Council Rock South 6 Pennsbury 2

BRISTOL—It didn’t take Jake Weiner long to make an impact Wednesday night. Two minutes, 48 seconds, to be exact.

Weiner, who led the SHSHL in scoring last season, was in top form, giving his team the early lead and collecting three goals and two assists as Council Rock South bested Pennsbury 6 -2 in a SHSHL National matchup at Grundy Arena.

Jordan Sarne, Weiner’s linemate, didn’t do badly either, providing a goal and five assists as the Golden Hawks, the three-time defending division champions won their second straight to start the new season.

It was a tighter game than the final score indicates. South led just 2-1 after the second period before pulling away on the strength of four third-period goals in a span of 8:17.

“We persevered,” said South coach Joe Houk, “and we were good enough to win. Not a great game, not our best. But, we’ll bounce back.”

The Falcons (0-2) hung tough for two periods plus. Connor Gray lifted Pennsbury into a 1-1 tie with 5:22 left in the opening period with a shot from the top of the right circle that eluded South goaltender Troy Prozzillo.

The only goal of the middle period came from South’s Allen Pronin on a setup from Weiner and Sarne on a play that started on the deep right wing.

Starting the third frame the game was up for grabs but Sarne’s goal at 1:55 gave South some breathing room. Weiner, Nathaniel Grinberg, and Weiner again followed with additional goals to make it a 6-1 game with 6:48 left in regulation.

Shane Hicks added a consolation goal for Pennsbury with 4:46 left.

“They’re a good team over there,” Weiner said of the Falcons. “They have great coaches over there.

“We just worked. {Houk} always says ‘Work hard and we’ll find a way to win.’ That’s what we did tonight.”

Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley praised his team’s effort, which included 47 saves from goaltender Brendan Milliken.

“I’m really happy with the way we played,” he said. “It was very encouraging. They got that third goal on a broken play that we had a great chance to get out. Our guy gets tripped up a little, the play comes back the other way, they score.

“It was a little deflating. We kind of took our eye off the ball for a little it and they converted.”

Houk stresses that his two big guns do the little things well on a night-to-night basis, which sets an example for the rest of the lineup.

“It’s real important” Houk said, “because I preach to these guys about the little things you do in games that make a difference whether you win or lose. And, when they do all the right things all the time, they make mistakes, but the other guys feed off of that.”

Pennsbury 1 0 1–2

CR. South 1 1 4—6

First-period goals: Jake Weiner (CRS) from Jordan Sarne, 2:48; Connor Gray (P) unassisted, 11:38

Second-period goal: Allen Pronin (CRS) from Weiner and Sarne, 15:47

Third-period goals: Sarne (CRS) from Weiner, 1:55; Weiner (CRS) from Sarne, 7:54; Nathaniel Grinberg (CRS) from William Hollis and Chase Strattan, 8:22; Weiner (CRS) from Sarne, 10:12; Shane Hicks (P) unassisted, 12:14

Shots: Pennsbury 32, C.R. South 53; Saves: Brendan Milliken (P) 47, Troy Prozzillo (CRS) 30

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C.B. South 9 Pennsbury 2

Shoot early and shoot often. That’s been a winning formula for Central Bucks South for some time now and that was the case once more on Thursday night. The Titans tallied 52 shots on goal and nine found their intended target in a 9-2 win over Pennsbury at Hatfield Ice Arena.

“That’s classic C.B. South hockey said assistant coach Josh Sklar. “Put pucks in deep. Go get them, put pucks on net. Go to work. Pressure them all game long.”

Joey Slobodrian found the back of the net twice and seven other players scored one goal each to enable the Titans (12-6, 12-3 in the division) to move into third place in the division standings. The result assures they will be seeded no lower than fourth for the upcoming National Division playoffs.

Senior Ryan Frey assisted on Slobodrian’s game-opening goal 6:23 into the first period before scoring a goal of his own just over five minutes later.

“It was very important to get off to a fast start,” Frey said, “because we might see {Pennsbury} in the playoffs so getting off to a fast start just shows them we’re the better team.”

