night in a SHSHL National Division non-league encounter at Hatfield Ice.
It was the first win for Souderton (2-5-0-1) in four games and their biggest offensive output of the season.

“I think it was just the fact that we knew we were missing some of our top guys tonight,” Grossman said. “We had to step up and rose to the challenge and we delivered that. People had to step up and they knew it and they stepped up.”
All told, the Big Red was minus seven regulars for one reason or another but Souderton coach Ryan Uchniat pointed out that those who were on hand stepped up when they had to.

“I think tonight being shorthanded, everybody was focused on what we had to do,” he said. “We executed and played the style we wanted to, disciplined. We wanted to play strong defensively. And we got offense from that.”

The game was competitive for most of two periods. Bensalem (2-5), which had just nine players in uniform (several were absent), battled the Big Red to a 3-3 standoff late in the second frame. But Grossman scored his second goal of the night with 3:42 left in the period and Timmy Alexander added a goal of his own 35 seconds later and Souderton went on to dominate the third period.

More to the point, Grossman dominated the third period; he found the back of the net four times. Through eight games he’s collected 12 goals plus eight assists for 20 points

There were some bright spots for the Owls. Alex Hood scored two goals and assisted on another, giving him 14 goals and three assists on the season.

But by the third period he and his teammates didn’t have a lot of gas left in the tank.

“We’re used to a short bench,” said Bensalem coach Jordan Roth. “We had our chances for sure, but all around, we didn’t play together as a team.”
Roth notes that team’s lack of numbers increases the necessity of doing the little things well.

“We face adversity every game,” he said. “There are a lot teams in the league where there are tryouts. We’re fortunate enough to be in the league and have nine players that show up every day and give it their best.

Ice Chips—Alexander scored twice for the Big Red while Noah Connor got the win in goal, making 20 saves before being replaced by Connor Paulus late in the third period. One of his saves came on Hood’s penalty shot in the second period. Gonzalez made 42 saves in the Bensalem net.

Bensalem 2 1 1—4

Souderton 1 4 4—9

First-period goals: Liam O’Neill (S) from Jamie Avaria and Drew Savarese, 3:25; Alex Hood (B) unassisted, 7:53; Cole Salayda (B) from Danny Mackley, 13:55.

Second-period goals: Seth Grossman (S) from Liam O’Neill, 6:51; Timmy Alexander (S) from Matt Malanga, 7:44 (pp); Matthew Rowan (B) from Hood and Mackely, 9:03; Grossman (S) from Malagna, 13:18; Alexander (S) unassisted, 13:53.

Third-period goals: Grossman (S) unassisted, 7:11; Grossman (S) from Liam O’Neill, 7:47; Grossman (S) from Luca Ferretti and Liam O’Neill, 9:29; Grossman (S) from Caiden O’Neill and Liam O’Neill, 12:44; Hood (B) from Rowan and Salayda, 14:19.

Shoots: Bensalem 29, Souderton 51; Saves: Ricky Gonzalez (B) 42, Noah Connor (S) 20 and Connor Paulus (S) 5

