Hockey Happenings for 1-22-18

The hockey world is mourning the passing of Jim Johannson, the assistant executive director of USA Hockey who passed away early Sunday.
USA Hockey issued the following statement on Sunday.

Jim Johannson, assistant executive director of USA Hockey and the general manager of the 2018 U.S. Olympic men’s ice hockey team, passed away in his sleep early this morning at his home in Colorado Springs.

Johannson, born March 10, 1964, in Rochester, Minnesota, had a life-long career in hockey and was one of the most accomplished and respected people in the sport.

“We are beyond shocked and profoundly saddened,” said Pat Kelleher, executive director of USA Hockey. “As accomplished as Jim was in hockey, he was the absolute best, most humble, kind and caring person you could ever hope to meet. His impact on our sport and more importantly the people and players in our sport have been immeasurable. Our condolences go out to his entire family, but especially to his loving wife Abby and their young daughter Ellie.”

Johannson came to USA Hockey in 2000 after spending five years (1995-2000) as the general manager of the Twin Cities Vulcans, a Junior A team in the United States Hockey League. Under his guidance, the Vulcans captured the 2000 USA Hockey Junior A National Championship in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Johannson began his career at USA Hockey as manager of international activities and U.S. Olympic Committee relations, was promoted to senior director of hockey operations on August 5, 2003, and on June 25, 2007, assumed the position of assistant executive director of hockey operations, where he had oversight of all in-sport related initiatives, including USA Hockey’s efforts in putting teams on the field of play for international competition.

Among the numerous accomplishments during his tenure, the most significant include U.S. teams capturing 64 medals in major international competition, including 34 gold, 19 silver and 11 bronze; the launching and implementation of the highly acclaimed American Development Model; and securing USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan, as a home for all U.S. teams to utilize.

“Jim’s positive influence was enormous and will be felt for generations to come,” said Jim Smith, president of USA Hockey. “He was widely respected across the world and his genuine nature helped advance our sport in so many ways. Today, we are a medal contender every time we put a team on the ice for international competition, and he played a major role in helping us get to that point. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his entire family. It’s a sad day for all of us.”

“There are few like Jimmy,” said Ron DeGregorio, chairman of the board of USA Hockey. “Our sport was so lucky to have him. He was as good of a person you’ll meet and he played such a significant role in helping move our sport forward. Today is a tough day for everyone. To Abby and Ellie and the entire Johannson family, our thoughts and prayers are with you today and always.”

Johannson played college hockey at the University of Wisconsin from 1982-86 and helped the Badgers capture the NCAA title as a freshman. He was selected by the Hartford Whalers in the 7th round (130th overall) of the 1982 NHL Draft and went on to play 374 games of professional hockey between 1987-94 in the International Hockey League where he registered 279 points, including 119 goals.

He twice played for the U.S. in the Olympic Winter Games (1988, 1992) and was also a member of the U.S. Men’s National Team that participated in the 1992 IIHF Men’s World Championship.

Playoff Ponderings

It’s official. The Class 2A playoff pairings and seedings in the SHSHL will be determined strictly on a points basis. For playoff purposes, all 12 teams are in one division.

Here are the top eight in points through last week’s games (divisional results only)

W-L-T Pts

Central Bucks South 7-0-0 14

Council Rock South 6-0-1 13

Pennridge 5-1-0 10

Council Rock North 4-3-1 9

North Penn 4-1-0 8

Central Bucks West 4-3-0 8

Central Bucks East 3-4-0 6

Souderton 2-4-0 4

William Tennent 1-5-2 4

Neshaminy 1-6-1 3

Truman 0-3-1 1

Pennsbury 0-7-0 0

Our thanks to the administration and staff at Holy Ghost Prep for their support

Holy Ghost Prep is a private, Catholic, all-boys school located in Bensalem, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Located adjacent to the busy I-95 corridor in metropolitan Philadelphia, Holy Ghost Prep attracts students from more than 100 elementary feeder schools from throughout metropolitan Philadelphia counties and New Jersey

Today is a vibrant community of nearly 500 young men preparing for college and adult life through a challenging program which stresses the cultivation of students’ unique gifts and talents, academic excellence, and generous service to the poor. We continue to be mindful of our founding history as a seminary as we seek to form young men morally, intellectually, and spiritually in the Spiritan tradition.

