Tag: Jeff Mitchell

C.B. East 7 C.B. West 1

WARWICK TOWNSHIP—There is a lot of history within the walls of the Bucks County Ice Sports Center. The rink, originally called Face Off Circle, opened its doors in 1975 when the Philadelphia Flyers were the reigning Stanley Cup champions.

It’s the place where Central Bucks East Coach Jeff Mitchell learned to skate. And it’s where Mitchell brought his Patriots Friday night to renew one of the area’s traditional rivalries.

His players met expectations, scoring a 7-1 decision over Central Bucks West, a win that gave the Patriots two vital points in the SHSHL National Division standings. With the playoff field being reduced to six teams this season from the customary eight, the result was especially significant in terms of the standings. 

Perhaps more importantly however the win was the Patriots’ second straight following a four-game losing streak, a losing streak that was especially difficult to endure after East (6-4, 2-1 in divisional play) began the season with four straight wins.

The Patriots displayed an abundance of scoring balance. Stephen DiRugeris scored two goals, while Owen Brackbill, Ethan Cenci, Anthony Dowd, Corey Kosick, and Drew Trask provided one goal each.

 “The last two games have been a little bit of a sigh of relief,” Mitchell said, “that we’re getting back to the right motions that we’re running through when we’re playing our games.

“Were kind of getting back to our core values. Probably the past four or five games have been very subpar, slow, a lack of effort. It’s almost like we had an easy start to the season.”

With a full lineup in uniform, Mitchell was enthused about the balanced scoring.

“Having everybody back in the lineup really helped,” he said. “We spread the puck around, we were able to get four full lines out there. Rotate four lines throughout the game.

“It definitely helps a lot with getting a little pressure off the top two lines.”

After a scoreless first frame, the Patriots took control with goal from Brackbill, DiRugeris, and Cenci to go up 3-0 with 6:46 left in the middle period. Anthony Dowd scored for West (3-7, 1-2) 43 seconds later but by the midpoint of the third period, the Bucks were running on empty. Kosick, DiRugeris, and Gerken scored goals in a span of 2:20.

“On the spectrum of how we play, I think we played pretty well the first half of the game,” said West coach Dave Baun. “In fact, I don’t think we played that badly the entire game for where we are right now.

“East is a little better and they beat us.”

Mitchell noted the importance of every point in the standings in light of the new playoff format.

“I think every team that makes the playoffs is going to be a top-tier team,” he said. “I think seeds one through six are all going to be challenging. So, we’re going to have to do our best to play the games we have left in the season and kind of get a feel for the competition.”

C.B. West  0 1 0—1

C.B. East 0 4 3—7

Second-period goals: Owen Brackbill (CBE) from Kyle McIntyre, :50; Stephen DiRugeris (CBE) from Corey Kosick, 5:06; Ethan Cenci (CBE) from Gavin Widmer, 10:14; Anthony Dowd (CBW) from Zane Sanders, Ryan Gerken (CBE) unassisted, 15:24

Third-period goals: Kosick (CBE) from Jason Young, 9:10; DiRugeris (CBE) from Cenci, 9:52 Drew Trask (CBE) from Brackbill, 11:30.
Shots: C.B. West 27, C.B. East 38; Saves: Kyle Fasolak (CBW) 31, Matt Magiacapre (CBE) 18 and Cole Breen (CBE) 8

C.B. East 3 North Penn 1

HATFIELD—Any hockey team wants to make an impression at the start of a season. Central Bucks East did just that Wednesday night, scoring a 3-1 decision over North Penn at Hatfield Ice to help the Suburban High School Hockey League open its 50th season.

Corey Kosick scored two goals to help East start off its season on a winning note. Kosick, a junior, noted that this year’s edition of the Patriots runs the gambit when it comes to experience and that getting used to the style of play at the high-school level takes time.

“It’s all about being used to our level of play,” he said. “It’s all about hard work. Hard work is alway going to beat talent in the end and that’s why we came out on top today.”

Ethan Cenci gave the Patriots the early lead on a power-play goal 5:46 into the opening session and the two teams battled on even terms through the first two periods.

