Tag: Gianni Lafrata

Hatboro-Horsham 6, Lower Moreland 5

WARWICK— Hatboro-Horsham and Lower Moreland kicked into overdrive Friday night. The Hatters and the Lions played run-and-gun hockey most of the evening before the Hatters emerged with a 6-5 win in a Suburban High School Hockey League American Division matchup at Revolution Ice Gardens.

Ben Lerner scored two goals for the Hatters who improved to 7-4-1 overall and squared their divisional record at 4-4-1. Marcus Soucy provided a goal and two assists.

Hatboro-Horsham coach Gianni Lafratta praised Soucy’s work with the puck. “He put the pressure on,” Lafratta said, “he created opportunities for his teammates. It was everything we preach; put pressure on the puck carrier, make them make mistakes, and we go the other way.”

Five different Hatboro-Horsham players scored goals and 10 Hatters got onto the scoresheet.

Adam Bostock delivered a hat trick for the Lions (7-2-3, 4-2-3) who were without Coleman Peppelman, the SHSHL’s leading scorer, who was away on club duty.

The first period was, to say the least, up tempo. It was Bostock who got the scoring started, 3:25 into the period. It was the first of five goals in the first frame, which ended with the Hatboro-Horsham holding a one-goal advantage. Seth Lerner, Aidan Esack and Ben Lerner scored for the Hatters before Bostock added a second goal for the Lions.

Bostock tied the game 2:08 into the second period on a brilliant move up the middle of the ice through the Hatter defense before beat netminder Joe Gambino.

But with Peppleman absent and only eight skaters available, Lower Moreland coach Gus Scalfitti had to make some adjustments. “I rotated the guys,” he said, “but we definitely were missing a big, big chunk of our offense.”

Ben Lerner scored his second goal of the game to put the Hatters up 4-3 just 25 seconds after Bostock completed his hat trick. By period’s end the Hatters held a 6-4 lead.

The key stretch of the third period came early on when the Hatters were able to kill consecutive penalties. Gambino made three big saves in a stretch of half a minute to kill off the first one.

The junior said he was able to refocus while his team was shorthanded. “You can’t worry about it,” he said. “You’ve just got to fight and keep playing.”

Tyler Scolnick scored for Lower Moreland with 4:51 left in the game to set up a wild finish. The Lions swarmed the net in the waning seconds before the final buzzer came to the Hatters’ rescue.

“I think for most of the game, we had control,” Lafratta said. “(At the finish) We got out of hand in our own defensive zone, scrambled, not doing the things we needed to do to support our goaltender.”

By Rick Woelfel

Hatboro-Horsham 3 3 0—6

Lower Moreland 2 2 1—5

First-period goals: Adam Bostock (LM) from Vincenzo DeMaio and Simon Pezalla, 3:25; Seth Lerner (HH) from Marcus Soucy, 5:17; Aidan Esack (HH) unassisted, 5:53; Ben Lerner (HH) from Seth Lerner and Alex Howieson, 7:58; Bostock (LM) from Devin Green, 12:10.

Second-period goals: Bostock (LM) unassisted, 2:08; Ben Lerner (HH) from Kyle Mullen, 2:33; Green (LM) from Alex Silverman, 5:51; Howieson (HH) from Vince Tarsi and Sayvion Jones, 7:08; Tarek Elsabash (HH) unassisted, 7:43.

Third-period goal: Tyler Scolnick (HH) from Bostock and Green, 11:09.

Shots: Hatboro-Horsham 31, Lower Moreland 23; saves: Joe Gambino (HH) 18, Jacob Lungin (LM) 25

 

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Wissahickon Tips Hatters 2-1

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP— The penalty shot is arguably hockey’s most dramatic event. On this occasion, it resulted in a game-winning goal.

Wissahickon’s Sean Garry scored with 1:07 left in the third period to give the Trojans a 2-1 win over the Hatters Wednesday night in a Suburban High School Hockey League American Division matchup at Hatfield Ice.

The penalty shot was awarded after Garry, who had beaten the last Hatter defenseman, was pulled down from behind. He responded with an effort that beat Hatboro-Horsham goaltender Joe Gambino low on netminder’s stick (right) side.

“I knew what I was hoping to do before I went down,” Garry said. “I came down, looking to spot what was open and just ripped it right past him.”

Prior to the penalty shot, there was a serving of some pretty good hockey. There was an abundance of offensive opportunities but Gambino (28 saves) and Michael Henderson (30 saves), his Wissahickon counterpart, were in top form.

Hatboro-Horsham coach Gianni Lafratta praised his team’s defensive effort. “Joey is (a quality goaltender),” he said, “but of course it takes the five guys in front of him to shut it down.”

The game was scoreless for much of the first two periods. The Hatters finally got the scoring started with a power-play goal with just 4:34 left in the second frame. With Wissahickon’s Alex Corozza in the box serving a holding penalty, Tarak Elsbbash scored off a feed from Ben Heywood. Matt Cade tied the game for Wissahickon (3-0-1) 9:09 into the third stanza.  Wissahickon coach Ken Harrington admitted he was surprised by the scoreline at that juncture.

“I thought if anything it was going to be a 5-3 game or something like that,” he said.”

Gary pointed out that for much of the night the Hatters were able to keep he and his brother Bryan, the Trojans two biggest offensive threats, away from the net. “They were stacking the middle a lot,” he said, “just trying to keep us to the outside. They did a good job cutting off most of the passing lanes but I think once we got the puck in the middle we could kind of two what we  wanted.”

The Hatters had an apparent go ahead goal waved off with 2:08 left in the game. A shot from the left circle found the net behind Henderson but the official on the play ruled the net had been dislodged.

That set the stage for what turned out to be a dramatic finish.

“That was a fantastic game,” Lafratta said, “except for the outcome.”

 

Hatboro-Horsham 0 1 0—1

Wissahickon 0 0 2—2

Second-period goal: Tarik Elsbbagh (HH) from Ben Haywood, 11:26

Third-period goals: Matt Cade (W) from Brian Garry and Alex Carozza, 9:09; Sean Gary (W) penalty shot, 14:53.

Shots: Hatboro-Horsham 31, Wissahickon 30; Saves: Joe Gambino (HH) 28, Michael Henderson (W) 30