Hockey Happenings Update 12-10-17

Longtime followers of the Suburban High School Hockey League may have noticed the scheduling format for the league’s two Class 2A Division, the Continental, has changed this season. In years past, teams played divisional opponents twice and crossover opponents once, for a 16-game league schedule.

This year, teams will play every league opponent once (11 games) and fill out their schedules with five games against what be described as ‘mutually agreeable opponents.’

In some cases, teams have elected to play one another twice; Central Bucks South and Council Rock South for instance. In that scenario, the second meeting will be the one that counts in the division standings.

 

Council Rock South (National) and Central Bucks South (Continental) are leading their respective divisions. The Golden Hawks are 4-1-1 overall and 4-0-1 in the division heading in to this week, despite being without big guns Matt Owens and Dylan Feoli because of injuries. Sophomore Matt Meli has picked up much of the scoring load, with 14 goals and three assists for 17 points. Jared Wagenmann, a senior, has contributed five goals and seven assists.

The Titans are carrying a 5-1 mark (3-0 in the division) that includes a 1-0 win over defending Class 2A Flyers Cup and state champion Downingtown East. Senior Joe DeLaurentis has scored 13 goals while Matt Stoll has collected six goals and added five assists.

The Titans and the Golden Hawks have already met once; the Titans prevailed 3-1 on November 29. They’ll meet again on January 25th.

 

Former Holy Ghost Prep goaltender Peyton Jones is continuing to shine at Penn State. Jones, a sophomore, is carrying a 3.08 goals-against average and a save percentage of .895 in 17 starts.

The Nittany Lions are 11-7-2 and unbeaten in their last seven games after sweeping a two-game series from Robert Morris this weekend. They’re 4-4-2 in the Big Ten, which has expanded to seven hockey-playing schools this season with the addition of Notre Dame. They’re off now until after the New Year.

Unfortunately, Jones and his teammates will not be appearing in Philadelphia this year; there is no Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff on the schedule this season.

 

 

The Flyers Cup brawl involving Ridley and Central Bucks West during their Flyers Cup quarterfinal last March is back in the news.

Five former Ridley players face misdemeanor assault charges stemming from the incident. Jake Tyler Cross, 19, of Secane; Ryan Anthony Gricco, 18, of Swarthmore; Thomas Joseph Plotts, 19, of Woodlyn; and Anderson Brock, 18, of Morton saw their charges held for court following a preliminary hearing on November 28 in Montgomery County Court. Nathan Dunning, 19, of Morton waived his hearing. The next step in the process is arraignment on January 17.

This information was reported in the Intelligencer newspaper on November 28-29. Kudos to reporter James O’Malley for his efforts.

”””””””””””

On a different subject, if you have a new or aspiring golfer. on your holiday shopping list, check out our book So You Want to Play Golf.

I co-wrote this how-to- guide with teaching professional Kim Verrecchio, who did an outstanding job with it. Check it out at Create Space by clicking HERE.

 

 

 

North Penn 8 CR North 4

By Rick Woelfel

North Penn scored three goals in a 21-second span midway through the second period and went on to beat Council Rock North 8-4 Friday night in a Suburban High School Hockey League Class 2A crossover game at Hatfield Ice.

Jake Nelson scored three goals and added an assist for the Knights, who improved to 4-2 overall and 2-2 in the Continental Division, Andrew Galetta and Nathan Oh scored two goals each.

North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis shuffled his lines Friday night and the juggling paid off. “We mixed it up to try to get a little bit more offense up front,” he said. “Andrew Galetta is a special player and then Nate Oh and Jake Nelson, we’ve had them together a few games now and they’ve really clicked together.”

The Knights built a 3-0 first-period lead on two goals from Nelson with a talley from Galetta in between. The last two goals came on power plays. The margin could have been greater but Rex Goldberg made 14 saves in the period to keep the Indians (3-3-1, 1-2-1 SHSHL National Division) in the game.

“I thought the goaltending held up very well in the first period,” said North coach Chris Gallagher. “If it weren’t for (Goldberg) it could have been 6-0 in the first period. He stood on his head; he played a great game for us.”

William Sohn got the Indians on the scoreboard at the 7:35 mark of the middle period but the Knights Brooke the game open less than a minute later. Galetta scored his second goal of the game at the 8:09 mark before Oh scored back-to-back goals at 8:18 and 8:30 to give North Penn a 6-1 lead.

The Indians kept battling however and got back in the game before the period ended on goals from Cavan Tully, Brandon Simonides, and Harrison Treiman, the latter on a power play.

North had a two-man advantage to start the third period but Zac Herman drew a boarding penalty just 28 seconds into the third session to reduce that advantage. The teams traded minor penalties after that before George Boyle scored for North Penn during a four-on-three power play at the 2:23 mark. Nelson completed his hat trick with 5:41 left in the game.

“We had new lines,” he said. “I had new players out there with me. We did what we had to do, and we got it done.”

 

Council Rock North 0 4 0—4
North Penn 3 3 2—8
First-period goals: Jake Nelson (NP) from Tyler Greenstein and Nathan Oh, 5:36; Andrew Galetta (NP) from Nelson, 14:29 (pp); Nelson (NP) from Jared Albano, 15:58 (pp).
Second-period goals: William Sohn (CRN) from Brandon Simmonds and Ian Rice, 7:35; Galetta (NP) assist unavailable, 8:09; Nathan Oh (N) from George Boyle, 8:18; Oh (NP) from Thomas Boyle, 8:30; Cavan Tully (CRN) from Dan Guest, 9:09; Simmonds (CRN) from Tully, 10:10; Harrison Treiman (CRN) from Simmonds, 14:54 (pp).
Third-period goals: George Boyle (NP) from Thomas Boyle and Josh Kaufhold, 2:23 (pp); Nelson (NP) from Oh, 10:19.
Shots: Council Rock North 34, North Penn 48; Saves: Rex Goldberg (CRN) 40, Andrew Zanoni (N)) 30.
Records: Council Rock North (3-3-1, 1-2-1 SHSHL National Division); North Penn (4-2, 2-2 Continental Division)

12-8-17

Welcome

Welcome to Hockey Happenings. We’re looking to establish a portal for high-school hockey coverage in Bucks and Montgomery Counties and perhaps beyond.

Stop by to find out what’s going on in high-school hockey across the area, Right now, we’re UNDER CONSTRUCTION but please stop back again soon.

We appreciate it.

 

Rick Woelfel

Editor