Pennridge 4, North Penn 3 OT

By Rick Woelfel

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—The stars shined brightly at Hatfield Ice Monday evening. And in the end, Eric Slater lit up the night like a supernova. Slater’s goal 3 minutes, 25 seconds into overtime gave Pennridge a 4-3 decision over North Penn in a Flyers Cup Class AA quarterfinal.

The fourth-seeded Rams (16-2-3) will take a five-game winning streak and a 13-game unbeaten streak into Thursday’s semifinals against two-time defending Flyers Cup and state champion Downingtown East (5:15 at Ice Line).

Nathan Oh, playing in what turned out to be his final high-school game, delivered a hat trick for fifth-seeded North Penn (12-5-3).

It was a night when the best players on both teams came up big, but none more than Slater, who scored two goals and assisted on a third. His game-winner came on a shot from just beyond the faceoff circles off a feed from Matt Guinette. The shot beat Knight goaltender Nick Ebbinghaus on his stick (right) side but the freshman could not be faulted on the play.

“I was trying to drive the net,” Slater said. (Guinette) gave me a perfect pass. I made a move and shot it and hoped for the best.”

Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna said he was expecting Slater to step up at the start of the 15-minute sudden-death period. “He’s going to go out other shift in that overtime,” Montagna said, “and if we’re going to win, most likely, he’s going to win it for us.”

The Knights had far the best of the opening period, outshooting the Rams 15-3 but the session ended with teams deadlocked at one goal each. Oh gave North Penn the lead with a dash down the wing after his team own a faceoff in its own zone. He beat Pennridge goaltender Luke Stranick at the 7:39 mark. Slater answered back just under two minutes later with a wrister from the left wing after finding himself alone one on one with a Knight defenseman.

North Penn’s Josh Kaufholf (with puck) goes against Pennridge’s Frankie Rota in the first period of Monday’s game. (photo by Kathy Leister)

Michael Walker gave Pennridge the lead once more 63 seconds into the second period when he collected a feed from Guinette and made a move around a defender and beat Ebbinghaus.

The freshman came up big however with 1:50 left in the period however with a kick save on a shot from Walker that would have given the Rams a two-goal lead, Instead, Oh tied the game with 53.6 seconds left to send the teams to the third period all even.
Pennridge took the lead for the third time on Blake Stewart’s power-play goal with 5:17 left in the third period. With North Penn’s Will Hughes in the box serving a hooking minor, the Rams’ Franke Rota set up shot at the right point and sent a pass across the ice to Slater who launched a rocket along the ice. Stewart tipped the puck past Ebbinghaus.

Oh completed his hat trick with 2:16 left in regulation to tie the game and send it to overtime.

The Knights, who finished with a 37-21 wedge in shots, had a good chance early in the extra period but Stranick stood his ground and the teams played on until Slater delivered his game winner.

“You got Nate Oh on North Penn and Eric Slate on Pennridge,” North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis pointed out. “They’re two of the best high-school players in the (SHSHL) and definitely in the Flyers Cup tournament.

“They got the bounce to go their way in overtime and that’s part of the game. We were probably inches away from winning it there early in overtime and didn’t capitalize.”

Pennridge goaltender Luke Stranick covers the puck. He finished with 34 saves. (Photo by Dara N. King)

North Penn 1 1 1 0—3

Pennridge 1 1 1 1—4

First-period goals: Nathan Oh (NP) from Jared Albano, 7:39; Eric Slater (MP) from Frankie Rota, 9:36;

Second-period goals: Michael Walker (P) from Matt Guinette, 1:03; Oh (NP) from Jake Nelson, 15:07

Third-period goals: Blake Stewart (P) from Walker and Rota, 10:43 (pp); Oh (NP) from Albano, 13:44

Overtime goal: Slater (P) from Guinette, 3:25

Shots: North Penn 37, Pennridge 21; Saves: Nick Ebbinghaus (NP) 17, Luke Stranick (P) 34

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Flyers Cup Update

The fields for the various Flyers Cup tournaments have been cut in half, in the case of Class A more than that.

