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.

Pennridge Holds Off North Penn 5-4

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP— Two of the top teams in the Suburban High School Hockey League demonstrated Thursday night why they earned that distinction.

It was Pennridge that prevailed, by building a three-goal lead in the third period before hanging on to defeat North Penn 5-4 in a Class AA game at Hatfield Ice.
It was the fifth straight victory for the Rams, who improved to 5-1-1 overall and 4-1 in league play. The loss was first in league play for the Knights (5-2-1, 4-1) who saw a three-game winning streak snapped.

It was the second regular season meeting between the two teams, who played to a 4-4 tie in a. non-league encounter on November 9

Pennridge defenseman Jeff Manto scored his first goal of the season Thursday night. He said the win over an elite opponent was a signal to the rest of the league. “We’re trying to prove we’re the best team in the league,” he said. “We are trying to stand out.”

The first period featured close checking at both ends and limited offensive opportunities; the teams combined for just 14 shots. Nathan Oh opened the scoring for North Penn with 3:30 left in the period but it took Michael Walker just 21 second to respond for the Rams.

Michael White gave Pennridge a 2-1 lead just 30 seconds into the second frame, only to see Jake Nelson tie the game for North Penn just 51 seconds later. Manto’s shot from just inside the blue line during a power play put the Rams up for good with 3:35 left in the period.

Eric Slater scored his Class AA-leading 17th goal of the season 5:48 into the third period to put Pennridge up 4-2. But by that point, the Knights had demonstrated an ability to keep Slater and Walker more or less under control. Blake Stewart extended the Pennridge lead with 5:09 left and Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna was quick to point out the importance of having multiple offensive threats

“We were able to win on a night when they neutralized Eric and Michael,” he said. ” They got their goals but (North Penn) really did a good job neutralizing Eric and Michael.”

Having veteran goaltender Luke Stranick between the pipes didn’t hurt the Rams’ chances. “When you make mistakes, you don’t have to worry about them ending up in the net all the time,” Montagna said. “He’s the rock back there, he’s the given on our team.”

Trailing by there goals, the Knights were in no mood for a concession speech. Luke Van Why scored with 1:25 remaining and then, with their goaltender out, the Knights received a power-play chance when Manto drew a roughing call with 48 seconds left. Jared Albano beat Stranick at the 15-second mark and the Knights swarmed again following the ensuing faceoff before the final buzzer came to the Rams’ aid just as Tyler Greenstein, North Penn’s sniper-in-chief, was teeing up a shot from the high slot.

“The guys continued to battle to the very end,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “We never give up. We got down 5-2 with a couple minutes left and could have easily packed it in, but the boys continued to battle.”
North Penn 1 1 2—4
Pennridge 1 2 2—5
First-period goals: Nathan Oh (NP) from Jared Albano and Will Hughes, 12:30; Michael Walker (P) unassisted, 12:51.
Second-period: Michael White (P) unassisted, :30; Jake Nelson (NP) from Josh Kaufhold,
1:21; Jeff Manto (P) from Nick Eissler, 12:25 (pp).
Third-period goals: Eric Slater (P) from Matt Guinette, 5:48; Blake Stewart (P) from Michael Walker, 10:51; Luke Van Why (NP) from Ryan Cunningham and Nelson, 14:35; Jared Albano (NP), from Tyler Greenstein and Oh 15:45.
hots: North Penn 26, Pennridge 27; Saves: Nick Ebbinghaus (NP) 22, Luke Stranick (P) 22.

By Rick Woelfel

 

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C.B. South Stops C.B. East

 

By Rick Woelfel

 

WARWICK— As the clock counts down to the Suburban High School Hockey League’s annual holiday break, the upper-echelon teams are beginning to emerge.

Central Bucks South continues to be the measuring stick for the 12 teams in the SHSHL’s Class AA Division. But the Titans got all they wanted from Central Bucks East Wednesday night before prevailing 3-2 over the Patriots in an entertaining scrap at Revolution Ice Gardens.

Reis Braccio scored a goal and assisted on two others as South (6-2, 5-0 SHSHL) won its sixth straight. But the Patriots (5-2-1, 2-2) made a statement as well and served notice they are a team to be reckoned with.

“That’s what we just told them in there,” said East assistant coach Jim Stampler. “That was a good gut check after what happened to us last week (a 6-2 loss to Pennridge last Thursday).”

The Titans started out strong. Alex Glushek put in a rebound of D.J. Loverdi’s one-timer from the left point to put his team in from 2:19 into the first period. Ryan Gingras scored from the left point himself on a power play at 6:33 to make it 2-0 and South was seemingly in control.