Ryan Montagna extended South’s lead to 3-0 before the first period ended.

Shane Gleisner got the Falcons (6-11, 6-10 in the division) on the scoreboard five minutes into the second frame but Slobodrian and Dominic Gibson scored goals 52 seconds apart to assert the Titans’ hold on the proceedings. Jacob Sarver’s goal made it 5-2 with 5:43 still to go in the period but the Falcons’ hopes were dashed when Keith Waldron, Jake Stepp, Jeff Kvecher, and Logan Hood all scored for South.

Both teams lost a player when South’s Sean Cutter and Pennsbury’s Chris Sarver got into a scrap with 10:41 remaining in regulation. Cutter drew a double minor for roughing plus a game misconduct for accumulating four penalties during the game. Sarver was accessed a major penalty for fighting plus am automatic game misconduct.

Both players will serve one-game suspensions but the loss of Sarver, one of the Falcons’ top scorers, will be particularly troublesome when Pennsbury, who is trying to hold on to the division’s final playoff spot, faces division leader North Penn on Wednesday.

“It was not our night,” said Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley. “We played a very poor game in our D-zone and got behind the ball too quick.

“The first three goals were ‘Third guy high’ unmarked That’s simple hockey, you really shouldn’t make the same mistake three times.

“It was not our best. It was a game we would have loved to win. But they executed their game plan and we didn’t.”

Ice chips—Five of the six division playoff qualifiers have been determined. North Penn, Council Rock South, Central Bucks South, Pennridge, and Central Bucks East have all qualified, although seedings have not been finalized. Pennsbury has a three-point edge over Neshaminy for the sixth and final spot. The Falcons and ‘Skins each have two games remaining.

Pennsbury 0 2 0

C.B. South 3 2 4—9

First-period goals: Joey Slobodrian (CBS) from Sean Cutter and Ryan Frey, 6:23; Frey (CBS) from Slobodrian and Alex Cannon, 11:34; Ryan Montagna (CBS) from Jeff Kvecher and Keith Waldron, 15:17

Second-period goals: Shane Gleisner (P) from Chris Sarver, 5:00; Slobodrian (CBS) from Cutter, 7:54; Dominic Gibson (CBS) from Logan Hood, 8:46; Jacob Sarver (P) from Logan Weed, 11:17

Third-period goals: Waldron (CBS) from Kvecher and Braxton Lord, 4:42; Jake Stepp (CBS) from Kvecher, 10:56 (pp); Kvecher (CBS) from Peter Herring, 14:27; Hood (CBS) from Stepp 15:39

Shots: Pennsbury 20, C.B. South 52; Saves: Brendan Milliken (P) 43, Ewan McMenemy (CBS) 18

C.B. East 5 Pennsbury 3

Jaden Young made a big impression Wednesday night. He scored three goals and assisted on a fourth, as Central Bucks East downed Pennsbury 5-3 at Hatfield Ice in a SHSHL National Division matchup with significant postseason implications.

The win moved the Patriots past the Falcons into fifth place in the division standings. It also gave them a sweep of the two-game season series.

Young spoke to the significance of the occasion.

“This game was especially important,” the senior said. “We need to get as many wins as as we can. We need to win the games we need to win.

“In reality, we need to play our game every game regardless of who the competition is.”

Ethan Cenci gave East (7-9, 7-8 in the division) the lead with 2:43 left in the first period when he won a race for a loose puck on the right wing and went on to put a backhander past Falcon goaltender Brendan Millikan. Ben Dempsey made a 2-0 game with 29 seconds left when a rebound of Young’s shot squirted free.

Kevin DeRosa scored for Pennsbury (5-11, 5-10) 2:19 into the second frame but then Young stepped up, scoring two goals 20 seconds apart to give his team a 4-1 lead 3:22 into the period.

Jacob Sarver scored a power play goal for the Falcons with 2:39 left in the period but Pennsbury could get no closer. Young completed his hat trick 1:21 into the third period. Shane Hicks closed out the scoring for Pennsbury with 10:17 left in the game.

