Pennridge 5, Central Bucks South 1

By Rick Woelfel

HATFIELD—It wasn’t a flashy performance. But it was a model of efficiency.

Blake Stewart and Arek Lehrhaupt each scored twice to lead Pennridge to a 5-1 win over Central Bucks South in a SHSHL National/Continental matchup Thursday night at Hatfield Ice.
It was the second win for the Rams (2-1 overall, 0-1 in league play) in two nights.

Rams coach Jeff Montagna was pleased his team stepped up after a subpar, albeit winning effort against Central Bucks West on Wednesday.

“It was boring in a good way,” he said. “I have not been happy at all the first two nights (including an opening night-loss to Pennsbury), especially defensively. They did a really nice job just keeping things simple, and once we got the lead, not giving (South) a whole lot of life.”

Aidan Boyle got things started for the Rams when he beat Madison Ambler with a forehander from midway between the two circles 9:13 into the first frame. Lehrhaupt made it 2-0 at 11:50 with a shot from the edge of the right circle on an odd-man situation.

The Titans got on the board when Garrett Sklar beat Ryan Pico in the Pennridge net 6:31 into the middle period but that was all they could manage.

“We were outworked and outplayed,” said South coach Shaun McGinty, “and only a few players showed up. We need to win the corner battles and the battles in the defensive zone.”

Stewart restored the Rams’ two goal lead at the 7:59 mark of the period., then widened the margin with his second goal of the game 8:10 into the third frame. Stewart, who is the Pennridge captain, was pleased to see his team bounce back after an off night 24 hours earlier, but still wasn’t satisfied

“(Wednesday night) was pretty sloppy,” he said, “but we went home, we thought about the game and came out here and forced things that we needed to do tonight. It was much better, but without being on the ice very much, all that’s a little tough.”

Lehrhaupt finished the scoring with 1:09 left in the game.

The Rams are one of the most experienced teams in the SHSHL Montagna is counting on leadership from his veterans to help them reach their potential. “I told them ‘It’s on you guys’” he said. “Guys that have played for me for three, four years, they have to lead this team and have to set the example … and I didn’t think the first nights they did that.”

Montagna cited Stewart’s leadership abilities but also the responsibility that comes with wearing the captain’s C.

“He has to lead us and a couple of the other guys have to lead us,” Montagna said, “And they did that tonight.”

Pico and Ambler made 21 saves apiece. Ambler was in goal in place of veteran Mason Moyer who has been unavailable for the Titans’ first two games.

Pennridge 2 1 2—5
C.B. South 0 1 0—1
First-period goals: Aidan Boyle (P) from Andrew David, 9:13; Arek Lehrhaupt (P) from Jeff Manto, 11:50.
Second-period goals: Garrett Sklar (CBS) from Aydin Thierolf, 6:31; Blake Stewart (P) from Andrew David, 7:59.
Third-period goals: Stewart (P) from Richie Shanks and Boyle, 8:10; Lehrhaupt (P) from Manto, 14:51.
Shots: Pennridge 26, C.B. South 22; Saves: Ryan Pico (P) 21, Madison Ambler (CBS) 21.

SHSHL Names All-League Team

The Suburban High School Hockey League All-League team for 2018-19 as selected by league coaches

Class AA

First Team

Forward Eric Slater Pennridge Sr.

Forward Tyler Greenstein North Penn Jr.

Forward Reis Braccio C.B. South Sr.

Defenseman Frankie Rota Pennridge Sr.

Defenseman Ryan Gingras C.B. South Jr.

Goaltender Luke Stranick Pennridge Sr.

Player of the Year: Eric Slater Pennridge

Second Team

Forward Michael Walker Pennridge Sr.

Forward Robert Seewagon Neshaminy So.

Forward Perry Carpenter Abington Sr.

Defenseman Matt Guinette Pennridge Sr.

Defenseman Luke Van Why North Penn So.

Goaltender Steven Glik Neshaminy Sr.

