SHSHL Playoff Update for 2-26-25

National Division Semifinals

At Hatfield Ice

8:00 North Penn (17-2)

Coach: Kevin Vaitis

Players to watch: Samuel Norton 30 goals, 27 assists, 57 points; Cole Pluck 32-24-56; Nolan Shingle 20-16-36; Aidan Quigley 1.92 GAA, .924 save percentage; Andrew Norton 2.28 GAA, .901 save percentage

Central Bucks South (16-5)

Coach: Shaun McGinty

Players to watch: Sean Cutter 18 goals, 19 assists, 37 points; Jeff Kvecher 13-22-35; Joey Slobodrian 17-15-32; Dom Gibson 17-15-32 Jake Matkowski 3.75 GAA, .838 save percentage; Nate Napolitano 3.53, .866

Notes: The teams split two regular-season meetings. South won 6-5 on Thanksgiving Eve, November 27, and North Penn prevailed 4-2 on November 11.

The winner will play North Penn or Central Bucks South for the division title on Thursday. The highest seeded finalist will host.

North Penn is seeded second for the upcoming Class AA Flyers Cup. South is seeded fifth.

At Grundy Arena

7:30 Council Rock South (18-2)

Coach: Joe Houk

Players to watch: Jake Weiner 41 goal, 19 assists, 60 points; Jeremy Rayher 29-30-59; Jordan Sarne 18-23-41; Trey Prozzillo 2.98 GAA, .880 save percentage

Pennridge (13-7)

Coach: Jeff Montagna

Players to watch Shane Dachowski 35 goals, 26 assists, 61 points; James Rush 25-26-51; Jacob Winton 2.50 GAA, .921 save percentage

Notes: Council Rock South won both regular-season meetings, 6-5 on January 8 and 5-2 on February 13 Tonight’s winner plays North Penn or Central Bucks South for the division championship on Thursday. The highest seeded finalist will host. South is seeded first for the upcoming Class AA Flyers Cup. Pennridge is seeded seventh.

American Division Semifinal

At Hatfield Ice

6:10 (2) Hatboro-Horsham vs (3) Springfield-Montco

Hatboro-Horsham (9-8, 9-7 in the American Division)

Coach: Shane Smith

Players to watch: Vince Graziani 22 goals, 25 assists, 47 points; Nate Nemchinov 27-28-45; Eric Miller 4.97 GAA, .800 save percentage

Springfield (8-8 overall and in the division)

Coach: Don Quinn

Players to watch: Owen Quinn 11 goals, 22 assists, 33 points; Grayson Quinn 14-9-23; Liam Baskin 3.02 GAA, .886 save percentage

Notes: Hatboro-Horsham won three of four regular-season meetings between the two teams. Wednesday’s winner faces top-seeded Plymouth Whitemarsh for the division Thursday at Hatfield Ice (6:00 start).

Hatboro-Horsham will be the 14^th seed in the upcoming Class A Flyers Cup regardless of how they fare Wednesday or Thursday. Springfield was not selected for the Flyers Cup.

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North Penn 5 Council Rock South 3

Samuel Norton did it all for North Penn Wednesday night. The sophomore assisted on the first goal of the night, went on to score three goals himself and helped with a crucial four-minute penalty kill in the third period.

All those elements were part a winning formula as the Knights scored a 5-3 decision in a much-anticipated SHSHL National Division showdown with Council Rock South at Hatfield Ice.

The win was the 11^th straight for the Knights (15-2, 14-2 in the division) and lifted then into first place in the division, three points clear of the Golden Hawks (15-2, 14-1) who have a game in hand and three conference games remaining to North Penn’s two.

North Penn also has the inside lane in the race for the top two seeds in the division playoffs, which provide byes into the semifinals.

“It was definitely on our minds, Norton said.