East coach Jeff Mitchell said his team’s quick start was huge in light of later stumbles.

“We got great momentum to start the first period,” he said. “We started taking a couple of penalties a let them back into the game; teams make us pay when we go down a man.”

Mitchell noted that Young’s back-to-back goals swung momentum in the Patriots’ direction.

“We doubled up on him within one shift,” he said. “That just goes to show just how big a difference maker {Young} can be.”

Cole Breen got the win in goal, stopping 15 shots along the way. Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley said Breen’s impact on the game was huge.

“We had a lot of great chances in the first period,” he said. “Their goalie had a great night. You just hope you score on some of the chances you worked so hard for. We just couldn’t get them to go in.

Pennsbury 0 2 1—3

C.B. East 2 2 1—5

First-period goals: Ethan Cenci (CBE) from David Brown, 14:17; Ben Dempsey (CBE) from Jaden Young and Brown, 16:31 (pp)

Second-period goals: Kevin DeRosa (P) from Chris Sarver, 2:19; Young (CBE) from Gavin Wilmer, 3:02; Young (CBE) from Cenci, 3:22; Jacob Sarver (P) from Chris Sarver, 14:21(pp)

Third-period goals: Young (CBE) unassisted, 1:21; Shane Hicks (P) from DeRosa, 6:43

Shots: Pennsbury 18, C.B. East 28; Saves: Brendan Millikan (CBE) 23, Cole Breen (CBE) 15

Pennridge 9 Pennsbury 1

For the first time in some time, Pennridge put all the pieces together at the same time.

After falling behind six minutes after the opening faceoff, the Rams got down to business and posted a 9-1 win over Pennsbury in a SHSHL national Division encounter at Hatfield Ice.

With the win, the Rams improved to 16-0-1 overall and 15-0-1 in divisional play. The Falcons fell to 3-12 overall and in the division. The loss eliminates Pennsbury from SHSHL playoff contention.

The contest was far more competitive than the final score indicates. The Rams but the game away with five goals in the third period but they worked for everything they got; to the immense satisfaction of their coach, Jeff Montagna.

“It was our best effort in about two months,” he said, “since the Council Rock South game.

“I told them the blueprint of how we want to play. You just wear teams down and we wore that team down.”

The Falcon took it to the Rams early on. Chris Sarver have Pennsbury a 1-0 lead 5:47 into the first frame with a splendid dash down the right wing that finished when he backhanded the puck past Pennridge goaltender Jacob Winton.

Tyler Manto and Andrew Savona answered to give Pennridge a 2-1 lead after one period. Kevin Pico and Colin Dachowski added goals in the second stanza.

It was still a contest at that point and Dachowski was impressed with the fact that he and his mates were staying focused on the business at hand.

“I think the last couple games, we haven’t been playing like that,” he said. “We haven’t been playing more like a team. Going into the playoffs in four weeks, we’ve got to be ready and I think we showed that tonight.

Shane and Colin Dachowski, Savona, Dean Venner, and Nolan Shaw all scored third-period goals for Pennridge as the falcons’ gas tank dropped toward empty.

But Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley was impressed with his team’s effort.

“I think for two periods we were right there with them,” he said. “Their goalie is good. I feel like I say that a lot but he had a great game.

Daley noted his team had a number of quality chances.

“If you were really watching that game, we really did have a lot of scoring chances,” he said. “And the puck just wasn’t finding our stick, or [Winton] made a great save, or his defensemen blocked it. They were right spots at the right time.

“But, I was happy with the way we played, I was happy with the effort.”

Pico had a five-point night that included four assists. Shane Dachowski finished with three assists.

With the results of Wednesday’s games, the field for the National Division playoffs has been finalized. The six teams include Pennridge, Council Rock South, Central Bucks South, Central Bucks East, North Penn, and Souderton. The Rams and the Golden Hawks will have byes into the semifinals.