The  officials kept a tight rein on the proceedings during that span, whistling 11 penalties for a total of 39 minutes. 

With 15 seconds left in the second frame an engagement involving North Penn’s Sam Mostochuck and East’s Carter Keiser resulted in a major penalty and a game misconduct to Keiser and a three-minute power play for North Penn. The Knights however were unable to capitalize on their advantage.

“I think that sort of sums up our night,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “We had aa bunch of power plays early in the game and couldn’t really get any momentum going in the zone, had trouble getting out of our own zone, getting set up in there and working the puck around.

“Their first goal was a power play. It was 1-0 through two periods If you capitalize on one of those (power plays), you’ve got a 1-1 game going into the third.”

Kosick extended the Patriots’ lead with a goal 6:43 into the third frame. John Stinson made it a one-goal game when he scored for the Knights at the 9:09 mark but Kosick answered back just eight seconds later.

The final period featured six additional penalties, three to each side. East coach Jeff Mitchell stressed the importance of his team staying out of the box.

“The first goal definitely got the energy started in the right direction,” he said. “I think the penalties really killed us at the start of this game I think the refs did a great job moderating between both teams. But we’ve got to be able to stay out of the box and be able to keep five men on the ice and keep pucks in the net.”

C.B.East 1 0 2—3

North Penn 0 0 1—1

First-period goal

Ethan Cenci (CBE) from Patrick O’Brien and Charlie Keiser, 5:46 (pp)

Third-period goals

Corey Kosick (CBE) from Keiser and Cenci, 6:43; John Stinson (NP) unassisted, 9:09; Kosick (CBE) from Keiser, 9:17

Shots: C.B. East 33, North Penn 26; Saves: Matt Mangiacapre (CBE) 25, Nick Crist (NP) 30

Pennridge 5 C.B. East 0

WARWICK—For Pennridge it was all in an evening’s work. The Rams remained unbeaten Wednesday night with a 5-0 win over Central Bucks East in a SHSHL Class AA matchup at Revolution Ice Gardens.

Pennridge is now a perfect 10-0 on the season, 6-0 in divisional play, and sits atop the Flyers Cup Class AA rankings to boot.

Adam Boyle scored two goals and assisted on another. Aerek Lehrhaupt also scored twice as the Rams bested the Patriots for the second time this season; they prevailed 5-1 on December 8.

“We talked before the game,” said Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna. It was a point of emphasis the way we played against them last time. We did not play well and they outworked us last game.

“We stressed that in the locker room all week, about getting off to a better start against this team and not being outworked.”

The Rams dominated the first period although they scored just once. Boyle collected a loose puck in front of the East net and tucked it inside the left post with 4:16 left in the opening session.
As is often case in such circumstances, it was a case of a goaltender keeping his team in the game. In this case was the netminder was Matt Magiacapre who was credited with no few 26 saves in the opening 17 minutes and gave the Patriots (3-7, 2-4 in the division) reason to hope.

But East’s hopes were dashed 5:10 into the second frame when Shane Dachowski scored for the Rams on a breakaway while his team was skating two men short.

Boyle added his second goal of the night at the 14:14 mark before Lehrhaupt added two goals in the third period.

Emotions boiled over with 9:21 left in regulation when the Rams’ Pierce McGinley took the Patriots’ Kyle McIntyre into the wall on the Pennridge’s offensive right wing just beyond the faceoff circle. No penalty was called on the play. Phil McIntyre stepped up in defense of his brother and teammate and wound up drawing nine minutes in penalties; minor penalties for elbowing and roughing, plus a major. As a result, the Patriots were shorthanded virtually all of the rest of the game. but they kept battling.

“I loved how we stayed in the game the whole team,” said Central Bucks East coach Jeff Mitchell. “They put a lot of shots up on us in the first period so I was starting to get a little worried that we were sitting on our heels. But, the boys kept fighting back, it just wasn’t going I for us tonight.”

Montagna works to keep his team focused on the task at hand while also acknowledging what is possible. He’s counting on his seniors to show the way.