Like Father Like Son

We’ve always enjoyed the play-by-play work of Dan Kelly on Big Ten Network hockey telecasts. The sport is in his blood.

His father, Dan Kelly, was the longtime voice of the St. Louis Blues. He was also the voice of CBS when the network began televising hockey following the 1967 expansion that brought the Flyers, the Blues, and four other teams into existence (the Los Angeles Kings, the California Seals, Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Minnesota North Stars). In that role, he taught a lot of Americans about hockey. In addition to his work for CBS he called games for an assortment of other networks.

Until his death in February of 1989 from lung cancer at age 52, Kelly set the standard for hockey broadcasters in this country.

He also called University of Missouri football games on the radio and was outstanding in that role as well.

The Flyers are Coming

The Flyers Alumni team is coming to Grundy Arena this coming Saturday to take on the Glaziers 252. Tickets are $15 and will be available at the door.

Central Bucks South 8, Pennridge 6

1-17-18

It was a hockey game that lived up to expectations. Central Bucks South rallied from a 3-1 second-period deficit to down Pennridge 8-6 Wednesday at Revolution Ice Gardens in the only regular-season matchup of the two premier teams in the Suburban High School Hockey League’s Class 2A Division, one that pitted Pennridge coach Tom Coyne against the team he led to two Flyers Cup and state championships.

The Titans scored five straight goals to break the game open and record their 11^th victory in 12 starts this season (6-0 in the division).

Matt Stoll delivered a hat trick and added an assist to highlight the winners’ Senior Night.

“It was pretty weird,” Stoll said, “I’m not going to lie. It was pretty different being on the ice against Tom Coyne. Certainly a lot of emotion. I’m just glad we got the win.”

The Rams (9-2, 5-1) came out sharp and scored the only goal of the first period when Eric Slater beat Tim White from long range from the left wing just 1:26 after the opening faceoff. Michael Walker made it a 2-0 game 6:3 into the second period before Frank Carter got the Titans on the board with a rocket from the high slot during a power play at the 8:13 mark. When Dylan Lowery responded for Pennridge 62 seconds later the Rams had a 3-1 lead prompting South coach Shaun McGinty to use his time out.

“I’m not a big time out fan,” he said. “I like to keep momentum going … I don’t like holding the game up. But it was needed.”

The Titans responded by getting a goal from James Schuller and two from Stoll, all in a span of 2 minutes, 33 seconds to take a 4-3 lead.

C.B. South’s Tim White makes a save against Pennridge Wednesday night as teammate Joe DeLaurentis and the Rams’ Michael Walker close in

(Photo by Dara Nappen King)

It was still a one-goal game entering the third period but Ryan Gingras scored for South at the 1:47 mark before Stoll completed his hat trick with a shorthanded effort at 4:12 and essentially settled the issue, although Walker scored the last two goals of the game for Pennridge to claim a hat trick of his own.

“We got a little bit away from what we really started out doing,” Coyne said. “I thought we were really effective in the first period but then again we were fresher in the first period.

I just grounded 10 guys into the ground tonight. I just thought we could give them our best punch. We got away, we got caught running around.”

The Titans kept their shifts short, which Stoll said worked to their advantage. “It helped a lot that we were all on the same page,” he said. We all got off at a decent time and kept fresh legs on the ice. That really helped.”

The Titans enjoyed a 41-29 edge in shots … Ten South seniors were recognized prior to game time.

Pennridge 1 2 3—6

C.B. South 0 4 4—8

First-period goal: Eric Slater (P) unassisted, 1:24.

