Council Rock South 7, Parkland 5

BRISTOL— Six minutes into Tuesday’s second period, Council Rock South’s path to the second round of the Flyers Cup tournament seemed wide open. The Golden Hawks, who were coming off a SHSHL championship game win, held a 6-1 win over Parkland and seemed to be in command.

Instead, sixth-seeded South had to battle to the final buzzer to hold off the 11th-seeded Trojans 7-5 in a Class AA first-round game at Grundy Arena. The Golden Hawks indeed advanced, to Thursday’s quarterfinals against third seed Perkiomen Valley (6:15 at Ice Line) but there were some anxious moments along the way.

The evening got off to an explosive start with three goals in less than five minutes. Bill Harrelson and Jeremy Purcell scored for South before and after a tally from Parkland’s Eric Dennis to give their side a 2-1 lead after just 4 minutes, 47 seconds. Harrelson and Michael Roby added additional goals to give the Golden Hawks a 4-1 lead after one period.

David Mueller extended the Hawks’ lead 4:53 into the second period before Harrelson completed a hat trick at 10:07. Even after Joshua Bower scored for the Trojans with 3:11 left in the middle period, the Hawks were seemingly in control.

But then came the third period and the Trojans, who reached the Flyers Cup finals in 2013, didn’t roll over over. First, Alexander Doe scored a goal with 8:18 remaining in regulation. Then Dennis, the Trojans’ leading scorer, pocketed his second goal of the night during a power play with 6:30 left and then completed his own hat trick with 1:45 remaining.

After having a comfortable lead, the Golden Hawks found themselves hanging on.

“We made a lot of bad turnovers in the neutral zone,” Harrelson said, “and it ended up costing us, I think. We need to control the puck, get in deep, play our game really because (Parkland) knocked us off it a lot. We started losing our heads and taking bad penalties (four in the third period and five of the six in the game) and it was killing us. But we pulled out the win.”

The issue was settled with Michael Roby scored an empty net goal for South with 27 seconds remaining. But South coach Joe Houk remarked that his team will have to play better to have hopes of claiming a fourth Flyers Cup title.

“What we did last week (in the SHSHL final) we did not do this week,” he said. “We’ll have to regroup a little bit. It’s just the little things that make a difference and we didn’t do them tonight.”

Parkland coach Chad Loomis lamented his team’s slow start. “That was definitely our downfall,” he said. “I think we had a hard time just marching their intensity and adjusting to their game.
“We had an opportunity to take a little break (after the second period) and talk about it and make the necessary adjustments. We just kind of ran out of time.”

Parkland 1 1 3—5
Council Rick South 4 2 1—7
First-period goals: Billy Harrelson (CRS) from Brennen Wright and Antii Autere, 2:45 (pp); Eric Dennis (P) from Joshua Bower, 4:12; Jeremy Purcell (CRS) from David Mueller, 4:47; Harrelson (CRS) from Andrew Darling and Purcell, 9:40; Michael Roby (CRS) from Autere and Douglas Lopez, 12:01.
Second-period goals: Mueller (CRS) unassisted, 4:53; Harrelson (CRS) from Roby and Purcell, 10:07; Bower (P) from Alexander Doe and Dennis, 12:49 (pp)
Third-period goals: Doe (P) from Zachary Averill and Hunter Dolan, 7:42; Dennis (P) unassisted, 9:30 (pp); Dennis (P) from Luke Yocum, 14:15; Roby (CRS) from Autere, 15:33 (en).
Shots: Parkland 29, CRS 25; Saves: Vincent Bylick (P) 18, JImmy Sweeny (CRS) 24

Pennridge 4, Neshaminy 3

BRISTOL—Since the calendar turned to 2020 Pennridge has been a hockey team in the rise. On Tuesday night the Rams took another step forward, a big one, by coming from behind in the third period for a 4-3 win over Neshaminy in a Class AA Flyers Cup first-round game at Grundy Arena.

The 10th-seeded Rams trailed 2-0 and 3-2 before Aeryk Lehrhaupt scored on a shot from the right faceoff circle with 55 seconds left in regulation to send he and his mates into the quarterfinals on Thursday against second seed Haverford (7:00 at the Skatium).

Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna praised his team’s effort after being eliminated in the opening round of the SHSHL playoffs by Council Rick South. “It says so much about them,” he said. “I don’t have words of how proud I am of them. That young, they shouldn’t be making all the plays they did.”

The seventh-seeded ‘Skins used a methodical approach to build a 2-0 first-period lead. David McColgan got his team on the scoreboard 4:46 into the opening period, beating Pennridge goaltender Ryan Pico from close range. Thomas Gallagher gave his team a two-goal lead at 10:07.

The Rams responded in the second frame. Andrew Lizak beat Brian Nelson from the deep right circle off a right corner dump to get the Rams on the board 3:18 mark before Richie Shanks tied the game at 9:51.

Neshaminy retook the lead when Joey DeMatteo scored with 6:10 left in the middle session and stayed in front when Nelson denied Lehrhaupt on a two-on-one with 14 seconds left in the period.

The Rams got their second power play chance of the third period at the 8:31 mark when Neshaminy drew a bench minor for having too many men on the ice. Blake Stewart, the Rams’ captain, scored the tying goal with 5:40 left in regulation as the prelude to the finish.

Stewart noted that Pennridge opened its season back in October with a loss to Neshaminy but had natured since then. “We came to this game a much stronger team,” he said. “We just wanted it more, we came out hungry, and we just wanted to move on. No one really wanted us here and no one thought we would be here.”

It was a frustrating evening for Neshaminy coach Matt DeMattteo. “They were the hungrier team today,” he said of the Rams. “They skated harder. They did the things you need to do to win the game and we just did not play a good game as a team.”

Pennridge 0 2 2—4
Neshaminy 2 1—3
First-period goals: David McColgan (N) from Rob Seewagen and J.J. Hathaway, 4:46; Thomas Gallagher (N) from Matt Buchinski and Joey DeMatteo, 10:07;
Second-period goals: Andrew Lizak (P) unassisted, 3:18; Richie Shanks (P) from Blake Stewart and Andrew David; DeMatteo (N) from Nolan Geria and Seewagen, 11:50.
Third-period goals: Stewart (P) from Shanks, 10:20 (pp); Aeryk Lehrhaupt from Jack Lowery and Conrad Frisch, 15:05.
Shots: Pennridge 32, Neshaminy 30; Saves: Ryan Pico (P) 27, Brian Nelson (N) 28

Class AA Flyers Cup Bracket Opens Up on Tuesday

Tuesday, March 3 Class AA

Central Bucks South 4, Conestoga 1

Boyertown 4 Central Bucks East 1

North Penn 4, Ridley 1

Downingtown West 7, Pennsbury 3

Perkiomen Valley 8, Dowingtown East 5

Council Rock South 7, Parkland 5

Pennridge 4, Neshaminy 3

Haverford 8 Central Bucks West 0

We’ll have recaps of the two games at Grundy Arena later this evening at www.hockeyhappenings.wordpress.com

The Grundy Skate Shop is a full-service hockey pro shop inside the Grundy Arena, offering a great selection of equipment, brands and various services. We do a full range of repairs as well as offer custom hockey jerseys. Owner Bill Keyser, has over 25 years experience in the industry and specializes in skate sharpening, including profiling. Please visit our Facebook page or stop in and check us out!

If you’re a fam of women’s golf or have a daughter who plays golf or would like to, we encourage you to check out our Women’s Golf Report podcast at www.buzzsprout.com/64464. Our guest is LPGA professional Tori Fitzgerald.

Lower Dauphin 6, Plymouth Whitemarsh 4

Noah Leach and Cole McCully scored three goals each as Lower Dauphin edged Plymouth Whitemarsh 6-4 Monday night in a Class A Flyers Cup first-round game at Ice Line.

The result sends the ninth-seeded Falcons into Wednesday’s quarterfinals; they’ll face top-seed West Chester East at Ice Line in a scheduled 6:15 start. Eighth-seeded Plymouth Whitemarsh closes its season at 18-2. Monday marked its only loss of the season to a Class A team.

McCurley scored a shorthanded goal with 2:19 left in regulation to give ninth-seeded Lower Dauphin a 5-4 lead. Leach scored into an empty net 16 seconds later.

