North Penn 4 Pennsbury 2

By Rick Woelfel

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—Prior to taking the ice Monday night in their Suburban High School Hockey League quarterfinal, Pennsbury and North Penn were fully aware they are scheduled to face each other next Wednesday in the opening round of the Flyers Cup tournament. With that fact in mind, the Falcons and the Knights would have been forgiven for playing things close to the vest, since the results of the SHSHL playoffs have no bearing on the Flyers Cup seedings.

Instead, they chose to go another way. Both teams stepped up their games Monday night, the Falcons, who were seeded sixth in the SHSHL tournament, especially so.

It took a third-period goals from Josh Kaufhold and Nathan Oh to give the Knights a 4-2 win in an entertaining affair at Hatfield Ice. North Penn (11-3-3) will face second-seeded Pennridge on Wednesday at 7:00 in the semifinals while Pennsbury (7-8-3) will wait for next Wednesday’s rematch in the Flyers Cup.

Oh, who assisted on Kaufhold’s winning goal, was quick to point out that winning a SHSHL title would mean a lot to the Knights.

“Winning the league would mean so much for us,” he said. “Obviously, (Central Bucks South) has been on top forever and for us to get some hardware, that would be awesome. It would be great for me and the rest of the seniors.”

Jake Nelson gave the Knights an early lead when he scored just 2:02 into the first period but Ben Dous scored twice for the sixth-seeded Falcons (7-7-3) to give them a 2-1 lead after one frame.

Tyler Greenstein tied the game for North Penn with 5:51 left in the second period on the most picturesque play of the night; he skated up the middle of the ice and split the two Pennsbury defensemen before beating Falcon netminder Topher Seiler with a forehander.

At the start of the third period it was anyone’s hockey game.

The teams hadn’t played each other since November 29 and North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis noted that both had evolved since then. “Obviously both teams have changed a lot over the last three months,” he said. “Hats off to them. They came out really ready to play and they kind of went toe-to-toe with us for two periods.”
Kaufhold scored the winning goal on a power play with 9:09 left in the third period. The goal came while the Falcons Beau Yedman was in the box serving a hooking penalty.

Oh added an empty net goal with four seconds remaining.

Despite the loss, and his team’s elimination from the SHSHL playoffs, Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley feels his team has taken some big steps forward of late. The Falcons were 4-1-1 in their last six games prior to Monday night.

“The kids have been on fire,” he said. “I was telling the guys before the game that we’re a dangerous team. We’re an underdog playing extremely good hockey and I knew we had good shot. A couple bounces didn’t go our way, but it’s hockey.”

Notes: Both goaltenders came up with some big saves. Seiler and North Penn’s Nick Ebbinghaus combined to stop 52 shots.

Pennsbury 2 0 0—2

North Penn 1 1 2—4

First-period goals: Jake Nelson (NP) from Tyler Greenstein, 2:02; Ben Dous (P) from Jake Sieger, 11:34; Dous (P) from Sieger and Erik Eisler, 12:51.

Second-period goal: Greenstein (NP) from Jared Albano and Luke Van Why, 10:09.

Third-period goals: Josh Kaufhold (NP) from Nathan Oh, 6:51 (pp); Oh (NP) from Albano, 15:56 (en).

Shots; Pennsbury 25, North Penn 33; Saves: Topher Seiler (P) 29, Nick Ebbinghaus (NP) 23

SHSHL Standings

The Suburban High School Hockey League has concluded varsity competition until January 2. The standings below include results through December 20, which was the last day of play before the holiday break.