The teams split four goals in the first frame before Norton’s second goal of the night gave North Penn a 3-2 lead with 8:17 left in the middle period. Jordan Sarne responded for South with a power-play goal, his second goal of the night, to tie the game with 2:19 remaining but Norton put North Penn back in front and completed his hat trick when he scored with 6.7 seconds left in the period during a stretch when the Hawks were trying to kill three consecutive penalties.

The game’s most critical sequence commenced with 13:50 left in the third period. North Penn held a 4-3 lead at that point and Norton had already pocketed his three goals but the Knights’ James Boyle was called for two cross checking penalties, giving South a four-minute power play.

At that point, there were some anxious moments behind the North Penn bench.

“They’ve got probably the best power play in the league,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “With [Jake] Weiner and [Jeremy] Rayher and Sarne and [Daniel] Fillipov, and [Jonah] Weston they have a very talented power-play unit when they go out there.

“We did a great job killing that off.”

The threat did not end however when the extended power play expired. The Hawks outshot the Knights 20-8 in the third period but Aidan Quigley stopped everything headed his way.

Cole Pluck added an insurance goal with 3:31 remaining.

{North Penn} played well tonight,” said South coach Joe Houk. “We did not play our best game but that’s only an excuse. North Penn has got a good team.

“I kept telling everybody ‘Listen. We’re not a 14-0 team. We’ve had a couple wins. But we can’t come and play ‘C’ hockey and expect to win games at the end of the year.

“We knew coming into the game it was going to be a challenge,” Norton said. “I think the North Penn boys really performed. It was a solid team game.”

Ice chips—South won the first meeting between the two teams, 6-3 on November … South stands first in the present Class AA Flyers Cup listings. North Penn is ranked third … With two assists on addition to his goal, Pluck went over the 100-point mark for his high-school career.

Council Rock South 2 1 0—3

North Penn 2 2 1—5

First-period goals: Declan Leahy (NP from Cole Pluck and Samuel Norton, :21; Jonah Weston (CRS) from Jake Weiner 8:37; Jordan Sarne (CRS) from Jake Maurer and Weiner 9:01; Norton (NP unassisted, 14:32 (sh)

Second-period goals: Norton (NP) from Leahy and Pluck, 8:43; Sarne (CRS) from Weiner, 14:41 (pp); Norton (NP) from James Boyle and Danial Cabrales, 16:54 (pp)

Third-period goal: Pluck (MP) from Leahy, 13:29 (pp)

Shots: Council Rock South 41, North Penn 34; Saves: Ryan Ayala (CRS) 29 Aidan Quigley (NP) 38

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North Penn 4 Pennridge 3 OT

James Boyle score a power-play goal 1:45 into overtime to give North Penn a come-from behind 4-3 win over Pennridge Wednesday night at Hatfield Ice.

The win lifted North Penn to 14-2 overall and 13-2 in divisional play. The Knights trail Council Rock South by one point in the division standings with three games remaining although South has a game in hand.

What’s there to say about Mr. Boyle,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “One of the top players in the league, one of the top if not maybe the top defensemen in the league the guy brings it every game He lives for these games.”

The winning goal came North Penn enjoying a four-skaters-to-three advantage after the Rams’ Nick Young received a double-minor penalty 62 seconds into the extra session. There were 18 penalties called in the game, 11 against the Rams

Declan Laehy tied the game for North Penn with 1:33 left in regulation after the Rams’ Nathan McKean gave Pennridge (10-5, 9-5) a 3-2 lead with four seconds left in the middle period.
Daniel Cabrales and Samuel Norton added goals for North Penn. Shane Dachowki and Nolan Shaw scored for Pennridge.

Andrew Norton got the win in goal, stopping 38 shots en route.

The loss was Pennridge’s fourth one-goal setback of the season.

“We deserved better,” said Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna. “I just told these guys we’re four plays away from being a [one-loss hockey team].’