Lower Dauphin built a 3-0 lead in the second period on a goal from Leach and two from McCulley in a span of just 1:23 but Jake Weikel, Dean Keller, and Thomas Corcoran scored for the Colonials in a span of 2:40 to tie the game before Leach scored his second goal of the game to put Lower Dauphin up 4-3 with 2:29 left in the period.

Logan Westerfer tied the game for the Colonials 3:34 into the third period.

The game included 17 penalties, including four against the Colonials following the final buzzer. Westerfer received a major penalty and a game misconduct for his tole in that altercation while Colin Franzoni received a major and a match penalty.

The Colonials’ Dean Keller and Lower Dauphin’s Ezra Oyler had received game misconducts earlier in the game, Keller for boarding just past the midway point of the second period and Oyler for a check from behind late in the third.

A complete box score is available HERE

First Round Results (Monday)

Unionville 11, Wissahickon 2—Steve Cicchino scored three times in the second period as sixth-seeded Unionville pulled away to a win over the 11th-seeded Trojans at Hatfield Ice. The game was tied 1-1 after the first period before the Indians broke the game open.

Springfield Delco 10, Hatboro-Horsham 0—Zach Crain scored two goals and eight other players scored on goal each as the seventh-seeded Cougars eliminated the 10th-seeded Hatters at Ice Line. Ryan Krtyos had a goal and assists, while Aidan Zappo added three assists. The contest was halted early in the third period via the 10-goal rule. The Hatters closed their season 11-7-0-1.

West Chester East 8, Lower Merion 5

Strath Haven 4, Sun Valley 0

Hershey 10 West Chester Henderson 0

West Chester Bayard Rustin 12, Garnet Valley 2

Palmyra 6, Radnor 1

Here are the Class A quarterfinal pairings for Wednesday, March 4

All four games at Ice Line

1 West Chester East vs 9 Lower Dauphin 6:15

4 Strath Haven vs 5 Hershey

3 Bayard Rustin vs 6 Unionville 6:30

7 Springfield Delco vs 2 Palmyra 8:30

Council Rock South 3, Central Bucks South 1

HATFIELD— If one word were used to describe Council Rock South’s performance Thursday night it would be efficient. One shift at a time one period at a time, all the way to a 3-1 win over Central Bucks South to claim the Suburban High School Hockey League Class AA title in front of a full house at Hatfield Ice.

Jeremy Purcell scored twice for the third-seeded Golden Hawks (13-5-0-1) who did a lot of little things right up and down the lineup to claim the second SHSHL championship in school history. Its first came in 2010.

“You win championships, you win big games like this with you second and third lines,” said Joe Houk, Council Rick South’s veteran coach. “Our second and third lines won the game tonight.”

Purcell, who centers the Hawks’ second line, is a case in point. He had just four goals and six assists in 13 games prior to Thursday. His contributions were needed because two Council Rock defensemen were out of the lineup.

“It’s a team game,” Purcell said. “We’ve all got to work together. C.B. South is a very good team. We’ve got to put it all together to win in the end.”

The opening 17-minute period featured an abundance of physicality but just a single goal, a power-play effort from the Golden Hawks’ Antii Autere who made a rush from his own zone, all the way down the left wing and took the puck behind the Titans’ net before beating Mason Moyer at the 6:05 mark.

Purcell scored his first goal 1:54 into the second period off a left circle faceoff which set up a wraparound from behind the net with the junior tucking the puck inside the right post. At that point, the Golden Hawks had scored twice on just six shots.

A key moment in the game occurred 7:33 into the second period when the Titans’ Nathan Fievitz drew a five-minute major penalty plus a match penalty for butt ending that gave the Golden Hawks an extended power play and brought Fievitz an indefinite suspension pending a review by USA Hockey.

Purcell scored his second goal of the game during the ensuing power play with Bill Harrelson’s help at the 10:39 mark to give his team a three-goal lead.

The Titans, to their credit, kept battling and got on the board via a goal from Aidan Gaffney with 3:05 left in regulation and kept Golden Hawks’ goaltender Jimmy Sweeney busy down the stretch.