Class 2A

National Division W L T Pts

Neshaminy (3-2-1) 2 2 0 4

Pennsbury (3-3-2) 2 2 0 4

Council Rock South (4-2-2) 1 1 2 4

Truman (2-2-2) 1 1 1 3

Abington (2-3-2) 1 1 1 3

William Tennent (2-6) 1 4 0 2

Continental Division W L T Pts

Central Bucks South (6-2) 5 0 0 10

North Penn (5-2-1) 4 1 0 8

Pennridge (5-1-1) 4 1 0 8

Central Bucks East (5-2-1) 2 2 0 4

Central Bucks West (2-5) 0 3 0 0

Souderton (0-9) 0 6 0 0

Class A American Division W L T Pts

Wissahickon (5-0-2) 4 0 2 10

Lower Moreland (4-1-3) 2 1 3 7

Hatboro-Horsham (2-2-1) 2 2 1 5

Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-2) 2 2 0 4

Upper Dublin (3-5) 0 5 0 0

Through varsity games of 12-20-18

Council Rock North and the co-op team of Upper Moreland/Archbishop Wood are playing independent schedules.

C.B. South Shuts Out Pennsbury

WARWICK—Central Bucks South and Pennsbury have taken different roads this season. The Titans as usual are setting the standard against which their opposition in the Class AA Division of the Suburban High School Hockey League is compared.
The Falcons feature a lineup with an abundance of young players adjusting to the rigors of high-school hockey.

It came as no surprise that South dominated Wednesday’s meeting at Revolution Ice Gardens. The Titans rolled to a 10-0 win in a game that was halted with 3:55 remaining in the third period due to the 10-goal rule.

But both teams had things to feel good about. The Titans (5-2, 4-0 in league play) stayed focused for the most part while winning their fifth straight game after opening the season with two losses. Captain Colin Abbonizio delivered a hat trick while Reis Braccio and Stephen McMillan scored twice each and goaltender Mason Moyer turned aside all six shots he saw.

South coach Shaun McGinty was absent Wednesday night but his aide de camp Tyler Skorski was pleased with the effort.

“We had every excuse to come out there and lay an egg if we wanted to,” he said. “We were short of bodies (due to a school play and one suspension). If they wanted an excuse, they had every excuse in the world.”

Alex Glushek scored for the Titans exactly one minute into the game and South was off and running to a four-goal first period.

One of the goals came from Abbonizio. “Our goal was to mercy rule them and get out of there quick,” he said. “So, that’s what we were focused on, really. Staying focused, getting out of there quick, all that.”

The margin was 6-0 after the second frame. Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley made a goaltender change at that point, lifting freshman Topher Seiller, who made 28 saves in the first two periods. Mark Jorgenson went the rest of the way.

Seiller was one of six freshmen in the lineup for the Falcons.

We’re a young team,” Daley said. “We’re a majority of freshmen and sophomore guys, they’ve got a lot of learning to do.”

Daley, who played for Pennsbury himself when he was in high school, said Wednesday’s game was an opportunity for his players to get a sense of what is needed to play consistently at a high level.

“It helps our guys see what a top-level team in this league can be,” he said. “We’re in the same league. (C.B. South) is not a AAA team. We’re both AA teams. And for us to have that big of a gap, it really should get our guys going. I hope it does, it gets me going.”

For his part. Skorski feels the young Falcons are headed in the right direction. “They seem young,” he said, “They seem like they have talent but I think we had some of our older guys who were just bigger, stronger, and faster.

“But in terms of skill that’s going to be a good team in the next couple years.”

By Rick Woelfel

Pennsbury 0 0 0—0

C.B. South 4 2 4—10

First-period goals: Alex Glushek (CBS) from Ryan Gingras and Josh Weber, 1:00; Colin Abbonizio (CBS) unassisted, 3L42; Reis Braccio (CBS) from Flo Kraus and Connor Gaffney, 12:01; Stephen McMillan, from Dominick Liberta, 12:35.

Second-period goals: Liberta (CBS) from Braccio and D.J. Loverdi, 9:33; Abbonizio (CBS) from Liberta and McMillan, 12:12.

Third-period goals: Braccio (CBS) from McMilland and Harry McLaughlin, 5:53; Connor Gaffney (CBS) from Gringras and Kraus, Abbonizio (CBS) from Braccio and Weber, 11:03, McMillan (CBS) unassisted, 12:05.

Shots: Pennsbury 6, C.B. South 44; Saves: Topher Seiller (P) 28 and Mark Jorgenson (P) 6, Mason Moyer (CBS) 6.