La Salle 5, St. Joseph’s Prep 4 SO

HATFIELD— For anyone with a healthy appetite for hockey, Friday night’s Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference matchup between St.Joseph’s Prep and La Salle was the ultimate buffet. It took a shootout to decide matters, with Nolan Woudenberg’s goal in the bottom of the third round giving the Explorers a 5-4 win.

Before that, the audience at Hatfield Ice had the chance to sample a bit of everything, close checking, first-rate goaltending, and some outstanding individual efforts.

“It was an awesome game to be a part of,” said St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin. “Like I’ve said many times, I think this division is very evenly matched and what you get that day is hopefully great hockey. I think both sides played hard and it was a great game.”

The result Haden impact on the APAC standings. The Explorers improved to 9-12 overall and 1-2-2-1 in conference play. The Hawks are now 10-10 overall and 3-0-0-4 in conference; they’ve taken at least one point from all seven league games.

The result could have have an impact on the Flyers Cup power rankings as well. The Hawks were ranked first, the Explorers second at the start of the week. A new set of rankings will be released on Monday.

All eight of Friday night’s regulation goals came in the last two periods after a scoreless first frame that featured an abundance of close checking as the players on both teams searched in vain for a patch of open ice to work in.

Nolan Woudenberg opened the scoring for La Salle at 11:23 of the middle period. Jake Hannon made a 2-0 game just 28 seconds later but the Hawks got tallies from Paulo Colavita and Dominic Fantozzi in a 29-second pan to draw even with 2:45 left in the period.

The third period was dominated by special teams. The first three of the four goals in the period came on power plays.

The Hawks’ Michael Urbani and the Explorers’ Woudenberg traded goals early on before Andrew Centrella scored on a shot from the right circle to give the Hawks a 4-3 lead with 11:34 left in the game. David Kimmel tied the game for La Salle with 6:44 left in regulation.

The Explorers got a break when the Hawks’ Nick Storti drew an elbowing penalty with 45 seconds left in regulation, one which allowed LaSalle to start the overtime period with a man advantage.

Both goaltenders came up big in the extra session. The Explorers’ Aidan McCabe denied the Hawks’ Matthew Moresco and St. Joseph Prep’s Andrew Custer got the better of Woudenberg. Either play could have ended matters. In the end, Woudenberg provided the winning effort in the shootout.

“It’s a step forward for us,” said La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner. It would have been nice to win in regulation but it was similar to our last game against them. Two pretty evenly matched teams.”

McCabe spoke to the nature of the rivalry between the Explorers and the Hawks. “It’s definitely an easy game to get up for,” he said, and to stay motivated through the whole game. And once you know it’s going into overtime, it’s even easier to focus on. We were able to get the win in the shootout, which is nice.”

Ice Chips—The Explorers won the first meting between the two teams, 4-3 in overtime, on November 20. The two teams will close the regular season against each other on the evening of February 21 at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 Arena.

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 2 2 0 (1)—4
La Salle 0 2 2 0 (2)—5
Second-period goals: Nolan Woudenberg (L) from Chase Hannon and Jack Armstrong, 11:23 (pp); Jake Hannon (L) from Colin Keiser and David Kimmel, 11:51; Matthew Moresco (SJP) from Paulo Colavita, 13:44; Dominic Fantozzi (SJP) from Jimmy Craig, 14:15.
Third-period goals: Michael Urbani (SJP) from Jeffrey Hammond and Craig, 1:29 (pp); Woudenberg (L) from Hannon and Armstrong, 2:32 (pp); Andrew Centrella (SJP) from Hammond and Craig, 5:26 (pp); Kimmel (L) from Keenan Schneider, 10:16.
Shootout goals: SJP: Ben Briskin; L: Max Maddalo and Woudenberg
Shots: SJP 25, La Salle 26; Saves: Andrew Custer (SJP) 22, Aidan McCabe (L) 21

Elsewhere

Holy Ghost Prep 3, St. Augustine 0—The Firebirds bested the Hermits Friday in a non-league game. Landon Stoudt and Anthony Sparo scored in the first period to give the Firebirds a 2-0 lead. Luke Panepresso added an empty net goal in the third period. Sean Joyce made 25 saves in goal.