12.19.18-CBSvsCBEDNK_0991C.B. South’s Braccio looks to shoot against C.B. East Wednesday night. Connor Kelser is defending on the play; Chris McIntyre is the goaltender. South won the SHSHL game 4-2.

Photo: Dara N. King

 

 

But Sean Gorman scored a power-play goal of his own with 1:08 left in the period and it was a one-goal game the fact that The Patriots were outshout 11-2 in the first frame.

Braccio said he and his teammates might have had a loss of focus after their quick start. “There shouldn’t be,” he said, “but I guess we just got too comfortable and we just let our foot off the gas. Now, we’ve learned from that …not to take our foot off the gas pedal.”

South coach Shaun McGinty conceded his troops might have gotten caught up in their own success at the start. “We changed what we were doing or the kids started getting too confident too early,” said. “It was only 2-0. Yeah, we were outshooting them by quite a bit but I think the kids kind of got ahead of themselves.”

With 3:55 left in the second period the Patriots; arc Green was sent to the box for tripping. The Bucks scored off the ensuing faceoff with Braccio beating East goaltender Chris McIntyre.

But East responded almost immediately or, more specifically, Gorman did, forcing a turnover at his own blue line and going end to end on a breakaway. South netminder Oscar Levin made the initial save but Gorman put in the rebound with 1:07 left in the period.

East had the momentum at the state of the third period as well but midway through the final session, momentum shifted. McIntyre made some big saves for the Patriots to keep the margin at one goal before Matt Milanesi scored insurance goal for the Titans with 1:19 remaining. The sequence started seconds earlier when the Titans won a faceoff deep in their own zone to prevent East from lifting McIntyre for an extra skater.

The sophomore finished with 32 saves.

C.B. South 2 1 1—4

C.B. East 1 1 0—2

First-period goals: Alex Glushek (CBS) from D.J. Loverdi, 2:19; Ryan Gingras (CBS) from Reis Braccio, 6:33 (pp); Sean Gorman (CBE) unassisted, 14:52 (pp).

Second-period goals: Braccio (CBS) from Colin Abbonizio, 11:09 (pp); Gorman (CBE) unassisted, 14:53

Third-period goals: Matt Milanesi (CBS) from Braccio, 14:41.

Shots: C.B. South 36, C.B. East 14; Saves: Oscar Levin (CBS) 12, Chris McIntyre (CBE) 32.

 

 

 

Turning Back the Clock

The Philadelphia Flyers were not the city’s first National Hockey  League team. Read on for a glimpse at how professional hockey has evolved in Philadelphia. The city’s professional franchises, notably the Flyers, made it possible for high-school hockey to thrive and flourish.

1927-28—The Philadelphia Arrow become Philadelphia’s first professional hockey team. The team played in the Canadian American Hockey League, a highly-regarded minor circuit. [i]

1930-31—The Philadelphia Quakers become Philadelphia’s first National Hockey League franchise. The team was transplanted from Pittsburgh where it was known as the Pirates. It lasted just one season in Philadelphia, finishing with a record of 4-36-4, the fewest wins in a season by any NHL team in history.

One reason the franchise didn’t survive was  that the minor-league Arrows were outdrawing them. [ii]

1935-36—The Philadelphia Arrows become the Philadelphia Ramblers. The following year, 1936-37, the CAHL played an interlocking schedule with the International Hockey League.

In 1938-39 the two leagues merged into the International American Hockey League. In 1940 the league was re-christened the American Hockey League.

The Ramblers finished first in their league three times, in 1936, ’37, and ’39. They were a New York Rangers affiliate and several former Ramblers played key roles on the Ranger team that won the Stanley Cup in 1940.

The Ramblers however folded in 1941.[iii]

1941-42—The Philadelphia Rockets replaced the Ramblers in the AHL and folded after one season.

1942-43—The Philadelphia Falcons join the Eastern Hockey League. The franchise lasted four seasons, finishing second in the regular season in its final season, 1945-46

1946-47—The Philadelphia Rockets return to the AHL. The team lasted three seasons and never made the playoffs.

1955-56—The Philadelphia Ramblers return to the EHL and remain for nine seasons. Like all the Philadelphia franchises before them, the Ramblers played their games at Philadelphia Arena at 46th and Market Streets.

1964-65—The Ramblers move across the Delaware River to Cherry Hill, N.J. and become the Jersey Devils. The team reached the EHL finals in 1966-67. The Devils and the EHL folded at the conclusion of the 1972-73 season.

1965—The National Hockey League announces it will double in size, from six teams to 12. The league had operated with six teams since 1942 but was dealing with the fact that it would be impossible to get a network TV contract in the U.S. without expanding,

February 9, 1966—Philadelphia is awarded an expansion franchise to begin play in 1967-68. Philadelphia was one of 10 cities under consideration for the six new franchises. The franchise was awarded on the condition that a new arena be built for the team, what became the Spectrum.