SHSHL Recap 12-13-22

National Division W L T OTL Pts

C.R. South (6-0) 1 0 0 0 0

C.B. East (4-2) 0 0 0 0 0

C.B. South (3-3-0-1) 1 0 0 0 0

C.B. West (3-4) 1 0 0 0 2

Bensalem (2-4) 1 0 0 0 2

Neshaminy (5-1) 0 0 0 0 0

Pennsbury (4-2) 0 0 0 0 0

Pennridge (3-2) 1 1 0 0 0

C.R. North (1-6) 1 2 0 0 2

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

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

American Division W L T OTL Pts

Abington (5-0-0) 5 0 0 0 8

Plymouth Whitemarsh (5-2) 4 1 0 0 4

Wissahickon (3-3) 3 2 0 0 6

Quakertown (3-3) 2 3 0 0 4

Springfield (0-4-1) 0 4 1 0 0

Scoring

National Division G A Pts

Brendan Macainsh (Pb) 12 5 17

Aydin Thierolf (CBS) 8 7 15

Alex Hood (Ben) 12 2 14

Blaise Pepe (CRS) 7 7 14

Corey Kosick (CBE) 9 5 14

Seth Grossman (Soud) 6 8 14

Andrew Savona (Pr) 5 8 13

Kevin Koles (CRS) 3 8 11

Chase Tovsky (CRS) 1 9 10

Jake Weiner (CRS) 8 2 10

Nick Smith (Soud) 8 2 10

John Stinson (NP) 8 2 10

Max Gallagher (Nes) 7 3 10

Luke Tremmel (CBW) 3 7 10

American Division G A Pts

Matthew Flynn (PW) 12 9 21

Matt Kramer (Ab) 12 7 19

David Branigan (PW) 6 11 17

Branden McNally (Q) 10 4 14

Will Hussa (Wiss) 11 3 14

Dylan Novitski (PW) 7 7 14

Pat Steleacio (Ab) 7 7 14

Ian Heydt (Ab) 5 8 13

Danny Hussa (Wiss) 8 4 12

William Shaw (Q) 4 7 11

Seth Abramson (Ab) 5 6 11

YouTube TV Package Another Step in the Growth of High School Hockey

Monday’s APAC game between Malvern Prep and La Salle will be streamed live from Hatfield Ice Arena on the Flyers Cup YouTube channel.

Monday’s game is the first of a 10-game Game of the Week package that will air between now and mid-February and feature games from each scholastic league in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

The YouTube package provides a vehicle for exposing high-school hockey to a wider audience, potentially including those who have not witnessed hockey at the high-school level before.
It’s not the first time that TV has been used as a medium to draw new fans to the sport.

In 1967, the National Hockey League expanded from six teams to 12. That’s when the Philadelphia Flyers came into existence, along with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the St. Louis Blues, the Minnesota North Stars (now the Dallas Stars), the Los Angeles Kings, and the California Seals (now defunct).

That same year, CBS launched a Game of the Week telecast which gave many American sports fans their first exposure to the National Hockey League.

The upcoming series of high-school games on YouTube will serve the same function.

The games will be streamed HERE

The schedule is as follows

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

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

Thursday 12-22 7:00 Conestoga vs. Penncrest

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monday, February 13 9:00 West Chester Rustin vs. Conestoga Girls

Hockey Happenings is looking for interested individuals to shoot video of Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference games. We’re seeking students, parents, and hockey enthusiasts who have experience shooting/editing video.

For more information contact us at rwoelfel2013@gmail.com

Pennsbury 8 C.B. South 2

BRISTOL—It was all systems go for Pennsbury Thursday night. The Falcons lit up the scoreboard at Grundy Arena as if it were a holiday light display in an 8-2 win over Central Bucks South in a SHSHL National Division non-league encounter.

Brendan Macainsh scored four goals and assisted on two others to help Pennsbury to its third straight win and fourth win overall in six starts. Justin Marlin added two goals and two assists. Shane Gleisner and Chris Sarver also scored goals.
The Falcons are averaging five goals a game and have scored 21 times over the course of their last three outings,
Macainsh, a senior and Pennsbury’s captain, says the team’s recent offensive surge stems from aggressive forechecking.

“We weren’t forechecking as much,” he said. “We were just kind of lagging around. We had to pick up our tempo, we had to play the full game, all three periods.”

Justin Marlin put Pennsbury in front just 28 seconds into the first period on a shot from the left point that eluded South netminder Dom Varacallo. Aidan Linso answered for the Titans when he beat Aaron McDaniel with 7:21 left in the opening session, but the Falcons broke the game open in the second frame.