Here is what lies ahead. Note: All game times and sites are subject to change

Monday, March 11

Class AA Quarterfinals

Downingtown East 5 Parkland 0

Pennridge 4 North Penn 3 OT

Conestoga 4 Haverford 1

Downingtown West 3, Boyertown 1

Tuesday, March 12

Class A Semifinal Upper Bracket

West Chester Rustin 7 West Chester East 2

Wednesday, March 13

Class AA Semifinal Lower Bracket

Downingtown West 8, Conestoga 5

Class A Semifinal Lower Bracket

Hershey 6 Strath Haven 3

Girls Semifinal

8:45 2 West Chester Rustin 4, West Chester East 3 OT

Thursday, March 14

Class AAA Semifinals

LaSalle 5 Holy Ghost Prep 4

St. Joseph’s Prep 6 Malvern Prep 2

Class AA Upper Bracket Semifinal

D-town East vs Pennridge 5:15 @ Ice Line

When we’re not covering high school hockey, we’re providing a full line of writing services. Contact us HERE and let us help you publicize your upcoming event, your team, your conference or league.

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Sunday, March 17

Finals @Wells Fargo Center

9:45 Girls: West Chester Rustin vs. Unionville

2:00 Class A Hershey vs. West Chester Rustin

4:30 Class AA Downtown West vs. Downingtown East

7:00 Class AAA LaSalle vs. St. Josephs Prep

From the pages of history:

West Chester Rustin is seeking its 6th straight Class A Flyers Cup title. No team has ever done that in any classification since the tournament started in 1980. Malvern Prep won 5 straight Class AAA titles from 2001-05.

Unionville is a four-time defending girls’ champion and will be seeking its fifth straight title this year.

Saturday, March 23

State Championship Games at Robert Morris University Game Times TBA

For more information on girls’ hockey go to: info@ladytpariots.org

If you’d like to know more about inline skating, roller hockey, and other roller skating opportunities contact the Inline309 rink

Pennridge Wins SHSHL Class AA title

By Rick Woelfel

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—The combination of solid defense and quality goaltending will win a lot of hockey games, especially in the postseason. The Pennridge Rams utilized that formula to become champions Thursday night.

Luke Stranick stopped 35 shots and Matt Guinette and Michael Eissler provided the necessary scoring as the Rams downed Central Bucks South 2-0 in the Suburban High School Hockey League Class AA championship game at Hatfield Ice

It’s the second SHSHL title in history for the second-seeded Rams, who improved their record to 14-2-3. The top-seeded Titans (13-4-2) were attempting to capture an unprecedented fifth straight SHSHL crown and their ninth in history.
After shutting down one of the most potent offenses in the area, the Rams were savoring their success.

“I’ve only gone here for two years, and it feels great to me” said junior defenseman Frankie Rota, who transferred from Quakertown prior to last season. “I can imagine the guys that have been going here for four, I imagine it feels incredible.”

The Rams outshot the Titans by just 40-35 but the efforts of the blueline corps limited South’s quality chances and made life easier for their goaltender.

“My defense played perfect,” Stranick said. “They did everything I could have asked for. They kept the shots to the outside, they kept the screens out of my way, they made it real easy.”

The Titans had the better of things early on until the pace picked up midway through the opening period. Guinette got the Rams on the board at the 8:18 mark of the first frame with a shot from midway between the tops of the two faceoff circles that beat South netminder Oscar Levin, who had a solid game between the pipes despite the defeat.

Pennridge’s second goal, which came 3:30 into the middle period, was the result of a picturesque individual effort by Eissler, who went up the middle and over the blue line before deking around a South defender and beating Moyer. That was all the scoring there was but that was all that was needed.

“Defensively, we gave up some chances,” said Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna, “but we did a real good job not giving up second-chance opportunities. Our defensemen blocked a ton of shots in this game and we swept everything up.

“(South) is a hard team to hold off for 51 minutes and we did.”

Notes: The Rams won their first league crown in 2008 …Both teams will see action in the Flyers Cup tournament next Wednesday. The second-seeded Titans will face 15th-seed Downingtown West on Wednesday at Revolution Ice Gardens at 7:15. The fourth-seeded Rams will take on 13th seed Garnet Valley the same evening at Hatfield Ice at 8:40 … Shaun McGinty was not behind the Titans’ bench Thursday night because of work commitments. Assistant Tyler Skronski stepped in for him.