Titan assistant Tyler Skroski praised the Golden Hawks’ effort. “They came out buzzing,” he said. “They came out buzzing against North Penn (in the semifinals) and they carried it right over into this game. They’ve got some really dynamic scoters mixed in with solid goaltending and veterans on defense.”
Ice Chips—The Golden Hawks are the sixth seed in the upcoming Flyers Cup tournament and will face 11th-seeded Parkland Tuesday night at 8:45 at Grundy Arena. The top-seeded Titans will take on 16th seed Conestoga at 6:40 at Hatfield Ice the same evening.

C.R. South 1 2 0
C.B. South 0 0 1
First-period goals: Antii Autere (CRS) from Matt Constantini, 6:05 (pp)
Second-period goals: Jeremy Purcell (CRS) unassisted, 1:54; Purcell (CRS) from Bill Harrelson, 10:39 (pp)
Third-period goals: Aidan Gaffney (CBS) from Colin Abbonizio and Daniel Kvetcher, 13;55
Shots: C.R. South 19, C.B. South 30; Saves: Jimmy Sweeney (CRS) 29, Mason Moyer (CBS) 16

A Bit of Hockey History

Hockey Happenings has received some new verified historical information. Consequently, this article has been revised.

Central Bucks South, which will face Council Rock South for the SHSHL Class AA title tonight at Hatfield Ice (6:30) is trying to win a league title for the eighth time.

The Titans previously won titles in 2005 ’12, ’13, and four straight form 2015-18. That Germantown Academy also claimed four straight titles from 1998-2001, the last four of the 11 recorded SHSHL championships in their history. That is an all-time record

Council Rock South’s only SHSHL title as a distinctly separate entity came in 2010. Before the Council Rock School District opened its second high school, Council Rock won SHSHL titles in 1984, ’87, ’88, ’89, 90′ ’91 and ’97. The Indians’ five consecutive titles from 1987-91 is a record.

Most Championships

Germantown Academy 11

Central Bucks South 7

Council Rock 7

Abington 6

Wissahickon and Plymouth Whitemarsh will meet Thursday night for the SHSHSL Class A title. The Trojans, who are the defending champions, also won SHSHL Class A titles in 2006, 2010, and 20015 and possibly 2003 (the historical record is unclear).

Plymouth Whitemarsh, which was part of the SHSHL in 1973-74, claimed its only title in Class A in 2008-09

The documentation of the history of the SHSHL is an ongoing effort. Anyone with information on the history of the league is urged to contact us HERE or contact Commissioner Kenny Haas.

We are still seeking definitive answers to the following questions.

* The teams that won the Class AA championships in 1996 and 2007.

* The team that won the Class A titles in 2003 and 2004.

Please feel free to contact is if you have information that would help us resolve these questions (clippings, game programs, notes, etc).

Wissahickon 10, Hatboro-Horsham 6

WARWICK—After spotting their opponent a significant head start, Wissahickon took control of its Suburban High School Hockey League Class A semifinal against Hatboro-Horsham Wednesday night.

Trailing 3-0 in the first period, the Trojan scored nine goals in the equivalent of one period of hockey and went on to a 10-6 win at Revolution Ice Gardens. The third-seeded Trojans (10-8 overall) will face top-seeded Plymouth Whitemarsh in Thursday’s final (8:30) at Hatfield Ice.

Prior to the opening faceoff, Wissahickon figured to be playing uphill. Leading scorer Nicholas Hussa and Daniel Glazier were serving suspensions while Ben Junker was sidelined with an injury. With next week’s Flyers Cup opener against Unionville already set, it would have been understandable had the Trojans struggled.

Alex Carrozza, their captain, admitted that focusing was a bit difficult. “A little bit,” he said. “Especially since we played them the last game of the regular season (a 9-1 win for the Hatters last Friday). They kind of put a couple goals in on us. It was tough for us to play. We were able to come back and actually put a good team together.”

The second-seeded Hatters (11-6-0-1) were in command at the start, thanks to a goal from Nick Long and two from Aidan Esack, which gave them a 3-0 lead just 6:07 into the first period.

The flow of the game changed however when Carrozza scored for the Trojans with 54 seconds left in the opening session.

“I thought it was important to score that goal.” said Wissahickon coach Ken Harrington.”

It wasn’t apparent immediately, but Carrozza’s effort was a preview of what was to come. Wissahickon’s Bryan Garry and the Hatters’ Seth Lerner traded girls early in the second period before the Trojans scored seven times in a span if 5 minutes, 49 seconds to take a 9-5 lead with 48 seconds left in the 17-minute period.