Macainsh, Marlin, Gleisner (with the most picturesque goal of the night off a two-on-one situation), and Macainsh again scored goals in a span of just over six minutes to give Pennsbury a 5-1 lead.

Sean Cutter ended the streak when he scored for the Titans (3-4 overall during a four-on-four situation but Macainsh completed his hat trick with one minute left in the period.

At period’s end the Falcons led 6-2 although their shot advantage was just 23-21. At that point, South coach Shaun McGinty replaced Varacallo in goal with Jason Magaruth before Sarver and Macainsh added goals for Pennsbury in the final period.

McGinty made it clear afterward that Varacallo did not get the defensive support he deserved.

“They were getting two-on-ones, three-on-ones, they were getting odd-man breaks,” he said. “Our defense struggled, they were subpar, and they were outworked.

“I only pulled Dom because it wasn’t fair to him. He gave up (six goals on 23 shots) but on the two-on-ones and the second chances, I’m not putting that on him. Our defense was subpar, we were losing battles, they outworked us.”

Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley expressed satisfaction with his team’s performance.

“We’ve had some good games this year,” he said, “but I think that was the first time we put three full periods together. It seems like the chemistry is finally kind of getting there.”

C.B. South 1 1 0—2

Pennsbury 1 5 2—8

First-period goals: Justin Marlin (P) unassisted, :28; Aidan Linso (CBS) from Brad Cannon and Justin Montagna, 9:39.

Second-period goals: Brendan Macainsh (P) unassisted, :12 (sh); Marlin (P) from Andrew Falkenstein, 2:02; Shane Gleisner (P) from Logan Doyle, 5:04; Macainsh from Chris Sarver and Connor Kane, 6:14; Sean Cutter (CBS) from Linso, 11:10; Macainsh (P) from Marlin, 16:00 (pp).

Third-period goals: Sarver (P) from Jake McCaw and Macainsh, 6:55; Macainsh (P) from Jake Seiler, 13:20 (pp).

Shots: C.B. South 28, Pennsbury 34; Saves: Dom Varacallo (CBS) 17 and Jason Magaruh (CBS) 9, Aaron McDaniel (P) 26

SHSHL Udate for 12-5-22

Standings as of 12-5-22

National Division W L T OTL Pts

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

Bensalem (1-4) 1 0 0 0 2

C.R. North (1-5) 1 1 0 0 2

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

C.R. South (5-0) 0 0 0 0 0

Neshaminy (4-1) 0 0 0 0 0

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

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

Pennsbury (3-2) 0 0 0 0 0

Pennridge (2-2) 0 1 0 0 0

Souderton (1-4-0-1) 0 1 0 0 0

American Division W L T OTL Pts

Abington (4-0-0) 4 0 0 0 8

Wissahickon (3-1) 3 1 0 0 6

Quakertown (3-1) 2 1 0 0 4

Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-2) 2 1 0 0 4

Springfield (0-4) 0 4 0 0 0

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Scoring

National Division G A Pts

Seth Grossman (Soud) 5 8 13

Blaise Pepe (CRS) 6 6 12

Brendan Macainsh (Pb) 8 4 12

Kevin Koles (CRS) 3 8 11

Aydin Thierolf (CBS) 5 6 11

Corey Kosick (CBE) 6 4 10

Andrew Savona (Pr) 4 6 10

Nick Smith (Soud) 8 2 10

John Stinson (NP) 7 2 9

Jake Weiner (CRS) 7 1 8

American Division G A Pts

Matt Kramer (Ab) 11 5 16

Matthew Flynn (PW) 9 6 15

David Branigan (PW) 5 9 14

Branden McNally (Q) 9 4 13

Will Hussa (Wiss) 9 3 12

Ian Heydt (Ab) 3 8 11

Pat Steleacio (Ab) 7 4 11

Danny Hussa (Wiss) 8 2 10

Dylan Novitski (PW) 6 4 10

Jordan Heydt (Ab) 7 3 10

National Division

Goals Against Min.Played GA GAA

Carson Lopez (CRS) 238 6 1.29

Cory Hemberger (Nesh) 255 11 2.20

Matt Mangiacapre (CBE) 153 8 2.67

Nick Crist (NP) 286 16 2.86

Aaron McDaniel (Pb) 255 16 3.20

Ian Goldberg (CRN) 306 23 3.83

Save Percentage Shots Saves GA Save Pct.

