PW 4 Abington 1

It wasn’t a stylish performance. But Plymouth Whitemarsh did enough Thursday night to get across the finish line.

Cooper Kanze scored two goals as the Colonials bested a scrappy Abington team 4-1 in a SHSHL American Division test at Hatfield Ice. The Colonials improved to 7-1 overall and in the division. They trail first-place Hatboro-Horsham by eight points as of Thursday night but also have two games in hand; the two teams have split two meetings against each other.

But the Colonials looked sluggish throughout Thursday night’s affair and Kanze, who is his team’ leading goal scorer with 12, did not mince words.

“Two goals helped,” the sophomore said, “but overall, our whole team needs to play better. We know that. We expect more from each other. Everyone expects more from us.”

Kanze opened the scoring with 4:37 left in the opening period but the best player on the ice was Abington goaltender Matt Evangelist, who made 14 saves in the first frame.

That gave the Galloping Ghosts (0-9, 0-9) an opening to tie the game, which they did when Joseph Widmeier scored in a breakaway 1:54 into the second period.

Morgan Hulitt put the Colonials in front with 3:23 left in the middle period before Kanze and John Zawislak added goals in the third.

While the result will be listed in the records as a decisive, the opinions of some witnesses differed, notably that of Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Vince Forti.

“Not our best game,” he said. “We know we can play better. I think it’s tough to go in {the locker room} and be upset after a win but I think every guy in this locker room know we can play much better than we showed today.”

Forti stressed the importance of his players staying focused.

“I think focus is the biggest thing,” he said. “We keep talking about it, but we can’t keep having the same conversations over and over, we need to a change.

“I thought our start was okay but we started losing focus throughout the game. we need to stay locked in for three full periods.”

At the other end of the building, Abington coach Ken Brzozowski got three periods worth of effort from the Galloping Ghosts.

“We talked about limiting our mistakes,” he said, “and things we wanted to do. To play three full periods of hockey and not worry about the score.

“We talked about playing as a unit offensively and defensively. Not two on defense, three on offense. We talked about ‘Five offense and five defense and it kind of translated a little it tonight.”

Abington has scored just nine goals all season and four of their nine games have been shortened due to the 10-goal rule. But Brzozowski says his team’s lack of success has not diminished its resolve.

“This team has not quit,” he said. “They have not put their heads down. Every single one of then (there are 21 players on the roster) comes to practice and works hard. Every single one of them comes to the games.

“I just need what we’re doing in practice to translate to the games.”

Abington 0 1 0—1

PW 1 1 2—4

First-period goal: Cooper Kanze (PW) unassisted, 12:23

Second-period goals: Joseph Widmeier (A) unassisted, 1:54; Morgan Hulitt (PW) from Liam Kelly, 13:37

Third-period goals: Kanze (PW) from Dan Guller, 2:20; John Zawislak (PW) fom Hulitt, 14:23

Shots: Abington 7, PW 41

Saves: Matt Evangelist (A) 34, Braydon Campbell (PW) 6

PW 7 Springfield 2

They got off to a slow start. But for Plymouth Whitemarsh it became business as usual soon enough. The Colonials overcame a 1-0 first-period deficit and rolled to a 7-2 win over Springfield in a SHSHL American Division matchup at Hatfield Ice.

The winners improved to 6-1 overall and in the division; their only loss came to Hatboro-Horsham, a team Plymouth Whitemarsh is battling for division supremacy.

The Colonials’ big guns had big nights. Blake Ambler scored two goals and added three assists had a four-point night, providing two goals and two assists.

But it took the Colonials some time to get started. Springfield (2-6, 2-5 in the division) got on the scoreboard just 2:21 into the first period on a goal from Lincoln Coleman and the Spartans maintained the lead through the end of the opening frame.

The Colonials woke up in the middle period. Ambler tied the game after just 42 seconds when he tipped in Carson Wooldridge’s shot from the right point and Luke Smith tied the game at the 6:06 mark. Morgan Hulitt and Guller added additional goals two minutes apart late in the period to put their side up 4-1 after 34 minutes.

“It was definitely a slow start,” said Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Vince Forti. “That’s something we’re trying to work on but we stepped it up in the end and responded well.”