North Penn 1 1 1 1—4

Pennridge 2 1 0 0—3

North Penn 5 Pennridge 0

It took North Penn most of two periods to solve the puzzle. But once the Knights did, the goals came in rapid-fire succession.

Three goals in the final three minute of the second period propelled North Penn to a 5-0 win over Pennridge Thursday night ay Hatfield Ice in a battle of SHSHL National Division heavyweights.

Daniel Cabrales scored two goals and Aidan Quigley was perfect between the pipes as the Knights improved to 8-2 overall and 7-2 in divisional play. The Rams boast an identical record at the season’s halfway mark.

The Rams were ranked third and the Knights fourth in the season’s first set of Class AA Flyers Cup rankings

“That probably was the best game we’ve played all year from a 51-minute perspective,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “We knew [Pennridge] was a good hockey team. They weren’t going to give it to us, we had to come out and earn it.”

North Penn took control at the start, outshooting Pennridge 22-6 in the first period. That trend continued in the middle period as the Knights launched shots at James Winton from all angles.

It took them until the waning minutes of the period however to get the better of him.

Nolan Shingle scored the first goal of the night, a power-play effort with 2:51 left in the period. Cabrales made it a 2-0 game with 1:05 remaining when he poked in a rebound that Winton couldn’t control. Half a minute later Samuel Norton stole the puck and center ice and launched a shot from long range that beat Winton on his glove side. It was North Penn’s third goal in a span of 2:25.

Vaitis credited his troops for the way they moved the puck.

“The big thing we focus on is puck movement,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of skill players [and we tell them] don’t try to do anything on their own. When we move the puck well, good thigs happen for us.”

By this point, the Rams were operating on auxiliary power offensively, having lost catalyst Shane Dachowski in the second period to a shoulder injury. No one in the lineup was able to fill the gap created by his absence.

“These guys need to learn how to do things for themselves,” said Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna. ”Without waiting for someone else to do it. We’re not going to make excuses about it. We have a bunch of guys that have to learn how to go through this.”

Luke Haftel and Carbrales provided goals for North Penn in the third period. Meanwhile, Quigley was stopping all 17 shots he saw.

“I didn’t face a whole lot of shots,” he said. “It’s hard, trying to stay with it when you’re not getting a ton of shots. But, the team played strong and helped me out.”

Quigley credited his defense for minimalizing potential rebounds.

“My defense helped me out,” he said. “Any rebounds they got out. No bad turnovers.”

• With 13:02 remaining in the third period, Winton left the ice because of asthma issues. He returned after approximately. five minutes North Penn utilized its time out after the Rams had used theirs to allow Winton extra time to recover.

Pennridge 0 0 0—0

North Penn 0 3 2—5

Second-period goals: Nolan Shingle (NP) from James Boyle and Daniel Cabrales, 2:51 (pp); Cabrales (MP) from Samuel Norton and Cole Pluck, 1:05; Norton (NP) unassisted, :21

Third-period goals: Luke Haftel (NP) from Christopher Silvotti, 7:27, Cabrales (NP) from Norton, 1:36

Shots: Pennridge 17, North Penn 51; Saves: James Winton (P) 46, Aidan Quigley (NP) 17

C.B. South 6 North Penn 5 OT

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—Year in and year out, Central Bucks South’s hockey teams have been characterized by their tenacity. That quality was on display Wednesday night at Hatfield Ice Arena as the Titans rallied from a two-goal second-period deficit to score a 6-5 overtime win over North Penn in a SHSHL National Division encounter.

Joey Slobodrian scored the winning goal with 2:28 left in overtime to give the Titans (5-2, 5-1 in the division) a win that kept them in possession of the County Line Cup.

Slobodrian had himself quite a night; the junior scored two goals and assisted on two others. He described the winning goal which saw him get the better of North Penn (4-2, 3-2) netminder Andrew Norton on a feed from Sean Cutter.

“We do this play where pass it through the [defender’s] legs,” he said. He passed it to me back door. Basically, I was just looking at the puck. I chipped it and it went through the five hole.”

