North Penn 5, C.B. East 4

WARWICK—It was a game that gave both coaches reason to smile. Jake Nelson’s goal with 6:21 left in the game gave North Penn a 5-4 win over Central Bucks East Wednesday night in a first-rate Suburban High School Hockey League matchup at Revolution Ice Gardens.

Nelson scored the game winner in the midst of a goal-mouth scramble, pushing the puck inside the right post past East netminder Matt Oganowski. The Patriots contended that the net became dislodged before the puck crossed the goal line, but referee Kevin Emore was in an ideal position and signaled immediately that it was a good goal.

With the win, the Knights (7-2-3, 6- 1-2 in league play) extended their unbeaten streak to four. The 14 points they’ve accumulated are the most of any Class AA team in the SHSHL.

Tyler Greenstein scored a goal for the Knights and assisted on three others, including the game winner. “Coach (Kevin Vaitis) just told us we had to be physical right off the bat,” he said, “and we were, and that helped us get right into the flow of the game and helped us with the speed and getting the pucks in deep.”

That aggressive approach helped North Penn take a quick 2-0 lead, Greenstein started things off 4:04 into the first frame after scooting down the right wing and beating Oganowski from just inside the right circle. Josh Kaufhold extended the lead with Greenstein getting the primary assist just 21 seconds later.

Sean Gorman got East (7-3-1, 4-3) on the scoreboard at the 11:42 before the Knights Luke van Why answered with a power-play goal at 13:34.

In the second period, it was the Patriots’ turn to step up. Connor Kelser and Gorman scored goals 80 seconds apart to make it a 3-3 game just 2:02 into the period. Kaufhold put North Penn back in front at 10:22 but Phil McIntyre re-tied the game for East at 12:18 mark.
Both goaltenders stepped up in the second period as well. North Penn’s Nick Ebbinghaus denied Nick LoCastro on a breakaway at the midway point of the session while Oganowski turned aside Nathan Oh with just over five minutes remaining.

Nelson’s effort was the only goal in the third period.

“I’m definitely pleased with getting two points coming out of tonight’s game,” Vaitis said. “I thought we did a number of things well.

“(East) is a good hockey team and I think they’ve proved it with some of the games they’ve played this year and some of the teams they’ve beaten.”
Despite the loss, East coach Ken Latchum believes his team is headed in the right direction. “I take (the loss) over a couple of the lousy wins we have,” he said. “We played a great game.

“I like the way they battled. From the top line all the way down.”

North Penn 3 1 1—5

C.B. East 1 3 0—4

First-period goals: Tyler Greenstein (NP from Jake Nelson, 4:04; Josh Kaufhold (NP) from Greenstein and Luke van Why, 4:25; Sean Gorman (CBE) from Rob Kern, 11:42; van Why (NP from Greenstein, 13:34 (pp).

Second-period goals: Connor Kelser (CBE) from Dan Tori and Max Ermigiotti, :42; Gorman (CBE) from Kern and Matt Cipriano, 2:02; Kaufhold (NP) unassisted, 10:42; Phil McIntyre (CBE) from Tyler Godown and Kelser, 12:18.

Third-period goals: Jake Nelson (NP) from Kaufold and Greenstein, 9:39.
Shots: North Penn 31, C. B. East 21; Saves: Nick Ebbinghaus (NP) 17, Matt Oganowski (CBE) 26

C.B. South 2, North Penn 2

By Rick Woelfel

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP‑The much-anticipated matchup delivered on most expectations. But it did not produce a winner.

Central Bucks South and North Penn put on an impressive display of hockey at Hatfield Ice Thursday night before their Suburban High School Hockey League matchup ended in a 2-2 deadlock.

It was the second meeting of the season between the Titans and the Knights but this one counted in the SHSHL Class 2A division standings.

The Titans improved to 6-2-1 overall and 5-0-1 in the SHSHL. The Knights now stand at 6-2-2 and 5-1-1.

North Penn’s Jake Nelson scored what turned out to be the last goal of the evening 4:25 into the third period off a superb individual effort by his teammate, defenseman Ryan Cunningham, who carried the puck out of his own zone up the left wing before cutting to his right as he crossed the South blue line and moving in on Titan goaltender Oscar Levin. Levin made the save but Nelson put in the rebound.

“I knew (Cunningham) was going to shoot it,” Nelson said, “so I just went to the net, filled my lane, and looked for the rebound.”

Levin was superb in the Titans’ net, making 25 saves. His best work came just past the midway point of the second period when he denied first Nick Rowland and Josh Kaufhold in a 30-second span. “I usually use those to make sure our team gets the confidence to make sure we get back into our business,” Levin said, “where we can get good, quality shots on net and make sure that we can get as many shots as possible.”