Second-period goals: Michael Walker (P) unassisted, 6:23; Frank Carter (CBS) from Joe DeLaurentis and Matt Stoll, 8:13 (pp); Dylan Lowery (P) unassisted, 9:15; James Schuler (CBS) from Jake Parlow, 9:44; Stoll (CBS) from Reis Braccio and DeLaurentis, 9:59; Stoll (CBS) from DeLaurentis, 12:17.

Third-period goals: Ryan Gingras (CBS) from Braccio and DeLaurentis, 1:47; Stoll (CBS) from DeLaurentis, 4:12 (sh); Slater (P) unassisted, 5:23; Drew Kirilorf (CBS) from Colin Abbonizio and Schuler, 6:10; Matt Milanesi (CBS) from Dominick Pattrone and Abbonizio, 11:06; Walker (P) from Patrick McGinley, 14:28; Walker (P) from Slater, 15:58.
Shots: Pennridge 29, C.B. South 41; Saves: Luke Stranik (P) 33, Tom White (CBS) 23.

Records: Pennridge (9-2, 5-1 in SHSHL Class 2A Division); Central Bucks South (11-1 6-0)

Our thanks to the administration at Holy Ghost Prep for their support.

Hockey Happenings Update 1-14-18

The Game of the Year?

The much-anticipated matchup between Central Bucks South and Pennridge is on tap for Wednesday night. Faceoff is scheduled for 8:40 at Revolution Ice Gardens.

The Titans and the Rams have been the class of the Suburban High School Hockey League’s Class 2A sector all season and this will be their only regular-season meeting. South comes in 10-1 overall and a perfect 6-0 in league play. Pennridge is 9-1 overall, and 5-0 in the league.

As if this game needed any additional buildup (and it doesn’t), Tom Coyne is now behind the bench at Pennridge, having replaced Ken Doak earlier this season. He’ll be coaching against the team he led to two Flyers Cup and state championships.

The winner of this game will likely have the inside lane to the top seed out of the SHSHL for the Flyers Cup tournament. It should also be noted that this game will feature four of the league’s top six Class 2A scorers.

Check back here later tonight for a recap of this game.

Our thanks to the administration at Holy Ghost Prep for their support of this site.

Here are the SHSHL’s leading scorers. Totals include games reported through Friday, January 12.

Class 2A Goals Assists Points

Eric Slater (Pennridge) 19 14 33

Zac Herman (C.R. North) 15 13 28

Matt Stoll (C.B. South) 15 10 25

Matt Meli (C.R. South) 18 5 23

Joe DeLaurentis (C.B. South) 16 5 21

Reis Bracio (C.B. South) 6 13 19

Daniel Guest (C.R. North) 10 8 18

Logan Hurwitz (C.R. North) 5 11 16

Brandon Simmonds (C.R. North) 4 12 16

Class A Goals Assists Points

Bryan Gary (Wiss.) 35 19 54

Sean Gary (Wiss) 25 19 44

Ari Nordinger (U.D.) 22 8 30

Dean Keller (PW) 23 6 29

Perry Carpenter (Ab.) 15 12 27

Jacob Mueller (HH) 13 12 25

Colin Franzoni (PW) 8 15 23

Help us continue our efforts to promote high-school and amateur hockey by promoting your product or service here on this site. E-mail us here for rate and other information

Hatboro-Horsham 7, Upper Moreland 2

1-12-18

Hatboro-Horsham was primed for Senior Night. And it showed early on. The Hatters scored goals on the first three shots of the game and went on to a 7-2 win over Upper Moreland in Suburban High School Hockey League action at Revolution Ice Gardens.

The Hatters (7-2 overall and in the SHSHL’s Class A Division) recognized the five seniors on their roster prior to the opening faceoff and their level of energy remained high after the puck was dropped. Jacob Mueller one of the five, scored just 12 seconds into the game when a puck deflected past Upper Moreland goaltender Michael Denardo.

