Pennsbury was 54 seconds from a loss to Central Bucks East, when Shane Gleisner put the puck in the cage.

Gleisner’s goal, assisted by Frankie DeLucia and Shane Hicks, tied the game at 3-3 and forced overtime on Tuesday night at Grundy Ice Arena. The tie ended up standing, but the Falcons felt like winners. 

“It was really a relief to see that goal go in,” Pennsbury’s Frankie DeLucia said. “We were getting tons of shots and seeing that one go in was very satisfying.”

Pennsbury (5-3-1 in SHSHL National)) never led the entire game.  

The Patriots (4-5-1) got on the board first when Alex Wilson found the net with assists from Evan Asimakopoulos and Braedon Hahn. 

They extended that lead to 2-0 on a goal by Colton Dreyfus from Joseph Rhett Walter and Cole Kleindienst. 

Pennsbury finally got in on the scoring when Gleisner put one in on a power play (from DeLucia and Jacob Sarver) but the Patriots came right back with an unassisted goal by Benjamin Dempsey to make it 3-1. 

Undaunted, the Falcons closed the gap with a Hicks goal (from Gavin Schlotter and Gleisner). 

Just when it looked like the Patriots would seal the win, Gleisner just caught the top of the net (from DeLucia and Hicks). 

“I would never not have faith in this team,” DeLucia said. “As a senior I’ve seen a bunch of teams come through here and this team has no quit. Out of the four years this team has the least quit of any team I’ve ever been on. We never feel we’re out of any game and we’re going to fight no matter what’s on the scoreboard.”

It’s the fourth consecutive win for Pennsbury. 

“We’ve been successful in the past few games,” DeLucia said. “It was tough to come back from the (holiday) break and play a good team like CB East, but after the first period I thought we shook the rust off and got back to our normal game. It ended up being a great comeback.” 

The Patriots didn’t help themselves with penalties. They had seven and two were costly, as Gleisner’s first goal came when Pennsbury was on a  two-man power play.

“That was a bad time to have them,” Asimakopoulos said. “But for the most part we did a good job of penalty killing.   

CB East was coming off back-to-back losses to Pennsbury (8-4) and Council Rock South (6-4).

“I was kind of defensively minded coming into this game,” said Asimakopoulos, a senior forward. “I really wanted to lock down Shane (Gleisner) and I thought we did a pretty good job of that.

“When they scored with so little time left, Shane was supposed to be my guy defensively and I failed at that, so that’s on me. 

“We’re going to grow as a team and get better. We’re a young team but I thought we did good things. I thought we were all-round good. Defensively, in front of the net we picked up where we failed last time.”  

Central Bucks East 1 2 0 0—3

Pennsbury 0 2 1 0 —3

First-period goal: Alex Wilson (CBE) from Evan Asimakopoulos and Braedon Hahn, 13:45. Second-period goals: Colton Dreyfus (CBE) from Joseph Rhett Walter and Cole Kleindienst; Shane Gleisner (P) from Francis DeLucia and Jacob Sarver, 6:51(pp); Benjamin Dempsey (CBE) unassisted, 14:09; Shane Hicks (P) from Gavin Schlotter and Gleisner, 16:40. Third period goal: Gleisner (P) from DeLucia and Hicks, 16:06  

Shots: CBE 33, P 49; Saves: Cameron Young (CBE) 34, Brendan Milliken (P)  27

Story by Karen Sangillo