North Penn 8 C.B. South 1

Special teams made a huge difference for North Penn Wednesday night. The Knights scored two shorthanded goals not quite three minutes apart in the second period, and added a power-play three-and-a-half minutes after that to break open a tight game and go on to an 8-1 win over Central Bucks South in the annual County Line Cup encounter at Hatfield Ice.

The win kept the reigning Class AA Flyers Cup and state champions unbeaten at 6-0 and 5-0 in SHSHL National.

Ironically, the Knights had to play from behind; it was the Titans (4-3, 3-2 in conference) who scored the first goal of the evening. Owen Frey beat Aidan Quigley in the North Penn net 6:20 into the first frame

Declan Leahy responded for the Knights with 24.7 seconds left in the opening period, a period that saw North Penn build a 14-6 edge in shots.

The flow of play was interrupted by five minor penalties. The Knights’ Sam Norton drew concurrent penalties for cross checking and unsportsmanlike conduct, a circumstance that saw the Titans with a three-and-a-half-minute power play. South failed to capitalize however, an inkling of what was to come.

The Knights drew their fifth penalty of the game when James Boyle was sent off for cross checking 7:04 into the middle period. But his teammates did not sit back.

Chris Silvotti’s shorthanded goal put North Penn in front for the first time with 9:01 left in the period and Norton, once having escaped from the penalty box, added another shorthanded goal with 6:05 remaining. It became a 4-1 game when Daniel Cabrales scored a power-play goal with 2:37 left and Norton added an even-strength goal before the period ended.

“Special teams is always a big factor in these games,” Norton said. “When there are a lot of {penalties} you’ve got to score goals on the power play and not let goals in on the penalty kill.”

On this occasion, the Knights were particularly dangerous while shorthanded and still played up-tempo hockey.

“Sometimes those stretch play work,” Norton said.

Boyle, Leahy, and Tyler Evans all scored for North Penn in the third period, leaving South coach Josh Sklar to wonder what became of his team’s early momentum.

“The first 10 minutes of the game our foot was on the gas,” he said. “We had the momentum we took it off, they took it, and we never got it back.”

Norton led the barrage for North Penn with two goals and two assists. Ismael Cabrales also had a four-point night with a goal and three assists. Boyle finished with a goal and two assists. He notes that team chemistry has been a big factor in North Penn’s success on this night, and over the past two seasons.

“We have lots of chemistry,” going on,” he said. “We know exactly what we want to do when we go out there.

“It’s huge to be able to get momentum off the kill and on the power play. I think overall, the chemistry helps us.”

North Penn 1 4 —8

C.B. South 1 0 0—1

First period goals: Owen Frey (CBS) from Grant Boyne, 6:20; Declan Leahy (NP) from Chris Silvotti and Chase Kelly Del Ricci, 16:36

Second-period goals: Kelly Del Ricci (NP) from Sam Norton, 7:59 (sh); Norton (NP) from James Boyle, 10:55 (sh); Daniel Cabrales (NP) from Boyle and Nolan Shingle 14:23 (pp); Norton (NP) fro9mm Ismael Cabrales and moon Hostetter, 16:15

Third-period goals: Boyle (NP) from Cabrales and Norton, 8:24; Leahy (NP) from Hostetter and Tyler Evans, 10:04; Cabrales (NP) from Norton, 16:02

Shots: North Penn 46, C.B. South 27; Saves: Aidan Qugley (NP) 26, Nathan Napoitano (CBS) 38

C.B. South 9 Pennsbury 2

Shoot early and shoot often. That’s been a winning formula for Central Bucks South for some time now and that was the case once more on Thursday night. The Titans tallied 52 shots on goal and nine found their intended target in a 9-2 win over Pennsbury at Hatfield Ice Arena.

“That’s classic C.B. South hockey said assistant coach Josh Sklar. “Put pucks in deep. Go get them, put pucks on net. Go to work. Pressure them all game long.”

Joey Slobodrian found the back of the net twice and seven other players scored one goal each to enable the Titans (12-6, 12-3 in the division) to move into third place in the division standings. The result assures they will be seeded no lower than fourth for the upcoming National Division playoffs.

Senior Ryan Frey assisted on Slobodrian’s game-opening goal 6:23 into the first period before scoring a goal of his own just over five minutes later.

“It was very important to get off to a fast start,” Frey said, “because we might see {Pennsbury} in the playoffs so getting off to a fast start just shows them we’re the better team.”

Ryan Montagna extended South’s lead to 3-0 before the first period ended.

Shane Gleisner got the Falcons (6-11, 6-10 in the division) on the scoreboard five minutes into the second frame but Slobodrian and Dominic Gibson scored goals 52 seconds apart to assert the Titans’ hold on the proceedings. Jacob Sarver’s goal made it 5-2 with 5:43 still to go in the period but the Falcons’ hopes were dashed when Keith Waldron, Jake Stepp, Jeff Kvecher, and Logan Hood all scored for South.

Both teams lost a player when South’s Sean Cutter and Pennsbury’s Chris Sarver got into a scrap with 10:41 remaining in regulation. Cutter drew a double minor for roughing plus a game misconduct for accumulating four penalties during the game. Sarver was accessed a major penalty for fighting plus am automatic game misconduct.

Both players will serve one-game suspensions but the loss of Sarver, one of the Falcons’ top scorers, will be particularly troublesome when Pennsbury, who is trying to hold on to the division’s final playoff spot, faces division leader North Penn on Wednesday.