Dylan McClure another senior, followed with two quick goals of his own to put Hatboro-Horsham up 3-0 after just 69 seconds of playing time. “I think we played pretty good,” he said. ”We came in and did what we needed to do.”

The possibility of blowout loomed at that point but Denardo stepped up and kept the Hatters at bay for the balance of the period.

The Golden Bears (0-8, 0-7 in the division got on the scoreboard at the 7:01 mark of the middle period when Noah Goodson, one of eight freshmen on the Upper Moreland roster, scored a power-play goal. Kyle Mullen and Aidan Esack scored goals for the Hatters to extend their lead; Aiden’s goal came with 1:04 left in the period.

Prior to the ensuing faceoff Upper Moreland lost Goodson with a minor penalty plus a misconduct for a mouthpiece violation and by the third period the Golden Bears, who have just 13 players on their roster, were running low on energy reserves. Ben Heywood scored for the Hatters at the 10:50 mark at the final frame before Hatboro-Horsham’s Nathan Reilly and Goodson traded goals in the final minute.

Through it all, Denardo continued to excel in the Upper Moreland net. He finished with 50 saves. Hatboro-Horsham had a 57-15 edge in shots.

For Upper Moreland coach Mike Denardo, Friday’s game was another step in the process of building a program. “Three of them had never played hockey before,” he said, “so that was parents and friends asking kids to come out and give it a try.”

Denardo notes his newcomers work to get ice time to improve their skating skills. “They go out and skate on their own,” he said, “which is a plus because we only have one split practice a week. So they go out and play open hockey, they skate on the ponds. They’re trying. They’re putting the work in.”

Hatboro-Horsham 3 2 2—7

Upper Moreland 0 1 1—2

First-period goals: Jacob Mueller (HH) unassisted, :12; Dylan McClure (HH) from Mueller, :32; McClure (HH) from Nathan Reilly, 1:09.

Second-period goals: Noah Goodson (UM) from Brad Helsinger, 7:01 (pp); Kyle Mullen (HH) from McClure and Mueller, 13:30; Aidan Esack (HH) unassisted, 14:56.

Third period goals: Ben Heywood (HH) from Mullen and McClure, 10:50; Reilly (HH) from Shane Mergen, 15:07; Noah Goodson (UM) unassisted, 15:18.

Shots: Hatboro-Horsham 57, Upper Moreland 15; Saves: Ryan Bell (HH) 13, Michael Denardo (UM) 50.

Records: Hatboro-Horsham (7-2 overall and in SHSHL Class A Division); Upper Moreland (0-8, 0-7 in the division)

Help us continue to cover and promote high-school and amateur hockey. If you’re interested in advertising your product or service on this site, or would like more information, e-mail us HERE

SHSHL Class 2A Standings Update

If all 12 Class 2A teams in the Suburban High School Hockey League were in one division, here is what the standings would look like. Records include divisional games only through results reported through Thursday. January 11.

It is still to be determined whether the SHSHL playoffs will be seeded by division or on points.

Won Lost Tied Points
Central Bucks South 6 0 0 12

Council Rock South 5 0 1 11

Pennridge 5 0 0 10

Council Rock North 3 3 1 7

North Penn 3 1 0 6

Central Bucks West 3 2 0 6

Souderton 2 3 0 4

Central Bucks East 2 4 0 4

William Tennent 1 5 2 4

Neshaminy 1 4 1 3

Truman 0 2 1 1

Pennsbury 0 7 0 0
The Class 2A league season consists of 11 games.

Coming later tonight, a recap of the Hatboro-Horsham-Upper Moreland Class A game.

The countdown is continuing to 23rd Olympic Winter Games. Check out how some of the top female athletes are preparing for the Games and catch up on other women’s sports news by checking out the Women’s Sports and Entertainment Network.

