C.R. South 12 Spring-Ford 0

It didn’t take long for Council Rock South to assert its superiority Tuesday night. The Golden Hawks scored goals on their first three shots and five of their first seven en route to a 12-0 rout of Spring Ford in a Class AA Flyers Cup first-round game at Grundy Arena that was called after the second period.

South (22-1), the second seed in the tournament, advances to a quarterfinal game on Thursday against Cherokee at a site and time to be determined

Tuesday’s 12-goal output produced a plethora of impressive numbers. Kevin Koles scored the first goal of the night just 31 seconds after the opening faceoff. He went on to score an additional goal and add five assists for seven points.

“We’ve got to take every game,” the senior defenseman said, “so we know what we’re up against. We can’t take any game lightly because we know we’re going to have tougher competition later down the road, so we’ve got to play every game the same.”

Koles assisted on Nikita Volobuiev’s scoring effort and added a second goal himself to put South up 3-0 just 2:54 into the opening period. Blaise Pepe and Jeremy Rayher added additional goals before the period ended.

The 15th-seeded Rams did not record their first shot on goal until less than 90 seconds remained in the opening period.

Evan Mostoller assisted on Koles’s first goal and Pepe’s. The senior defenseman noted that postseason success requires that everyone on the roster pitch in.

“You just have to know what your role is on the team,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if the [opponent] is not the best team, you’ve just got to play your hardest.”

Mostoller says that one element of a player learning his role and fitting in involves not worrying about making a mistake.

“Play your game,” he said. “Play the way you play. If you make a mistake, someone will tell you what you did wrong.”

Volobuiev scored two goals to complete a hat trick. Rayher, Jordan Sarne (twice), Jonah Weston, and Jake Weiner all scored goals.

Volobuiev’ second goal made it am 8-0 game with 6:17 left in the period.

Spring-Ford coach Todd Lambart lifted starting goaltender Grant Olson at that point; the junior received a round of applause from the spectators and the South bench as he left the ice after facing 27 shots.

For the Hawks however, the postseason journey continues. Koles and his teammates are aware they’re being targeted by the rest of the tournament field.

“We know everybody’s trying to beat us,” he said. “It’s been like that for the last four years I’ve been in the league.

“We’ve got to stay focused and do what we can.”

Spring Ford 0 0—0

C.R. South 5 7—12

First-period goals: Kevin Koles (CRS) from Evan Mostoller, :31; Nikita Volobuiev (CRS) from Koles, 1:37; Koles (CRS) unassisted, 2:54; Blaise Pepe (CRS) from Mostoller and Koles, 6:14; Jeremy Rayher (CRS) from Pepe and Koles, 6:45

Second period goals: Jake Weiner (CRS) from Volobuiev, 2:56; Jonah Weston (CRS) from Chase Tovsky and Blaise Pepe, 5:09; Volobuiev (CRS) from Jake Weiner, 10:43; Volobuiev (CRS) from Koles, 10:48; Rayher (CRS) from Pepe and Tovsky, 11:15; Jordan Sarne (CRS) from Koles and Jackson Mosley, 11:53; Sarne (CRS) from Rayher and Weston, 16:17

Shots: Spring Ford 3, Council Rock South 33; Saves; Grant Olson (SF) 19 and Casey Dunleavy (SF) 2; Trevor Rakszawski 3

C.R. South 8 Pennridge 7 OT

Grundy Arena was a theatre of the unexpected Wednesday night. With first place in the SHSHL’s National Division at stake as well as the top seed in the upcoming playoffs, both Pennridge and Council Rock South came out with guns blazing.

The 15^th goal of the evenings settled matters. Nikita Volobuiev scored 26 seconds into overtime to give the Golden Hawks an 8-7 win.

The result leaves the teams deadlocked at the top of the division standings. The Golden Hawks improved to 17-1 overall and 16-1 in the division. The loss was the first this season for the Rams, who now stand at 15-1-1 in the division and 16-1-1 overall. Because loss was in overtime, Pennridge receives a point in the standings. Both teams have 31 points. If both win their regular-season finales next week, the Rams, who defeated the Hawks 7-3 on December 13, would be granted the top seed for the divisional playoffs.

Volobuiev’s winning goal was his fourth goal of the evening in a game that featured numerous instances where defense seemed to be an afterthought.