The Titans came from behind twice in the course of the evening. They trailed 3-1 four-and-a-half minutes into the second period before goals from Slobodrian and Jake Stepp tied the game with 63 seconds left in the middle period.

Dominic Gibson put South in front with 10:49 left in regulation but Cole Pick scored his second goal of the game for the Knights to tie the game with 9:33 remaining. Sam Norton put North Penn in front with 7:49 left but Ryan Frey answered for the Titans just 14 seconds later with the last goal of regulation.

“I just got the boys going on the bench,” Slobodrian said, “and got their confidence up with some big hits. We got the momentum back and we won the game.”

South coach Shaun McGinty credited his team for its recovery after falling behind early.
“They really came out and gave it to us,” said. “We had to find a way to settle in. We lost that first period [North Penn led 2-1 at that point] and then we’ve got to fight back. The second period, won so I said to the boys ‘Third period you’ve got to win it.’ Our shot totals started to climb up our physicality started to climb up as well and that’s our hockey.”

North Penn coach Kevon Vaitis credited the Titans for their comeback. “I’m not sure if they took us out of our game or if they just kind of hit another gear there,” he said. “But I think they did a nice job getting back into play.

“A two-goal lead I the worst in hockey because one goal swings that momentum. If we score a goal and go up 4-1 it’s much different the rest of the game.”

South had a 44-26 advantage in shots.

The two teams will have rematch on December 11 at Hatfield.

C.B. South 1 2 2 1—6

North Penn 2 1 2 0—5

First-period goals: Luke Haftel (NP) from James Boyle, 5:39; Cole Pluck (NP) from Nolan Shingle, 8:58; Sean Cutter (CBS) from Joey Slobodrian and Jake Stepp, 13:05

Second-period goals: Single (NP) from Sam Norton, 4:20; Slobodrian (CBS) from Keith Waldron, 14:40; Stepp (CBS) from Jeff Kvecher, 15:57

Third-period goals: Dominic Gibson (CBS) from Logan Hood and Alex Cannon, 6:15; Pluck (NP) from Norton and Boyle, 7:27; Norton (NP) unassisted, 9:11; Ryan Frey (CBS) from Slobodrian, 9:25

Overtime goal: Slobodrian (CBS) from Cutter 2:32

Shots: C.B. South 44, North Penn 26; Saves: Nate Neapolitan (CBS) 21, Andrew Norton (NP) 38

North Penn Knights Making Noise

Thanksgiving is still over a week away but North Penn is already attracting a lot of attention.

The Knights are unbeaten in four starts after a 6-2 win over Downingtown West last Friday night in a game that was part of the SHSHL-ICSHL crossover series. They’re 3-0 in SHSHL National Division play with a trip to Council Rock South awaiting on Wednesday night (7:20 at Grundy Arena).

The Knights are scoring a lot of goals; they’re averaging 8.5 goals per game while allowing just 1.5 goals per contest. The lineup features some of the division’s early season scoring leaders.

Sophomore Samuel Norton has scored five goals and added seven assists for 12 points. Senior Cole Pluck has accumulated 12 points by scoring three goals and adding nine assists. Junior Nolan Shingle has scored seven goals and added three assists for 10 points while junior James Boyle has accumulated 10 points of his own by scoring six goals and adding four assists.

“We’ve played well,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “With the team we have now we know we’re going to be able to put up a number of goals but we keep preaching strong defense and we’ve got great goaltending.”

Boyle, who epitomizes the offensive-oriented defenseman, says he and his teammates are taking good practice habits into games.

“I think it’s our preparation,” he said. “Good practices twice a week. Making sure we’re prepared before games helps us to get off to get off to good starts in games.”

Two years ago, North Penn won just five games and missed out on the postseason. Boyle was part of that 2023 team and says the memories of that disappointing campaign are a motivating force this season.

