Tag: Jeremy Purcell

Council Rock South 5, C.B. East 2

WARWICK­— Council Rock South stepped up Wednesday night, just when it mattered most. Jeremy Purcell scored three times in the third period as the Golden Hawks bested Central Bucks East 5-2 at the Bucks County Ice Sports Center in a Suburban High School Hockey League National/Continental matchup.

The evening was virtually a case of two games in one. After a scoreless first frame the Golden Hawks (5-3-0-2 overall, 3-2-0-1 in divisional play) got a breakaway goal from Blaize Pepe 27 seconds into the second period. 

Stephen DiRugeris answered for the Patriots at 3:29 bit the biggest moment of the period and perhaps of the game occurred 5:32 into the period when the Hawks’ Douglas Lopez drew a major penalty for catching the Patriots’ Phil McIntyre with a high stick. The Patriots failed to score during the five-minute power play.

The first part of the third period featured three goals in a span of just 54 seconds. Purcell gave the Golden Hawks the lead when beat Matt Mangiacapre from close range at the 1:23 mark. Chris Mangiacapre drew the Patriots even with a shot from the slot midway between the two faceoff circles at 2:03 but James Diiulio gave South the lead for good just 14 seconds later. Purcell scored his second goal of the game with 2:26 left and completed his hat trick with an empty net goal with 16 seconds remaining. 

Purcell said he and his teammates found the energy they needed in the third period. “Everyone was tired,” he said, “but we knew we had to keep going. The boys were just buzzing tonight I guess. Everyone was feeling it, everyone had the hot hand.”

Under head coach Joe Houk, the Golden Hawks have a tradition of playing their best hockey late in the season. Purcell, a senior, says it’s a matter of all the pieces fitting together. “Everything slowly starts to merge together,” he said. “Everyone starts to feel better out on the ice together.”

Purcell says that chemistry is particularly important late in the season. “We work hard in practice,” he said. “We work hard every week. It’s just a matter of everything merging together better.”

The win was South’s second in three games, but the team is just 2-3 since February 17.

“We had a rough couple weeks,” Houk said. “We lost a couple close games, there were too many mistakes. We had a real strong practice on Monday. We (worked the kids hard) and that brought the same intensity to this game.

“I thought we really controlled the game right from the start to the end.”

Council Rock South 0 1 4—5

Central Bucks East 0 1 1—2

Second-period goals: Blaize Pepe (CRS) from Chase Tovsky, :27; Stephen DiRugeris (CBE) from Connor Keiser, 3:29

Third-period-goals Jeremy Purcell (CRS) from Pepe, 1:21; Chris Mangiacapre (CBE) from Adam Bostock and Tyler Godown, 2:03; James Diiulio (CRS) from Purcell and Kevin Koles, 2:17; Purcell (CRS) from Koles, 13:34; Purcell (CRS) unassisted, 15:44 (en)

Shots: Council Rock South 29, C.B. East 39; Saves: Jimmy Sweeney (CRS) 37; Matt Manigacapre 24

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Council Rock South 3, Central Bucks South 1

HATFIELD— If one word were used to describe Council Rock South’s performance Thursday night it would be efficient. One shift at a time one period at a time, all the way to a 3-1 win over Central Bucks South to claim the Suburban High School Hockey League Class AA title in front of a full house at Hatfield Ice.

Jeremy Purcell scored twice for the third-seeded Golden Hawks (13-5-0-1) who did a lot of little things right up and down the lineup to claim the second SHSHL championship in school history. Its first came in 2010.

“You win championships, you win big games like this with you second and third lines,” said Joe Houk, Council Rick South’s veteran coach. “Our second and third lines won the game tonight.”

Purcell, who centers the Hawks’ second line, is a case in point. He had just four goals and six assists in 13 games prior to Thursday. His contributions were needed because two Council Rock defensemen were out of the lineup.

“It’s a team game,” Purcell said. “We’ve all got to work together. C.B. South is a very good team. We’ve got to put it all together to win in the end.”

The opening 17-minute period featured an abundance of physicality but just a single goal, a power-play effort from the Golden Hawks’ Antii Autere who made a rush from his own zone, all the way down the left wing and took the puck behind the Titans’ net before beating Mason Moyer at the 6:05 mark.

Purcell scored his first goal 1:54 into the second period off a left circle faceoff which set up a wraparound from behind the net with the junior tucking the puck inside the right post. At that point, the Golden Hawks had scored twice on just six shots.

A key moment in the game occurred 7:33 into the second period when the Titans’ Nathan Fievitz drew a five-minute major penalty plus a match penalty for butt ending that gave the Golden Hawks an extended power play and brought Fievitz an indefinite suspension pending a review by USA Hockey.

Purcell scored his second goal of the game during the ensuing power play with Bill Harrelson’s help at the 10:39 mark to give his team a three-goal lead.

The Titans, to their credit, kept battling and got on the board via a goal from Aidan Gaffney with 3:05 left in regulation and kept Golden Hawks’ goaltender Jimmy Sweeney busy down the stretch.

Titan assistant Tyler Skroski praised the Golden Hawks’ effort. “They came out buzzing,” he said. “They came out buzzing against North Penn (in the semifinals) and they carried it right over into this game. They’ve got some really dynamic scoters mixed in with solid goaltending and veterans on defense.”
Ice Chips—The Golden Hawks are the sixth seed in the upcoming Flyers Cup tournament and will face 11th-seeded Parkland Tuesday night at 8:45 at Grundy Arena. The top-seeded Titans will take on 16th seed Conestoga at 6:40 at Hatfield Ice the same evening.

C.R. South 1 2 0
C.B. South 0 0 1
First-period goals: Antii Autere (CRS) from Matt Constantini, 6:05 (pp)
Second-period goals: Jeremy Purcell (CRS) unassisted, 1:54; Purcell (CRS) from Bill Harrelson, 10:39 (pp)
Third-period goals: Aidan Gaffney (CBS) from Colin Abbonizio and Daniel Kvetcher, 13;55
Shots: C.R. South 19, C.B. South 30; Saves: Jimmy Sweeney (CRS) 29, Mason Moyer (CBS) 16