The site can be accessed HERE

Michigan Rink Named for Red Berenson

The University of Michigan has officially named its home rink at the Fielding H. Host Field House in honor of longtime coach Red Berenson. The Red Berenson Rink was officially dedicated on Friday night before the Wolverines faced Notre Dame.

Berenson coached the Wolverines for 33 years before retiring following the close of the 2017 season with a record of 848-429-92. His teams won national championships in 1996 and ’98, reached the national championship game in 2011, and qualified for the Frozen Four on eight other occasions.

Before going into coaching Berenson played in the NHL for all or part of 17 seasons. and scored 261 goals while adding 397 assists for 658 points in 987 games in an era where there wasn’t as much scoring as there is today

Readers of this blog will likely most remember him as a member of the expansion-era St. Louis Blues and a tormenter of the Philadelphia Flyers in their infancy. He helped lead the Blues to the Stanley Cup finals in the first three years of their existance.

He also played in the Canada-Soviet Union series in the fall of 1972.

And perhaps just as importantly, he played in the first NHL game I ever saw.

What is often forgotten is that Berenson was not only an All-American at Michigan but earned his degree as well.

In light of Berenson’s considerable success as a coach it’s easy to overlook his contributions got the game of hockey in other areas. But those contributions should never be forgotten,

We feel it’s important for today’s athletes to be aware of the history of their sport, and learn about the contributions of those that came before them.

New Hope-Solebury Hockey Team Making History

Wins have been tough to come by for the New Hope-Solebury hockey team this season. The Lions took the ice against Plymouth Whitemarsh Wednesday night having won just twice in six starts (1-4 in the SHSHL’s Class A Division).

They had just 10 skaters in uniform plus goaltender Devin Brock. And once again they came out on the short end. Dean Keller’s hat trick propelled the Colonials to an 8-6 win at Hatfield Ice.

“The challenge for us is that we’re a small school,” says New Hope-Solebury coach Jeff Garvin. “We have a limited amount of players, a small roster. In my mind, for us to really compete you need three full lines and in a lot of games we’re playing with 10 players. By the third period, our team usually runs out of gas.

But our kids always put in a good effort and play hard, and at the end of the day, I’m glad they’re having fun.”

Garvin’s coaching background includes a stint as an assistant at LaSalle High. About half his players play club hockey. Brock is a virtual novice and had never played in goal prior to this fall.

“Without him, we wouldn’t have a team,” Garvin says.

Brock played a bit of hockey when he was in elementary school but essentially gave up the game at age 10. Today his primary sport is lacrosse; he’s an attackman.

But he grew up idolizing Hall of Famer goaltender3 Martin Brodeur and one thing led to another.

“I loved (Brodeur),” Brock says. “I loved the Devils and watching him growing up was really awesome.”
When he stepped on the ice for the Lions this season, Brock found that his expectations of what his job entailed didn’t always match reality. “(Playing in goal) is so much harder than I thought,” he says “It’s really hard to get used to moving around, but I’m not scared of the puck. It’s not as scary as you think. A lot of people are scared. But it’s a really difficult position to play.”

New Hope-Solebury’s future on the ice is uncertain. There are five seniors on this year’s squad, including Brock and while at one time there was a middle-school team, there were no replacements available when the middle schoolers (who are now freshmen and sophomores) stepped up to the varsity level.

But the players on this year’s roster, 14 in all, have made history.

“I don’t know if we’re going to have enough guys to replace them,” Garvin says. “I’d love to see us have a team next year, but it might be one and done for now.”

The Colonials scored three times on their first six shots and led 4-1 after the first period. Chris Braun and Michael Janora scored twice each for the Lions.

Keller has scored 23 goals for the Colonials this season. He was tied for third in the Class A Division in goals heading into Wednesday night.

Plymouth Whitemarsh is now 2-8 and 2-7 in the division.