The Colonials continued to apply pressure early in the third period. Ambler and Guller scored goals and with 11:39 left in the third period the Colonials had a 6-1 advantage.

By that point the Spartans, who had just 12 skaters available seemingly exhausted their energy reserves although Kellen Warren added a goal down the stretch.

“We started off playing hard,” said Springfield coach Don Quinn. “We ran out of gas. We’ve got 12 skaters and one player hurt so it’s tough to compete from start to finish, especially against a team that just keeps coming,

“PW hustled from start to finish. You’ve got to match that energy or you give up seven goals.”

Forti notes that having a deep roster gives him a lot of flexibility.

“We have the ability to roll three lines if everyone is playing well,” he said, “and if we need to shore things up, we can go with two lines if we need to or find a new rotation to really motivate the guys.

Guller, the Colonials’ captain, note how the team has evolved from the start of the season.

“I think we’ve evolved tremendously,” he said. “We have a lot of good freshmen coming up this year, for example Carson Wooldridge an Ethan Peskin, two new guys we added to the bench and they’ve made the defensive four a lot stronger.”

Guller takes his role as a leader seriously.

“I’ve been part of this team for four years,” he said. “Throughout the years, I’ve been treated with respect by the upperclassmen so I know it’s the right thing to do the same with our underclassmen.”

Springfield 1 0 1—2

PW 0 4 3—7

First-period goal: Lincoln Coleman (S) from Grayson Quinn, 2:21

Second-period goals: Blake Ambler (PW) from Carson Wooldridge and Morgan Hulitt, :42; Luke Smith (PW) from Jack Condon, 6:06; Hulitt (PW) from Daniel Guller and Ambler, 14:23 (pp); Guller (PW) from Ambler, 16:37

Third-period goals: Ambler (PW) from Guller, 1:10; Guller (PW) from Ambler. 5:21 (sh); Condon (PW) from John Zawslak, 13:45; Kellen Warren (S) from Trent Gardner, 14:06

Shots: Springfield 24, Plymouth Whitemarsh 41; Saves: Emmett Kline (S) 34, Lucas Bennett 22

P-W 9 Springfield-Delco 6

The goals came in bunches Monday night. Plymouth Whitemarsh stuck with the up-tempo approach that serve them so well during the season and continued to do so in its Flyers Cup debut.

Don Guller and Don Moloney each scored three goals as the Colonials overpowered Springfield Delco 9-6 in a Class A first-round game at Hatfield Ice Arena. Eighth-seeded Plymouth Whitemarsh (17-2) moves on to face top seed Garnet Valley Thursday night in the quarterfinals.

After falling to Hatboro-Horsham in the SHSHL American Division final last Thursday, Guller said his team came into the Flyers Cup with something to prove.

“Unfortunately we lost the championship to Hatboro-Horsham,” he said, “so I think that gave the urge to this team that ‘We need to go out here and win the game.'”

Springfield (5-15) goy things started with a goal from Gavin Ruppert 5:03 into the first period but tallies from Moloney, Blake Ambler, and John Zawislak have the Colonials a 3-1 advantage before the first period ended.

In the second frame, it was more of the same. Rocco Trivarelli scored for the Cougars 42 seconds into the period, but Guller, Ambler, and John Zawislak scored for Plymouth Whitemarsh in an eight-and-a-half minute span to make it a 6-3 game with 7:04 still left in the period.

In short, the game was evolving at pace the Cougars wanted to avoid.

“Offensively I thought we did a lot of things right,” said Springfield coach Dan Dilbeck. “The problem was, we broke down defensively too many times. We did not want to get into a run-and-gun match with these guys (the Cougars outshot the Colonials 39-31). We wanted to play a much more solid game on defense. That’s where we struggled this year and that’s where we struggled tonight.”

Springfield’s Mason Stallings made it a 6-3 game before Guller and Alexander Losaco traded goals to give the Colonials a three-goal cushion headed into a third period that saw Guller and Moloney complete their respective hat tricks with empty-net goal.

Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Vince Forti was pleased with the way his team recovered from their SHSHL finals loss.