The teams combined for seven goals in the first period, five of which were scored before the contest was nine minutes old.

The Golden Gawks led 4-3 after the first frame on the strength of two goals from Volobuiev and goals from Gavin Nisenzon, and Illia Mukhin.

Andrew Savona scored twice for the Rams in the opening session; Shane Dachowski also scored for Pennridge.

It was more of the same in the middle period, which concluded with the teams deadlocked at 6-6. By that point Trey Prozzillo was in the South goal in relief of starter Trevor Rakszawski and Pennridge goaltender Jacob Winton was feeling the effects of the incoming fire.

The Golden Hawks’ Chase Tovsky, who assisted on Nisenzon’s first-period goal noted the first two periods were not conducted in the manner he, his teammates, and, more to the point, South coach Joe Houk, would have preferred.

“I think games like that happen,” he said. “But, it says a lot about the team you have when you’re not playing your best, you’re not getting calls or bounces, and you’re able to keep playing your game and keep putting the puck in the net.”

Volobuiev and Pico traded third-period goals; the game was tied seven with 11:55 remaining.

With just under seven minutes left, South’s penalty killers came up big. With 6:43 left, Volobuiev was called for tripping. Thirty-two seconds later Jake Mauer was whistled for same infraction, giving the Rams a two-man advantage for 88 seconds. Matched against the highest scoring offense in the division apart from its own, South held firm.

“We had to step up for [Houk],” said South’s Kevin Koles, “our team, our goalies. Everybody did their jobs and killed it off and we got back to work.”

Even amidst the plethora of goals, Koles said he and his teammates maintained their focus.

“We knew we had to come out hard,” he said. “we knew what this team was about and we stepped up.”

Volobuiev’s winning goal saw him get past Colin Dachowski with a great individual move in the middle of the ice before beating Winton.

Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna was philosophical about the loss.

“That’s what happens when you have high-end offensive talent playing against each other,” he said. “I thought it would be a little lower scoring. But there were some great offensive players.”

Pennridge 3 3 1 0—7

C.R. South 4 2 1 1—8

First-period goals: Andrew Savona (Pr) from Shane Dachowski and Kevin Pico, 3:23; Gavin Nisenzon (CRS) from Jake Weiner and Chase Tovsky, 4:21 (pp); Shane Dachowski (Pr) from Pico, 5:08 (pp); Nikita Volobuiev (CRS) from Illia Mukhin, 6:34, Mikhin (CRS) from Ilya Kudzinau and Volobuiev, 8:58; Savona (Pr) from James Rush, 14:14; Volobuiev (CRS) from Peter Pereborow and Jordan Sarne, 15:04

Second-period goals: John Mikulich (Pr) from Pico and Savona, :44; Savona (Pr) from Colin Dachowski and Shane Dachowski, 2:01 (pp); Tovsky (CRS) from Blaize Pepe, 5:30; Nisenzon (CRS) from Kevon Koles, 16:41 (pp); Pico (Pr from Shane Dachowski and Savona, 16:50

Third-period goals: Volobuiev (CRS) unassisted, 2:39; Pico (Pr) from Colin Dachowski, 5:05

Overtime goal: Volobuiev (CRS) unassisted, :26

Shots: Pennridge 39, C.R. South 43; Saves: Jacob Winton (Pr) 35, Trevor Rakszawski 15 and Trey Prozzillo (CRS) 21

Council Rock South 7 Holy Ghost Prep 4

WARWICK—Council Rock South came into the hockey season with great expectations. To date, those expectations have been met.
The Golden Hawks scored three times in the first 10 minutes of the opening period and went on to a 7-4 non-league win over Holy Ghost Prep Monday night at Revolution Ice Gardens. It was the Hawks’ second win of the new season.

Illia Mukhin led the way for South by delivering a hat trick. Nikita Volobuiev added two goals of his own. Kevin Koles provided three assists.

It was a performance that put future opponents on notice.

“I think we’re playing great,” Koles said. “I think we’re moving the puck well. We’re communicating and doing all the right things, and playing good as a team.”

Volobuiev got things started for the Hawks 4:30 into the first period. Jake Weiner made it 2-0 just 16 seconds later.

A.J. Prete cut the lead in half when he scored for the Firebirds (0-1) at the 9:45 mark, but Mukhin found the back of the net at 13:36 to give South a 3-1 lead after one period.

The fast start sent a powerful message.