New Hope-Solebury 1 2 3—6

Plymouth Whitemarsh 4 2 2—8

For information on promoting your product or service on this site email us HERE

Two Hockey Players With Local Ties Headed To Olympic Games

Two players with connections to the Suburban High School Hockey League will be part of the American team that will skate in the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Yardley, Pa. native and Germantown Academy graduate Brian O’ Neill, a forward will be joined by defenseman Ryan Gunderson, a Bensalem native and a Holy Ghost Prep graduate.

This will mark the first time since 1994 that NHL players will not be competing in the Olympics. The bulk of the American squad is playing professionally in Europe.

The 32-year old Gunderson is skating for Brynäs IF in the Swedish Hockey League, the top professional league in Sweden. He played college hockey at Vermont and set a school record by appearing in 148 games for the Catamounts.

He played professionally with the Trenton Devils in in the East Coast Hockey League before moving on to Sweden, where he helped Brynäs IF win a league title in 2012.

The 29-year old O’Neill is playing for Jokerit in the Kontinental Hockey League, which is based in Russia but has teams in Western Europe as well; Jonjerit is based in Helsinki, Finland.

O’Neill played college hockey at Yale where he tied a record for games played (138) and left with the second highest point total in school history. He was named the Ivy League player of the year in 2012 before signing with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and helping their American Hockey League affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, win the Calder Cup three years later.

A total of 706 NHL players have competed over the course of the last five Olympiads. League officials and club owners felt that participating in the upcoming Games would not be in the league’s best interests, citing the break in the schedule among other things.

This year’s Games get underway on February 9. The U.S. hockey team, which being coached by former NHL standout Tony Granato will play its first preliminary game in the 12-team tournament on February 14 against Slovenia before playing additional games against Slovakia on February 16 and Russia on the 17^th.

Hockey Happenings 12-30-17

It’s Almost Time for Hockey

It’s almost time for the Suburban High School Hockey League to awaken from its holiday slumber. The league season is set to resume on Wednesday. Here’s how the standings would look if the 12 Class 2A teams were all in one division.

W-L-T Pts

C.B. South 5-0-0 10

C.R. South 4-0-1 9

Pennridge 4-0-0 8

North Penn 3-1-0 6

CR North 2-3-1 5

Souderton 2-2-0 4

Wm. Tennent 1-3-2 4

CB East 2-3-0 4

Neshaminy 1-3-1 3

CB West 1-2-0 2

Truman 0-2-1 1

Pennsbury 0-6-0 0

Keep in mind, the official league season in Class 2A this season consists of 11 games; each team will play the others once.

Wissahickon continues to lead the Class A Division with a perfect 8-0-0 league mark. Hatboro-Horsham is next at 6-1-0 followed by Abington at 4-2-0 and Upper Dublin at 4-4-0.

Winter Classic

While the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres are squaring off in the Winter Classic on Monday, two local teams will also be taking the ice. Archbishop Wood and Lansdale Catholic will face off at Junge Pavilion at The Academy of the New Church in what has become a New Year’s Day tradition. Game time will be 2 p.m. weather permitting.

It Starts With a Handshake

I’ve heard criticism of the new SHSHL protocol which mandates teams shake hands before the opening faceoff than after the game, but I personally like the idea. It sends the right message and gets the evening off to a positive start.

The custom is not unique to hockey. It’s common in professional soccer re; the Premier League and in the World Cup. We also saw that protocol on display recently at a college basketball game; the teams shook hands after the national anthem prior to player introductions.

Safety First Part I

In years past it was rare for SHSHL games to be postponed because of bad weather and games would often be played when other high-school events were called off. But coaches now have a protocol to request a postponement from the league in the wake of unfavorable road/travel conditions.

Several games were called off earlier this month in the wake of storm. They will be made up at some point, inserted into the designated home team’s practice ice slot.

Safety Part II

A scary moment occurred in the second period of the North-Penn-C.B. South game on December when the Knights’ George Boyle was taken into the boards from behind by the Titans’ Reis Braccio, who received a major penalty plus a game misconduct on the play and deservedly so. Boyle was down on the ice for the better part of three minutes.