“I think we really bounced back and responded,” he said. “and got back to playing the game the way we know we can.”

Forti said it was important for his team to see to their other responsibilities as well as score goals.

“That was the biggest thing we talked about going into this game,” he said. “Just keeping things simple, winning in the dirty areas, and doing the little things.

“At this point, when every game is must-win, you can’t take shifts off, you can’t take things lightly, and I think whatever team makes the least amount of mistakes ends up winning most of the time.”

Springfield 1 3 2—6

PW 3 4 2—9

First-period goals: Gavin Rupert (S) unassisted, 5:03; Don Moloney (PW) from Dan Guller, 6:19; Blake Ambler (PW) unassisted, 12:44 (sh); John Zawislak (PW) from Ryan Jagher 14:46

Second-period goals: Rocco Trivarelli (S) from James Happas and Jake Heston, :42; Ambler (PW) From Guller, 3:41 (pp); Guller (PW) from Luke Smith, 7:47; Moloney (PW) from Morgan Hulitt, 9:56; Mason Stallings (S) from Joe Clifford, 11:51; Guller (PW) from Smith, 14:05; Alexander Losacco (S) from Brendan Becker, 15:57

Third-period goals: Losacco (S) from Clifford, 6:19: Guller (PW) unassisted, 15:21 (en); Rupert (S) from Brandon Truax and Brett Rosser, 16:12; Moloney (PW) from Jagher, 16:46 (en)

Shots: Springfield 39, Plymouth Whitemarsh 31; Saves: Aidan Fitti (S) 22, Julian Lucks (PW) 33

H-H 5 Plymouth Whitemarsh 2

The second-seeded Hatboro Horsham Hatters clawed their way into the SHSHL American Division Championship game and brought its grit to the final upsetting the favored and defending divisional champions the Plymouth Whitmarsh Colonials 5-2 on Thursday night.

The victory marks the first for the Hatters since 2018. The game was also the first win for Hatboro Horsham against the Colonials this season. The teams met four times with Plymouth Whitemarsh claiming victory in all four contests by a combined score of 31-21.

The Hatters came out hot holding a 6-1 shot advantage through the first five minutes before Joseph Magnin Jr. capitalized on the team’s sixth shot of the game thanks to the help of Francis Stanchek and Cole Meyer. Six minutes later Evan Snow collected the loose puck off an initially blocked shot and found the stick of Victor Wilkins to give the Hatters a 2-0 advantage at the end of the first period.

The Colonials offense gained momentum leading the Hatters 11-5 in shots through the first 12 minutes of the second period. Wilkins found himself in the penalty box for a cross check leaving Plymouth Whitemarsh with the advantage firing off five shots in the two minutes. As the penalty expired, Charles Spause collected the puck off to the left and passed into the center for the quick flick into the net by Luke Smith to put the Colonials on the board, 2-1.

Wilkins wasted no time finding the stick of William Moffa to regain a two-goal lead for the Hatters just 14 seconds later. Daniel Guller made it a one-goal game for the Colonials once more off the assist from Cooper Kanze to end the period trailing the Hatters 3-2.

Hatboro Horsham turned up the heat in the final period. The duo of Wilkins and Snow paired up once more just 51 seconds into action to create a two-goal lead for the Hatters for the second time, 4-2.

“I love playing with the younger guys. I like bringing them up and helping them out. He [Snow] stepped up big time. He’s never played like that before and I couldn’t ask for anything more for me or my linemates,” stated Wilkins on the duo’s performance.

Guller saw his chance to cut the deficit to one once more with a breakaway fighting through two defenders but ultimately was stuffed by goaltender Eric Miller. Magnin secured his second goal of the night off the assist from Vincent Graziani securing the 5-2 victory.

Despite the heart-breaking loss, the Colonials look to what lies ahead as they prepare for the Class A Flyers Cup seeded at No. 8 and ready to face Springfield-Delco on Monday night.

“Not the way we wanted to end things, but a good season overall. I think we did a lot of good things and looking to bounce back from this and hopefully roll into the Flyers Cup with a better outcome,” said Plymouth Whitemarsh head coach Vince Forti.

As for the Hatters, head coach Shane Smith touched on the singular message he gave his team heading into the contest.