Check out the Hockey Happenings podcast

APAC Update

Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference Standings

Includes games played and reported through 1-28

W L OW OL Pts GF GA

St. Joseph’s Prep (11-10) 3 0 0 4 13 25 23

Holy Ghost Prep (10-4-1) 3 3 1 0 11 25 21

Malvern Prep (6-7) 2 4 2 0 10 33 36

LaSalle (9-13) 1 2 2 1 8 28 19

Teams receive:

3 points for a regulation win

2 points for an overtime or shootout win

1 point for an overtime or shootout loss

0 points for a regulation loss

Check out our Hockey Happenings podcast with hosts Rick Woelfel and Eric Tye HERE

Would a podcast benefit your business or help you promote your event?

We cab help. Contact us HERE

Scoring Leaders Games G A Pts

Byron Hartley (HGP) 14 17 11 28

Matt Harris (MP) 12 17 8 25

Jack Constabile (MP) 8 5 15 20

Evan Mudrick (HGP) 12 10 9 19

Ryan Sambuco (MP) 12 5 11 16

Anthony Sparo (HGP) 12 4 10 14

Nathan Benner (La) 15 8 5 13

Jimmy Craig (SJP) 13 4 8 12

Braedon Barsher (HGP) 11 10 1 11

Keenan Schneider (La) 15 2 9 11

Andrew Centrella (SJP) 12 1 10 11

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 full range of repairs as well as offer custom hockey jerseys. Owner Bill Keyser, has over 25 years experience in the industry and specializes in skate sharpening, including profiling. Stop in an check us out or please visit our Facebook page

The Hill School 4, La Salle 1

HATFIELD— Hill School had a substantial head start in its matchup against La Salle Wednesday afternoon. The Blue scored twice before the contest was three-and-a-half minutes old and went on to a 4-1 win over the Explorers at Hatfield Ice in a Mid-Atlantic Prep League encounter.

The Explorers (8-12) found themselves outgunned in the early going. Gabriel Shipper opened the scoring for the Blues (9-4-1) just 23 seconds after the opening faceoff when he beat La Salle netminder Aidan McCabe. Will Schiller made it a 2-0 game at the 3:26 mark.

“(The Hill School) is a tough team to play catch-up against,” said La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner. “We know what we’re up against. Most of these Mid-Atlantic Prep schools are older than us across the board. They’ll have guys repeat a grade. But that’s very good for us, I think.
‘We have to learn to move our feet, compete harder, for the things that ultimately in the end will make us a better team.”

Schaller scored his second goal of the game on a power play effort with 43 seconds left in the first frame. After that, the two teams skated on something closer to even terms. Thomas Beaudoin extended Hill School’s lead with a goal in the final minute of the second period,

Meantime, Sean Parker was impregnable in the Blues’ net. Colin Keiser finally got La Salle on the scoreboard 1:19 into the final period, But that was all the Explorers could manage.

Next up for La Salle is an APAC matchup against St. Joseph’s Prep on Friday.
“We’re hoping for a good practice tomorrow,” Muehlbronner said, “Get ready for Friday night, which will be our Senior Night. That’s our focus right now.”
Hill School 3 1 0—4
La Salle 0 0 1—1
First-period goals: Gabriel Shipper (HP) from Henry Gartner and Michael Rockovich, :23; Will Schaller (HS) from Otto McLaughlin and Brock Weimar, 3:26; Schaller (HS) from McLaughlin and Shipper, 16:17 (pp)
Second-period goals:Thomas Beauvoir (HS) from Nico McCurrach,14:49;
Third-period goals: Colin Keiser (L) from Keenan Schneider and Jake Harmon, 1;19.
Shots: Hill School 28, La Salle 16; Saves: Sean Parker (HS) 15; Aidan McCabe (L) 24

Flyers Cup Power Rankings for 1-13-2020

The following rankings were furnished by the Flyers Cup Committee. Records include games resorted through January 12. In the case of Class AAA they include games against Cup-eligible opponents only. Recordsc are subject to revision.

