Central Bucks South 7, Council Rock South 2

By Rick Woelfel

WARWICK—It took a while for Central Bucks South to get into the flow of things Wednesday night. Thirty-two minutes of playing time to be exact.

After skating through two sluggish periods at Revolution Ice Gardens Wednesday night, the Titans found themselves locked in a 2-2 tie with Council Rock South. The four-time defending Suburban High School Hockey League Class AA champions erupted for five goals in the final stanza and went on to a 7-2 win that was more taxing than satisfying.

Reis Braccio, Colin Abbonizio, D.J. Loverdi, Harry McLaughin, and Dominic Patrone all scored third-period goals for the Titans, who improved to 11-3-1 overall and 9-0-1 in league play.

The win was their fifth straight, but C.B. South coach Shaun McGinty was not in a celebratory mood.

“I’m not happy at all,” he said. “(C.R. South) did a great job, Joe (Houk) did a great job coaching. I’m sure they stuck to their game plan … We weren’t ready.”

The Titans outshot the Golden Hawks (6-7-2, 3-5-2) 54-10. Brett Magloff, Council Rock South’s junior goaltender, was stellar for two periods and then some, he finished the evening with 50 saves.

“We kind of had a game plan coming in,” Houk said. “We wanted to make sure that as long as he was seeing everything, we were good.
The Golden Hawks took a 1-0 when Matt Constantini scored the only goal of the first period at 12:46, a period that saw the Titans outshoot their foes 17-6.

“We were getting the shots on net,” Abbonizio said, “But we couldn’t bury them. We’ve got to finish those shots.”

Nick Klein tied the game for the Titans 25 seconds into the second period, but Bill Harrelson put the Golden Hawks back in front at 2:38 with a shot from the left wing that caromed off the near post and somehow found its way across the goal line.

When Matt Milanesi scored for the Titans at 5:46 the two teams were even once more and stayed that way until the third-period barrage that saw the Titans score five times in a span of 11:24. The last two came when they were shorthanded.

“I thought we stuck to it,” Houk said, “with us getting the puck deep and taking their lanes away. They were getting a little bit frustrated but then they scored those two shorthanded to put the nail in the coffin.”

McGinty stated aloud what was obvious to onlookers, the Titans need to step up their game with the postseason now less than two weeks away.

“They need to do better,” he said. “We’ve got Pennridge next week (in a game that could decide the regular-season championship) and then we’ve got SHSHL (playoffs) and then we’ve got the Flyers Cup and it’s just not going to work. We got lucky tonight to finally turn it on at the end.”

C.B. South 1 1 5—7å

C.R. South 0 2 0—2

First-period goal: Matt Constantini (CRS) unassisted, 12:46

Second-period goals: Nick Klein (CBS) from Ryan Gingras and Dominic Patrone, :25; Billy Harrelson (CRS) from Andrew Darling, 2:38; Matt Milanesi (CBS) from Dominic Liberta and Parone, 5:46.

Third-period goals: Reis Braccio (CBS) from Colin Abbonizio, 3:10; Abbonizio (CBS) from Braccio, 7:35; D.J. Loverdi (CBS) from Braccio and Abbonizio, 10:24; Harry McLaughlin (CBS) unassisted, 10:53 (sh); Patrone (CBS) from McLaughlin, 14:34 (sh).

Shots: C.B. South 57, C.R. South 10; Saves: Mason Moyer (CBS) 8, Brett Magloff (CRS) 50.

Hockey Happenings Update 12-18-17

The weather forced some postponements in the SHSHL last Friday. Those games will be made up after the start of the new year. With one week remaining before the holiday break, here’s how things are shaping up.

Wissahickon is the only unbeaten team in the league. The Trojans are 8-0 in Class A in the wake of an 11-4 win over Plymouth Whitemarsh last Wednesday night. The Trojans are averaging better than 10 goals per game and have reached double figures six times.

Bryan Gary leads the team in scoring with 30 goals and 18 assists for 48 points. Sean Garry has 23 goals and 16 assists for 39 points.

The Trojans’ scheduled meeting with Council Rock North last Friday was postponed; Wissahickon is now off until January 3.

In Class 2A, the best records belong to Central Bucks South and Pennridge, both of whom are 7-1. The Rams and the Titans are both 4-0 in divisional play.

The Titans are paced by Joe DeLaurentis (13 goals, 1 assist) and Matt Stoll (8g/6a) with 14 points each. Their biggest win was a 1-0 decision over defending state champion Downingtown East back on November 30.

Eric Slater leads the Rams in scoring with 12 goals and12 assists for 24 points. Michael Walker has 12 goals and 11 assists for 23.

