North Penn 5 Pennridge 0

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

But North Penn had a resounding answer.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Norton made 24 saves in goal for North Penn.

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

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

“That shows a lot,” Andy Norton said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pennridge 0 0 0—0

North Penn 1 1 3—5

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

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

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

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

C.R. South 5 Boyertown 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Then everything changed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Boyertown 2 0 1—3

Council Rock South 0 0 5—5

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

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

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

Flyers Cup Results for Thursday, 3-6

There are 10 Flyers Cup games on the schedule for Thursday night. By the time finishes Thursday night, 25 of the 41 teams that started the week will have been eliminated.

Class AAA Quarterfinals

Salesianum 4 Malvern Prep 2

Father Judge 6 St. Joseph’s Prep 2

Class AA Quarterfinals

Council Rock South 5 Boyertown 3

Spring-Ford 4 Haverford High 0

North Penn 5 Pennridge 0

Downingtown East 4 Downingtown West 0

Class A Quarterfinals

Garnet Valley 10 Plymouth Whitemarsh 0

WC East 3 Kennett 2

WC Henderson 7 Marple-Newtown 6 OT

Hershey 6 Penncrest 0

Flyers Cup Schedule Results, Tuesday March 4

Class AAA First Round

Holy Ghost Prep 10 Owen J. Roberts 0

The top-seeded Firebird blasted the eighth-seeded Wildcats Tuesday night at Hatfield Ice Arena in a Class AAA quarterfinal game that was terminated 1:07 into the third period.

Brady Logue scored three times for the Firebirds. John Gavaghan found the back of the net twice while five other players scored one goal each.

“We had a very simple plan tonight,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach John Ritchie, “to control the tempo and pace of the game against a team we were only able to video pre-scout against some common opponents.

“I would say we accomplished that but their team and goaltender deserve lot of credit for hanging in there.”

Holy Ghost Prep (19-4-1) will face either Malvern Prep or Salesianum in next Thursday’s semifinals.

Owen J. Roberts 0 0 0—0

Holy Ghost Prep 5 4 1—10

First-period goals: Brady Logue (HGP) from Anthony Valeriote, 3:01; Patryk Oszer from Michael Previtera, 7:32; John Gavaghan (HGP) from B. Logue and Valeriote, 9:25 (pp); William Harmar from Nate Romer, 10:19; B. Logue from Joe Spadaccino and Harmar, 16:15;

Second-period goals: B. Logue (HGP) from Joseph Kaufmann and Chase Logue, 11:04; C. Logue (HGP) from Kaufmann, 11:42; Kaufmann (HGP) from Spadaccino, 14:49; Gavaghan (HGP) from B. Logue, 16:07 (pp)

Third-period goal: Brian Kinniry (HGP) from Colin Bara, 1:07

Shots: O.J. Roberts 8, Holy Ghost Prep 43; Saves: Josh Burnheimer (OJR) 33, Jack Unger (HGP) 8

La Salle 7 Devon Prep 0—Check elsewhere on this site for details.

Class AA First Round

Spring-Ford 4 Central Bucks South 3—Dylan Cyr scored a shorthanded goal 5:11 into overtime as the 12th-seeded Rams stunned the fifth-seeded Titans at Hatfield Ice Arena.

Cyr’s winning goal, his second goal of the game, came when the Titans coughed up the puck behind their own net during a power play.

Spring-Ford trailed 3-1 going into the third period but goals from Stephen Falbo and William Schaeffer forced overtime.

The Titans trailed 1-0 after the first period but Logan Hood, Jake Stepp, and Ryan Frey all scored goals in a span of 3:04 to give South a two-goal lead with 7:48 left in the middle period.

The Titans closed the season at 17-7.

Spring-Ford will gave Haverford High in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Pennridge 7 Avon Grove 2—The seventh-seeded Rams took a 3-1 lead into the first period and broke the game open with four unanswered goals in the third at Hatfield Ice Arena. Nate McKean and Rush each scored two goals as the defending Class AA Flyers Cup and state champions began their defense. James Embert, Shane Dachowki, and James Young also scored goals. Dachowski contributed two assists while Jacob Winton recorded 28 saves in goal.

Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna spoke to the importance of his team’s fast start.

“Even with the new guy, we have a lot of experience,” he said. “We have. a lot of pride, we have. a lot of expectations. We’ve been here before, we know what needs to be done.

“We have enough guys in that locker room that understand that in this type of game you can win the game in the first period.”

Pennridge (14-8) will face second seed North Penn on Thursday in the quarterfinals.

Downingtown West 3 Central Bucks East 1—Gavin Widmer gave the 11th-seeded Patriot a 1-0 lead with five seconds left in the second period but the sixth-seeded Whippets responded with three goals in the third.

Downingtown West will face Downingtown East in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

The Patriots closed the season at 10-10-1.

Class A First Round

Kennett 7 Strath Haven 1

Hershey 4 Hatboro-Horsham 1—Four different player scored for the sixth-seeded Trojans. Vince Graziani scored for the Hatters (12-9)

Marple-Newtown 9 Palmyra 3

P-W 9 Springfield-Delco 6

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Springfield 1 3 2—6

PW 3 4 2—9

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

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

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

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

Council Rock South 4 Central Bucks South 3

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

It was the Golden Hawks who prevailed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

C.B. South 1 1 1—3

C.R. South 2 0 2—4

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

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

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

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

H-H 5 Plymouth Whitemarsh 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shots: Plymouth Whitemarsh 39, Hatboro Horsham 29

Saves: Eric Miller 34, Julian Lucks 27

Championhip Thursday 2-27

SHSHL

American Division Final

Hatboro-Horsham 5 Plymouth Whitemrash 2

National Division Final

Council Rock South 4vs. Central Bucks South 3

ICSHL

Prep/Catholic Final

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

Ches-Mont Final

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

Central Final

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

C.R. South 4 Pennridge 1

It’s no small feat to top the defending state champions three times in a season.

But Council Rock South accomplished that on Wednesday, topping defending Flyers Cup and state champion Pennridge, 4-1, in the semifinals of the SHSHL National Division at Grundy.

In the first period, the Golden Hawks took advantage of a Shane Dachowski roughing minor by netting a power play goal by Jagger Smith for the first score of the game.

They added to that when Jake Weiner scored back-to-back goals in the second period.

That 3-0 lead lasted until just seven minutes remained in the game, when Joshua Kelly’s shot took an odd ricochet over CR South goaltender Trey Prozzillo’s right shoulder.

It wasn’t enough of a spark for the Rams, though, and Jeremy Rayher shut the door with his goal for CR South with 3:36 to go in the game.

“The first five minutes, teams have to feel each other out,” said Pennridge junior James Rush, a forward. “After those five minutes, I felt our team was pretty engaged. I thought our lines were moving pretty good. We were going hard, but we weren’t getting the bounces.

“I think the mindset is pretty much the same for us every game. We know our system. We just want to stick to that.

“I really didn’t think we were going to lose until about the last two minutes. Crazier things have happened and you never want to think you’re out of it so you don’t give up until the last whistle.”

Prozzillo was superb for the Golden Hawks, making 25 saves.

“I really wanted the shutout,” said Prozzillo, a junior. “That one goal that I let in was weak.

“But our whole team stayed together. We wanted to win this game so bad for all the times that we lost to them in the past. We really worked as a team and supported each other.”

His teammates appreciated his performance.

“For him to stand on his head like that, he was great,” said Dan Filippov, a senior defenseman for the Golden Hawks. “He was backing up Carson Lopez last year so he had big shoes to fill and when he plays like that against a team like that, you can’t thank him enough.”

It was the third meeting of the year between the two, with CR South winning the first meeting, 6-5, and the rematch, 5-2.

“We came out a little slow but we definitely picked it up in the second period. We had a talk and we knew we had to work together. The teams that win these games are the teams that work together. Individuality will not win these games. We built that momentum up and then we started banging in those goals.