Pennsbury 1 0 0—1

Pennridge 2 2 5—9

First-period goals: Chris Sarver (Pb) unassisted, 5:47; Tyler Manto (Pr) unassisted, 8:33; Andrew Savona (Pr) from Kevin Pico and Shane Dachowksi, 13:11

Second-period goals: Pico (Pr) from Shane Dachowski and Savona, 7:09; Colin Dachowski (Pr) from Pico, 12:45 (pp)

Third-period goals: Shane Dachowski (Pr) from Nolan Shaw and Pico, 1:20; Dean Venner (Pr) unassisted, 5;10; Shaw (Pr) from Justin Dinsmore, 10:22; Savona (Pr) from Pico and Shane Dachowski, 11:20; Colin Dachowski (Pr) unassisted, 12:29

Shots: Pennsbury 26, Pennridge 46; Saves: Aaron McDaniel (P) 37, Jacob Winton (P) 25

C.B. East 6 Pennsbury 1

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—It was a game both teams needed. For Central Bucks East and Pennsbury, Thursday night’s encounter was essentially a pre-playoff game.

It was the Patriots who prevailed. Jaden Young scored two goals and four other players added one goal each in East’s 6-1 win that solidified its quest for a SHSHL National Division playoff spot.

The result lifted the Patriots to 7-4-1 on the season and put them in fourth place in the division standings, one point ahead of North Penn, which has a game in hand. East is unbeaten in its last three starts.

Pennsbury dropped to 3-9 on the season, putting the Falcons three points behind sixth-place Souderton, which defeated Neshaminy Thursday night and now occupies the sixth and final playoff spot.

Despite missing three players due to injuries and club duty, the Patriots had the necessary ingredients for a winning recipe. Chief among them was a commitment to sharing the puck.

“We had a lot of good production out of everybody tonight,” said East coach Jeff Mitchell. “Even out of Line Three, they were kind of taking care of business and did a good job to get us an overall win tonight.”

Corey Kosick’s goal, which came at the 7:34 mark of the first frame, gave East a 1-0 advantage. David Brown, with Kosick’s help, made it 2-0 with a shorthanded goal just 39 seconds into the middle period. Gavin Wilmer’s shot from the right point made it a 3-0 game with 6:19 left in the period before Young added his first goal of the game with 59 seconds left.

The Falcons, who were also missing several players because of club duty, got on the scoreboard on Chris Sarver’s goal 61 seconds into the third period.

Young responded with his second goal of the game at the 6:05 mark and Ethan Cenci put a wrap on the evening with 1:08 remaining.

Young had an assist to go with his two goals while Alex Wilson contributed two assists.

Mitchell noted that his players have been more focused on the task at hand during their unbeaten streak.

“I think we’ve got our lines kind of settled for the rest of the season,” he said. “So, we’re starting to see some good chemistry with everybody and everybody’s kind of buying into the same page.

“So, we’re seeing a lot of good things out of pretty much all three lines right now. So, we hope it continues.”

Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley praised the work of East netminder Cole Breen, who finished with 30 saves.

“[Breen] had a great game,” he said. “We had our fair share of chances but he was tough to crack.

“I liked the way we played for the most part but a few mistakes ended up in our net, and with the performance they were getting from their net those mistakes are hard to come back from.”

Pennsbury 0 0 1—1

C.B. East 1 3 2—6

First-period goal: Corey Kosick (CBE) from Jaden Young, 7:34

Second-period goals: David Brown (CBE) from Kosick, 1:21 (sh); Gavin Wilmer (CBE) from Alex Wilson and Sam Gottesman, 6:19; Young (CBE) from Wilmer, 16:01

Third-period goals: Chris Sarver (P) unassisted, 1:01; Young (CBE) from Wilson, 6:05; Ethan Cenci (CBE) from Drew Trask and Charlie Keiser, 15:52

Shots: Pennsbury 31, C.B. East 27 Saves: Aaron McDaniel (P) 21, Cole Breen (CBE) 30

Souderton 6 Pennsbury 5 OT

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—Two precious points. That’s what was at stake when Pennsbury and Souderton laced up their skates at Hatfield Ice Wednesday night.

