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 

Pennridge 6 Boyertown 3

HATFIELD—A fast start paid big dividends for Pennridge Wednesday night. The Rams jumped in front with two early goals and went on to a 6-3 win over Boyertown at Hatfield Ice Arena as a part of the SHSHL-ICSHL series.

James Rush scored twice for the defending Class AA Flyers Cup and state champions. Shane Dachowski added two goals and two assists as Pennridge improved to 2-1 on the season.

The Rams got off to a fast start. Rush scored off a turnover at center ice, beating Boyertown netminder Tyler Griffith to give his team a 1-0 lead 3:01 into the first frame. He made it a 2-0 game just 18 seconds later.

Logan Brown answered for the Bears (3-2)  8:59 into the period but Dachowski made it a 3-1 game with 1:53 remaining.

“It’s always great to get those early goals,” Rush said. “It gives your team the momentum for the rest of the game and you just try to maintain the lead from that point on.”

The Rams had just 12 skaters a available because of injuries and their coach Jeff Montagna was pleased with how his team stepped up in one of the most anticipated matchups of the interconference challenge series, against an opponent that reached the Flyers Cup semifinals last spring. The Bears were limited to just six shots in the opening period

“I thought we played a tremendous game,” Montagna said. I thought we did a great job in the slot area.

“I told [his team] Thais is a a blueprint for us. The starters scored, everyone else keep the puck out of our net and do the dirty work, the dirty things that not every team wants to do.”

Dachowski and Rush scored goals not quite six minutes apart to increase the Pennridge lead to 5-1 with 7:45 left in the middle period. Joseph Bilotta scored for Boyertown with 5:24 left in the second session and added his second goal of the night with exactly two minutes remaining in the game, Ladan Bishop brought down the curtain when he added a goal with 56 seconds remaining,

Boyertown coach Joe Slowik praised the way his team competed.

“I thought our team competed very well,” he said. “They’re the defending state champs so you’ve got to give them some credit.

“But I thought we competed really well and I thought we had a lot of self-inflicted wounds. We turned a lot of pucks over, we didn’t get exits when we should have and definitely weren’t very good in front of either net.”

Rush said the win against a top-tier opponent told the Rams a lot about themselves.

“You get to see what our team is going to look like this year,” he said, “what kind of opponents you can really handle. I think we got a good understanding of how good we will be this year.”

 • The win was the first for the SHSHL in the three games that were played through Wednesday night; ICSHL teams won the first two.

Slowik commented on what the crossover games do to promote high-school hockey.

“I love it,” he said. “I think it’s great. When they put this on our schedule, the crossover game, I thought it was great because the only time we play each other is in the Flyers Cup and that’s in March.

“I would like to see maybe even a little more of these crossover games. I think it’s great for high-school hockey here in Pennsylvania.”

Boyertown 1 1 1—3

Pennridge 3 3 1—6

First-period goals: James Rush (P) unassisted, 3:01; Rush (P) Shane Dachowski and Ladan Bishop, 3:19; Logan Brown (B) from Lucas Remick, 8:01; Dachowski (P) from Jared Garber, 15:07

Second-period goals: Dachowski (P) unassisted, 3:28; Ruah (P) from Garber and Dachowski, 9:15; Joseph Bilotta (B) from Evan Kurtas and Riley Berger, 11:36

Third-period goals: Bilotta (B) from Weston Bieber and Jax Drost,15:00 Logan Biahop (P) from Dachowski, 16:06 (pp)

Shots: Boyertown 29, Pennridge 32; Saves: Tyler Griffith (B) 26, Jacob Winston (P) 26

C.R. South 3 Boyertown 1

One of the unique elements of the Flyers Cup tournament is the finality of it. All season long there is another game or another round of playoffs to nurse the pain of defeat.

The stakes are starkly different come March. Win or go home. And on Thursday night, Boyertown and Council Rock South made it clear they didn’t want to go home.

It was the Golden Hawks who prevailed, 3-1 in a Class AA Flyers Cup semifinal at Hatfield Ice. Second-seeded South (24-1) will face top-seeded Pennridge next Wednesday at 8:45 at this same venue in what is expected to be a scintillating final.