Pennridge 1 1 0—2

C.B. South 0 0 0—0

First-period goal: Matt Guinette (P) from Eric Slater, 8:18

Second-period goal: Michael Eissler (P) from Jeff Manto, 3:30

Shots: Pennridge 40, C.B. South 35; Saves: Luke Stranick 35 Oscar Levin (CBS) 33

SHSHL Finals

Suburban High School Hockey League Championship Results

Class AA

Pennridge 2, Central Bucks South 0

Class A

Wissahickon 16, Lower Moreland 6

Details of these games coming. Check back later

Pennridge 6, North Penn 4

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—Truly great players step up when it matters. That’s the case in every sport and it was certainly the case when North Penn and Pennridge squared off Wednesday night in their Suburban High School Hockey League semifinal.

Michael Walker scored what proved to be the winning goal with 9:55 left in the third period and followed up by scoring into an empty net with 18 seconds to go to give the Rams a 6-4 win on a night when some of the SHSHL’s elite players showed the audience at Hatfield Ice why they have achieved that status.

Walker provided an assist to go with his two goals. Eric Slater, perhaps the premier sniper in the SHSHL’s Class AA division, helped the Rams’ cause with a goal and an assist while Luke Stranick was impressive in goal.

Meantime, Josh Albano was contributing three goals for the Knights while Nathan Oh was helping out with three assists.

As a result of all this, it was anyone’s game until the late going. With the game tied 4-4 the third-seeded Knights (11-4-3) lost Luke Van Why to a tripping penalty. It took Walker just 17 seconds to put the Rams (13-2-3) in front; he scored via a feed from Slater off a faceoff.

But Stranick knew he and his teammates couldn’t relax. “It definitely keeps me dialed in,” he said. “My defense does a really good job of keeping the pucks coming from the outside and when they do that, it makes it a lot easier for me and the team.”

Blake Stewart and Tommy Pichardo sported the Rams two goals to the good by the 5:18 mark of the first period but Albano answered back, scoring two goals in a span of 2 minutes, 9 seconds to tie the game.

“I thought that early on we struggled a little bit defensively,” said Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna. “We started to settle down. I told them ‘The mark of a good team is when you do struggle and don’t have your ‘A’ game’ … The older guys made a play every single time we needed one.”

Freshman Aidan Boyle scored his first varsity goal to put Pennridge up 3-2 at the 3:02 mark of the second frame. Thomas Boyle answered for the Knights just 41 seconds later.

Slater put the Rams back in front when he scored with 39 seconds left in the period but Albano finished his hat trick at 5:19 of the third frame to set the stage for the conclusion.

“We knew they had a number of talented players up front,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “I don’t think you’re ever going to stop them, I think you just look to contain them. I thought we did a decent job of that but they’re still (dangerous).”

The win puts second-seeded Pennridge into Thursday’s championship game (6:50 at Hatfield Ice) against top-seed Central Bucks South which is seeking an unprecedented fifth straight SHSHL title.

Pennridge is seeking to claim its first title since 2008.

Notes: The semifinal featured 17-minute periods (instead of 16) and in ice cut after the second stanza, the same format that will be utilized for the Flyers Cup semifinals and finals … Four officials were on the ice.

North Penn 2 1 1—4

Pennridge 2 2 2—6

First-period goals: Blake Stewart (P) from Matt Guinette, 3:14; Tommy Pichardo (P) from Guinette, 5:56; Josh Albano (NP) from Nathan Oh and Tommy Tuozzo, 10:06; Albano, (NP) from Tyler Greenstein and Oh (pp).

Second-period goals: Aidan Boyle (P) from Frankie Rota, 3:02; Thomas Boyle, (NP) from Oh, 3:44; Eric Slater (P) from Stewart, 16:39.

Third-period goals: Albano (NP) from Oh and Josh Kaufhold, 5;17 (pp); Michael Walker (P) from Slater, 7:05 (pp); Walker (P) unassisted, 16:42.

Shots: North Penn 32, Pennridge 35; Saves: Nick Ebbinghaus (NP) 29, Luke Stranick (P) 28.

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Pennridge 6 Central Bucks East 0

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP— Pennridge served notice Monday night that its ready for the postseason. The Rams were in firm form Monday night during a 6-0 win over Central Bucks East in the opening round of the Suburban High School Hockey League Class AA playoffs at Hatfield Ice.