For more information, go to https://www.flyers-cup.org

Class AAA (Maximum field, 8 teams)

St. Joseph’s Prep (6-0-0-3)
Malvern Prep (6-3-0-0)
La Salle (4-2-1-1)
Holy Ghost Prep (5-3-0-0)
Father Judge (9-5-0-0)

Still without a regulation loss to Flyers Cup-eligible opposition, St. Joseph’s Prep (APAC) remains as the #1 team in this week’s AAA power rankings. Malvern Prep (APAC) climbs to #2 with an impressive week of hockey – defeating both La Salle (5-4 OT) and St. Joseph’s Prep (5-4 OT). La Salle had the opportunity to avenge that loss with a 6-1 victory over Holy Ghost Prep (APAC), who fell to #4. Father Judge (ICSHL) rounds out the top 5, on the strength of two victories of this week – one over Catholic League and AAA rival Cardinal O’Hara by a score of 6-4.

Class AA (Maximum field 16 teams)

Central Bucks South (8-0-0-1)
Haverford High (13-1-0-0)
North Penn (6-2-0-0)
Perkiomen Valley (7-2-0-1)
Downingtown West (7-4-0-1)
Council Rock South (5-2-0-0)
Pennsbury (7-2-1-0)
Neshaminy (7-3-0-1)
Central Bucks East (6-2-1-1)
Boyertown (7-5-1-0)

Central Bucks South (SHSHL) and Haverford (ICSHL) added points in the win columns as they remain the top two seeds in this week’s rankings. North Penn’s (SHSHL) league victory over Top 10 Neshaminy (SHSHL) gave them the leverage to jump to #3 in this week’s rankings, jumping previous #3 Perkiomen Valley (ICSHL), who fell to Salesianum in a non-league game. Downingtown West’s two victories jumps the Whippets to #5 and CR South (SHSHL) climbs to #6 after an 11-1 victory over Central Bucks West (SHSHL), resulting in the Bucks dropping out of the top ten. Pennsbury (SHSHL), Neshaminy, and Central Bucks East (SHSHL) fill in #7 through #9 and Boyertown (ICSHL) makes their first appearance in the power rankings at #10.

Check out the Flyers Cup podcast with Rick Woelfel and Eric Tye at http://www.buzzsprout.com/213400

Class A (Maximum field: 16 teams)

West Chester East (9-3-0-0)
Plymouth Whitemarsh (8-1-0-0)
Springfield Delco (8-2-0-2)
Unionville (7-5-0-0)
Palmyra (12-1-0-1)
West Chester Rustin (6-4-0-2)
Hatboro-Horsham (9-1-0-1)
Strath Haven (8-3-0-1)
West Chester Henderson (6-4-1-0)
Hershey (8-2-1-2)

West Chester East (ICSHL) remains as the #1 seed in this week’s Class A power rankings, although suffering a minor early-week 3-0 setback to AA power Downingtown East (ICSHL). Plymouth Whitemarsh remains as the #2 seed after taking care of business with an 8-3 victory over league rival Wissahickon (SHSHL). Springfield (ICSHL) remains at #3 after defeating Penncrest 5-0 and Unionville (ICSHL) jumps to #4 after West Chester Bayard Rustin suffered a 6-3 loss to OJ Roberts (ICSHL). Palmyra (CPIHL) enters the Top 5 after defeating rival Hershey (CPIHL) by a score of 5-4 in arguably the Game of the Week across all divisions. WC Rustin’s loss drops them to #6 and Hatboro Horsham (SHSHL) slides to #7 as a result of Palmyra’s win. Strath Haven (ICSHL), West Chester Henderson (ICSHL), and Hershey round out this week’s Top 10.