Third-seeded Boyertown closes the season at 20-3.

Thursday’s game wasn’t bad as an appetizer.

The Hawks had the better of the play offensively but encountered a hot goaltender in Tyler Griffith who recorded 41 saves, few of which were of the routine variety.

“That’s kid’s probably the best goaltender we’ve seen all year,” said South coach Joe Houk. “We got [44] shots today, they were quality shots. He was phenomenal.

“And people warned me about him ‘If he’s hot, he’s going to steal a game from you.’ But, we persevered, we dug deep, and we survived to play next week.”

Largely due to Griffin’s efforts (16 saves) the first period was scoreless, and it was the Bears who grabbed the evening’s first lead when Noah Cutillo beat Trevor Rakszawski 1:19 in to the second frame. Jake Weiner answered for South at the 6:31 mark.

The score remained deadlock to period’s end. By that point, the Hawks had a 32-13 shot advantage.

As the teams took the ice for the third period following an ice cut, the enormity of the moment hung in the air.

“Their goaltender had a solid game,” said South’s Evan Mostoller. “I’ll give him that. But we just had to find that back of the net.”

Mostoller did just that from outer edge of the right circle 4:31 into the final period.

“It’s may last year here and I kind of want to make a run to states and everything,” he said. I’ve been in the Flyers Cup three times now …. This the year I think we’re going to make it.

As the clock counted down the Bears found themselves stymied by not only Rakszawski but the defense in front of him; Boyertown managed but our shots in the third period.
South’s final goal, which came with 38 seconds remaining, was credited to Gavin Nisenzon when he was pulled down from behind in the Boyertown defensive while skating toward an empty net; the referee on the play awarded goal.

Boyertown 0 1 0—1

C.R. South 0 1 2—3

Second-period goals: Noah Cutillo (B) from Luke Hennessy, 1:44; Jake Weiner (CRS) from Nikita Volobuiev, 6:31

Third-period goals: Evan Mostoller (CRS) from

 Peter Pereborow and Blaise Pepe, 4:31; Gaven Nisenzon (CRS) unassisted, 16:22

Shots: Boyertown 20, Council Rock South 44; Saves: Tyler Griffith (B) 41, Trevor Rakszawski, 19

Flyers Cup Schedule Thursday 3-14

Thursday, March 14

Class AAA Semifinals

La Salle 5 Holy Ghost Prep 2

 Malvern Prep 3 St. Joseph’s Prep 1—Teague Murray and James Young scored first-period goals and the second-seeded Friars went on to beat the third-seeded Hawks Thursday night in a Class AAA Flyers Cup semifinal at Ice Line.

Henry Tesoriero also scored for Malvern Prep (11-8) which will meet La Salle in the final.

Tristan Winata scored for St. Joseph’ Prep (16-7)

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 0 1—1

Malvern Prep 2 0 1—3

First-period goals: Teague Murray (MP) from Jeremy Jacobs and Jonathan Holt, 12:11 (pp); James Young (MP) from Logan Love, 13:47

Third-period goals: Henry Tesoriero (MP) unassisted, 15:25 (en); Tristan Winata (SJP) unassisted. 16:09

Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 36, Malvern Prep 35; Saves: Jacob Aranda (SJP) 32; Matt Crawford (MP) 35

Class AA Semifinals

Penneidge 10, Downingtown West 1—

The top-seeded Rams scored six goals in the first period and rolled to the win over the fourth-seeded Whippets in a Class AA semifinal Thursday night at Hatfield Ice.

Shane Dachowswki scored four goals for Pennridge (21-2-2) and added an assist. Nolan Shaw provided two goals. Kevin Pico, Josh Kelly, Tyler Manto, and Andrew Savona all scored goals.

Joseph Butter scored for Downingtown West (18-5)

Downingtown West 0 1 0

Pennridge 6 2 2

Council Rock South 3 Boyertown 1

Championship games will be played Tuesday, and Wednesday, March 19, and 20.

Council Rock South 4 Boyertown 0

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—If a single word could best describe Council Rock South’s performance Thursday night it would be ‘workmanlike.’ Four different players scored goals and Carson Lopez was perfect between the pipes as the Golden Hawks shut out Boyertown 4-0 in a Class AA Flyers Cup quarterfinal at Hatfield Ice.