Honorable Mention

Central Bucks East: Sean Gorman, Chris McIntyre

Central Bucks South: Colin Abbonizio Oscar Levin

Central Bucks West: Jeremy Kennard, Jake Lang, Matt McCarthy, Chris Trefz,

Council Rock South: Logan Hurwitz

Neshaminy: Joey Buday, Joe DeMatteo

North Penn: Jared Albano, Thomas Boyle, Josh Kauffhold, Jake Nelson, Nate Oh,

Pennsbury: Jake Sieger

Truman: Steven Avellino

Souderton: Jonathan Pritchard

William Tennent: Bobby Markus

Class A

First Team

Forward Bryan Gary Wissahickon So.

Forward Sean Gary Wissahickon Sr.

Forward Dean Keller Plymouth Whitemarsh Jr.

Defenseman Coleman Peppelman Lower Moreland Sr.

Defenseman Ben Lerner Hatboro-Horsham So.

Goaltender Joe Gambino Hatboro-Horsham Jr.

Player of the Year: Coleman Peppelman Lower Moreland

Second Team

Forward Jake Weikel Plymouth Whitemarsh Jr.

Forward Adam Bostock Lower Moreland So.

Forward Ari Nordlinger Upper Dublin Sr.

Defenseman Ben Lubas Plymouth Whitemarsh Jr.

Defenseman Devin Green Lower Moreland So.

Goaltender Ben Yuter Plymouth Whitemarsh Jr.

Our Player of the Year awards are presented in memory of former Abington coach Steve Schorr, who recently passed away.

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Downingtown East 3, Pennridge 2

Michael Bolger’s goal with 6:15 left in the third period proved to be decisive as Downingtown East held off Pennridge 3-2 Thursday night in a Class AA Flyers Cup semifinal at Ice Line.

The two-defending Flyers Cup and state champion Cougars Downingtown West in Sunday’s championship game (4:30 at the Wells Fargo Center).

Top-seeded Downingtown East took a 1-0 lead on Ryan Johnston’s power-play goal with 2:48 left in the first period but the fourth-seeded Rams answered back when Blake Stewart scored with 36 seconds remaining in the opening session.

Nick Rosati gave the Cougars the lead for good when he scored with 3:56 remaining in the second period and Bolger’s tally gave Downingtown East a two-goal lead.

Eric Slater scored for Pennridge with 4:24 left in regulation to cut the lead in half and the Rams kept up the pressure, generating several chances in the final minutes and hitting a post with 30 seconds to play.

The Cougars had a 34-26 edge in shots.

Pennridge 1 0 1—2

Downingtown East 1 1 1—3

Three Flyers Cup finals will be available Sunday HERE beginning with the Class A final between Hershey and West Chester Rustin at 2:00. The Class AA final between Downingtown East and Downingtown West will follow at 4:30, followed by the Class AAA matchup between LaSalle and Holy Ghost Prep at 7:00.

Pennridge 4, North Penn 3 OT

By Rick Woelfel

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—The stars shined brightly at Hatfield Ice Monday evening. And in the end, Eric Slater lit up the night like a supernova. Slater’s goal 3 minutes, 25 seconds into overtime gave Pennridge a 4-3 decision over North Penn in a Flyers Cup Class AA quarterfinal.

The fourth-seeded Rams (16-2-3) will take a five-game winning streak and a 13-game unbeaten streak into Thursday’s semifinals against two-time defending Flyers Cup and state champion Downingtown East (5:15 at Ice Line).

Nathan Oh, playing in what turned out to be his final high-school game, delivered a hat trick for fifth-seeded North Penn (12-5-3).

It was a night when the best players on both teams came up big, but none more than Slater, who scored two goals and assisted on a third. His game-winner came on a shot from just beyond the faceoff circles off a feed from Matt Guinette. The shot beat Knight goaltender Nick Ebbinghaus on his stick (right) side but the freshman could not be faulted on the play.

“I was trying to drive the net,” Slater said. (Guinette) gave me a perfect pass. I made a move and shot it and hoped for the best.”

Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna said he was expecting Slater to step up at the start of the 15-minute sudden-death period. “He’s going to go out other shift in that overtime,” Montagna said, “and if we’re going to win, most likely, he’s going to win it for us.”