“Going through that, a season where we weren’t winning too much, made everyone want to be able to play and battle back,” he said. “We wanted the chance to and try to win it all this year.”

Last year, the Knights won 13 games and returned to both the SHSHL playoffs and the Class AA Flyers Cup tournament. Vaitis has bigger goals in mind this year and wants his players to understand what it takes to attain those goals.

“Thinking toward end of February and March, what does it take to be playing at [a high level]?” he said. “It’s strong defense, good goaltending, and getting scoring from all three lines. And that’s where we’re going; we’re getting scoring from multiple guys, it’s not just our top three.

“Last year was a great step for us, getting back into the Suburban League playoffs getting back into the Flyers Cup tournament but we want to do more than that this year, right? We obviously want to continue to play our best hockey at the end of the year; the goal has always been the Suburban League championship and the Flyers Cup that’s what the goal has been for the 15 years I’ve been here. we’re going to keep working and try to get better.”

C.B. East 3 North Penn 2

The storm struck suddenly, seemingly without warning. Corey Kosick and Jaden Young scored goals 32 seconds apart in the opening moments of the third period as Central Bucks East overcame a one-goal deficit to post a 3-2 win over North Penn Thursday night in a SHSHL National Division quarterfinal at Hatfield Ice.

Young scored two goals for the fourth-seeded Patriots (12-5-2) who will face top-seeded Pennridge in next Wednesday’s semifinal round. Fifth-seeded North Penn (10-8-1) will wait and see where it is seeded for the upcoming Flyers Cup tournament.

But both teams will pay a toll for their efforts Thursday night. An altercation following the final buzzer involved several players from both teams. As this story was being written, the two referees were reviewing video of the incident and adjudicating penalties. If fighting penalties and/or misconducts are accessed, the players involved will be suspended.

The incident did not diminish the performance of East goaltender Cole Breen. The Patriots were outshot 41-19 but Breen, for the most part, kept the Knights at bay with 39 saves.

Breen said the key was maintaining his concentration.

“Mainly just focusing on every shot at a time,” he said “Worrying about myself and doing my job. The team got it done also.”

The two teams held each other scoreless for nearly all of two periods before Nolan Shingle beat Boyle from close range to give the Knights 1-0 advantage with 1:32 left in the second frame.

At that point, North Penn seemingly had the upper hand.

“For the first two period I thought we absolutely controlled the play,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis, “and did everything we wanted.

“Their goalie was playing great, we were getting chances, we just couldn’t put it behind him.”

But early in the third stanza, things changed, seemingly in the blink of an eye.

First, Kosick went in on North Penn goaltender Aidan Quigley and found the back of the net just 49 seconds into the period. Thirty-two seconds later it was Young’s turn; the junior gave his team a lead it would not relinquish.

“Over intermission [before the third period] we devised some of our plan,” Young said. “We knew we had to [apply] pressure to turn some of the momentum and gain an advantage, and that’s what we did.”

“They had two quick goals there,” Vaitis said, “on two quick shifts unfortunately.”

Young’s second goal was a shorthanded effort that came at the 6:24 mark and made it a 3-1 game.

North Penn got an opportunity when the Patriots’ Patrick O’Brien drew a cross-checking penalty with 4:26 to go. Down two goals at that point, Vaitis considered lifting Quigley.

“I thought about it,” Vaitis said. “We were getting a lot of good chances on the power play. We were hoping we were going to be able to capitalize on one there.”

With the North Penn net empty, Samuel Norton scored the Knights’ second goal with 64 seconds left in regulation.

The final buzzer served as a match that set off the subsequent fireworks.

“Not a smart play by us, by any means” Vaitis said. “Unfortunately, for us, if we get selected, our next game would be in the Flyers Cup and we’re probably going to be missing some guys for that.

“But there’s no need for that. We’ve got to be smarter and skate away from it.”