Top-seeded South (19-1-0-1) will face Conestoga or Pennsbury in a Monday night semifinal at the same venue. The Hawks will be seeking to return to the finals after losing the title game to Pennridge last spring.

Eighth-seeded Boyertown closed its session at 14-6.

It took South some time to get control of the game. Tyler Griffin in the Boyertown net kept the Hawks at bay for a period and a half. The freshman finished with 45 saves.

Carson Lopez watched Griffith at work when he wasn’t occupied guarding South’s net.

“That goalie is real good,” he said. “He stoned us left and right. Take it from me, he’s going to steal this whole thing if he has a couple years of high school under his belt.”

Griffin made 14 saves in the first period while the Hawks limited their foes to five shots at the other end.

South finally broke through 8:22 into the second frame when Kevin Koles caught iron with a shot and Jake Weiner put in the rebound. Jeremy Rayher made it a 2-0 game at the 10:38 mark and James Diiulio extended his team’s lead when he beat Griffith with six seconds left in the period.

“We’re a grinding team,” Werner said. “That’s what our goals are. The dirty goals are the nice goals.”

Weiner, a freshman, says the Hawks rely more on grit than finesse. “We’re not a flashy team,” he said. “We like playing in the corners and getting dirty.”

Blaize Pepe completed the scoring for the evening when he solved Griffith 7:09 into the third period. It was a win the Hawks had to work for, despite the scoreline.

“I think we made ourselves work for this one,” he said. “We weren’t really focused coming into the game. We’ve got to eliminate that because if we come out like that (in the semifinals) we’ll be going home.”

A victory in a single-elimination tournament would seemingly be cause for celebration, but Lopez, one of four seniors on South’s playoff roster, took a different view.

“I don’t think any of us are enjoying it,” he said. “We definitely thought we should have played a lot better, but we’re definitely ready to go to work on Monday.

Ice chips—South enjoyed a 49-21 edge in shots. The Hawks have won three Class AA Flyers Cup titles, in 2009, ‘11, and ‘12.

Boyertown 0 0 0—0

C.R. South 0 3 1—4

Second-period goals: Jake Weiner (CRS) from Kelvin Koles, 8:22; Jeremy Rayher (CRS) from Illia Mukhin and Weiner, 10:38; James Diiulio, from Koles and Chase Tovsky, 16:54 (pp)

Third-period goal: Blaise Peppe (CRS) from Tovsky (CRS), 7:09

Shots: Boyertown 21, C.R. South 49; Saves: Tyler Griffith (B) 45, Carson Lopez (CRS) 21

Flyers Cup Update for 3-11-20

Class AA

Wednesday, March 11 at  Skatium

Semifinals

Perkiomen Valley 5, Haverford 4

Downingtown West 4, Boyertown 2

Tonights’s games are available on the Flyers Cup You Tube channel

 

 

Tuesday, March 17 at Ice Line

8:15  Championship Game

Three of the four teams in the semifinals, Perkiomen Valley, Downingtown West, and Boyertown, have never won a Flyers Cup title.

Haverford has a long and storied history in the tournaments however. The Fords won a Class A title in 1992, the second year of the current three-class format and claimed Class three consecutive Class AA titles from 2005-7.

Flyers Cup Update

New Jersey/Delaware

Quarterfinals

Tuesday, March 10 at the Coliseum in Voorhees

Washington Township 7, Eastern 6 OT

Moorestown 3, Cherokee 2 OT

Shawnee 7, Appoquinimink 3

Salesianum 5, Egg Harbor 2

 

 

Class AA

Wednesday, March 11 at  Skatium

Semifinals

6:30 2 Haverford vs 3 Perkiomen Valley

8:45 5 Downingtown West vs 8 Boyertown

Tuesday, March 17 at Ice Line

8:15  Championship Game

 

Class AAA

Thursday. Match 12 at Hatfield Ice

Semifinals

6:30 1 Holy Ghost Prep vs 5 Father Judge

8:45 2 La Salle vs 3 St. Joseph’s Prep

Wednesday, March 18 at Hatfield Ice

7:00 Championship Game