Six different players scored goals for second-seeded Pennridge (12-2-3), which will face North Penn in Wednesday’s semifinals (7:00 at Hatfield Ice. The seventh-seeded Patriots (11-6-2) will be idle until the Flyers Cup tournament begins next week; they’ll face Haverford High in the opening round next Wednesday.

Michael Eissler gave Pennridge a 1-0 lead with 4:12 left in the opening period when he tipped in a rebound of Jeff Manto’s original shot, beating East netminder Chris Mcintyre.

The Rams broke the game open in the second period, scoring five times in a span of 6 minutes, 58 seconds. Bryson Egan, Michael Walker, Manto, Blake Stewart, and Evan Kehoe all scored goals, the last two of which came just 14 seconds apart.

The Rams are unbeaten in their last nine games (7-0-2) Walker, a junior, says he and his teammates are focused on their postseason goals. “We’re kind of looking at every game as just like the next step forward to get to where we want to be,” he said. “We want to win the SHSHL and then obviously go as far as we possibly can in the Flyers Cup. So, this is just a step on the way.”

Walker noted the Rams have found more scoring balance in recent weeks

“In the beginning of the season we were a little one sided,” he said. “The first line was getting a lot of points, but as the season went on, the chemistry got better. Everyone was scoring on every line.”

The Rams are seeking their first SHSHL title since 2008. Walker noted the team is benefitting from the abundance of experience on the roster, as well as the experience of playing together. “With the regular season, working as hard as we did, coming into the postseason and working with each other isn’t as difficult as it seems,” he said. “We just connect.”

The Patriots had trouble coping with Pennridge’s speed for most of the evening and managed just 10 shots on goal in the 48-minute game.

“For the last three or four games we haven’t been on our game,” said East coach Ken Latchum. “Hopefully the Flyers Cup is another new season and we’ll get it going there.”

C.B. East 0 0

Pennridge 1 5

First-period goal: Michael Eissler (P) from Jeff Manto, 11:48

Second-period goals: Bryson Egan (P) from Michael Walker, 1:43; Walker (P) from Eric Slater, 2:06; Jeff Manto (P) from Nick Eissler, 5:20; Blake Stewart (P) from Slater and Matt Guinette, 8:27 (pp); Evan Kehoe (P) from Tommy Prichard, 8:41

Shots: C.B. East 10, Pennridge 40; Saves; Chris McIntyre (CBE) 34, Luke Stranik (Pr) 10.

SHSHL Playoff Game Times Set

The brackets have been finalized for the 2019 Suburban High School Hockey League playoffs. Action gets underway Monday, February 25 with four Class AA quarterfinal games and continues on Wednesday the 27^th with semifinal games in Class AA and Class A. The championship games in each class will be played at Hatfield Ice on Thursday, February 28.

Central Bucks South is the four-time defending champion in Class AA; if they successfully defend this year it will extra blush a new league record. Hatboro-Horsham meanwhile will be trying to defend the Class A crown.

It should be noted that the results of the SHSHL playoffs will have no impact on the Flyers Cup seedings which are scheduled to be announced on Sunday.

Monday, February 25

Class AA Quarterfinals

1 C.B. South vs. 8 Council Rock South 7:00 at Rev. Ice Gardens

4 C.B. West vs 5 Neshaminy 8:40 at Rev Ice Gardens

3 North Penn vs 6 Pennsbury 8:40 at Hatfield Ice

2 Pennridge vs 7 Central Bucks East 7:00 at Hatfield Ice

Wednesday, February 27

Class AA Semifinals

Upper Bracket winners 7:00 at Revolution Ice Gardens

Lower Bracket winners 7:00 at Hatfield Ice

Class A Semifinals

1 Lower Moreland vs 4 Hatboro-Horsham 8:45 at Rev. Ice Gardens

2 Wissahickon vs 3 Plymouth Whitemarsh 8:45 at Hatfield Ice

Thursday, February 28

Class AA Final 7:00 at Hatfield Ice

Class A Final 8:45 at Hatfield Ice

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C.B. South and Pennridge Tie 3-3

Colin Abbonizio scored with 2:47 left in the third period to give Central Bucks South a 3-3 tie with Pennridge Thursday night in a Suburban High School Hockey League game at Hatfield Ice.