“It was not our night,” said Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley. “We played a very poor game in our D-zone and got behind the ball too quick.

“The first three goals were ‘Third guy high’ unmarked That’s simple hockey, you really shouldn’t make the same mistake three times.

“It was not our best. It was a game we would have loved to win. But they executed their game plan and we didn’t.”

Ice chips—Five of the six division playoff qualifiers have been determined. North Penn, Council Rock South, Central Bucks South, Pennridge, and Central Bucks East have all qualified, although seedings have not been finalized. Pennsbury has a three-point edge over Neshaminy for the sixth and final spot. The Falcons and ‘Skins each have two games remaining.

Pennsbury 0 2 0

C.B. South 3 2 4—9

First-period goals: Joey Slobodrian (CBS) from Sean Cutter and Ryan Frey, 6:23; Frey (CBS) from Slobodrian and Alex Cannon, 11:34; Ryan Montagna (CBS) from Jeff Kvecher and Keith Waldron, 15:17

Second-period goals: Shane Gleisner (P) from Chris Sarver, 5:00; Slobodrian (CBS) from Cutter, 7:54; Dominic Gibson (CBS) from Logan Hood, 8:46; Jacob Sarver (P) from Logan Weed, 11:17

Third-period goals: Waldron (CBS) from Kvecher and Braxton Lord, 4:42; Jake Stepp (CBS) from Kvecher, 10:56 (pp); Kvecher (CBS) from Peter Herring, 14:27; Hood (CBS) from Stepp 15:39

Shots: Pennsbury 20, C.B. South 52; Saves: Brendan Milliken (P) 43, Ewan McMenemy (CBS) 18

C.B. South 4 Pennridge 3

In some aspects, mid-January is the most difficult part of the high-school hockey season. The postseason is still a month away and the players are feeling the grind of the long campaign, particularly if they also play club hockey.

Amidst this atmosphere, Pennridge and Central Bucks South squared off Thursday night at Hatfield Ice in a SHSHL National matchup with potentially long-range implications.

It was the Titans who ground out 4-3 win. Ryan Frey and Jeff Kvecher scored goals 40 seconds apart early in the third period to give South its 11^th victory of the season against five setbacks (11-2 in divisional play).

The Rams, who are listed fifth in the newest Class AA Flyers Cup rankings, slipped to 10-4 overall and 9-4 in the division.

It marked the second time the Titans have bested the Rams; the first was a 5-4 overtime win on November 7. In Kvecher’s view, the caliber of the opponent made Thursday’s win particularly satisfying.

“That’s a tough team,” he said of Pennridge. “They put a lot of pressure on us. They have some great guys that can wheel and we did a great job of shutting them down.

“We also sent a message to the league, and the Flyers Cup, that we’re a top team.”

Thursday game came 72 hours after many of the participants completed a full weekend of club tournament play, a circumstance that required an enhanced level of focus.

“Everyone had to dig deep,” Kvecher said. “Everyone was tired, everyone’s legs were tired. We dug deep and we were able to get the win.”

The Titans once more had to come from behind. Pennridge’s Nolan Shaw delivered the only goal of the first period, a power-play effort 3:51 after the opening faceoff that came while South’s Joe Slobodrian was serving a two-minute sentence.

Kvecher and Slobodrian scored power-play goal two-and-a-half minutes apart to give South the lead 5:09 onto the second period before Ryan Burke tied the game for the Ram three-and-a-half minutes later.

Ryan Frey put the Titans in front for good 49 seconds into the final period. Kvecher extended his team’s lead just 40 seconds later and the insurance proved valuable and necessary; Josh Kelly scored for Pennridge with 8:14 remaining. But Jake Matkowski in the South net and his mates in front of him stood tall the rest of the way.

Josh Sklar was in charge behind the Titan bench Thursday night, replacing the absent Shaun McGinty. He said his team had the energy it needed in the third period.

“They definitely had a little more spring in their step, a little more energy,” he said. “They brought the energy all game long but toward the end [two third-period goals] pushes the boys to finish the game out.”

The Titan had a 47-25 edge in shots. Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna says the Titans’ up-tempo style regularly gives his team problems.

“C.B. South is a bad matchup for us,” he said. “They’ve always been a bad matchup for us. They’re deep, they’re good defensively.

“I say this every time we play them; they’re going to get a lot of shots on us by design … We changed defensively how we were going to do things. I thought we did a really good job defensively keeping pucks out of dangerous area. But, they’re a tough team to play.”

Pennridge 1 1 1—3

C.B. South 0 2 2—4

First-period goal: Nolan Shaw (P) from Nick Young and Landon Bishop, 3:51 (pp)

Second-period goals: Jeff Kvecher (CBS) from Ryan Frey and Joe Slobodrian, 2:34 (pp); Slobodrian (CBS) from Frey, 5:09; Ryan Burke (P) from Shane Dachowki and Jared Garber, 8:42.

Third-period goals: Frey (CBS) from Dominic Gibson and Jamison Crouch, :49; Kvecher (CBS) from Peter Herring and Ryan Montagna, 1:29 (); Josh Kelly (P) from James Rush and Dachowski, 8:46

Shots: Pennridge 25, C.B. South 47; Saves: Jacob Winton (P) 43, Jake Matkowski (CBS) 22