Garry scored three times in that span. A.J. Pounds added two goals during the spurt, while Carrozza and Nolan Ryan also scored.

Hatter coach Gianni Lafratta felt his team got away from what it defensively in the opening period. “We had guys in the slot, we kept everything outside,” he said.” Gary, I think, had three shots on net.

“We had that three-goal lead and the little things started to fall apart, the passing, the presence in the defensive zone.”

Garry added a fifth goal in the third period. He also had an assist.

Ice Chips—Plymouth Whitemarsh defeated Truman 12-2 in the evening’s other semifinal. Aidan Keogh scored four goals for the Colonials before the game was called with 10:54 left in the third period. Luke Weikel, Colin Franzoni, and Dean Keller added two goals each.

Wissahickon 1 8 1—10

Hatboro-Horsham 3 2 1—6

First-period goals: Nick Long (HH) unassisted, 1:28; Aiden Esack (HH) from Alex Howieson and Jack Steinberg, 3:31; Esack (HH) from Marcus Soucy, 6:07; Alex Carrozza from Nolan Ryan, 16:06.

Second-period goals: Bryan Garry from Michael Bonanni, 3:23; Howieson (HH) from Tarek Eisabbagh, 4:38; A.J. Pounds from Ty Schiff, 10:23; Garry unassisted, 10:32; Carrozza unassisted, 11:27 (pp); Seth Lerner (HH) from James McCoy and Howieson, 12:19; Pounds from Garry, 13:17; Nolan Tyan uunassisted. 15:40; Garry from Pounds and Schiff 15:49; Garry from Pounds, 16:12

Third-period goals: McCoy (HH) unassisted, 4:13; Garry unassisted, 15:36

Shots: Wissahickon 47, Hatboro-Horsham 27; Saves: Chris Shea 20, Joe Gambino (HH) 37

Class AA Semifinals

Central Bucks South 5, Neshaminy 2

Council Rock South 4, North Penn 2

Thursday Schedule

6:30 Central Bucks South vs. Council Rock South

8:30 Plymouth Whitemarsh vs. Wissahickon

Both games at Hatfield Ice

Updated Playoff Schedule

Wednesday, February 26

4:00 APAC Founders Cup Final: La Salle vs Holy Ghost Prep at Grundy Arena

At Hatfield Ice

6:30 SHSHL Class AA Semifinal C.B. South vs. Neshaminy

8:30 SHSHL Class AA Semifinal North Penn vs C.R. South

At Revolution Ice Gardens

7:20 SHSHL Class A Semifinal Plymouth Whitemarsh vs. Truman

9:00 SHSHL Class A Semifinal Hatboro-Horsham vs. Wissahickon

Thursday, February 27

6:30 SHSHL Class AA Final at Hatfield Ice

8:30 SHSHL Class A Final at Hatfield Ice

Would you like to promote your product or service on this site during the Flyers Cup tournament? Contact us HERE to find out how.

North Penn 7, Pennsbury 4

Josh Kaufhold scored two goals and five other players scored one goal each as North Penn downed Pennsbury 7-4 Wednesday night in a SHSHL Class AA quarterfinal game Monday night at Hatfield Ice. The second-seeded Knights will face third Council Rock South in Wednesday’s semifinals (8:30 at Hatfield Ice). Both the Knights and the Falcons will open play in the Flyers Cup tournament next Tuesday.

Goals came fast and furious Monday night. Before the first period ended the Knights had a 3-2 lead. Ryan Kaufhold, Luke Van Why and Zachary Cline scored for North Penn while Jake Machlovitz and Andrew Falkenstein scored for Pennsbury.
Tyler Greenstein and Josh Kaufhold added second-period goals to give the Knights a 5-2 advantage with 4:16 left in the middle period.

Erik Eisler brought Pennsbury closer with a goal with 9:09 left in regulation but Josh Kaufhold’s second goal, which came during a power play with 5:05 remaining, extended North Penn’s advantage. Eisler scored his a second goal of the night for the Falcons with 1:16 left before Thomas Boyle finished the scoring for the Knights with an empty-net goal.