The win assured the Titans (11-3-2, 9-0-2 in league play) of the SHSHL Class AA regular-season title and the top seed in next week’s playoffs.

Pennridge now stands at 11-2-2 overall and 8-1-1 in the league heading into its scheduled regular-season finale against Council Rock South Thursday night.

Abbonizio’s goal concluded a four-goal flurry in the third period, that saw each team score twice.

Dominic Liberta opened the scoring for the Titans when he scored with 5:58 left in the opening period.

The score stayed unchanged deep into the second session when the Rams killed off a 1 minute, 15-second two-man disadvantage as a prelude to Eric Slater’s goal with 4:59 left in the period. It came just two seconds after the second penalty expired.

Pennridge took the lead for the first time when Matt Guinette scored 51 seconds into the final period. Harry McLaughlin answered back for the Titans at 9:12 to set up what turned out to be a frantic finish.

Slater scored his second goal of the game with 3:54 remaining before Abbonizio responded just 67 seconds later.

“It was a really good game,” said Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna. “They made then last play.”

The Titans had a 23-20 edge in shots. South coach Shaun McGinty was concerned about his power play, which failed to score in five opportunities. “It was a good game,” he said, “a good defensive game. They blocked a lot of shots. We’ve got to do better on special teams.”

Notes: The Rams beat the Titans 3-2 in a non-league game on January 9 … Montagna praised defenseman Frankie Rota for his shot-blocking efforts. “He’s going to be sore tomorrow,” Montagna said. The result means that Pennridge will be seeded second on third for the playoffs depending on their result Thursday and the result of the game between North Penn and Central Bucks West, which was postponed to Thursday.

Pennridge 0 1 2—3

C.B. South 1 0 2—3

First-period goal: Dominic Liberta (CBS) from David Kvcher and Harry McLaughlin, 10:02.

Second-period goal: Eric Slater (P) from Michael Walker, 11:01.

Third-period goals: Matt Guinette (P) from Slater and Walker, :51; McLaughlin (CBS) unassisted, 9:12; Slater (P) from Frankie Rota, 12:06; Colin Abbonizio (CBS) from D.J. Loverdi, 13:13.

Shots: Pennridge 20, Central Bucks South 23; Saves: Luke Stranik (P) 20, Oscar Levin (CBS) 17.

SHSHL Standings 2-19-18 (Corrected)

Suburban High School Hockey League Standings as of 2-19-19

Class AA W L T Its

Central Bucks South (11-3-2) 9 0 2 20

*Pennridge (11-2-2) 8 1 1 17

North Penn (10-2-3) 7 1 2 16

*Neshaminy (7-4-4) 5 3 3 13

Central Bucks West (8-7) 6 4 0 12

*Pennsbury (6-7-3) 5 5 1 11

Central Bucks East (9-5-2) 5 5 1 11

Abington (4-7-4) 3 5 3 9

Council Rock South (6-7-2) 3 5 2 8

Truman (3-10-3) 2 7 2 6

William Tennent (3-10-2) 1 7 2 4

Souderton (2-13-1) 0 10 1 1

* Pennridge has the tiebreaker over North Penn

* Neshaminy has the tiebreaker over Central Bucks West

• Pennsbury has the tiebreaker over Central Bucks East

Class A W L T Pts

Lower Moreland (10-2-3) 7 2 3 17

Wissahickon (10-3-2) 6 3 2 14

Hatboro-Horsham (9-4-2) 5 4 2 12

Plymouth Whitemarsh (10-4-1) 6 4 1 11

Upper Dublin (3-12-0) 0 11 0 0

Wedenesday

North Penn vs C.B. West 7:10 at Hatfield

Pennridge vs. C.B. South 7:20 at Rev. Ice Gardens

Truman vs Neshaminy 7:20 at Grundy

Hatboro-Horsham vs. Wissahickon 8:50 at Hatfield

Pennsbury vs. William Tennent 9:00 at Revolution Ice Gardens

Thursday

Plymouth Whitemarsh vs. Upper Dublin 7:10 at Hatfield

Pennridge vs. Council Rock South 7:20 at Grundy

SHSHL Update 2-18-19

Here are the latest Suburban High School Hockey League Standings as of 2-18-19

Class AA W L T Its

Central Bucks South (11-3-1) 9 0 1 19

*Pennridge (11-2-1) 8 1 0 16