“Obviously scoring the first goal is very crucial in the game,” Koles said. “It gets our momentum going.”

Volobuiev and Holy Ghost Prep’s Brian Kinniry traded goals in the second period before Mukhin scored twice in a span of three-and-a-half minutes to give his team a 6-3 lead 6:23 into the third.
The Hawks stayed in control the rest of the way, although they spent more time in the penalty box than assistant coach Colin Murphy would have preferred. The two teams were whistled for 19 infractions, nine of them to the Hawks.

“We need to stick to our game,” Murphy said. “We kind of fell into [taking bad penalties]. We’ve got to regroup and kind of figure out that we need to play more as a team.”

Murphy noted the importance of doing the little things right.

“Mainly going back to the fundamentals,” he said, “and just kind of like we instill in these kids every year, that penalties kill us.”

Kinniry finished with two goals for the Firebirds, who were playing their first game with John Richie behind the bench.

“Especially at forward, we have a lot of young guys that need to figure out what their roles are,” he said, “and where they fit in this team. Obviously, we’re still adjusting lines but Council Rock South is going to be one of the best teams in the state at any level this year.

“It was a good test for us, I thought we got a little better as the game went on but obviously we’ve got a lot to learn between now and the end of the season.”

Richie noted that a number of his players are assuming new roles this season.

“For the most part, all these guys play on solid club teams,” he said, “so I don’t think game speed is an issue. But, for some of the younger guys, adjusting to the strength and some of the bigger guys will take a little bit of time, but I think overall I’m trying to figure out what the roles will be; who’s going to be a goal scorer, who’s going to be a grinder, who’s going to bring physicality, those types of things.”

Holy Ghost Prep 1 1 2—4

Council Rock South 3 1 3—7

First-period goals: Nikita Volobuiev (CRS) from Jordan Sarne, 4:30; Jake Weiner (CRS) from Jackson Mosley, 4:46; A.J.Prete (HGP) from Brendan Schultz, 9:45; Illia Mukhin (CRS) from Kevin Koles, 13:36 (pp)

Second-period goals: Volobuiev (CRS) unassisted, 2:51 (sh); Brian Kinniry (HGP) from Prete and Matthew Cholaj, :04

Third-period goals: Mikhin (CRS) from Volobuiev, 2:56; Mikhin (CRS) from Koles and Weiner, 6:23 (pp); Kinniry (HGP) from Nathan Romer, 10:39 (pp); Chas Tovsky (CRS) from Koles, 13:03 (sh); Anthony Valeriote, 15:52

Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 30, Council Rock South 30

Council Rock South 4 Pennsbury 2

BRISTOL—The defense never rested. And at evening’s end, Council Rock South was rewarded for its defensive work with a 4-2 win over Pennsbury in the SHSHL National Division championship game before a packed house at Grundy Arena.

Thursday’s win gave the top-seeded Golden Hawks (17-1-0-1) the third SHSHL title in their history. The previous two came in 2010 and 2020.

Third-seeded Pennsbury fell to 14-6. Three of the Falcons’ defeats have been at the hands of the Hawks.

Not that the victors had an easy time of it. The game plan was to contain the Falcons’ Brendan Macainsh, who came into the game with 38 goals. He finished with two more but the Hawks were able to neutralize the Falcons’ high-flying attack to come extent; many of Pennsbury’s shot attempts were from long range or outside the faceoff dots; the Falcons finished with just 22 shots on goal to South’s 40.

The Hawks congratulate each other after Thursday’s 4-2 over Pennsbury for the SHSHL National Division title

Hawks’ netminder Carson Lopez was in good form, but got plenty of help from his blue-line corps.

“(Pennsbury) likes to stretch the ice out a lot,” Lopez said, “So, about halfway through the game, we told our defense ‘Enough with the pinch and start backing off. Play in the neutral zone.’ And it worked.”

South defenseman and captain Kevin Koles said the key to the win involved giving the Falcons and Macainsh as few opportunities as possible.

“Limiting them to (22) shots was very crucial,” he said. “We had to stop one of their best players. They obviously played him a lot and we locked him down. He only had two goals on us.

Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley noted his team needed more chances than it got.

“We only had 22 shots,” he pointed out, “And we’re used to putting 15 a period up. “They played us very, very well. But, we didn’t quit.”

Chase Trovsky scored a pair of first-period goals to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead after the first frame.