The two teams will meet each other on January 17th

Two of scholastic hockey’s most influential figures were behind the benches last Wednesday night when Council Rock South and Hoy Ghost Prep squared off. Joe Houk (Council Rock South) and Gump Whiteside (Holy Ghost Prep) have seen a lot of jockey in their time.

On this occasion, the Firebirds prevailed 9-1 over the Golden Hawks, who were minus six regulars but Houk took a pragmatic view of the occasion, looking at it as learning experience for a team that is young in places.

‘I should have four guys back by the first of the year,” he said.

Houk only has 11 players on his varsity roster; he compensates by utilizing JV call ups to fill out the roster. He noted that fatigue, mental as well as physical, was a factor against the Firebirds after the Golden Hawks fell behind 7-1 after two periods

“I told them, ‘In a case like this your body may be tired but your mind is not,’’ he said, “you’ve got to keep going for another 16 minutes.”

Houk has won three Flyers Cup titles and a state title in his tenure with the Golden Hawks. Joe is a great guy,” Whiteside said. “He’s a friend and a great coach and I just have a lot of respect for him and his program, any team that he’s ever coached. He’s just a quality guy. He’s what high-school hockey is all about. That’s why guys play for him because he’s a great guy. He’s a quality coach, and a good friend.”

Downingtown East is off to a 7-1 start in the Ches-Mont Division of the Intercounty Scholastic Hockey League. The loss to Central Bucks South has been the cougars’ only setback of the season. They’re 2-0 in the Ches-Mont which technically puts them in fourth place because they’ve played so few league games.

Downingtown West is officially on top at 4-2-1-0 in the Ches-Mont (5-2-1 overall) followed by West Chester Bayard Rustin (3-0-1-1) and West Chester East (2-2-1-0).

Lower Merion leads the Central League Northern Division with a 5-0-1-0 mark (7-0-1-0 overall) while Conestoga is next at 5-1 and 7-1. Springfield-Delco leads the Southern Division with a perfect 8-0 mark.

Note that the Intercounty League uses overtime during the regular season.

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Holy Ghost Prep 9, CR South 1 12-13-17

Two of the most respected figured in Philadelphia area scholastic hockey circles were behind the benches Wednesday night when Holy Ghost Prep and Council Rock South squared off at Grundy Arena.

The Firebirds’ Gump Whiteside and the Golden Hawks’ Joe Houk have seen an abundance of high-quality hockey over the years and the teams they’ve coached have had considerable success; including collecting four Flyers Cup titles between them.

On this night, the Firebirds, the defending Class 3A Flyers Cup champions, dominated, scoring six goals in the second period and going on to a 9-1 win over a depleted South squad in a Suburban High School Hockey League non-league matchup. Max Massari scored twice for the winners (7-3) while seven other players scored one goal each.

Houk was without six of his regulars, including Dylan Feoli and Matt Owens, who have been out all season with injuries, and Matt Meli, who is leading the team in scoring.

“We’re a short bench to begin with,” Houk said. “we’ve only got 11 rostered guys, we bring up five guys from (the junior varsity) every game).”

The Firebirds led just 1-0 after the first period on a goal by Shane Stevens at the 10:53 mark. South goaltender Mason Procz kept his team in the game by making 15 saves in the opening period.

It was a 3-0 game with five minutes left in the session when the Firebirds broke the game open by exploding for four goals, including two by Massari, in a span of 3:37.

South avoided the shutout when Jared Wagenmann scored with 56 seconds left in the game off Sean Joyce, the Firebirds’ backup goaltender who came on in the third period to spell Tristan Devine who had little to do; his team outshot the Golden Hawks (4-2-1) 57-10.

Whiteside was concerned about his team’s slow start. “We had a really slow start,” he said, “just a lack of focus. We responded really well in the second and third periods.

“We still have a lot of work to do. This is a veteran team but we still have lot of work to do. I wasn’t happy with their focus in the first period at all.”

Council Rock South 0 0 1 —1

Holy Ghost Prep 1 6 2—9

First-period goal: Shane Stevens (HGP) from Andrew Serafin, 10:53.

Second-period goals: Evan Midrick (HGP) from Eric Pohl and Beau Brusius 1:15; Luke Aquaro (HGP) from Byran Hartley, 6:34; Max Massari (HGP) from Thomas McNulty, 10:53; Colin Costello (HGP) assist unavailable, 13:18; Massari (HGP) from Casey Buck, 13;53 (sh); Alex D’Angelo (HGP) unassisted, 14:30 (sh).

Third-period goals: Serafin (HGP) from Hartley, 8:47; Pohl (HGP) from D’Angelo, 11;59; Jared Wagenmann (CRS) unassisted, 15:04.

Shots: Council Rock South 10, Holy Ghost Prep 57.

Records: Council Rock South (4-2-1); Holy Ghost Prep (7-3)