The other five went to Pittsburgh, Minnesota, St. Louis, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay area.

October 11, 1967—The Flyers play their first game and lose 5-1 to the California Seals in Oakland.

October 19, 1967—The Flyers play their first regular-season game in the Spectrum, defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 1-0.

1969—The Intercounty Scholastic Hockey League is founded with six teams: St. Joseph’s Prep, Haverford High, Conestoga, Cardinal O’Hara. Marple Newtown, and Swarthmore.

 1972-73—The World Hockey Association launches as a competitor to the NHL. One of its 12 teams is the Philadelphia Blazers, which played its games at the Civic Center. The Blazers, which featured Former Flyer (at the time) Bernie Parent in goal, lasted one season in Philadelphia before moving to Vancouver and later Calgary. The franchise folded at the close of the 1976-77 season.

 1973-74—The Suburban High School Hockey League is formed. Information on the structure of the league that season that year is still being complied but the latest information available indicates it consisted of eight teams: Abington, North Penn, Plymouth Whitemarsh, Hatboro-Horsham, Willow Grove, Philmont, Northeast, and Lower Moreland.

The Flyers win their first Stanley Cup, defeating the Boston Bruins in six games in the finals. Rick MacLeish scored the only goal in the final game on May 19, 1974 at the Spectrum, tipping in a shot from Andre “Moose” Dupont.

 1974-75—The Flyers win their second  consecutive Stanley Cup, defeating the Buffalo Sabres in six games.

The Philadelphia Firebirds begin play in the North American Hockey League, which forms from the remnants of the EHL. The team plays its games at the Philadelphia Civic center. The team won the NAHL championship in 1976.

The EHL folded in 1976 and the Firebirds moved to the American Hockey League. In 1979 the team moved to Syracuse where it played for one season.

[iv]

1980—The Philadelphia Flyers sponsor the first Flyers Cup tournament. It featured four teams. All games were played at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 Rink.

Archbishop Carroll defeated Archbishop Ryan in one semifinal game while Malvern Prep defeated Germantown Academy in the other.

Carroll defeated Malvern Prep two games to one in the best-of-three finals.

Scores

Game 1 – Malvern 6, Carroll 5

Game 2 – Carroll 7, Malvern 3

Game 3 – Carroll 6, Malvern 2

MVP: Scott Chamness, Carroll (four hat tricks in four games)

This year will mark the 40th Flyers Cup tournament.

1996—The Philadelphia Phantoms, a Flyers affiliate, begin play in the American Hockey league. The team played most of its home games at the Spectrum. The Phantoms won two Calder Cup titles (in 1998 and 2005) before leaving Philadelphia following the 2008-09 season. Today the team is known as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and plays its games in Allentown.

November 2, 2018—The Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference begins its inaugural season

 

 [i] The Broad Street Bullies; the Incredible Story of the Philadelphia Flyers

By Jack Chealier © 1974 Additional information: Wikipeddia.org

[ii] Ibid The Broad Street Bullies

[iii] Wikipedia.org

[iv] Wkipedia.org

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.

 

Pennridge 10, William Tennent 0

WARWICK— Pennridge got off to a slow start in the Suburban High School Hockey League this season. But the Rams have a lot of firepower in the lineup and Friday night they put that firepower on display.

Eric Slater scored five goals to lead his team to a 10-0 shutout over William Tennent at Revolution Ice Gardens.  The game was halted 3:40 into the third period due to the 10-goal mercy rule. Pennridge now stands at 3-1-1 both overall and in SHSHL Class 2A league play. The Panthers are now 2-4 overall and 1-3 in the league.

After starting the season with a loss and a tie the Rams have won three straight, scoring 27 goals in the process.

Slater, who has scored 13 goals in his team’s five games, admitted it took he and his teammates some time to get used to each other at the start of the season.

“It was a challenge I guess to start playing as a team,” the senior winger said. “Most of us play club and we’re on different pages, club-wise (but) we finally got clicking; we’ve been playing good lately.”

Jeff Montagna is Pennridge’s third head coach in two seasons. He also coaches two club teams and a number of his club players are on the Pennridge roster. He admits that finding the right formula early on wasn’t easy.

“I know some guys know what I want,” he said, “and I have to be patient with the guys who aren’t used to what I want and that’s been an adjustment for me as well.

“Being able to teach those guys what I want but being with it. It’s not easy.”

Evan Kehoe opened the scoring for the Rams by scoring directly from a faceoff in the right circle 6:03 into the opening period. Slater scored back-to-back goals 35 seconds apart and Conrad Fisch scored 20 seconds after that to put Pennridge up 4-0 with 2:22 still to go in the first frame.