It appeared a clock malfunction might have cost South a third goal. A scramble in the Falcons crease was in progress in the waning seconds of the period and the puck wound up in the net but the buzzer failed to sound. After a lengthy consultation, the goal was disallowed.

Joseph Weston extended South’ lead with a goal at the 8:02 mark of the second period.

Macainsh got Pennsbury on the board with 3:42 left in the middle period when his shot from the deep right-wing corner caught Lopez by surprise.

Macainsh briefly made it a one-goal game 5:20 into the third period when he scored a power-play goal after the Hawks were caught with too many men on the ice.

It took Blaize Pepe just 48 seconds to respond for the Hawks however and Lopez was impregnable the rest of the way.

Koles said he and his teammates knew how dangerous the Falcons were after Pennsbury scored eight goals against Pennridge on Wednesday in the semifinals.

“We heard about what happened yesterday,” he said, “and how they beat Pennridge. So, we knew what we had to do coming into the game, and that’s what we did.”

Ice chips—Both teams will be back at Grundy Arena on Tuesday for first-round Class AA Flyers Cup games. The top-seeded Hawks will face number-16 Spring Ford at 8:15 while the fifth-seeded Falcons will face number-12 Abington at 6:15.

Pennsbury 0 1 1_2

C.R. South 2 1 1—4

First-period goals: Chase Tovsky (CRS) from Blaize Pepe, 8:03; Tovsky (CRS) from Kevin Koles and Pepe, 16:37;

Second-period goals: Jonah Weston (CRN) from Bobby Gilbert and James Diiulio, 8:02; Brendan Macainsh (P) unassisted, 13:18

Third-period goals: Macainsh (P) from Chris Sarvere, 5:20; Pepe (CRS) unassisted, 6:08

Shots: Pennsbury 22. Council Rock South 35; Saves: Aaron McDaniel (P) 31; Carson Lopez (CRS) 20

Council Rock South 6 Pennsbury 3

BRISTOL—After one period against Pennsbury Tuesday night, Council Rock South was reeling, staring at a 2-0 deficit and playing at less than full strength; four regulars were out of the lineup.
In the end, none of that mattered. The Golden Hawks exploded for four goals in the second period and went on to a 6-3 win over the Falcons in a SHSHL National Division game at Grundy Arena.

With the win, South (9-1-0-1 overall, 4-0-0-1 in divisional play) is once more atop the divisional standings. And at a point in the season where every game matters just a little bit more and teams are starting to think more seriously about where they might fit in the SHSHL playoff and Flyers Cup brackets, the Golden Hawks displayed their resiliency.

“We clearly had to learn from what we did wrong in that first period,” said junior Kevin Koles. “We stuck to our game plan, stuck to what our coach (Joe Houk) said and we came out with a win.”

Koles had much to do with his team’s comeback, scoring three goals, two in the decisive second period and one in the third.

Blaize Pepe assisted on all three of Koles’ goals and scored a goal himself.

“We just didn’t get rattled,” Pepe said. “We kept our heads and we outplayed them the whole second and third periods. And we controlled the whole pace of the game.”

Pennsbury (8-4, 4-2 in the National Division) jumped in front when Aidan Macainsh scored twice in a three-minute span off South netminder Carson Lopez to put the Falcons up 2-0 with 4:45 left in the first period.

But the Hawks took over the game in the second stanza. Koles scored twice in a stretch of three-and-a-half minutes to tie the game with 8:25 left in the period

Pepe put the Hawks in front for good with a power-play goal with 1:34 left in the period, but Jagger Smith struck another blow for South when he beat Aaron McDaniel in the Pennsbury net with 18.4 seconds left in the period to give his team a 4-2 lead.

Macainsh completed a hat trick 6:52 into the final period to make it a one-goal game but Gavin Nisenzon scored an insurance goal for South with 3:41 left in the game.

Koles completed his hat trick by scoring into an empty net with 1:50 remaining.

Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley took away a number of positives, despite the result.

“The first period was awesome,” he said. “Lopez is a stellar goalie, we knew that going in. It’s always hard to score on him.

“The second period, we obviously weren’t too thrilled about it. But I wouldn’t even say we couldn’t keep up with them it was just kind of the way it went. It was a tough second period, but overall, I’m happy with the way we played.”

Pepe credited his teammates for bouncing back after the slow start.