The Knights had far the best of the opening period, outshooting the Rams 15-3 but the session ended with teams deadlocked at one goal each. Oh gave North Penn the lead with a dash down the wing after his team own a faceoff in its own zone. He beat Pennridge goaltender Luke Stranick at the 7:39 mark. Slater answered back just under two minutes later with a wrister from the left wing after finding himself alone one on one with a Knight defenseman.

North Penn’s Josh Kaufholf (with puck) goes against Pennridge’s Frankie Rota in the first period of Monday’s game. (photo by Kathy Leister)

Michael Walker gave Pennridge the lead once more 63 seconds into the second period when he collected a feed from Guinette and made a move around a defender and beat Ebbinghaus.

The freshman came up big however with 1:50 left in the period however with a kick save on a shot from Walker that would have given the Rams a two-goal lead, Instead, Oh tied the game with 53.6 seconds left to send the teams to the third period all even.
Pennridge took the lead for the third time on Blake Stewart’s power-play goal with 5:17 left in the third period. With North Penn’s Will Hughes in the box serving a hooking minor, the Rams’ Franke Rota set up shot at the right point and sent a pass across the ice to Slater who launched a rocket along the ice. Stewart tipped the puck past Ebbinghaus.

Oh completed his hat trick with 2:16 left in regulation to tie the game and send it to overtime.

The Knights, who finished with a 37-21 wedge in shots, had a good chance early in the extra period but Stranick stood his ground and the teams played on until Slater delivered his game winner.

“You got Nate Oh on North Penn and Eric Slate on Pennridge,” North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis pointed out. “They’re two of the best high-school players in the (SHSHL) and definitely in the Flyers Cup tournament.

“They got the bounce to go their way in overtime and that’s part of the game. We were probably inches away from winning it there early in overtime and didn’t capitalize.”

Pennridge goaltender Luke Stranick covers the puck. He finished with 34 saves. (Photo by Dara N. King)

North Penn 1 1 1 0—3

Pennridge 1 1 1 1—4

First-period goals: Nathan Oh (NP) from Jared Albano, 7:39; Eric Slater (MP) from Frankie Rota, 9:36;

Second-period goals: Michael Walker (P) from Matt Guinette, 1:03; Oh (NP) from Jake Nelson, 15:07

Third-period goals: Blake Stewart (P) from Walker and Rota, 10:43 (pp); Oh (NP) from Albano, 13:44

Overtime goal: Slater (P) from Guinette, 3:25

Shots: North Penn 37, Pennridge 21; Saves: Nick Ebbinghaus (NP) 17, Luke Stranick (P) 34

The Grundy Skate Shop is a full service hockey pro shop inside the Grundy Arena, offering a great selection of equipment, brands and various services. We do a range of repairs as well as offer custom hockey jerseys. We recently celebrated our 5th year at the shop but owner, Bill Keyser, has over 25 years experience in the industry and specializes in skate sharpening, including profiling. Please visit our Facebook page or stop in and check us out!

Pennridge Downs Central Bucks East

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP— Pennridge and Central Bucks East tested themselves against each other Thursday night. It was the Rams who passed the test and left Hatfield Ice with a 6-2 win in a Suburban High School Hockey League encounter.

Eric Slater scored three goals for the Rams (4-1-1, 3-1 in SHSHL Class AA) but the story of the evening was his team’s ability to keep the Patriots under constant pressure.

Slater and Matt Guinette scored goals to give the Rams a 2-0 first period lead but the most interesting numbers on the scoreboard were the shot totals that read 20-0 in favor of Pennridge.

“Good defense started in our offensive zone,” said Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna, “and with guys being in position where they can attack the puck and still be in good defensive positions if we do turn the puck over.

“That first period was as well as we’ve put together all year.

Ken Latchum, East’s veteran coach, said the pressure took a toll on his troops, who dropped their first decision of the season.. “They pressured us,” he said, “and their feet never stopped moving. They didn’t glide once.

“Those guys, even their third line, were just full of pressure. Those guys just motored and that’s what I want these guys to learn. You’ve got to motor.”

