Your Source for High School Hockey
Joe DeLaurentis scored three goals Thursday night as Central Bucks South defeated Pennridge 8-3 Thursday night in the Suburban High School Hockey League Class 2A championship game at Hatfield Ice.
For full details, read our account in the Intelligencer
Hatboro-Horsham won the Class A title, 7-4 over Lower Moreland
The field for the 39th playing of the Flyers Cup was announced on Sunday. This year’s tournament will have a new look; the size of the field has been reduced.
Instead of the 50 boys teams that competed last year there will be 39; 16 each in the Class 1A and 2A divisions and seven more in Class 3A.
Class 3A First Round Games Thursday, March 8
Semifinals Monday, March 12
Upper bracket 7:00 at Grundy
Lower bracket 8:00 at Skatium
Finals, Monday. March 19, 7:00 at Hatfield
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.
Class 2A First Round Games Tuesday, March 6
Quarterfinals Thursday, March 8, two games at Hatfield, two games at Ice Line
Semifinals Tuesday, March 13, one game at Hatfield, one game at Ice Line
Finals, Thursday, March 15, 7:00 at Hatfield
Class A First Round Games Monday, March 5
Quarterfinals Wednesday, March 7, three games at Ice Line, one at Aston
Semifinals Monday, March 12, both games at Ice Line
Finals, Wednesday, March 14, 6:30 at Ice Line
Game times and sites subject to change. Check back for updates.
Hope some of you stayed up to watch the women’s gold medal game between the U.S. and Canada last night…. It was worth it.
The Suburban High School Hockey League concludes its regular season Friday night.
Here’s an overview of how the standings look.
BTW: The Miracle on Ice, the U.S. win over the Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympics, occurred 38 years ago today. For the high-school players who may not have done so yet; find this game on You Tube and watch it.
Class 2A W L T Pts
Central Bucks South 10 0 0 20
Council Rock South 8 1 1 17
Pennridge 8 1 1 17
North Penn 8 2 1 17
Council Rock North 6 4 1 13
Central Bucks West 5 5 0 10
Central Bucks East 4 6 1 9
Neshaminy 3 7 1 7
Thursday
Central Bucks South vs. Central Bucks West 8:45 at Rev. Ice Gardens
Friday
Council Rock South vs. Pennridge 7:10 at Hatfield
The eight playoff teams in Class 2A are set.
Central Bucks South will be the top seed. The result of the Council Rock South-Pennridge game
will determine seeds two and three. North Penn is locked into fourth place via the tiebreaker system. Thanks to Kenny Haas for the late update….
Seeds five through eight are set.
Quarterfinal Games
Class 1A W L T Pts
Wissahickon 13 1 0 26
Lower Moreland 10 4 0 20
Abington 9 3 1 19
Hatboro-Horsham 9 4 0 18
Friday
Abington vs. Hatboro-Horsham 8:50 at Hatfield
The four playoff teams are set. The result of the Hatboro-Horsham-Abington game will determine the final order of finish.
There is also a key Class 3A game set for tomorrow as Holy Ghost Prep faces Malvern Prep at Ice Line (8:45). The Firebirds are in line for the #1 seed in the Class 3A Flyer Cup tournament
Playoffs begin next Monday
Prep Division Standings W L T Its
Holy Ghost Prep 6 1 0 12
St. Joseph’s Prep 5 3 0 10
Malvern Prep 4 3 0 8
LaSalle 3 4 0. 6
Salesianum 0 7 0 0
Teams in bold have completed their regular-season schedules.
Two weeks remain in the SHSHL regular season.
Here are the Class 2A standings including divisional games only through Friday, February 10.
W-L-T Pts
CB South 10-0-0 20
CR South 7-1-1 15
Pennridge 7-1-1 15
North Penn 7-2-1 15
CR North 5-4-1 11
CB West 5-4-0 10
CB East 3-6-0 6
Souderton 3-6-0 6
Neshaminy 2-7-1 5
Tennent 1-6-2 4
Truman 1-6-1 3
Pennsbury 0-8-0 0
Eight teams will qualify for the Class 2A SHSHL playoffs. Historically, playoff qualifiers have received Flyers Cup invitations. The top six teams, C.B. South, C.R. South, Pennridge, North Penn, Council Rock North, and C.B. West are all assured of playoff spots. Central Bucks East and Souderton will clinch spots by earning two points (one win or two ties) in their two remaining games.
In Class A, Wisssahickon has clinched the top spot in a four-team playoff with a 12-0-0 record (24 points). Lower Moreland (9-4-0, 18 points) is also assured of a spot with one divisional game remaining. Abington (8-3-0, 16) and Hatboro-Horsham (7-4-0, 14) are favored claim the last two spots. Upper Dublin (7-6-0, 14) is also in contention.
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.
Independence League Playoffs
Germantown Academy will face Springside Chestnut Hill on Tuesday instead of Pennington in the IISL semifinals. game time will be 4:00 at Oaks. The winner will face Episcopal or Pennington in Thursday’s championship game at Penn.
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 11th 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.
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
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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.
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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
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.
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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.
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