North Penn was able to slow their foes down to some extent, outshooting the Titans 27-21.

“We want to try to get at least 10 shots every period,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “We want to look to hold the other team to seven or less. (South) loves shooting the puck from all different angles and getting shots on net. We did a good job tonight of keeping their shots to the outside, keeping them to a minimum.”

South coach Shaun McGinty said his team was fortunate to come away with a point. “I think we were lucky to get out of there with a tie,” he said. “(North Penn) definitely deserved to win, they won all three periods. We definitely didn’t have the offense we’ve had.”

Ryan Gingras gave the Titans a 1-0 lead 8:45 into the first period with a long shot that caromed off the glove of North Penn goaltender Nick Ebbinghaus and into the net.

Nathan Oh drew the Knights even just seven seconds into the second frame but it took just another 1:23 for South to take a 2-1 lead thanks to Matt Milanesi’s power-play goal. Gingras set up the goal with a burst through the neutral zone

Notes—The Titans won the teams’ first meeting 5-2 on November 21. South is unbeaten in its last seven games

C.B. South 1 1 0—2

North Penn 0 1 1—2

First-period goal: Ryan Gingras (CBS) from Reis Braccio and Brian Keilman, 8:45.

Second-period goals: Nathan Oh (NP) from Jared Albano, :07; Matt Milanesi (CBS) from Gingras, 1:30 (pp).

Third-period goal: Jake Nelson (NP) from Ryan Cunningham and Tyler Greenstein, 4:25.
Shots: C.B. South 21, North Penn 27; saves: Oscar Levin (CBS) 25, Nick Ebbinghaus (NP) 19.

North Penn 8 CR North 4

By Rick Woelfel

North Penn scored three goals in a 21-second span midway through the second period and went on to beat Council Rock North 8-4 Friday night in a Suburban High School Hockey League Class 2A crossover game at Hatfield Ice.

Jake Nelson scored three goals and added an assist for the Knights, who improved to 4-2 overall and 2-2 in the Continental Division, Andrew Galetta and Nathan Oh scored two goals each.

North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis shuffled his lines Friday night and the juggling paid off. “We mixed it up to try to get a little bit more offense up front,” he said. “Andrew Galetta is a special player and then Nate Oh and Jake Nelson, we’ve had them together a few games now and they’ve really clicked together.”

The Knights built a 3-0 first-period lead on two goals from Nelson with a talley from Galetta in between. The last two goals came on power plays. The margin could have been greater but Rex Goldberg made 14 saves in the period to keep the Indians (3-3-1, 1-2-1 SHSHL National Division) in the game.

“I thought the goaltending held up very well in the first period,” said North coach Chris Gallagher. “If it weren’t for (Goldberg) it could have been 6-0 in the first period. He stood on his head; he played a great game for us.”

William Sohn got the Indians on the scoreboard at the 7:35 mark of the middle period but the Knights Brooke the game open less than a minute later. Galetta scored his second goal of the game at the 8:09 mark before Oh scored back-to-back goals at 8:18 and 8:30 to give North Penn a 6-1 lead.

The Indians kept battling however and got back in the game before the period ended on goals from Cavan Tully, Brandon Simonides, and Harrison Treiman, the latter on a power play.

North had a two-man advantage to start the third period but Zac Herman drew a boarding penalty just 28 seconds into the third session to reduce that advantage. The teams traded minor penalties after that before George Boyle scored for North Penn during a four-on-three power play at the 2:23 mark. Nelson completed his hat trick with 5:41 left in the game.

“We had new lines,” he said. “I had new players out there with me. We did what we had to do, and we got it done.”

Council Rock North 0 4 0—4
North Penn 3 3 2—8
First-period goals: Jake Nelson (NP) from Tyler Greenstein and Nathan Oh, 5:36; Andrew Galetta (NP) from Nelson, 14:29 (pp); Nelson (NP) from Jared Albano, 15:58 (pp).
Second-period goals: William Sohn (CRN) from Brandon Simmonds and Ian Rice, 7:35; Galetta (NP) assist unavailable, 8:09; Nathan Oh (N) from George Boyle, 8:18; Oh (NP) from Thomas Boyle, 8:30; Cavan Tully (CRN) from Dan Guest, 9:09; Simmonds (CRN) from Tully, 10:10; Harrison Treiman (CRN) from Simmonds, 14:54 (pp).
Third-period goals: George Boyle (NP) from Thomas Boyle and Josh Kaufhold, 2:23 (pp); Nelson (NP) from Oh, 10:19.
Shots: Council Rock North 34, North Penn 48; Saves: Rex Goldberg (CRN) 40, Andrew Zanoni (N)) 30.
Records: Council Rock North (3-3-1, 1-2-1 SHSHL National Division); North Penn (4-2, 2-2 Continental Division)

12-8-17