“Love. We started off with our speech and we did the old Herb Albert. We play them five times. They may beat us four times, but tonight is our night. And tonight proved to be our night,” said Smith.

“We’ve gone to task with them and have had a few close games. I told the boys at the beginning of the season that this is a championship team, and I believed in them and loved them. They came out and have done everything we ever asked. Our goaltender stepped up and had a game like he never has before. We got everything we needed out of the boys. I can’t say enough for them. This was all them.”

As for senior captain Wilkins, this night and this moment was one that he will never forget.

“It means everything. We worked so hard for this. Coming out against an undefeated team like PW. It’s surreal. I couldn’t ask for anything else for my senior season,” exclaimed Wilkins.

The journey isn’t quite over for the Hatters yet as they also move onto the Class A Flyers Cup. Seeded at 14, Hatboro Horsham will celebrate tonight before shifting their focus to Radnor on Monday.

First Period Scoring: Joseph Magnin Jr. (HH) from Francis Stanchek and Cole Meyers, 12:09; Victor Wilkins (HH) from Evan Snow, 6:59

Second Period Scoring: Luke Smith (PW) from Charles Spause, 2:30; Wiliam Moffa (HH) from Victor Wilkins, 2:16; Daniel Guller (PW) from Cooper Kanze, 0:37

Third Period Scoring: Victor Wilkins (HH) from Evan Snow, 16:09; Joseph Magnin Jr. (HH) from Vincent Graziani, 7:03

Shots: Plymouth Whitemarsh 39, Hatboro Horsham 29

Saves: Eric Miller 34, Julian Lucks 27

P-W 6 Wissahickon 2

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—Coaches in all sports talk a lot about remaining disciplined. Plymouth Whitemarsh was in a winner in that department Thursday night and eventually prevailed on the scoreboard.

Blake Ambler scored two goals and assisted on another as the Colonials prevailed over Wissahickon 6-2 in a SHSHL American Division matchup at Hatfield Ice Arena.

The win kept Plymouth Whitemarsh unbeaten at 8-0 overall and most importantly, head and shoulders above the rest of the division with a 7-0 mark.

The key moment of the game came with 4:49 left in the second period just moments after Logan Discus scored a goal to left the Trojans (5-4, 5-3 in the division) into a 1-1 tie.

Discus and one of the Colonials exchanged pleasantries and what began as pushes and shoves evolved into a skirmish in front of the Plymouth Whitemarsh bench. When the dust had settled, the Trojans found themselves without Aiden Brooks and Joseph Gambino, two of their top four scorers. The Colonials were minus Charles Spause but also were granted a five-minute power play.

Ambler’s first goal of the night came with 49 seconds left in the second frame when he carefully put the puck to the right of Wissahickon netminder Fletcher Lynch to give his team a lead it would hold for the balance of the evening.

Ryan Jagher made it a 3-1 game 2:39 into the final period. Logan Honeycutt scored for the Trojans two minutes and change later to make it a one-goal game once more but the Colonials answered emphatically with three goals in a span of 4 minutes, 41 seconds and left their opponents in their wake.

“With the holiday break you could tell there was a little bit of rust, aid Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Vince Forti. “But, I think halfway through the second, we started picking it up and getting back to our game. And, I think it showed by the end result.

Forti credited his team for the way it moved the puck.

“I would say that’s been one of our strengths all season,” he said. “Our puck movement has been great. We try to work on it a lot at practice but {the players} deserve a lot of credit too because they’ve been really good about that.”

Wissahickon coach James Rumsey said the altercation impacted his team’s cohesion.

“We have too small a team to lose two people,” he said. “Especially key people. That hurt us a lot. But we felt good for the time we were playing. We had a close game the whole time up until then.”

Ambler noted the importance of the Colonials maintaining their composure following the altercation.