Central Bucks East Jeff Mitchell knows he will be without at least one player for the National Division semifinal; Carter Keiser was sent to the locker room 7:36 into the third period when he received his fourth penalty.

Mitchell would like to see the SHSHL utilize the four-person officiating system for playoff games.

“I don’t fault anybody [if] a kid looks at another kid the wrong way, or somebody feels like they’re wronged,” he said. “I get it. I was 18 once too.

“An eye for an eye, I’m all for it obviously, but I think we need a little bit more supervision … when it comes to situations like this.”

This story will be updated as more information become available

North Penn 0 1 2—2

C.B. East 0 0 3—3

Second-period goals: Nolan Shingle (NP) from John Stinson and James Boyle, 15:28

Third-period goals: Corey Kosick (CBE) from Dave Brown, :49; Jaden Young (CBE) unassisted, 1:21; Young (CBE) 6:24 (sh); Samuel Norton (NP) from Cole Pluck and Joe Savotti, 15:56

Shots: North Penn 41, C.B. East 19 Saves: Aidan Quigley (NP) 16, Cole Breen (CBE) 39

North Penn 5 C.B. East 5

Call it a playoff preview, a preview punctuated by controversy. In the end, North Penn and Central Bucks East skated to a 5-5 overtime draw Friday night in a SHSHL National Division skirmish at the Bucks County Ice Sports Center.

The emotions of the two sides following the final buzzer were a study in contrast.

The Patriots (10-4-2) overcame a 4-1 second-period deficit but also had two goals disallowed. The Knights (8-7-1) benefitted from the awarding of a goal but failed to hold their three-goal advantage before rallying down the stretch to force the deadlock.

East’s Corey Kosick and North Penn’s James Boyle each had two-goal performances. But their efforts were overshadowed by the controversy, which emerged in opening seconds of the second period with North Penn holding a 3-1 lead.

A scramble on front of the East net saw Patriot goaltender seemingly deny the Knights’ Samuel Norton and play moved to the other end of the ice where Kosick put the puck behind North Penn netminder Ian McAteer, apparently making it a one-goal game.

At that point, the two officials huddled and ruled that Norton’s shot had actually crossed the goal line. North Penn was awarded a goal, thus Kosick’s effort did not count and instead of trailing 3-2 the Patriots found themselves down 4-1.

North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis shared the explanation he received from the officials.

“The puck went in,” he said. [The official on the goal line] didn’t see it, the top ref did but let the play continue. Sure enough, they ended up scoring on it but you’ve to back to [the previous play.]”

East got off the canvas however. Jaden Young and Charlie Keiser scored goals before the second period ended and Kosick tied the game with a power-play goal. 1:23 into the third frame. It was East’s third power-play tally of the game.

Gavin Widmer put East in front at 5-4 off a setup from Young at the 5:51 mark.
The Patriots appeared to add a sixth goal off the stick of Kyle McIntyre with 3:09 left in regulation but the goal was disallowed when it was ruled the net was dislodged.

Meanwhile, Cole Breen in goal held the Knights at bay for virtually all of the last two periods but Norton scored his second goal of the game on a deflection with 1:37 left in regulation and that’s the way the evening finished.

The outcome left East coach Jeff Mitchell exasperated.

“I’m very upset at the officiating tonight,” he said. “I don’t really have any kind of excuse for them … It was pretty brutal.”

On the plus side, Mitchell noted his team’s performance over the last month; the Patriots are 5-0-2 in their last seven starts.

“Everybody’s kind of working as a team,” he said. “We’ve got some lines kind of figured out. It takes time to kind of jell together as a team and we’re getting a lot of production out of our top guys, but we’ve got some underclassmen that are shining too and they’re coming up into the ranks.

Vaitis expressed concern about his team’s in ability to hold a three-goal lead.

“I thought we had a couple penalties we probably wish we didn’t take,” he said. They had [three] power-play goals that I think gave them more life.