South Jersey/Delaware (Maximum field: TBD)

Eastern (10-2-2-0)
Salesianum (7-3-1-1)
Appoquinmink (10-1-0-2)
Moorsetown (7-4-2-0)
Cherokee (6-4-3-0)

Eastern (SJHSHL) added two victories this past week and still sits atop the NJ/DE rankings. Salesianum (ICSHL) added a nice 9-6 victory over Top 5 AA ranked Perkiomen Valley (ICSHL) and remains at #2 in this week’s rankings. Adding two wins to their record this week, Appoquinimink (ICSHL) enters the rankings at #3. Appo’s jump was aided by the fact that Shawnee (SJHSHL) suffered a 6-2 loss to Eastern and a 3-3 tie to unranked Washington Township (SJHSHL). Moorestown (SJHSHL) slides to #4 after being a victim to one of Eastern’s victories this week (7-2). Cherokee (SJHSHL) enters this week’s polls after downing Kingsway (SJHSHL) by a final score of 4-1.

Girls (Maximum field: 4 teams)

Bux-Mont (10-1-0-0)
Unionville (8-2-0-2)
Avon Grove (8-3-0-1)
West Chester Henderson (2-6-1-1)

Bux-Mont (ICSHL) is your new #1 in the second edition of Flyers Cup rankings for the Girls division. The Bux-Mont ladies had a big 11-1 win over league rival Radnor (ICSHL) and also benefited from West Chester Henderson’s (ICSHL) overtime victory over previous #1 Unionville (ICSHL). Avon Grove (ICSHL) stays at #3 and WC Henderson enters this week’s polls on the strength of the win over Unionville.

SHSHL Update for 12-31-19

SHSHL Standings as of 12-31-19

Class AA W L T OTL Pts

Neshaminy (7-2-0-0) 5 1 0 0 10

C.B. South 7-0-0-1) 5 0 0 0 10

C.R. South (4-3-0-0) 4 0 0 0 8

North Penn (5-2-0-0) 4 0 0 0 8

C.B. West (6-0-1-1)) 3 0 1 0 7

C.B. East (5-1-1-1) 2 1 1 1 6

Pennsbury (5-2-1-0 2 2 1 0 5

Abington (2-5-0-0) 1 2 0 0 2

Pennridge (4-5-0-0) 1 4 0 0 2

William Tennent (3-6-0-0) 1 5 0 0 2

Souderton (0-7-1-1) 0 4 1 1 2

Quakertown (1-5-0-0) 0 2 0 0 0

Council Rock North (1-7-0-0) 0 5 0 0 0

Advertise Your Product or Service In this Space !!!

Join us on the road to the Flyers Cup by Clicking Here

Class A W L T OTL Pts

Plymouth Whitemarsh (7-1-0-0) 4 0 0 0 8

Wissahickon (4-5-0-0) 3 3 0 0 6

Hatboro-Horsham (7-1-0-1) 2 1 0 1 5

Lower Moreland (1-6-0-0) 1 2 0 0 2

Truman (0-7-0-0) 0 3 0 0 0

Standings are calculated as follows

2 points for a win whether in regulation or OT

1 point for a tie or overtime loss

If a game is tied at the end of regulation there will be five minutes of three-on-three overtime. If the game is still tied it will be recorded as a tie game.

Scoring

Class AAA G. A Pts

Jake Lang (CBW) 21 17 38

Robert Seewagon(Nesh) 19 13 32

Chris Trefz (CBW) 9 20 29

Tyler Greenstein (NP) 6 16 22

Dominic Patrone (CBS) 9 12 21

Josh Kaufhold (NP) 10 10 20

Antii Autere (CRS) 5 14 19

Michael Roby (CRS) 13 6 19

Beau Brusius-Yedman (PB) 9 10 19

Joey DeMatteo (Nesh) 11 7 18

Colin Abbonizio (CBS) 10 7 17

Class A G A Pos.