“If we started brawling and fighting everyone, then it would just turn into penalty after penalty, after penalty” he said. “You wouldn’t be able to do anything, you wouldn’t be playing hockey. You’ve just got to play hockey if you want to go out and win.”:

Plymouth Whitemarsh 1 1 4—6

Wissahickon 0 1 1—2

First-period goals Daniel Molony (PW) from Daniel Guller, 13:51

Second-period goals: Logan Discus unassisted, 12:11; Blake Ambler (PW) from Luke Smith and Chris Londen, 16:11 (pp)

Third-period goals: Ryan Jagher (PW) from Londen, 2:39; Logan Honeycutt unassisted, 4:54; Guller (PW) from Smith and Ambler, 9:16; Cooper Kanzee (PW) unassisted, 9:30; Ambler (PW) from Londen and Kanzee, 13:57

Shots: Plymouth-Whitemarsh 49, Wissahickon 26; Saves: Julian Lucks (PW) 24, Fletcher Lynch 40

Plymouth Whitemarsh 11 Hatboro-Horsham 6

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—The start of a new hockey season marks a new beginning. That was especially so for Hatboro-Horsham and Plymouth Whitemarsh, who squared off Thursday night in an SHSHL American Division matchup at Hatfield Ice Arena.

The Colonials, who qualified for the Class A Flyers Cup tournament a year ago, were playing their first game for new coach Vince Forti.

The Hatters are returning to pure status in the SHSHL this season, meaning that every player on the roster is Hatboro-Horsham High School student which in turn makes the team eligible once more for postseason play.

But the Hatters took the ice minus goaltender Eric Miller, who was absent due to a concussion. Connor Smith, a defenseman by trade, stepped in in Miller’s place and gave a solid effort and made a number of quality saves, but the Colonials overcame an early 2-0 deficit and went on to post an 11-6 win.

Blake Ambler paced Plymouth Whitemarsh with four goals: he assisted on two others. Chris London delivered three goals and Daniel Molony two. Cooper Kanze, a freshman playing in his first high-school hockey game, added a goal and two assists.

“It was fun,” Kanze said. “I like the challenge. It’s way different from middle school, but way more fun.”

Vincent Graziano and Nathan Nemchinov scored goals 37 seconds apart to give Hatboro-Horsham a two-goal lead with 4:15 left in the opening period.

But the Hatters lost Reid Rochestie to a game misconduct penalty during an altercation and momentum shifted in the Colonials’ direction.

Ambler cut the deficit in half at the 2:15 mark before Kanze pushed the puck past Smith just as the buzzer sounded to end the period.

The goal counted and the Colonials rolled on from there, scoring eight times in the second period in a span of 9 minutes, 46 seconds.

Nemchinov scored his second goal of the night for the Hatters to tie the game at 3-3 with exactly 10 minutes left in the middle period but the Colonials responded with seven unanswered goals.

“We got off to a bit of a slow start, Forti said. But we stuck together as a team and really picked it up and came out with a solid win.”

Hatboro-Horsham coach Shane Smith praised his son Connor’s effort in goal.

“I thought he did a hell of a job,” He said. With [38] shots on net and he made some big saves. Unfortunately, we ended up on the losing end of the deal, but we have a lot to build on.”

Hatboro-Horsham 2 2 2—6

Plymouth Whitemarsh 2 8 1—11

First-period goals: Vincent Graziani (HH) unassisted, 12:08; Nathan Nemchinov (HH) unassisted, 12:45; Blake Ambler (PW) from Ryan Jagher, 14:59; Cooper Kanze (PW) from Ambler, 0:00

Second-period goals: Daniel Moloney (PW) from Chris London and Julian Zawislak, 5:06; Nemchinov (HH) from Evan Snow, 7:00; Chris London (PW) unassisted, 7:49; London (PW) from Luke Smith, 7:58; Ambler (PW) from Smith, 8:47; Ambler (PW) from Kanze and Smith, 10:40; Molony (PW) unassisted, 12:42; Daniel Guller (PW) from Ambler, 14:07; Ryan Campbell (PW) from Morgan Hulitt, 14:52; Joseph Mangin (HH) Darius Graziani, 16:37

Third-period goals: Victor Wilkins (HH) unassisted, 2:24; Kanze (PW) from Guller and Ambler, 3:57; Darius Graziani (HH) from Vincent Graziani, 6:31

Shots: Hatboro-Horsham 30, Plymouth Whitemarsh 38; Saves: Connor Smith (HH) 27, Julian Lucks (PW) 24

Unionville 5 P-W 2

The bigger the stakes, the more missed opportunities and mistakes hurt. Plymouth Whitemarsh learned that season the hard way in its Flyers Cup opener against Unionville Monday night.