“Coach gave us a nice little speech,” he said. “It set us straight and we didn’t look back from there. Once we got one, we just kept putting them in. And Carson played outstanding.”

Council Rock South 0 4 2—6

Pennsbury 2 0 1—3

First-period goals: Brendan Macainsh (P) from Justin Marlin, 9:25; Macainsh (P) from Andrew Falkenstein and Chris Sarver, 12:15

Second-period goals: Kevin Koles (CRS) from Blaize Pepe, 4:58; Koles (CRS) from Pepe, 8:35; Pepe (CRS) from Illia Mukhin, 15:26 (pp); Jagger Smith (CRS) from Jake Maurer and Jordan Sarne, 16:42

Third-period goals: Macainsh (P) from Falkenstein, 6:52; Gavin Nisenzon (CRN) unassisted, 13:19; Koles (CRS) from Pepe, 15:10 (en)

Shots: C.R. South 31, Pennsbury 27; Saves: Carson Lopez (CRS) 24, Aaron McDaniel (P) 25

Council Rock South 6 Neshaminy 1

BRISTOL— It’s something that occurs around this time in every hockey season. Council Rock South finds another gear.

The Golden Hawks played one of their best games of the season Thursday night a 6-1 SHSHL Class AA win over Neshaminy at Grundy Arena.

Evan Mostoller scored two goals and four other players scored one goal each as South improved to 9-1-1 overall and stayed unbeaten in divisional play with a 7-0 mark.

The margin of victory might have been greater had it not been for the play of Neshaminy goaltender Brian Nelson who made 41 saves. From the opening faceoff to the final buzzer, the Golden Hawks dominated.

Sophomore Kevin Koles contributed a goal and two assists.

“We’ve got playoffs soon,” he said. “We’re trying to (play) more like a team. We got the job done.”

South is one of the most balanced teams offensively in the SHSHL. Entering play Thursday night, four different players had scored 11 points or more this season.

Veteran coach Joe Houk says that balance is one of the keys to his team’s success this season.

“I think it’s most important,” he said. “We’ve always talked over the years about how your top guys always (contribute). “I think the second and third liners are the guys that are the most important. And now I have a couple D-men this year that are putting points up on the board also.

“So, at any given time during the game, I don’t have to rely on one or two guys. I can rely on a lot of other people too.”

Thanks in part to Nelson’s 18 saves, the Golden Hawks led just 1-0 after one period; Blaise Pepe put his team in front at the 1:38 mark.

Julian Wagenmann made it a 2-0 game 1:14 into the second frame before South broke the game open late in the period. Jeremy Rahyer, Koles, and Mostoller scored in a span of five-and-a-half minutes to build a 5-0 lead by period’s end.

It marked the first time this year Neshaminy (8-2-1, 5-2 in the division) had surrendered more than three goals in a game this season.

Neshaminy coach Matt DeMatteo was disappointed in his team’s effort.

“(South) is a very good team,” he said. “They played a very disciplined game. They clearly had a game plan and they executed it. We did not. That’s what it looks like when two good teams play and one doesn’t show up.”

Emotions boiled over at the 3:35 mark of the third period. South’ Matt Constantini and Neshaminy’s Nolan Geria were the antagonists. Constantini drew a minor for cross checking plus a 10-minute misconduct. Geria, who had been flagged three times to that point, was called for a minor penalty for a check from behind, and the automatic misconduct penalty that went with it, plus a double game misconduct.

J.J. Hathaway scored for Neshaminy 8:27 into the final period before Mostoller completed the scoring at 13:20.

Council Rock South 1 4 1—6

Neshaminy 0 0 1—1

First-period goals: Blaise Pepe (CRS) from Alec Pepe and Chase Trovsky, 1:38

Second-period goals: Julian Wagenmann (CRS) from Matt Constantini and Nolan O’Brien, 1:14; Jeremy Rayher (CRS) from Julian Sarne and Kyle Boss, 11:11; Kevin Koles (CRS) unassisted, 12:44; Evan Mostoller (CRS) from Koles and David Vergules, 16:41

Third-period goals: J.J. Hathaway (N) unassisted, 8:27; Mostoller (CRS) from Trovsky and Koles, 13:20

Shots: Council Rock South 47, Neshaminy 19; Saves: Carson Lopez (CRS) 18, Brian Nelson (N) 41