Carson Lopez (CRS) 114 108 6 .947

Cory Hemberger (Nesh) 149 138 11 .926

Matt Mangiacapre (CBE) 94 86 8 .915

Ian Goldberg 237 214 23 .903

Liam Rogers (CBW) 120 108 12 .900

American Division

Goals Against Min. Played GA GAA

Matt Krem (Q) 204 9 2.25

Chris Majlij (PW) 204 8 2.00

Sam Nemec (Ab) 187 18 4.91

Save Percentage Shots Saves GA Save Pct.

Matt Krem (Q) 105 96 9 .914

Chris Majlij (PW) 90 82 8 .911

Sam Nemec (Ab) 100 82 15 .820

Wissahickon 3 Quakertown 1

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—The goaltenders were the stars at Hatfield Ice Thursday night. Goaltending duels are rare in the SHSH’s American Division, a division best known for offensive accomplishments.

On this occasion, Wissahickon’s Fletcher Lynch and Quakertown’ Matt Krem came up big. Lynch, a freshman, playing in goal for just the fourth time in his life, stopped 22 shots in his team’s 3-1 win while Krem, an experienced senior netminder, made 37 saves.

Wissahickon coach Ken Harrington, who saw his team advance to 3-1 on the year both overall and in the division, had expected to see more than four goals scored but credited both goaltenders.

“They were going head to head,” he said. “I’d pay money to watch it,”

John Kufner gave the Trojans the lead 6:33 into the first period on a shot off an offensive left-circle faceoff. It took Brandon McNally just 50 seconds to respond for the Panthers (3-1, 2-1 in the division).

For most of the rest of the evening, Lynch and Krem were in charge with Krem was particularly busy in the Panther net.

“We’ve had a good stretch of goaltending here at Quakertown said Krem’s coach and father, Keith Krem. “It’s kind of been the one thing we’ve always had to rely on in games.

“Their guy, I give him a lot of credit. I know he’s new to the position. For him to play over the 90 percent (save percentage) is a huge stride for him.”

By the start of the third period both teams were starting to feel the impact of having just nine skaters each available.

The Trojans took the lead for good when Will Hussa beat Krem off a setup from Griffin Lynch 5:33 into the final session. The goal came just five seconds after the Panthers’ Cole Stemmer was sent to the box for slashing.

Like his coach, Hussa expected more scoring over the course of the evening.

“It definitely surprised us,” he said. “We’re used to scoring a lot of goals but you’ve just got to do what you have to do to win.”

Danny Hussa gave his team insurance with a goal with 3:44 remaining in regulation.

“Our failure just came down to, we had a game plan and we didn’t execute it,” Krem said. More so, we failed to manage the puck. They spent a lot more time in our zone we did in theirs.”

The Trojans have now faced every and Will Hussa says he and his teammates like where they stand.

“Now that we’ve seen everybody we know we can beat everybody,” he said. “We had a close game against Abington (a 12-10 loss). We lost that game but we know we can get them next time.”

Quakertown 1 0 0—1

Wissahickon 1 0 2—3

First-period goals: John Kufner from Danny Hussa 6:33; Brandon McNally (Q) from Connor Elmore, 7:23

Third-period goals: Will Hussa from Griffin Lynch and Hudson Honrycutt, 5:33 (pp); Danny Hussa from Nolan Pounds, 13:16 (sh)

Shots: Quakertown 23, Wissahickon 40; Saves: Fletcher Lynch 22, Matt Krem (Q) 37