The Longhorns turned in in a methodical workmanlike performance over the eighth-seeded Colonials en route to a 5-2 win in a Class A first-round game at Hatfield Ice.

The eighth-seeded Colonials closed their season at 13-5 The ninth-seeded Longhorns (9-11) advance to play top seed and three-time defending champion West Chester East Thursday night at Ice Line at a time to be determined.

Plymouth Whitemarsh found itself in a hole early on. Anthony Kulp beat Colonial netminder Julian Lucks from the left circle just 24 seconds after the opening faceoff.

The Colonials also hurt themselves with penalties. Jason Segal was called for boarding just 1:25 into the opening period, and picked up the 10-minute misconduct that went with it. Segal’s teammate Tim Murphy drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty at 3:36 and this time Unionville struck; Alex Tomaszewicz made it a 2-0 game with a power-play goal at the 4:40 mark.

Michael Ta scored twice in the second frame to give the Longhorns a 4-0 lead but the Colonials kept battling; indeed they outshot the Longhorns 31-24. But they were unable to solve Unionville goaltender Zach Tomaszewicz until the third period. By that point, Cole Blackburn tallied the Longhorn’s fifth goal 3:21 into the final session.

Charlie Spause finally got Plymouth Whitemarsh on the scoreboard at the 5:27 mark. Issac Mishkin added a shorthanded effort with 1:20 left in the game.

Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Dave Cox noted that his team battled to the finish despite the steep uphill climb it faced.

“We dug ourselves a hole early,” he said. “We found some momentum and really could have capitalized on the chances that we got.”

After Spause’s goal. Cox wished for just a little more time.

“It’s unfortunate,” he said, “especially for our seniors. I couldn’t be more proud of our leadership group, our senior group.”

Cox said the heart his team displayed will leave him with warm memories of the 2023-24 season.

“Especially [The SHSHL American Division final],” he said. “We never stopped playing. When these guys get going and they band together, it’s truly the most honorable thing for a coach.”

Although they were the home team, the Colonials wore their alternate red jerseys, styled after those of the Montreal Canadians, instead of the customary white. The jerseys are early nominees for the Most Impressive Uniforms in the tournament,

Plymouth Whitemarsh 0 0 2

Unionville 2 2 1—5

Plymouth Whitemarsh 0 0 2

First period goals: Anthony Kulp (U) from Cole Blackburn, :24; Alex Tomaszewicz (U) from Riley Andrews,4:40 (pp)

Second-period goals: Michael Ta (U) from Tomaszewicz, 8:45; Ta (U) from Corrado Ditoro, 16:04

Third-period goals: Blackburn (U) from Tripp Young and Kulp, 3:21; Charlie Spause (PW) from Tim Murphy, 11:33 Issac Mishkin (PW) from Jason Segal, 15:40

Shots: Unionville 24, P-W 31; Saves: Zach Tomaszewicz 29, Julian Lucks (PW) 19

Playoff Ponderings SHSHL 2-27-24

Wednesday, February 28

National Division Semifinals

Pennridge vs. 4. Central Bucks East

8:45 at Hatfield Ice

Pennridge (17-1-2)

The Rams will put one of the most potent lines in SHSHL history on ice. Kevin Pico has scored 28 goals and added 47 assists for 75 points. Andrew Savona has added 40 goals and 31 assists for 71 points while Shane Dachowski has provided 27 goals and 33 assists for 60 points. The trio finished first, third, and fifth respectively in the SHSHL in regular-season scoring.

Goaltender Jacob Winton carries an .897 save percentage and a 2.64 GAA.

Pennridge went 1-0-1 against East this season.

Central Bucks East 12-5-2

The Patriots will be without three players and Head Coach Jeff Mitchell Wednesday night due to suspensions but they will have the services of Corey Kosick who has scored 27 goals and added 12 assists for 39 points. Jaden Young has provided 10 goals and added 16 assists.