“They’re a good team. If you give them opportunities on the man advantage, they’re going to take advantage of it.”

Ice chips: The point East received in the standings for the tie assures the Patriots will finish no worse than fourth. If they win their two remaining regular-season games they could possibly finish third.

North Penn will finish fifth or sixth. If the Knights finish fifth, they will likely face the Patriots in the first round of the playoffs.

North Penn 3 1 1 0—5

C.B. East 1 2 2 0—5

First-period goals: Cole Pluck (NP) from Chase Kelly Del Ricci and Samuel Norton, 5:18; James Boyle (NP) from Nolan Shingle, 10:16 (pp); Corey Kosick (CBE) from Ethan Cenci, 12:52; Boyle (NP) from Shingle, 14:13 (pp)

Second-period goals: Norton (NP) from Chris Seward, :25; Jaden Young (CBE) from Gavin Widmer, 5:27 (pp); Charlie Keiser (CBE) from Kosick, 12:59 (pp);

Third-period goals: Kosick (CBE) from David Brown, 1:23 (pp); Widmer (CBE) from Young, 5:51; Norton (NP) from Del Ricci and Pluck, 14:23

Shots: North Penn 38, C.B. East 41; Saves: Ian McAteer (NP) 36, Cole Breen (CBE) 33

C.B. East 2 North Penn 1

Even in December, points are precious. Which is Friday’s matchup between North Penn and Central Bucks East, which closed out the pre-Christmas portion of the SHSHL schedule, was so significant.

It was the Patriots who prevailed on this occasion. Charlie Keiser and Alex Wilson scored goals 51 seconds apart midway through the second period to give East a 2-1 win at Hatfield Ice.

Despite being outshot 34-15 the Patriots improved to 6-3 as the SHSHL National Division schedule hit the halfway point. North Penn (6-3) got a goal from Cole Pluck with 1:53 left in the middle period but couldn’t solve Cole Breen the rest of the way.

Breen finished with 33 saves, 15 of them in the third period.

East’s goalie played outstanding,” said North Penn coach Kevon Vaitis. “Hats off to him. We didn’t play well enough in the second period and we didn’t do enough to generate quality scoring chances.”

C.B. East 0 2 0—2

North Penn 0 1 0

Second-period goals: Charlie Keiser (CBE) from Ethan Cenci, 9:29 (pp); Alex Wilson (CBE) unassisted, 10:20; Cole Pluck (NP), 15:07

Shots: C.B. East 15, North Penn 34; Saves: Cole Breen (CBE) 33, Maks-Joseph Harkins (NP) 13)

NP Ice Hockey Toy Drive is an Annual Tradition

The North Penn Hockey Club is once again conducting a toy drive in support of the North Penn Valley Boys and Girls Club, and its efforts to serve needy families in the North Penn area.

Those interested in participating are asked to Venmo North Penn Ice Hockey at @NPHockey with a donation.

North Penn Ice Hockey will match up to $500 of the donations. The club will utilize the donations to purchase toys for children ages 5-12 and gift cards to local grocery stores for those in need.

They will be delivered to the Boys and Girls Club on Monday, December 18.

North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis says the toy drive in part of North Penn Ice Hockey’s ongoing effort to serve its community.

“We look at it as we’re one community here,” he said, “and if there is an opportunity for us to help out those less fortunate right now, those going through some difficult times, we want to lend a hand.

“This past weekend, a bunch of us went over and we were raking leaves at an over-55 community, helping some of the elderly who can’t get out there or can’t afford to pay somebody to rake their leaves up.

“I think we’re teaching these kids to give back to the community. We’re fortunate with the situation we’re in; we’re able to play ice hockey, it’s not the cheapest sport. So, if we can give back a little and help those less fortunate or having a difficult time right now, we’re willing to do it.”

For more information about the toy drive, contact Vaitis at kevinvaitis@comcast.net