Some would consider hockey a dangerous game. The view from here is that it is a game that has certain inherent risks. Every player, regardless of age, experience, or level of play, has an inherent responsibility to play the game safely.

If you would like to promote your product or service via Hockey Hockey Happenings, or would like more information about this site, please contact us HERE

SHSHL Scoring Leaders as of 12-30-17

Class 2A

G-A PTS

Zac Herman, CRN 13-11—24

Eric Slater, PR 12-12—24

Michael Walker, PR 12-11—23

Matt Stoll, CBS 12-7—19

Matt Melli, CRS 14-3—17

Daniel Guest, CRN 9-8—17

Reis Braccio, CBS 4-12—16

Nathan Oh, NP 5-10—15

Brandon Simmonds, CRN 4-11—15

Joe DeLaurentis, CBS 13-1—14

Andrew Galetta, NP 9-5—14

Jared Albano, NP 5-9—14

Class A G-A PTS

Brian Gary, Wiss 30-18—48

Sean Gary, Wiss 23-16—39

Ari Nordinger, UD 20-7—27

Dean Keller, PW 20-5—25

Perry Carpenter, Ab. 12-10—22

C.B. South 9, North Penn 5 12-20-17

WARWICK— It took Central Bucks South some time to get going against North Penn Wednesday night. The Titans made up for lost time however, by scoring five goals in the second period to post a 9-5 win over the nights in a Suburban High School Hockey League matchup at Revolution Ice Gardens.

It was the second victory for South over North Penn in just under a month; the Titans scored a 7-0 shutout on Thanksgiving Eve, but this one counted in the Continental Division standings. South improved to 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the division while the Knights slipped to 4-3 and 3-1.

Matt Stoll paced the Titans with four goals and an assist. “We beat North Penn 7-0 the last game we played them,” he said. “We came into this game ‘Okay, maybe this should be an easy game but you never really should think that.”

The Knights jumped in front just 36 seconds the first period when John Kaufhold scored on a. forehanded from theft circle on the first shot of the game. When Jared Alebano scored on the Knights’ fourth shot at the 7:13 mark, South goaltender Tim White departed in favor of Oscar Levin.

South coach Shaun McGinty was perplexed with his team’s slow start. “We can’t do it,” he said. “We had a slow start tonight and gave them an opportunity to put in two on us. But it’s good for these boys to have the adversity and push through and come together as a team.”

The Titans finally erupted in the second frame when Evan King, Reis Braccio, Colin Abbonizio, and Tyler Boylan scored goals in a span of 7 minutes, 27 seconds to give their side a 4-2 advantage.

We came out and played the way we wanted to in the first period,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “But it’s tough to keep that team off the scoreboard.

Brian Leinheiser scored for North Penn to make it a one-goal game again with 3:19 left in the middle period With 1:18 left in the period, the Titans lost Braccio, who drew a five-minute penalty for a check from behind plus a game misconduct for taking the Knights’ George Boyle into the boards directly in front of the North Penn bench. Boyle lay face down on the ice for more than two minutes before being helped to the dressing room.

“There’s no place in the game for a hit like that,” Vaitis said. “I thought it was not needed.”

Vaitis indicated that Boyle was not seriously injured on the play.

South extended its lead when Stoll scored his first goal, a shorthanded effort that came with 36 seconds left in the period.

Jared Albano scored fro North Penn 2:53 into the third period to bring his team within a goal at 5-4 but Alex Glushek answered for the Titans 59 seconds later. North Penn’s last goal came off the stick of Jake Nelson at the 5:08 mark but Stoll scored three consecutive goals to finish the scoring.

The Titans outshot the Knights 35-34. Levin finished with 25 saves in 40:43 of action.

North Penn 2 1 2—5

C.B. South 0 5 4—9

If you’re interested in promoting your product or service to a hockey-minded audience, please drop us a line HERE