“The seniors that we have have been through this,” he said. “They know there’s a bigger goal than just getting through the regular season and they’ve been real good about teaching the other guys that and telling them that. They know what we’re fighting for.”

Ice Chips—Ryan Pico pitched a shutout in goal, making 24 saves while Mangiacapre was credited with 44 … The Rams will make up a game with Pennsbury Monday night at Hatfield Ice (6:20 start).

Pennridge 1 2 2—5

C.B. East 0 0 0—0

First-period goals: Adam Boyle (P) unassisted, 12:44

Second-period goals: Shane Dachowski (P) from Boyle and Colin Dachowski, 5:10 (sh); Boyle (P) unassisted, 14:14

Third-period goals: Aerek Lehrhaupt (P) from Colin Dachowski, 6:43; Lehhaupt (P) unassisted, 12:40

Shots: Pennridge 49, C.B. East 24; Saves: Ryan Pico (P) 24, Matt Mangiacapre (CBE) 44

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. Please visit our Facebook page or stop in and check us out!

Jeff Mauro has written a book on the history of the Pennsylvania state high school hockey championship. To find out more and order a copy CLICK HERE

C.B. East 9 Wissahickon 4

  WARWICK—Ideally a hockey team will mature and evolve over the course of a tournament (see: 1980 U.S. Olympic team) or the course of a season. Central Bucks East took a step in the right direction Friday night.

Tyler Godown scored four goals and added an assist as the Patriots pulled away from Wissahickon in the last wo periods and went on to a 9-4 win in a SHSHL interconference affair at Revolution Ice Gardens.

It was the first win for the Class AA Patriots in three tries Wissahickon, the SHSHL’s defending Class A champion, dropped to 2-1.

For a young Patriot squad looking to find its way, the victory was extremely significant. Godown, one of just four seniors on the roster, stressed the importance of being a positive role model for his younger teammates.

“You just need a lot of leadership,” he said. “If you play hard, they’ll play hard. Don’t act scared, they’ll be good.”

Godown was his own best example, putting his team in front just 67 seconds after the opening faceoff before making it 2-0 at the 4:40 mark.

The Patriots were dominant for most of the opening period, outshooting their foes 10-1 at one point. Will and Nick Hussa scored goals for Wissahickon to make it a 2-2 game at period’s end but that score was misleading. Trojan goaltender Michael Bonnani kept his team in the game by making 13 saves in the opening 17 minutes.

But in the second period East scored four times to break the game open. Phil McIntyre and Aiden Schmidt scored the first two goals, both while East was shorthanded. Godown added the last two, one of them on a penalty shot, the second while his team was shorthanded.

Wissahickon coach Ken Harrington said his team simply ran out of gas.

“They were gassed after the first period because they were going so hard,” he said. “They never recovered, really”.

The teams combined for five goals in the final period. McIntyre added his second goal for the Patriots. Carter Keiser scored a goal before Schmidt scored his second of the game.

A.J. Pounds scored for the Trojans before Will Hussa scored his second of the night with 14 seconds remaining.

East coach Jeff Mitchell is looking for his younger players to understand their roles as the season progresses.

“Definitely defensive minded first,” he said. “Take care of home before you go and try to do anything fancy at the other end of the rink.

“And accountability. That’s the main thing with my younger players. I just to make sure that they actually realize what their responsibilities are out on the ice.”

Ice Chips—SHSHL games are now being played in 17-minute periods. The Patriots held a 41-28 shot advantage.

 C.B. East 2 4 3—9

Wissahickon 2 0 2—4

First-period goals: Tyler Godown (CBE) from Bodgon Borodeko, 1:07; Godown (CBE) from Corey Kosick, 4:40; Will Hussa (W) from A.J. Pounds and Ty Schiff, 6:07; Nick Hussa (W) from Pounds and Konrad Foulk, 14:30

Second-period goals: Phil McIntyre (CBE) from Kosick, 2:09 (sh), Aiden Schmidt (CBE) from Borodenko, 4:08 (sh); Godown (CBE) penalty shot, 14:55; Godown (CBE) unassisted, 15:48 (sh)

Third-period goals: McIntyre (CBE) from Stephen DiRugeris, 5:11.; Carter Keiser (CBE) from Kosick, 8:22 (pp); Pounds (W) from Will Hussa, 9:29 (sh); Schmidt (CBE) from Kosick, 14: 38 (pp); Will Hussa (W) from Nick Hussa and Nolan Pounds, 16:46.