The two points at stake would enhance the winner’s status in the fight for a SHSHL National Division playoff spot and hopefully attract the notice of the Flyers Cup Committee.

It took overtime to settle the issue. Seth Grossman’s goal 2 minutes, 40 seconds into the extra session gave the Big Red a 2-1 win. It was Souderton’s second-one goal win over the Falcons this season; the first was a 9-8 decision on November 15.

Both sides took something away from the evening. Since the game went to overtime each team got a point in the standings with the Big Red (4-6) getting an extra point for the win.

Souderton coach Ryan Uchniat left no doubt as to the significance of those two precious points.

“Huge,” he said. Pennsbury is playing great hockey. We’re locked in with them in the standings [Off Wednesday’s result, Souderton is one point ahead of the Falcons with a game in hand]. We’re taking it one game time but [the playoffs] are the end goal. That’s where we’re hoping to be at the end of the year.”

Max Ryon scored two goals and added an assist for the Big Red and four of Ryon’s teammates also scored goals, but the most important player on the ice in Souderton colors was goaltender Connor Paulus. A junior who only started playing hockey as a freshman, and a first-year goaltender to boot, Paulus came up big on a night when his team needed him, he finished with 26 saves.

“He excelled,” Uchniat said. “He win this game for us.”

Paulus said he put the pads on because his team needed a goaltender.

“I think I’m getting a feel for it,” he said.

Grossman saluted his goaltender’s effort.

“[Paulus] been making extreme strides in his play throughout the season,” he said. “He’s been getting better each game. I think you could see this game, he stood on his head. He really bailed us out a couple times.”
Paulus’s effort also drew raves from Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley. [Paulus] was playing out of his mind,” he said. “It was a very special game for him.”

The Falcons (3-8) appeared to have the momentum late in the second frame when Souderton, which was leading 4-3 at the time, drew two penalties 39 seconds apart, giving Pennsbury a two-man advantage.

The Falcons made the most of the opportunity; Logan Doyle and Jason Fowler scored power-play goals 33 seconds apart to give Pennsbury a 5-4 lead with 2:20 left in the period.

But the Falcons could not solve Paulus again. Ryon tied the game with 4:30 left in regulation to set up the finish.

Fittingly enough, he made of his best saves when he denied Chris Sarver 59 seconds into overtime.

For the Falcons, the defending Class AA Flyers Cup champions, it was another case of ‘Almost.’ Four of their eight losses have come by one goal.

“Truly the record doesn’t reflect the talent of our team,” Daley said. “We’ve definitely improved since the beginning of the season. We’re a couple plays away from having six wins.”

Pennsbury 2 3 0 0—5

Souderton 2 2 1 1—6

First-period goals: Chris Sarver (P) unassisted, 7:12; Jackson Kelly (S) from Nick Smith, 8:52; Max Ryon (S) from Matt Malagna, 10:50; Stephen Grosscup (P) from Shane Gleisner and Kevin Derosa, 16:20

Second-period goals: Marcus Roberts (P) from Evan Eisler and Derosa, 5:10; Matthew Cross (S) from Ryon and Pierceson Egan, 6:07 (pp) Smith (S) unassisted, 12:03; Logan Doyle (P) from Sarver and Jason Fowler, 14:07 (pp): Fowler (P) from Doyle, 14:40 (pp)

Third-period goal: Ryon (S) unassisted, 12:30

Overtime goal: Seth Grossman (S) from Smith, 2:40

Shots: Pennsbury 31, Souderton 25; Saves: Aaron McDaniel (P) 19, Connor Paulus (S) 26

Class AA Flyers Cup Finals Preview

Tuesday’s Class AA Flyers Cup championship game between second-seeded Pennridge and defending champion and fifth-seeded Pennsbury (6:00 at Hatfield Ice) figures to be quite a shootout. Rams and the Falcons have scored a combined 37 goals in their three meetings against each other this season. Pennsbury has won two of the three, including in the SHSHL National Division semifinals on March 1.

Pennridge’s Flyers Cup win last March is the only one in school history. Pennsbury won titles as a Class A team in 1993 and 2000. The Falcons were members of the Lower Bucks League at the time. They joined the SHSHL for the 2007-08 season.