Goaltender Cole Breen carries an .895 save percentage and a 3.43 GAA.

The Patriots are hoping to get a chance to play for their first SHSHL title since 2011.

2. Council Rock South vs. 3. Central Bucks South

7:20 at Grundy Arena

Council Rock South (18-1)

The Golden Hawks are hoping for a chance to successfully defend their division title, something no National Division team has done since Central Bucks South won four straight division crowns from 2015-18.

Kevin Koles leads his team in scoring with 24 goals and 26 assists for 50 points. Jake Weiner is next with 28 goals and 20 assists for 48 points while Blaize Pepe has contributed 16 goals and 27 assists for 43 points.

Trevor Rakszawski is the probable starter in goal. He’s maintaining a 2.34 GAA with an .876 save percentage.

The Golden Hawks own two wins over the Titans this season.

Central Bucks South (13-7-1)

It’s been six years since the Titans last won an SHSHL title; they’re looking for a chance to play for another.

D.J. Lindenmuth paces the team in scoring with 22 goals and 15 assists for 37 points. Sean Cutter has added nine goals and 19 assists for 28 points. Nathan Napolitano carries an .883 save percentage and a 2.75 GAA in goal.

Dom Varacallo maintains an .880 save percentage and a 3.08 GAA.

The two semifinal winners will play for the National Division title Thursday night at a site and at a time TBD.

All four semifinalists will move on to the Class AA Flyers Cup on March 5

1.Pennridge will play 16. Bensalem

2. Council Rock South will play 15. Spring Ford

6. Central Bucks South will play 11. Avon Grove

8. Central Bucks East will play 9. Downingtown East

American Division Final

Plymouth Whitemarsh vs. 3. Bensalem

6:50 at Hatfield Ice

Plymouth Whitemarsh (13-3)

The Colonials will be trying for their first American Division title since 2020. David Branigan leads the team in scoring with 23 goals and 16 assists for 39 points. Dylan Novitski is next with 19 goals and 12 assists for 31 points. Jason Segal has contributed 14 goal and 16 assists for 30 points.

Goaltender Julian Lucks carries an .882 save percentage and a 3.21 GAA into the final.

The Colonials won two of three meetings with Bensalem during the regular season.

Bensalem (13-3)

The Owls will try and make history Wednesday night as they seek their first SHSHL title. Alex Hood was second in scoring in the entire SHSHL during the regular season; he’s scored 53 goals and added 20 assists for 73 points. Bensalem will be without second-leading scorer Alex Bazylevich who is serving a suspension but Lucas Gonzales has contributed 12 goal and 19 assists for 31 points.

Goaltender Ricky Gonzalez maintains a .907 save percentage and a 2.87 GAA.

Both teams are assured of moving on to the Flyers Cup. The Colonials are seeded eighth in the Class A field and will face Unionville on March 4. The Owls are seeded 16^th in the Class AA field and will go against Pennridge on March 5.

