Tag: Sam Norton

North Penn 8 C.B. South 1

Special teams made a huge difference for North Penn Wednesday night. The Knights scored two shorthanded goals not quite three minutes apart in the second period, and added a power-play three-and-a-half minutes after that to break open a tight game and go on to an 8-1 win over Central Bucks South in the annual County Line Cup encounter at Hatfield Ice.

The win kept the reigning Class AA Flyers Cup and state champions unbeaten at 6-0 and 5-0 in SHSHL National.

Ironically, the Knights had to play from behind; it was the Titans (4-3, 3-2 in conference) who scored the first goal of the evening. Owen Frey beat Aidan Quigley in the North Penn net 6:20 into the first frame

Declan Leahy responded for the Knights with 24.7 seconds left in the opening period, a period that saw North Penn build a 14-6 edge in shots.

The flow of play was interrupted by five minor penalties. The Knights’ Sam Norton drew concurrent penalties for cross checking and unsportsmanlike conduct, a circumstance that saw the Titans with a three-and-a-half-minute power play. South failed to capitalize however, an inkling of what was to come.

The Knights drew their fifth penalty of the game when James Boyle was sent off for cross checking 7:04 into the middle period. But his teammates did not sit back.

Chris Silvotti’s shorthanded goal put North Penn in front for the first time with 9:01 left in the period and Norton, once having escaped from the penalty box, added another shorthanded goal with 6:05 remaining. It became a 4-1 game when Daniel Cabrales scored a power-play goal with 2:37 left and Norton added an even-strength goal before the period ended.

“Special teams is always a big factor in these games,” Norton said. “When there are a lot of {penalties} you’ve got to score goals on the power play and not let goals in on the penalty kill.”

On this occasion, the Knights were particularly dangerous while shorthanded and still played up-tempo hockey.

“Sometimes those stretch play work,” Norton said.

Boyle, Leahy, and Tyler Evans all scored for North Penn in the third period, leaving South coach Josh Sklar to wonder what became of his team’s early momentum.

“The first 10 minutes of the game our foot was on the gas,” he said. “We had the momentum we took it off, they took it, and we never got it back.”

Norton led the barrage for North Penn with two goals and two assists. Ismael Cabrales also had a four-point night with a goal and three assists. Boyle finished with a goal and two assists. He notes that team chemistry has been a big factor in North Penn’s success on this night, and over the past two seasons.

“We have lots of chemistry,” going on,” he said. “We know exactly what we want to do when we go out there.

“It’s huge to be able to get momentum off the kill and on the power play. I think overall, the chemistry helps us.”

North Penn 1 4 —8

C.B. South 1 0 0—1

First period goals: Owen Frey (CBS) from Grant Boyne, 6:20; Declan Leahy (NP) from Chris Silvotti and Chase Kelly Del Ricci, 16:36

Second-period goals: Kelly Del Ricci (NP) from Sam Norton, 7:59 (sh); Norton (NP) from James Boyle, 10:55 (sh); Daniel Cabrales (NP) from Boyle and Nolan Shingle 14:23 (pp); Norton (NP) fro9mm Ismael Cabrales and moon Hostetter, 16:15

Third-period goals: Boyle (NP) from Cabrales and Norton, 8:24; Leahy (NP) from Hostetter and Tyler Evans, 10:04; Cabrales (NP) from Norton, 16:02

Shots: North Penn 46, C.B. South 27; Saves: Aidan Qugley (NP) 26, Nathan Napoitano (CBS) 38

North Penn Takes Flyers Cup AA Final

The game was hanging in the balance. With 4 minutes, 26 seconds gone in the third period of Wednesday’s Class AA Flyers Cup final, second-seed North Penn was holding a 3-2 lead over top-seeded Council Rock South.

But the Knights’ Sam Norton was sitting in the penalty box, having been assessed a minor penalty for high sticking and the Golden Hawks, who were preparing to embark on a two-minute power play, seemed to have momentum flowing their way.

But appearances were deceiving.

Instead of taking a conservative stance, the Knights stayed in an up-tempo mode and were rewarded with a shorthanded goal from Cole Pluck exactly 60 seconds into their supposed penalty kill.

Pluck’s effort led to four additional goals in the third period as North Penn pulled away to an 8-2 to claim the first Flyers Cup in school history. North Penn (20-3) will face Erie Cathedral Prep on Saturday in the Class AA State championship game in suburban Pittsburgh.

Pluck finished with two goals and two assists.

“This feel great he said. “The best moment of my life, so far.”

Pluck described his second goal, which altered the entire texture of the game.

“{C.R. South} needed a goal and were pressing up,” he said. “The {defenseman} just stepped up and I went around him.”

Pluck says the Knights are comfortable playing up-tempo hockey in shorthanded situations.

“We like to try to play offense on the kill sometimes,” he said.

The final period of Wednesday’s matchup was a distinctly separate entity than the first two, which saw Jake Weiner score twice for the Golden Hawks (22-3) and Pluck and Norton match him for North Penn. Daniel Cabrales gave North Penn a 3-2 lead 5:56 into the second frame and the Knights took the lead into the break for the post-second-period ice cut.

“We talked to them between the periods,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “We said we knew we had to come out and take it. They weren’t going to give it to us. {He told his team} we’ve got to come out and finish this game. And that’s exactly what we did, we dominated that third period.”

Pluck’s shorthanded goal gave North Penn a 4-2 lead. Norton followed with his second goal of the night with 7:40 remaining as South slowly unraveled; Nolan Shingle, Declan Leahy and Luke Haftel added goals for North Penn in the closing minutes, all of them coming on power plays; there were nine penalties called in the third period five of them against South. North Penn’s Thomas Sprague and South’s Luke Ralston were each drew simultaneous minors and misconducts as part of the emotional overload down the stretch.

South coach Joe Houk gave full credit to the Knights.

“They were the better team tonight,” he said. “We ran out of gas. We have it everything we had.

‘We’ve said three out of the last four years ‘We’ll be back here next year. But we can’t get over that hump.”

• The All-Tournament Team, selected by the Flyers Cup Committee included:

G Andy Norton North Penn

D Jake Maurer Council Rock South

D James Boyle North Penn

F Sam Norton  North Penn

F Cole Pluck North Penn

F Jake Weiner Council Rock South

Norton, a sophomore, was named the winner of the Bobby Clarke Award as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

“It’s a great feeling to know I was the MVP,” he said, “but without the whole team, I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in.”

Norton said winning the Flyers Cup title marked the completion of a season-long journey.

“We had a big goal from the start,” he said, “but completing it and getting ahold of this trophy, it’s unreal.”

Of the 25 players on North Penn’s Flyers Cup roster,  only three were seniors and 11 were underclassmen.

North Penn 2 1 5—8

C.R. South 1 1 0—2

First-period goals; Jake Weiner (CRS) from Wesley Mallon, :54; Cole Pluck (NP) from James Boyle, 1:56; Samuel Norton (NP) from Norton, 6:50

Second-period goals; Weiner (CRS) from Jonah Weston and Jagger Smith, 3:34; Daniel Cabrales (NP) from Declan Leahy, 5:56

Third-period goals: Pluck (NP) from Boyle, 5:36 (sh); Norton (NP) from Pluck, 9:40 Nolan Shingle (NP) from Pluck,  13:14 (pp) Leahy (NP), unassisted, 14:05 (pp); Luke Haftel (NP) from Derek Lugura, 14:40 (pp)

Shots and saves unavailable