Council Rock South 3 Central Bucks West 0

HATFIELD­—It was a night when hockey was a force for good, a night when a group of hockey players stepped up to a teammate who was suffering. For the record, Council Rock South defeated Central Bucks West 3-0 Wednesday night in a Suburban High School Hockey League matchup ay Hatfield Ice Arena. 

But in some respects, the result was immaterial. What mattered most was that the Bucks were there to support their teammate, senior Joe McFadden, whose mother passed away suddenly on Tuesday.

McFadden attended the game with his father but did not dress. The two teams observed a moment of silence prior to the opening faceoff.

Dave Baun, the Bucks’ veteran coach, sensed the emotion of the moment. “I really felt that,” he said. “The kids almost all knew about it. Several of the ninth graders are not in the high school so they didn’t know about it. But all the kids in the high school knew about it.

“The kids really, really showed a lot of support and I appreciate Council Rock South. A couple of their fans came up and wished me well about it which I thought was very nice. 

“It’s not going to be easy for Joey, but it’s always a little bit easier when you have friends.”

Julian Wagenmann scored a goal in the first period to give the Golden Hawks (5-1-1, 3-1 in divisional play) a 1-0 lead 6:18 into the first period. Julian Sarne scored a pair of goals in the second period.

Sarne says the Golden Hawks have grown since the start of the season. “I think throughout the season we’re getting better with our chemistry,” he said. “Our lines are taking short shifts and I think that we’re finally all clicking together.”

The Golden Hawks called up four players who normally play junior-varsity hockey, to step into the varsity lineup.

Carson Lopez who pitched shutout in goal for the Hawks (14 saves) noted that the call-ups would have prepared for the game in the same manner as their older teammates.

 “You kind of prepare for it like every other game,” the junior said. “At the end of the day you get the ‘W’ and process to get there is always the same.”

At the other end of the ice, the Bucks’ Reese Dalzell was outstanding making 45 saves. “You couldn’t have been more proud of the way (Dalzell) played tonight,” Baun said. “What did he stop? 45 shots? And some of them were really, really good shots.”

The Bucks now stand at 3-4 overall and 0-3 in the division.

C.R. South 1 2 0—3

C.B. West 0 0 0—0

First-period goal: Julian Wagenmann (CRS) from Matt Constantini and Nolan O’Brien, 6:18

Second-period goals: Julian Sarne (CRS) from Evan Mostoller and Blaize Pepe, 11:06; Sarne (CRS) from Kyle Schneider and Pepe, 14:48

Shots: Council Rock South 48, Central Bucks West 16; Saves: Carson Lopez (CRS) 16, Reese Dalzell (CBW) 45

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

Golden Hawks Open With a Win

Council Rock South got its season off to an impressive start Wednesday night. The Golden Hawks scored four goals in the first period and went on to a 6-1 win over North Penn in a SHSHL non-league curtain raiser at Revolution Ice Gardens.

Julian Sarne and Kevin Koles scored two goals apiece as the Golden Hawks picked up where they left after a 2020-21 campaign that saw then reach the SHSHL Class AA final.

Sarne got his team on the board 9:11 into the first frame off a feed from Koles on a play that started behind the North Penn net. Matt Yothers answered back for the Knights just 64 seconds later but Sarne scored his second goal at the 11:16 mark and the Golden Hawks rolled on from there. Koles made it 3-1 on a breakaway at 11:16 when North Penn got caught in a line change and Bobby Gilbert extended his team’s lead two seconds before the period ended.

Sarne, a senior, stressed the importance of the fast start. “I think it was very important that we came out buzzing today,” he said. “We need a good start to the season. We’ve got to kick it off great. It’s our senior year. We just needed a win in the books.”

Koles scored his second goal 4:24 into the second session and Matt Constanini completed the scoring at 14:36.

South coach Joe Houk was pleased with the win, but offered a qualifier.  “It’s good to get off to a fast start.” he said. “I thought we didn’t play our best game. We were very sloppy, we had a couple selfish players, and stuff like that, But I thought overall, we did a good job.”

Houk said he was concerned about his team maintaining its focus in the late going. “I thought the flow of the game was okay,” he said. “But, when we get games like that, we get real complacent and we start doing stupid stuff. But, we haven’t had a lot of time together yet. By we’ll work on it. We’ll get back at it at practice on Monday.”

The evening’s unsung hero was North Penn goaltender Nick Crist who faced a barrage of 62 shots and stopped 56 of them. It was the junior’s first varsity game.

“He did a great job for us,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. Sixty-two shots and six goals. “He kept is in it. It could have been worse.”

Vaitis noted that the evening was a learning experience for a young team. “We have some young players that got some quality minutes tonight,” he said, “and we’re going to look to kind of grow and build upon that.”

 North Penn 1 0 0—1

C.R. South 4 2 0—6

First-period goals Julian Sarne (CRS) from Kevin Koles, 9:11; Matt Yothers (NP) from Justin Yothers, 10:15; Sarne (CRS) from Sam Cherkassky, 11:16; Koles (CRS) unassisted, 12:55; Bobby Gilbert (CRS) from Cherkassky, 15:58

 Second-period goals: Koles (CRS) from Blaize Peppe, 4:24; Matt Constantini (CRS) from Koles, 14:36

Shots: North Penn 21, C.R. South 62; Saves: Nick Crist (NP) 56, Carson Lopez (CRS) 20