Aidan Keogh (PW) 13 15 28

Seth Lerner (HH) 13 9 22

Alex Howieson (HH) 11 11 22

Jake Weikel (PW) 12 10 22

Dean Keller (PW) 10 11 21

Luke Weikel (PW) 9 9 18

Tarek Elsabbagh (HH) 9 6 15

Aidan Esack (HH) 5 6 11

James McCoy (HH) 6 5 11

Colin Franzoni (PW) 6 4 10

Nick Long (HH) 5 5 10

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. 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!

Class AA MP GA GAA

Jimmy Sweeney (CRS) 272 6 1.06

Mason Moyer (CBS) 384 10 1.25

Brian Nelson (Nesh) 380 16 1.85

Jake Coddington (CBW) 376 20 2.55

Chris McIntyre (CBE) 346 20 2.81

Class A MP GA GAA

Ben Yuter (PW) 292 18 2.96

Joe Gambimo (HH) 356 28 3.78

Chris Shea (Wiss) 384 45 5.62

Save Percentage

Class AA MP Shots GA Sv Pct.

Mason Moyer (CBS) 384 172 10 .942

Jimmy Sweeney 272 85 6 .929

*Chris McIntyre (CBE) 294 227 18 .921

Jake Coddington (CBW) 376 196 20 .898

Brian Nelson (Nesh) 380 153 16 .895

Record incomplete

Class A MP Shots GA. SVPct.

Joe Gambino (HH)) 356 242 25 .897

Ben Yuter (PW) 291 146 11 .877

Jacob Lungin (LM) 140 150 22 .853

Minimum 192 minutes played

If you or a family member, or friend are looking for a dentist, we’re proud to recommend All Smiles Family Dentistry. They’re located at 1620 South Broad Street in Lansdale.

Dr. Caroline Hsu, Dr. Azure Pelberg and their staff provide high-quality dental care in a caring, nurturing environment. They’ve been taking care of my teeth for 25 years and I would recommend them to anyone. Going to the dentist can be an unsettling experience but everyone at All Smiles Family Dentistry will work to put you at ease.

Call for an appointment at 215-616-0609 or e-mail them at allsmilesfamilydentistry@verizon.net. You can also find them on line at www.allsmileslansdale.com.

La Salle Heading North

The La Salle Explorers will spend the weekend at the Mount St. Charles (R.I.) Academy tournament in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

The Explorers dropped their opener to Franklin (Mass.) 3-2 in overtime Friday night. They’ll face the loser of a matchup between the host team, Mount St. Charles, and Bishop Guertin (New Hampshire) in a consolation game 4 p.m. on Saturday.

The other half includes Fairfield (Connecticut) Prep, Bishop Hendricken from Rhode Island, St. Joseph’s Collegiate from Buffalo, N.Y. and DeMatha from Maryland.

The tournament runs through Sunday.

If you or a family member, or friend are looking for a dentist, we’re proud to recommend All Smiles Family Dentistry. They’re located at 1620 South Broad Street in Lansdale.Dr. Caroline Hsu, Dr. Azure Pelberg and their staff provide high-quality dental care in a caring, nurturing environment. They’ve been taking care of my teeth for 25 years and I would recommend them to anyone. Going to the dentist can be an unsettling experience but everyone at All Smiles Family Dentistry will work to put you at ease.

Call for an appointment at 215-616-0609 or e-mail them at allsmilesfamilydentistry@verizon.net. You can also find them on line at www.allsmileslansdale.com.

We’d love to have you promote your product or service on this site. Contact us here for rates and other information including how we can provide coverage of your hockey-related event or produce content designed specifically for you.

Do you need content for your own blog or web site? We can help, whether that content relates to hockey, some other sport, or some other topic. Contact us here

Plymouth Whitemarsh 4, Hatboro-Horsham 3

WARWICK— It has been said by some observers that a hockey goaltender plays the most demanding position in any team sport. Playing the position well, in fact, at all, requires a unique mindset.