“Pennsbury is a very good hockey team,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “They came out ready to play, great wanted it just as bad as we did. Not the cleanest of games for us but I think coming out of the C.B. South game last week there was a little bit of a letdown.

“We got out of here with a 7-4 win but we’ve got to come ready to play, we’ve got to play much better on Wednesday,”
Pennsbury 2 0 2—4
North Penn 3 2 2—7

Elsewhere

Neshaminy 5, Central Bucks East 3—Rob Seewagen and Joey DeMatteo scored two goals each as the fourth-seeded ‘Skins bested the Patriots Monday night in a quarterfinal game at Grundy Arena. Neshaminy will face top seed Central Bucks South in Wednesday’s semifinals.

Central Buck South 13, Central Bucks West 3

HATFIELD—Central Bucks South had some high-performance fuel in their gas tanks Monday night. The Titans built a 5-0 first-period lead and went on to defeat Central Bucks West 13-3 in a Suburban High School Hockey League Class AA quarterfinal at Hatfield Ice that was terminated with 8:17 left in the third period. The top-seeded Titans (15-0-0-1) will advance to a Wednesday semifinal against Neshaminy in this same venue Wednesday night (6:30). Neshaminy, the fourth seed, bested fifth seed Central Bucks East 5-3 in another Monday quarterfinal.

Colin Abbonizio scored six goals and assisted on another for the Titans, who are seeking their ninth SHSHL title. Dominic Patrone and Connor Gaffney scored two goals each.

Jake Lang, who had been out of the lineup for several weeks for the eighth-seeded Bucks, was on the ice for the opening faceoff and wound up scoring two goals.

The Titans are already assured of the top seed in the upcoming Flyers Cup tournament; the SHSHL playoffs do not impact the Flyers Cup seedings. But any notion that South might coast through the league tournament was immediately dispelled.

Abbonizio scored the game’s first goal at the 6:23 mark of the first period and Aidan Gaffney made it 2-0 just 10 seconds later. Abbonizio completed a hat trick before the first period ended.

“We were so fired up- to get playoffs going,” he said. “We really had everyone going. Everyone is just so excited that we put everything out there.”

Abbonizio, the Titans’ captain, emphasized that the SHSHL title matters a lot to he and his teammates. “We never look past this tournament,” he said. “Obviously, South has gad a lot of success in past years. These trophies (for winning the regular season and league titles) are an appetizer. We want to get those trophies and we want more.”

By the end of the second period South had built a 10-0 lead but they maintained their focus to the final buzzer. Their coach, Shaun McGinty, would have it no other way.
“We break it down season by season,” he said. “Tonight is the second season. Everybody is 0-0-0. What happened last week is over We all know each other in this second season.”

Both teams are locked into their Flyers Cup seeds. The top-seeded Titans will host number-16 Conestoga next Tuesday at Hatfield Ice (6:40 start). The 15th-seeded Bucks (7-7-2-1) will face second seed Haverford at the Skatium at 7:00 that same evening.

C.B. West 0 3 0—3
C.B. South 5 5 3—13
First-period goals: Colin Abbonizio (CBS) unassisted, 6:23 (pp); Aidan Gaffney (CBS) from Ryan Gingras and Connor Gaffney, 6:36; Daniel Kvecher (CBS) from Abbonizio, 7:17; Abbonizio (CBS) unassisted, 14:11; Abbonizio (CBS) unassisted, 14:56.
Second-period goals: Keith Orlando (CBS) from Evan Hee and Chris Trefz, 1:13; Abbonizio (CBS) unassisted, 1:18; Jake Lang (CBW) from Ben Morris and Sammy Poliak, 4:03; Dominic Patrone (CBS) from Nick Klein and Gingras, 5:44; Lang (CBW) from Trefz and Hee, 6:52; Patrone (CBS) from Matt Milanesi and Gingras, 11:31 (pp); Connor Gaffney (CBS) from Max Levitz, 12:09; Abbonizio (CBS) from Stephen McMillan, 13:37
Third-period goals: Gaffney (CBS) from Owen Mendham, 3:47 (pp) Abbonizio (CBS) from McMillan, 6:30; Aidan Gaffney (CBS) from Connor Gaffney 7:43
Shots: C.B. West 25, C.B. South 54; Saves: Jake Coddington (CBW) 41, Mason Moyer (CBW) 22