Tag: Ken Brzozoswski

Springfield 7 Abington 0

WARWICK TOWNSHIP—Nether Springfield or Abington are in contention for the SHSHL American Division title but that did not diminish either side’s enthusiasm for the game of hockey.

When the Spartan and the Galloping Ghosts took the ice Friday night at the Bucks County Ice Sports Center, that enthusiasm was on display for all who cared to look.

It was the Spartans who prevailed by a count of 7-0 to record their second win of the year in seven starts, all in divisional play. Gavin McManus scored twice for Springfield while Owen Quinn, Christopher Cahill, Gavin McManus, and Grayson Quinn contributed one goal each.

“I think was our best team game so far,” said Springfield coach Don Quinn. “They really wanted to come out after the New Year and have a strong team effort. We’ve had some individual efforts. But we wanted to really kind of piece it together. We preach about five guys playing offense and five guys playing defense.”

Owen Quinn and Christopher Cahill scored goals in a span of just over three-and-a-half minutes to give the Spartans a two-goal lead with 7:18 left in the first period.

McManus added a goal early in the second period and another early in the third. The junior noted the Spartans’ cohesiveness on the ice.

“We just played as a team tonight,” he said.  “We’ve been practicing that a lot. Like passing the puck around a lot, trying to find an open guy.

“And then really improved it tonight by keeping the pressure in the offensive zone most of the game.

Grayson Quinn, Mathilde Boccella, and Kellen Warmen added third-period goals for Springfield. Liam Baskin and James Sarsfield split the shutout in goal.

The Spartans limited their foes to just five shots on goal. The Galloping Ghosts (0-9, 0-8 in divisional play) field perhaps the youngest lineup in the SHSHL. They’ve been shut out six times and 13 if their 16 skaters on Thursday night were underclassmen. But Abington coach Ken Brzozowski is seeing signs of progress.

“We’re getting there,” he said. “We’re going to keep working hard., both in practice and in games. We’ll get there.”

A strong case could be made that Abington goaltender Matt Evangelist, himself a sophomore, was one of the premier performers on the ice. He finished with 36 saves.

“He goes out every night and he plays hard,” Brzozowski said. “He’s seeing 40-50 shots a night.

“I really applaud him for keeping his head in the game and keeping his cool. We’re not giving him a whole lot of support on the scoreboard. We’re giving him encouragement in other ways.”

Springfield 2 1 4—7

Abington 0 0 0—0

First-period goals: Owen Quinn (S) from John Barr and Grayson Quinn, 6:03; Christopher Cahill (S) from Owen Quinn and Hunter Stock, 9:42

Second-period goal: Gavin McManus (S from John Barr, 2:57

Third-period goal: McManus (S) from Owen Quinn, 2:39; Grayson Quinn (S) from Keegan McClary, 9:10 Mathilde Boccella (S), 10:11; Kellen Warman (S) unassisted, 12:29

Shots: Springfield 43, Abington 5; Saves:  Liam Baskin (S) 1 and James Sarsfield (S) 4; Matthew Evangelist (S) 36

Abington Using Win over Truman to Launch Playoff Push

          Abington 6, Truman 1

  The postseason doesn’t officially begin for another week and a half but Abington has already adopted a playoff mindset. The Galloping Ghosts are in a stretch that wills see than play four games in a span of 10 days. The results will determine not only their status for the SHSHL American Division playoffs but perhaps earn them a place on the Class AA Flyers Cup bracket,

The first step in the process took place Wednesday night as Abington scored a 6-1 decision over Truman at the Bucks County Ice Sports Center.

Griffin Carpenter scored twice and four other players added one goal each as Abington improved its record to 6-3

“Tonight’s game started Monday night,” said Abington coach Ken Brzozowski. “We had an outstanding practice. We knew that we had four games coming up, games we know that we can compete in. We had an outstanding practice and that transferred into tonight. They did everything that I asked them to do.”

The Galloping Ghosts were forced off the ice for a time earlier this year because of Covid issues. But the team made the most of the down time,

“We got shut down for 10 days,” Brzozowski said. “we got together, we watched some game film over Zoom. I think that helps as well, whenever the kid can see themselves on the ice, and then come to practice and try to fix those things, as simple as they may be, I think paid dividends tonight.”

Senior Defenseman Holden Brooker said the Monday practice helped he and his teammates get their skates back under them following the layoff.

“We didn’t have a game for one week and we were looking a little sluggish,” he said. That practice definitely helped us out a little bit. It definitely got us moving tonight and hopefully we can do that our next game too.”

With three games remaining in the regular season, the Galloping Ghosts still have hopes of a Flyers Cup invitation; despite the fact they are competing the SHSHL’s American Division they are classified as a Class AA team for Flyers Cup purposes. 

“I can’t remember the last time we were in the Flyers Cup,” Brooker said. “it would be great, it would keep (our) spirits up. We’ll try to do the best we can.”

• The SHSHL playoffs will be contested the week of March 29. Four American Division teams and six National/Continental teams will qualify and play for separate championships.

Truman 0 1 0—1

Abington 1 3 2—6

First-period goals: Colin Bruton (A) from Ian Heydt, 10:47

Second-period goals: Ian Heydt (A) from Nick Kleinwski and Jordan Heydt, :25; Jarrett Wolf (T) from James Gallagher and Jeremy McCartney, 2:28; Griffin Carpenter (A) from Joe Stelacio, 8:38; Sam Pavlik (A) from Stelacio, 10:59

Third-period goals: Carpenter (A) unassisted, 1:40; Sean Faye (A) from Pavlik and Ian Heydt, 7:59 (pp)

Shots: Truman 19, Abington 46; Saves: Connor Pilla (T) 40, Sam Nemec (A) 18