“Against a team like this, that we’ve lost to in the Flyers Cup twice, there’s history there and we wanted to win,” Filippov said. “We gave it everything we had. We wanted to show a different team than they’ve seen in the past.

“Even the kids who don’t see a lot of playing time were banging on the boards and getting into it and that’s good to see.”

The Rams are a relatively young squad.

“We had like 14-15 guys graduate from last year and we had a bunch of JV players come up and filling big roles,” said Pennridge senior Jared Garber, a defenseman. “That was an adjustment a little at the beginning but they’ve been playing really well.

“We had some good chances but we couldn’t find the net and their goalie played phenomenal. But I thought we outplayed them, honestly but we couldn’t put the puck in the net.”

The Golden Hawks (17-5) seek their third consecutive SHSHL title.

“I’m excited,” Prozzillo said. “We’re really looking forward to it.”

CR South will take on Central Bucks South, a 4-3 winner over North Penn, for the division championship on Thursday. Win or lose, the Golden Hawks will participate in the Flyers Cup, which begins on Monday.

Pennridge (13-8) will be back on the ice for the Flyers Cup.

“That’s all we’re worried about,” Rush said. “These playoffs are great but we have our eyes set on the Flyers Cup.”

Garber agreed.

“We lost this game a couple of years ago and we still won the Flyers Cup, so we won’t give up,” he said.

Pennridge 0 0 1

Council Rock South 1 2 1

First-period goal; Jagger Smith (CRS) from Jonah Weston, 11:07 (pp);

Second-period goals: Jake Weiner (CRS) from Jake Maurer and Jagger Smith, 1:22; Jake Weiner (CRS) unassisted, 13:34;

Third-period goals: Joshua Kelly (P) unassisted, 9:58; Jeremy Rayher (CRS) unassisted, 13:24

Shots: Pennridge 25, CR South 33; Saves: Jacob Winton (P) 33, Trey Prozzillo (CRS) 25

C.B. South 4 North Penn 3

Central Bucks South scored three times in the third period Wednesday night to earn a place in the SHSHL National Division final with a 4-3 decision over North Penn at Hatfield Ice.

The third-seeded Titans (17-5) will face two-time defending champion Council Rock South Thursday night at Grundy Arena. Second-seeded North Penn will be idle until the quarterfinal round of the Class AA Flyers Cup tournament next Thursday.

“This was a true team win,” said South coach Shaun McGinty. “With three period ahead of us, the boys must continue to play hard in all three zones.

“Our focus remains on team structure and having a team-first mentality.

South’s Sean Cutter and North Penn’s James Boyle traded goals to send the game into the third period all even.

Dom Gibson scored for South to his team up 2-1 2:23 into the final period, but Boyle followed with his second goal of the game with 9:51 left in regulation.

Logan Hood’s goal with 6:21 remaining put the Titans ahead for good. Ryan Frey added an insurance goal 37 seconds later and the policy was needed and Boyle completed a hat trick with 21 seconds left in regulation.

North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis credited the Titans for their effort.

“They had multiple lines coming at us in waves,” he said. “Hats off to them for how they played. I told our boys to keep our heads up as we have to refocus now and get ready for the Flyers Cup.”

C.B. South 1 0 3—4

North Penn 0 1 2—3

First-period goal: Sean Cutter (CBS) from Ryan Frey, 12:44

Second-period goal: James Boyle (NP) from Daniel Cabrales and Sam Norton, 5:45 (pp)

Third-period goals: Dom Gibson (CBS) from Peter Herring, 2:23; Boyle (NP) from Nolan Shingles, 7:09; Logan Hood (CBS) unassisted, 10:39; Frey (CBS) unassisted, 11:16; Boyle (NP) from Chris Silvotto, 16:39

Shots: C.B. South 29, North Penn 23; Saves: Nate Napolitano (CBS) 20, Aidan Quigley (NP) 25