Pennridge (16-5)

Coach: Jeff Montagna

Players to watch: So. Jacob Winton (G); Jr. Colin Dachowski (D); So. Shane Dachowski (F); Jr. Kevin Pico (F); Jr. Andrew Savona (F)

Pennsbury (17-6)

Coach: Ryan Daley

Players to watch: Jr. Aaron McDaniel (G); Sr. Justin Marlin (D); Sr. Brendan MacAinish (F); Sr. Andrew Falkenstein (F); Jr. Logan Doyle (F)

11-3 Pennsbury 6 Pennridge 3

1-12 Pennridge 11 Pennsbury 4

3-1 Pennsbury 8 Pennridge 5

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

Pennsbury 8 C.B. South 2

BRISTOL—It was all systems go for Pennsbury Thursday night. The Falcons lit up the scoreboard at Grundy Arena as if it were a holiday light display in an 8-2 win over Central Bucks South in a SHSHL National Division non-league encounter.

Brendan Macainsh scored four goals and assisted on two others to help Pennsbury to its third straight win and fourth win overall in six starts. Justin Marlin added two goals and two assists. Shane Gleisner and Chris Sarver also scored goals.
The Falcons are averaging five goals a game and have scored 21 times over the course of their last three outings,
Macainsh, a senior and Pennsbury’s captain, says the team’s recent offensive surge stems from aggressive forechecking.

“We weren’t forechecking as much,” he said. “We were just kind of lagging around. We had to pick up our tempo, we had to play the full game, all three periods.”

Justin Marlin put Pennsbury in front just 28 seconds into the first period on a shot from the left point that eluded South netminder Dom Varacallo. Aidan Linso answered for the Titans when he beat Aaron McDaniel with 7:21 left in the opening session, but the Falcons broke the game open in the second frame.

Macainsh, Marlin, Gleisner (with the most picturesque goal of the night off a two-on-one situation), and Macainsh again scored goals in a span of just over six minutes to give Pennsbury a 5-1 lead.

Sean Cutter ended the streak when he scored for the Titans (3-4 overall during a four-on-four situation but Macainsh completed his hat trick with one minute left in the period.

At period’s end the Falcons led 6-2 although their shot advantage was just 23-21. At that point, South coach Shaun McGinty replaced Varacallo in goal with Jason Magaruth before Sarver and Macainsh added goals for Pennsbury in the final period.

McGinty made it clear afterward that Varacallo did not get the defensive support he deserved.

“They were getting two-on-ones, three-on-ones, they were getting odd-man breaks,” he said. “Our defense struggled, they were subpar, and they were outworked.

“I only pulled Dom because it wasn’t fair to him. He gave up (six goals on 23 shots) but on the two-on-ones and the second chances, I’m not putting that on him. Our defense was subpar, we were losing battles, they outworked us.”

Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley expressed satisfaction with his team’s performance.

“We’ve had some good games this year,” he said, “but I think that was the first time we put three full periods together. It seems like the chemistry is finally kind of getting there.”

C.B. South 1 1 0—2

Pennsbury 1 5 2—8

First-period goals: Justin Marlin (P) unassisted, :28; Aidan Linso (CBS) from Brad Cannon and Justin Montagna, 9:39.

Second-period goals: Brendan Macainsh (P) unassisted, :12 (sh); Marlin (P) from Andrew Falkenstein, 2:02; Shane Gleisner (P) from Logan Doyle, 5:04; Macainsh from Chris Sarver and Connor Kane, 6:14; Sean Cutter (CBS) from Linso, 11:10; Macainsh (P) from Marlin, 16:00 (pp).

Third-period goals: Sarver (P) from Jake McCaw and Macainsh, 6:55; Macainsh (P) from Jake Seiler, 13:20 (pp).

Shots: C.B. South 28, Pennsbury 34; Saves: Dom Varacallo (CBS) 17 and Jason Magaruh (CBS) 9, Aaron McDaniel (P) 26