The Patriots (5-1-1, 2-1) didn’t get their first shot on goal until 29 seconds into the second period when they were on a power play. Slater gave the Rams a 3-0 lead 4:51 into the middle period by skating up the middle of the offensive zone and weaving his way through traffic.

“He’s lethal,” Montagna said. “You give him an inch, he’s lethal and you add that shot that his his offensive ability and it’s almost impossible to shut him down.”

Slater, who had two assists to go with his three goals, now has 16 goals and four assists in his team’s six games. He said he focuses on finding open ice. “I’ve always tried to,” he said. “It helps playing with teammates that open up so much space for me.”

Rob Kern solved Pennridge goaltender Luke Stranick with 6:13 left in the middle session. The score stayed that way to the end of the period but Frankie Rota and Slater (while his team was shorthanded) scored third-period goals to make it a 5-1 game with 7:43 remaining in regulation.

East’s Nick Locastro and the Rams’ Conrad Fisch traded goals to finish the scoring.
The Rams had a 36-9 edge in shots.

C.B. East 0 1 1—2
Pennridge 2 1 3—6
First-period goals: Eric Slater (P) from Blake Stewart, 9:55; Matt Guinette (P) unassisted, 14:33.
Second-period goals: Slater (P) unassisted, 4:51; Rob Kern (CBE) from Nick Locastro and Sean Gorman, 9:47.
Third-period goals: Stewart (P) from Frankie Rota and Slater, 2:20; Slater (P) unassisted, 8:17 (sh); Locastro (CBE) from Phil McIntyre and Owen Connor, Conrad Fisch (P) from Slater.
Shots: C.B. East 9, Pennridge 36

Pennridge 10, William Tennent 0

WARWICK— Pennridge got off to a slow start in the Suburban High School Hockey League this season. But the Rams have a lot of firepower in the lineup and Friday night they put that firepower on display.

Eric Slater scored five goals to lead his team to a 10-0 shutout over William Tennent at Revolution Ice Gardens. The game was halted 3:40 into the third period due to the 10-goal mercy rule. Pennridge now stands at 3-1-1 both overall and in SHSHL Class 2A league play. The Panthers are now 2-4 overall and 1-3 in the league.

After starting the season with a loss and a tie the Rams have won three straight, scoring 27 goals in the process.

Slater, who has scored 13 goals in his team’s five games, admitted it took he and his teammates some time to get used to each other at the start of the season.

“It was a challenge I guess to start playing as a team,” the senior winger said. “Most of us play club and we’re on different pages, club-wise (but) we finally got clicking; we’ve been playing good lately.”

Jeff Montagna is Pennridge’s third head coach in two seasons. He also coaches two club teams and a number of his club players are on the Pennridge roster. He admits that finding the right formula early on wasn’t easy.

“I know some guys know what I want,” he said, “and I have to be patient with the guys who aren’t used to what I want and that’s been an adjustment for me as well.

“Being able to teach those guys what I want but being with it. It’s not easy.”

Evan Kehoe opened the scoring for the Rams by scoring directly from a faceoff in the right circle 6:03 into the opening period. Slater scored back-to-back goals 35 seconds apart and Conrad Fisch scored 20 seconds after that to put Pennridge up 4-0 with 2:22 still to go in the first frame.

Slater completed a hat trick 5:23 into the second stanza before Andrew David made it a 6-0 game 48 seconds later.

Michael Walker added two goals 21 second apart, the first on a power play, to put Pennridge up 8-0 after two periods.

Slater scored twice in the third period to being down the curtain on the evening.

Tennent goaltender Trey Smith had the task of dealing with all this. A junior who is playing organized hockey for the first time, Smith faced 26 shots over the course of the evening.

“You play a team like Pennridge that can score at will almost against any goalie in the league and it’s going to be a challenge,” said Tennent coach Nick D’Aurizio. “We put up a fight. Our guys battled as much as they could but their big guns eventually took over.”