Friday’s Suburban High School Hockey League matchup between Hatboro-Horsham and Plymouth Whitemarsh offered a strong thesis to support that argument.

Aidan Keogh gave the Colonials a 4-3 win with 1:09 left in overtime when he stole the puck at the Hatter blue line and went in alone to score the winning goal.

It was the Colonials’ second win over the Hatters in eight days; thy were victorious 13-3 last Friday.

The storyline at Revolution Ice Gardens revolved around the two goaltenders, the Colonials’ Ben Yuter and Hatboro-Horsham’s Joe Gambino. Between them they faced 65 shots and made 58 saves. Gambino stopped 35 shots, Yuter 23. Both made some truly remarkable saves.

Plymouth Whitemarsh assistant coach Chris Zawislak was in charge behind the bench, filling in for the absent Josh Aiello.

“I thought both goaltenders played a great game today,” he said. “I saw their goaltender make at least three or four saves that kept them in the game as we made one of our big pushes in the second period, and especially in the third period … our goaltender came up huge.”

Each team scored a goal in each regulation period. The Hatters (6-2, 1-2 in the American Division) took a 3-2 lead 1:37 into the third frame when Alex Howieson beat Yuter from just inside the right faceoff circle. But with 2:23 left in regulation, the Colonials (6-1, 3-0) answered. Keogh took the puck behind the Hatboro-Horsham net and found Dean Keller in front who in turn deposited the puck behind Gambino to draw his team even.

Yuter had to come up big once more when his teammate Colin Franzoni drew a high sticking penalty with 1:17 left in regulation. The abbreviated power play was constricted further when the Hatters’ Nick Long was sent to the box himself with 11 seconds of regulation time remaining. As a result of all this, the Colonials spent some early portions of the overtime with four skaters to three advantage. Franzoni came close to ending the game he hit a post some 100 seconds into the five-minute session.

Both teams went three on three with 2:11 remaining before Keogh’s solo effort brought down the curtain on an entertaining evening of hockey.

Yuter enjoyed being tested by a quality opponent in the Hatters and facing a quality opposing goaltender in Gambino. “I’m always on my A game,” he said, “It’s just a reason to want it even more. We all just feed off of each other’s energy. When we’re able to score off a goaltender like that, it really just pumps us up. He’s an amazing goaltender, he had some really quality saves out there.”

Hatboro-Horsham coach Gianni Lafratta summed up the evening. “Both goalies stood on their heads,” he said. “At times they had support of all five teammates, at times they had to call their own shots.

“ It’s definitely not a game you want to lose, but definitely a tight battle and a better response to last week’s loss

Plymouth Whitemarsh 1 1 1 1—4

Hatboro-Horsham 1 1 1 0—3

First-period goals: Seth Lerner (HH) from Marcus Soucy, 4:23; Aidan Keogh (PW) from Jake Weikel, 13:46.

Second-period goals: Aidan Esack (HH) from Tarek Elsabbagh and Ziyad Elsabbagh, 6:49; Dean Keller (PW) from Logan Westerfer and Ben Lubas, 9:36.

Third-period goals: Alex Howieson (HH from Esack and Ziyad Elsabbagh, 1:34; Keller (PW) from Keogh, 13:37.

Overtime goal: Keogh (PW) unassisted, 3:51.

Shots: Plymouth Whitemarsh 39, Hatboro-Horsham 26; Saves: Joe Gambino (HH) 35, Ben Yuter (PW) 23.

Other scores: Pennsbury 9, Council Rock North 1

St. Joseph’s Prep 4, Father Judge 2

Central Bucks South 7, Neshaminy 3

HATFIELD— For roughly a decade now, Central Bucks South has set the standard against which the rest of the Suburban High School Hockey League is measured. On Thursday night, the Titans showed they still hold that distinction although it took them some time to do so.

