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

Souderton 9 Bensalem 4

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—For Seth Grossman, it was a night to remember. The Souderton senior tallied a career high six goals as the Big Red pulled away from Bensalem to record a 9-4 win Thursday Night in a SHSHL National Division non-league encounter at Hatfield Ice.
It was the first win for Souderton (2-5-0-1) in four games and their biggest offensive output of the season.

“I think it was just the fact that we knew we were missing some of our top guys tonight,” Grossman said. “We had to step up and rose to the challenge and we delivered that. People had to step up and they knew it and they stepped up.”
All told, the Big Red was minus seven regulars for one reason or another but Souderton coach Ryan Uchniat pointed out that those who were on hand stepped up when they had to.

“I think tonight being shorthanded, everybody was focused on what we had to do,” he said. “We executed and played the style we wanted to, disciplined. We wanted to play strong defensively. And we got offense from that.”

The game was competitive for most of two periods. Bensalem (2-5), which had just nine players in uniform (several were absent), battled the Big Red to a 3-3 standoff late in the second frame. But Grossman scored his second goal of the night with 3:42 left in the period and Timmy Alexander added a goal of his own 35 seconds later and Souderton went on to dominate the third period.

More to the point, Grossman dominated the third period; he found the back of the net four times. Through eight games he’s collected 12 goals plus eight assists for 20 points

There were some bright spots for the Owls. Alex Hood scored two goals and assisted on another, giving him 14 goals and three assists on the season.

But by the third period he and his teammates didn’t have a lot of gas left in the tank.

“We’re used to a short bench,” said Bensalem coach Jordan Roth. “We had our chances for sure, but all around, we didn’t play together as a team.”
Roth notes that team’s lack of numbers increases the necessity of doing the little things well.

“We face adversity every game,” he said. “There are a lot teams in the league where there are tryouts. We’re fortunate enough to be in the league and have nine players that show up every day and give it their best.

Ice Chips—Alexander scored twice for the Big Red while Noah Connor got the win in goal, making 20 saves before being replaced by Connor Paulus late in the third period. One of his saves came on Hood’s penalty shot in the second period. Gonzalez made 42 saves in the Bensalem net.

Bensalem 2 1 1—4

Souderton 1 4 4—9

First-period goals: Liam O’Neill (S) from Jamie Avaria and Drew Savarese, 3:25; Alex Hood (B) unassisted, 7:53; Cole Salayda (B) from Danny Mackley, 13:55.

Second-period goals: Seth Grossman (S) from Liam O’Neill, 6:51; Timmy Alexander (S) from Matt Malanga, 7:44 (pp); Matthew Rowan (B) from Hood and Mackely, 9:03; Grossman (S) from Malagna, 13:18; Alexander (S) unassisted, 13:53.

Third-period goals: Grossman (S) unassisted, 7:11; Grossman (S) from Liam O’Neill, 7:47; Grossman (S) from Luca Ferretti and Liam O’Neill, 9:29; Grossman (S) from Caiden O’Neill and Liam O’Neill, 12:44; Hood (B) from Rowan and Salayda, 14:19.

Shoots: Bensalem 29, Souderton 51; Saves: Ricky Gonzalez (B) 42, Noah Connor (S) 20 and Connor Paulus (S) 5

Souderton 5, North Penn 3

HATFIELD—Call it a Souderton Surge. Trailing North Penn 2-0 early in the second period of Wednesday’s SHSHL Class AA matchup, the Big Red erupted for three goals in a 10-miute span and went on to record a 5-3 decision over the Knights at Hatfield Ice.

The win lifted Souderton to 3-2 overall (1-1) in divisional play. After an abbreviated 2021 campaign that saw them win just twice, the Big Red is making some major strides.

“We’re trying to play Souderton hockey,” said Head Coach Ryan Uchniat. “We’re trying to establish something here and I told the boys ‘It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish.’”

Uchniat’s players took that advice to heart Wednesday night.

Jack Bates and Ryan Kaufhold scored first-period goals to give the Knights (1-4, 0-1) the lead.
Rex Grossman got Souderton on the board 4:20 into the middle period with a wrister from in front of the net.

By the midway point of the period the pace of the game had picked up and that worked to Souderton’s advantage.

Grossman tied the game at the 13:37 mark during a power play after stationing himself to the left of the Knights’ crease. Just 26 seconds later, Nick Smith gave Souderton a 3-2 lead.

Justin Yothers tied the game for North Penn 3:27 into the final period but Smith put the game winner behind North Penn netminder Nick Ebbinghaus with 7:34 left in regulation.

Tim Alexander scored an empty-net goal with 23 seconds remaining.

“Their intensity rose in the second period and we didn’t match it, in the second,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “I thought we played a great first period. We’re up 2-0 and outshooting them 15-7. They stepped it up a little bit in the second period. We didn’t capitalize on it, and then we couldn’t get the puck out of our zone and had too many turnovers.