By Rick Woelfel

Pennridge 4 4 2—10

William Tennent 0 0 0—0

First-period goals: Evan Kehoe (P) unassisted, 6:03; Eric Slater (P) from Frankie Rota and Nick Eissler, 12:43; Slater (P) unassisted, 13:18; Conrad Fisch (P) from Richie Shanks and Andrew David, 13:38.

Second-period goals: Slater (P) from Michael Walker, 5:23; David (P) from Eissler, 6:11; Walker (P) from Rota and Matt Guinette, 10:48 (pp); Walker (P) from Slater and Guinette, 11:09.

Third-period goals: Slater (P) from Eissler, :09; Slater (P) from Walker, 3:40

Hockey Happenings Update

With one week left in the Suburban High School Hockey League regular season, here’s how the standings look. Standings are based on divisional games only through 2-16-18

SHSHL

Class 2A Standings W L T Pts

C.B. South 10 0 0 20

Council Rock South 8 1 1 17

Pennridge 8 1 1 17

North Penn 7 2 1 15

Council Rock North 6 4 1 13

C.B. West 5 5 0 10

C.B. East 4 6 0 8

Souderton 3 7 0 6

Neshaminy 2 7 1 5

William Tennent 1 7 2 4

Truman 1 7 1 3

Pennsbury 0 8 0 0

Class 2A Scoring G-A Pts

Eric Slater Pr 33-20—53

Zac Herman Crn 22-21—43

Joe DeLaurentis CBS 23-18—41

Matt Stoll CBS 24-16—40

Michael Walker Pr 17-19—36

Andrew Galetta NP 19-14—33

Patrick McGinley Pr 20-12—32

Daniel Guest Crn 15-16—31

Nathan Oh NP 8-20—28

Matt Meli CRS 20-6—26

Collin Kleiser CRS 13-13—26

John Vanni CRN 12-12—24

Reis Braccio CBS 7-17—24

Brandon Smmmonds CRN 7-16—23

Colin Abbonizio CBS 9-14—23

Class 2A Goaltenders (Save Pct)

Oscar Levin CBS .938

Steve Glik Nesh .908

Tim White CBS .903

Luke Stranik Pr .901

Josh Smith Sou .894

Eric Lineman Wt .873

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 1A Standings W-L-T Pts

Wissahickon 13 0 0—26

Abington 9 3 0—18

Lower Moreland 9 4 0—18

Hatboro-Horsham 8 4 0—16

Upper Dublin 7 6 0—14

New Hope Solebury 2 11 0—4

Plymouth Whitemarsh 2 11 0—4

Upper Moreland 0 11 0—0

Teams in bold have clinched a playoff spot

Teams in italic in contention for a playoff spot

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.

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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

Leading Scorers

Here are the top scorers in the Suburban High School Hockey League through games of Friday, December 8

Class A

Player		School	Goals	Assists	Points
Bryan	Garry	Wissahickon	25	16	41
Sean	Garry	Wissahickon	21	13	34
Dean	Keller	PW	16	4	20
Ari	Nordlinger	U Dublin	14	5	19
Jacob	Mueller	HH	11	6	17
Perry	Carpenter	Abington	11	6	17
Daniel	Glazer	Wissahckon	6	10	16
Chris	Braun	NHS	13	3	16
Adam	Bostok	L Moreland	8	7	15
Colin	Franzoni	PW	5	10	15

Class AA

Player		School	Goals	Assists	Points
Eric	Slater	Pennridge	12	12	24
Michael	Walker	Pennridge	12	11	23
Zac	Herman	CR North	11	11	22
Daniel	Guest	CR North	7	15	22
Matt	Meli	CR South	14	3	17
Joe	DeLaurentis	CB South	13	0	13
Brandon	Simmonds	CR North	4	9	13
Cavan	Tully	CR North	4	9	13
Nathan	Oh	North Penn	5	7	12
Jared	Wagenman	CR South	5	7	12
Matt	Stoll	CB South	6	5	11
Andrew	Galetta	North Penn	8	3	11
Logan	Hurwitz	CR South	3	8	11
John	Vanni	CR North	6	5	11
Jake	Nelson	North Penn	7	3	10
Jeff	Manto	Pennridge	4	6	10