Matt Buchinski, Nolan Geria, and Joey DeMatteo propelled Neshaminy to a 3-0 first-period lead. But the Titans woke up and scored five consecutive goals in the second period before adding two more in the third.

The 7-3 victory that resulted put South alone at the top of the SHSHL Class AA standings at 4-0 (6-0-0-1 overall). It was a win that didn’t come easily after the slow start but what transpired at Hatfield Ice Thursday night will serve as a primer for March, when both the Titans and the ‘Skins (6-2, 5-1) figure to be legitimate Flyers Cup contenders.

If there was a single moment that triggered the comeback, it might have been at the 7:02 mark of the first period following Geria’s goal when South coach Shaun McGinity called the only timeout he was permitted and delivered what would best be termed an inspirational address.

“I don’s think they deliberately came unprepared,” McGinity said of his troops. “I don’t think they overlooked Neshaminy. I don’t think they overlooked anybody or through anybody. Neshaminy has got firepower. (The Titans) just didn’t come ready to play.”

It took a while for McGinty’s message to sink in; DeMatteo put his team up 3-0 with 3:58 to play in the period.

But in the second frame, the Titans got rolling. Colin Abbonizio scored just 37 seconds into the period. Matt Milanesi made it a 3-2 game at the 3:18 mark off a feed from Dominic Patrone to complete a lovely session of tic-tac-toe. Goals from Abbonizio and Patrone followed before Abbonizio completed a hat trick at the 13:25 mark to give South a 5-3 lead.

All five goals came at even strength.
Patrone scored on a shorthanded effort 1:47 into the third period before Ryan Gingras scored a power-play goal with 8:33 left in the game.

“A lot of the (comeback effort) was from the coaches,” Abbonizio said. “They really kept us in it. We just went out there and played our game and we got seven goals.”

The Titans are young in spots this season but Abbonizio, the team’s captain, says the newcomers are taking their cues from the veterans. “The younger guys are always listening,” he said. “They’re willing to take whatever they can get from the older guys. I think their cooperation could contribute to us really going a long way.”

Neshaminy coach Matt DeMatteo noted his team couldn’t sustain its early momentum. “We had them on the ropes,” he said. “We were up 3-0 in the first period and the guys were playing the game plan. They switched some things up and we just adapt as well as I’d hoped.”

Despite the loss, the ‘Skins proved they belong on the list of the SHSHL’s upper-echelon teams. “Neshaminy’s a great team,” Abbonizio said. “They’re a great team and that’s something that we’ve told these guys. That was a playoff game right there.”

Neshaminy 3 0 0—3
C.B. South 0 5 2—7
First-period goals: Matt Buchinski (N) from Joey DeMatteo, 2:43; Nolan Geria’s (N) unassisted, 7:02; DeMatteo (N) unassisted, 12:02.
Second-period goals: Colin Abbonizio (CBS) from Brian Keilman and Matt Milanesi, :37; Milanesi (CBS) from Dominic Patrone, 3:18; Abbonizio (CBS) from David Kutcher, 4:53; Patrone (CBS) from Milanesi, 10:06; Abbonizio (CBS) from Stephen McMillan, 13:25.
Third-period goals: Patrone (CS) from Keilman, 1:47 (sh); Ryan Gingras (CBS) from Patrone, 7:27 (pp).
Shots: Neshaminy 22, C.B. South 30; Saves: Brian Nelson (N) 23, Evan Moyer (CBS) 19

Thanksgiving Eve Hockey Scores

Pennsbury 4, Neshaminy 3

Upper Dublin 12, Truman 2

William Tennent 14, Archbishop Wood 4

Hatboro-Horsham 6, Moreland/NHS 4

Central Bucks East 5, Central Bucks West 4 OT

Council Rock South 11, Council Rock North 1

Central Bucks South 5, North Penn 1

Pennridge 6, Souderton 1

Malvern Prep 3 vs. Cardinal O’Hara 1

Holy Ghost Prep 4, Father Judge 2

Interested in promoting your product, service, or event in this space? Email us HERE

One Step at a Time

Chris Gallagher has some definite ideas about what he wants the hockey program at Council Rock North to be.