SHSHL Update for 1-22-14

National Division W L T OW OL Pts

x Pennridge (14-0-1) 13 0 1 0 0 0 27

x Council Rock South (14-1-0) 13 1 0 0 0 26

x Cent. Bucks South (10-3-1) 10 2 1 0 1 22

Central Bucks East (8-4-1) 8 4 2 0 0 17

North Penn (7-5-0) 7 5 0 0 0 14

Souderton (5-8-0) 5 8 0 3 1 11

Pennsbury (3-10-0) 3 10 0 0 2 8

Cent. Bucks West (2-11-1) 2 11 1 0 1 6

Neshaminy (1-10-2) 1 10 2 0 0 4

Council Rock North (1-12-0) 1 12 0 0 1 3

American Division W L T OW OL Pts

x Plymouth White. (9-3) 8 1 0 1 1 17

x Bensalem (9-2) 7 2 0 1 1 15

Abington (4-5-1) 4 3 0 0 0 8

Wissahickon (2-10) 2 8 0 0 1 4

Springfield (1-10) 1 8 0 0 1 1

x clinched playoff spot

National Division Scoring G A Pts

Kevin Pico (Pr) 23 36 59

Andrew Savona (Pr) 28 26 54

Shane Dachowski (Pr) 22 25 47

Kevin Koles (CRS) 22 22 44

Maxwell Ryon (Soud) 29 12 41

Jake Weiner (CRS) 22 18 40

Blaize Pepe (CRS) 15 21 36

Seth Grossman (Soud) 16 17 33

Corey Kosick (CBE) 18 8 26

Illia Mukhin (CRS) 11 15 26

American Division Scoring G A Pts

Alex Hood (Bens) 43 14 57

Alex Bazylevich (Bens) 10 19 29

Seamus Donofry (Ab) 6 21 27

Dylan Novitski (PW) 16 10 26

David Branigan (PW) 15 11 26

Tim Murphy (PW) 9 15 24

Daniel Guller (PW) 7 16 23

Owen Quinn (Sp) 13 9 22

Jason Segal (PW) 11 11 22

Michael Romano (Ab) 10 9 19

PW 3 Bensalem 2

BRISTOL—Plymouth Whitemarsh and Bensalem dressed to impress Thursday night. The Colonials and the Owls took the ice at Grundy Arena looking to impress each other and future opponents well as members of the Flyers Cup Committee charged with constructing that tournament field.

In that sense, the evening was an all-around success.

Blake Ambler’s goal 3:59 into the third period gave Plymouth Whitemarsh a 3-2 win and, for the time being, first place in the SHSHL’s American Division.

The Colonials and the Owls have split two meetings this season; Bensalem prevailed 4-3 in overtime on December 7, and Thursday’s matchup was just as crisply played; each team had an abundance of opportunities and the flow of the game was interrupted by two just penalties, one of which was not enforced because it occurred as a goal was being scored.

The goaltenders were the stars of the evening. Winning netmimder Julian Lucks made 22 stops, a number of them requiring extraordinary effort. His counterpart at the other end of the ice, Rick Gonzalez was even busier, making 38 saves and standing firm against near constant incoming fire, notably in the third period when the Owls, who had only 11 skaters dressed, were running on fumes.

Bensalem (9-2, 7-2 in divisional play) got off to a hot start when Alex Hood beat Lucks from left wing just 13 seconds after the opening faceoff. Hood made it 2-0 with 1:40 left in the period before David Branigan went top shelf for the Colonials with 13 seconds remaining to make it a one goal game.

Chris London scored for Plymouth Whitemarsh (9-3, 8-1 in the division) with 19 seconds left in the second session, setting up what figured to be a scintillating final chapter.

Lucks described himself as ready for whatever came his way.

“I talked to my team,” he said. “They helped me cool down and just stay rested.”

Rest was a luxury the Owls could not afford.

“I liked our start,” said Bensalem coach Bill Hood. “We jumped out on them pretty well at the beginning of the game.”

Eventually however the Owls were hurt by a lack of numbers.

“We had a short bench,” Hood said. “I think the second period we kind of took a step back. They made their push then.”

That trend continued in the third period when Plymouth Whitemarsh outshot Bensalem 13-4.

Colonial coach Dave Cox celebrated the win.

“This is a true team victory,” he said. “We love it. We’ve been waiting for this rematch since we lost to them the first time.

We know in order to be the team we want to be we have to go through tough teams like this. Hats off to Bensalem. They may have tired bodies but they’re always there.”

Ice chips—The Colonials and the Owls will face each other a third time next Thursday night at Grundy. Both teams are assured of being part of the three-team SHSHL American Division playoffs; as of now the Colonials would be seeded first, the Owls second.
The Colonials are eligible for the Class A Flyers Cup tournament, the Owls are classified Class AA

P-W 1 1 1—3

Bensalem 2 0 0 —2

First-period goals: Alex Hood (B) from Alex Bazylevich, :13; Good (B) from Bazylevich and Nick Gambino. 15:20; David Branigan (PW) from Daniel Guller, 16:47

Second-period goal: Chris London (PW) from Blake Ambler and Luke Smith, 16:41

Third-period goal: Ambler (PW) from London, 3:59

Shots: Plymouth Whitemarsh 41, Bensalem 24; Saves; Julian Lucks (PW) 22, Ricky Gonzalez (B) 38