Shots: C.B. East 41, Wisssahickon 28; Saves: Matt Mangiacapre (CBE) 24. Michael Bonnani (W) 32

Pennsbury 7, C.B. East 6 OT

 

Bristol—Considering two of the most potent offensive teams in the SHSHL’s National/Continental Division were sharing the ice Thursday night, the goings on were not unexpected. Brendan Macainsh’s goal with 1:13 remaining in overtime gave Pennsbury a 7-6 win over Central Bucks East to conclude an entertaining evening of hockey at Grundy Arena.

Macainsh forced a turnover at the Patriots’ blue line and walked in on Matt Mangiacapre to score the game-winning goal and give his team its fourth consecutive win, the last two of which have come in overtime. The Falcons now stand at 5-1 overall, 3-0 in divisional play.

“At practice on Monday I told them that ‘I think this will probably be our toughest game of the season,’” said Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley. “I think it proved to be our toughest game of the season.”

The biggest difference maker in the game was Pennsbury goaltender Marek Jorgenson who finished with 32 saves.

“Some of his saves were just robberies,” Daley said. “It was the only way you could describe it. He played great, I was really happy with his performance. I wish we could have done a little better job in front of him.”

Jorgenson was especially busy in the first two periods, stopping 22 shots. The first frame saw the two teams combine for seven goals. The Falcons built a 4-1 lead but Adam Schmidt, Chris Mangiacapre, and Tyler Godown scored for the Patriots (2-3, 0-2-0-1 in divisional play) in a span of just over eight minutes to tie the game 5:26 into the second period.

 Shane Siegmund and Edward Bossler scored goals to give Pennsbury a two-goal lead with 8:51 left in regulation, but Adam Bostock and Godown responded for the Patriots to force overtime.

The loss was the third straight for the Patriots, who are dealing with the absence of forward Phil McIntyre who is out indefinitely with a concussion.

East coach Jeff Mitchell says his players need to improve their pregame preparation. “I think my boys need to do a better job preparing before games,” he said. “We’ve also had a couple injuries over the past two weeks. It’s a tough course to navigate right now but tonight, against the first-place team in the division right now, is probably a step in the right direction.”

For his part, Daley feels the Falcons have exceeded his expectations as the compressed regular season hits the halfway point.

“We’re in a better spot than I could have imagined,” he said. “I knew we had a good team this year but obviously until you start playing, you don’t know exactly what you have, and they’ve surprised me in the best way.”

• Macainsh had three assists to go with his game-winning goal.

C.B. East 3 1 2 0—6

Pennsbury 4 1 1 1—7

First-period goals: Adam Bostock (CBE) unassisted, 3:42; Reese Picker (P) from Erik Eisler and Brendan Macainsh, 6:05 (pp); Eisler (P) from Shane Siegmund, 10:35; Andrew Falkenstein (P) from Macainsh and Connor Coyle, 11:48; Picker (P) from Macainsh, 12:05; Aiden Schmidt (CBE) from Bogdan Boradenko, 12:17; Kyle Hausner (CBE) from Bostck and Carter Keiser, 13:57.

Second-period goals: Tyler Godown (CBE) from Chris Mangiacapre and Kyle McIntyre, 5:26; Siegmund (PB) from Justin Marlin, 8:21.

Third-period goals: Edward Bossler (Pb) from Marlin, 7:09; Godown (CBE) from Bostick and Mangiacapre, 12:20.

Overtime goal: Macainsh (Pb) unassisted, 3:47.
Shots: C.B. East 38, Pennsbury 33; Saves: Matt Mangiacapre (CBE)26, Marek Jorgenson (Pb) 32

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. Please visit our Facebook page or stop in and check us out!