“Unfortunately, if you have too many turnovers, one is going to end up in the back of your net.”

Grossman finished the evening with two goals and two assists. He’s played in three of Souderton’s five games and has produced four goals and three assists. He said the second-period flurry was a matter of willpower.

“I think we just wanted to win,” he said, “and we didn’t want to lose against one of our biggest rivals. I think everybody just wanted to go out there and do what they could to get the win.”

Grossman, a sophomore, says the fact that last year’s young team is now collectively a year older has helped spur its improvement.

“To me, the biggest thing is everybody has gotten older, everybody has gotten better, he said. “We’ve all bonded I think as a team. We’re all starting to playa s one team, passing the puck better, shooting the puck better. (Goaltender Noah Connor) has played big all year and I think that people have stepped up when they need to step up.”

Ice Chips— Smith has six goals in four games. The Big Red outshot the Knights 36-30.

Souderton 0 3 2—5

North Penn 2 0 1—3

First-period goals: Jack Bates(NP) from Julian Ma, 1:48; Ryan Kaufhold (NP) unassisted, 11:30

Second-period goals: Seth Grossman(S) from Jaime Avaria and Liam O’ Neill, 4:20; Grossman (S) from Tim Alexander, 13:37 (pp); Nick Smith (S) from Grossman, 14:03

Third-period goals: Justin Yothers (NP) from Nolan O’ Toole, 3:27; Smith (S) from Carter Potvazan and Grossman, 9:26, Alexander (S) unassisted, 16:37 (en)

Shots: Souderton 36, North Penn 30; Saves: Noah Connor (S) 27, Nick Ebbinghaus (NP) 31

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North Penn 8, Souderton 5

HATFIELD—There were plenty of fireworks at Hatfield Ice Wednesday night. North Penn and Souderton combined for 13 goals with the Knights celebrating their Senior Night with an 8-5 win.

Apart from the result however, there was plenty for both coaches to feel good about.

For North Penn, which improved to 3-3-1-0 overall (2-2 in National/Continental divisional play) it was a night when all the pieces fit.

“We have three lines contributing for us when we have everybody here, and everybody is healthy and able to play” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “and I think we saw a little bit of that tonight, what we could do with the balanced lines. And if you can do that, it generates a lot of pressure for the other team. It’s tough for them to match up with the lines you have out there, and we were able to have all our lines contribute.”

Ryan Kaufhold paced the Knights with a hat trick, giving him eight goals on the season.

The sophomore thinks he and his teammates have turned a corner. “I think we’re hitting a turning point,” he said. “There are some tough teams we have to go against but I think we can win.”

Zachary Cline scored two goals for North Penn while Jeromy Porubski contributed three assists.

For a young Souderton team, it was another test in a demanding curriculum. The Big Red (0-6, 0-4 in divisional play), dressed 14 players Wednesday night. Eight of the 14 were freshmen.

Souderton coach Ryan Uchniat spoke to his team’s progress. “It’s been a year of growth,” he said. “Our goal is to get better each and every game. the first game we played (North Penn) we lost 10-0 (on January 14. Tonight was a much better battle.”

Seth Grossman, one of the freshman corps, paced the Big Red with four goals. Uchniat praised his work ethic. “He works hard,” he said. “You’ve got some players that wait. for things to happen he makes things happen.

“He shows signs of leadership already, as a freshman and I think when the other players see that, it makes them work that much harder.”

Noah Connor, another freshman, made 41 saves in the Souderton net.

Kaufhold and Zachary Cline scored goals to give North Penn a 2-0 lead after one period. The second stanza was a shootout with each team scoring three times’ Grossman scored all three of Souderton’s goals.

It was still a two-goal game entering the third period and Grossman’s fourth goal of the night made it a two-goal game for the last time with 5:48 still remaining in regulation. Kaufhold completed his hat trick 33 seconds later to give the Knights some insurance.

Souderton 0 3 2—5

North Penn 2 3 3—8

First-period goals: Ryan Kaufhold (NP) from Ryan Cunningham and John Stinson, 4:55 (pp); Zachary Cline (NP) from Jeromy Porubski and Cunningham, 12:55

Second-period goals: Cline (NP)from Porubski and Jack Bates, :35; Seth Grossman (S) unassisted, 1:37; Cunningham (MP) from Cline, 2:21; Grossman (S) unassisted, 7:14; Grossman (S) unassisted, 7:33; Kaufhold (NP) from Joseph Silvolfi, 9:53

Third-period goals: Porybski (NP) from Cunnningham and Cline, :16; Evan Thacker (S) from Jarden Garrick, 3:03; Tony Tuozzo (NP) from Chase Mueller, 5:44; Grossman (S) from Timothy Alexander, 10:12; Kaufhold (NP) unassisted, 10:45.

Shots: Souderton 18, North Penn 49; Saves: Noah Connor (S) 41, Jon Boyles (NP) 13.

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