By Rick Woelfel

Council Rock North took another step forward Thursday night. The Indians fell to Central Bucks West 11-0 at Hatfield Ice in a Suburban High School Hockey League matchup that was called after the second period but there were an abundance of signs the program is moving in the right direction.

North had just 12 skaters and a goaltender in uniform. Eight of the skaters were freshmen and no one on the blueline corps had any experience there prior to the start of this season, but the Indians played hard and maintained their composure against an unbeaten West team (4-0) that was more mature physically and processed superior skating ability.

“I was happy with the way the boys played,” said North coach Chris Gallagher, “and I thought they put a lot of effort in tonight. They’re learning on the fly and everyone appreciates the effort.”

Gallagher has put in a lot of effort himself over two seasons plus, resurrecting a program that dropped off the radar because of declining numbers. He and assistant coach Mike Epstein understand that building a quality program doesn’t happen overnight. But Gallagher has a plan in place.

“One was to have a middle-school program (originally run by Epstein),” he said. “Two was to have good kids play. Kids you could be proud of and get the numbers up, and I think we see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Senior Colin Kiefer is North’s captain. He will not be around to see his leadership efforts come to complete fruition. But what the North program will become over the next few seasons will be determined in part by the example Kiefer is setting now.

“My sophomore year we had nine seniors,” he said,” and we were just phenomenal. We played really well that season and obviously lost year we lost them all. We’ve got a new of new freshmen. It’s definitely going to be an experience teaching them how to play high-school hockey and what it’s like. It’s definitely a lot different than club hockey.”

Kiefer points out wearing a jersey with a school’s name on it brings with it a certain responsibility. That’s a point he tries to get across to his younger teammates.“They need to understand that this is a serious thing and represent the school,” he said.

Another element in building a program is building a relationship between the hockey club and the school’s administration. Gallagher says the process starts in the classroom.

“That’s probably my number-one priority this year,” he said, “Making sure these kids are student-athletes. They’re excelling the in the classroom, they’re doing the best they can on the ice, but they’re becoming good people and people that we can be proud of that are going to graduate from this program.

“They’re complying with the same requirements that every student-athlete has at North and if there are any incidents at school or on the ice, there’s going to be consequences and if any grades aren’t up to our requirements there’s going to be consequences as well.”

Like hockey programs at other public schools in the area and many probate ones, the Indians are a club team and not a varsity sport. But like many of his peers who oversee programs at other schools, Gallagher wants a good relationship with the school whose name his players carry on their jerseys.

“We’re not owed anything from Council Rock North,” he said. “We have a great group of kids here and we’re looking to set an example that we’re doing things the right way.”

The Game—Jake Lang had a big night for the Bucks with four goals and three assists. Seven other players score one goal each. West is 4-0 overall and 2-0 in league play. The Indians dropped to 1-3 and 0-2.

Council Rock North 0 0 x—0
C.B. West 4 7 x—11
First-period goals: Billy Loughnane (CBW) from Reese Dalzell, 1:31; Chris Trefz (CBW) from Evan Hee and Grant Funseth, 3:34; Nikita Ushakov (CBW) from Jake Lang and Sammy Poliak, 8:58; Hee (CBW) from Lang and Keith Orlando, 15:49.
Second-period goals: Lang (CBW) from Funseth, 1:51; Jack Boland (CBW) from Poliak and Hee, 2:18; Lang (CBW) from Ushakov and Orlando, 10:11; Orlando (CBW) from Lang and Trefz, 10:40; Lang (CBW) from Trefz and Orlando, 12:09 (pp); Lang (CBW) from Loughnane and Poliak, 13:29; Ben Morris (CBW) from Funseth 15:39.
Shots: Council Rock North 11, C.B. West 35; Saves: Rex Goldberg (CRN), Jake Coddingfton (CBW) 11.