Slater completed a hat trick 5:23 into the second stanza before Andrew David made it a 6-0 game 48 seconds later.

Michael Walker added two goals 21 second apart, the first on a power play, to put Pennridge up 8-0 after two periods.

Slater scored twice in the third period to being down the curtain on the evening.

Tennent goaltender Trey Smith had the task of dealing with all this. A junior who is playing organized hockey for the first time, Smith faced 26 shots over the course of the evening.

“You play a team like Pennridge that can score at will almost against any goalie in the league and it’s going to be a challenge,” said Tennent coach Nick D’Aurizio. “We put up a fight. Our guys battled as much as they could but their big guns eventually took over.”

By Rick Woelfel

Pennridge 4 4 2—10

William Tennent 0 0 0—0

First-period goals: Evan Kehoe (P) unassisted, 6:03; Eric Slater (P) from Frankie Rota and Nick Eissler, 12:43; Slater (P) unassisted, 13:18; Conrad Fisch (P) from Richie Shanks and Andrew David, 13:38.

Second-period goals: Slater (P) from Michael Walker, 5:23; David (P) from Eissler, 6:11; Walker (P) from Rota and Matt Guinette, 10:48 (pp); Walker (P) from Slater and Guinette, 11:09.

Third-period goals: Slater (P) from Eissler, :09; Slater (P) from Walker, 3:40

 

 

Wissahickon Tips Hatters 2-1

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP— The penalty shot is arguably hockey’s most dramatic event. On this occasion, it resulted in a game-winning goal.

Wissahickon’s Sean Garry scored with 1:07 left in the third period to give the Trojans a 2-1 win over the Hatters Wednesday night in a Suburban High School Hockey League American Division matchup at Hatfield Ice.

The penalty shot was awarded after Garry, who had beaten the last Hatter defenseman, was pulled down from behind. He responded with an effort that beat Hatboro-Horsham goaltender Joe Gambino low on netminder’s stick (right) side.

“I knew what I was hoping to do before I went down,” Garry said. “I came down, looking to spot what was open and just ripped it right past him.”

Prior to the penalty shot, there was a serving of some pretty good hockey. There was an abundance of offensive opportunities but Gambino (28 saves) and Michael Henderson (30 saves), his Wissahickon counterpart, were in top form.

Hatboro-Horsham coach Gianni Lafratta praised his team’s defensive effort. “Joey is (a quality goaltender),” he said, “but of course it takes the five guys in front of him to shut it down.”

The game was scoreless for much of the first two periods. The Hatters finally got the scoring started with a power-play goal with just 4:34 left in the second frame. With Wissahickon’s Alex Corozza in the box serving a holding penalty, Tarak Elsbbash scored off a feed from Ben Heywood. Matt Cade tied the game for Wissahickon (3-0-1) 9:09 into the third stanza.  Wissahickon coach Ken Harrington admitted he was surprised by the scoreline at that juncture.

“I thought if anything it was going to be a 5-3 game or something like that,” he said.”

Gary pointed out that for much of the night the Hatters were able to keep he and his brother Bryan, the Trojans two biggest offensive threats, away from the net. “They were stacking the middle a lot,” he said, “just trying to keep us to the outside. They did a good job cutting off most of the passing lanes but I think once we got the puck in the middle we could kind of two what we  wanted.”

The Hatters had an apparent go ahead goal waved off with 2:08 left in the game. A shot from the left circle found the net behind Henderson but the official on the play ruled the net had been dislodged.

That set the stage for what turned out to be a dramatic finish.

“That was a fantastic game,” Lafratta said, “except for the outcome.”

 

Hatboro-Horsham 0 1 0—1

Wissahickon 0 0 2—2

Second-period goal: Tarik Elsbbagh (HH) from Ben Haywood, 11:26

Third-period goals: Matt Cade (W) from Brian Garry and Alex Carozza, 9:09; Sean Gary (W) penalty shot, 14:53.

Shots: Hatboro-Horsham 31, Wissahickon 30; Saves: Joe Gambino (HH) 28, Michael Henderson (W) 30

Suburban High School Hockey League Update 12-2-18

Standings and scoring through games of 12-30

SHSHL Standings

Class 2A

National Division                        W      L      T      Pts

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

C.R. South (4-1-1)                       1        1    1       3

Abington (1-2-1)                         1        0     0      2

Pennsbury (1-2-2)                       1       1     0      2

William Tennent (2-3)                1       2     0      2

Truman (1-1-2)                             0      1      1     1

 

Continental Division                    W      L      T      Pts

North Penn (3-1-1)                       2       0      0       4

C.B. East (4-0-1)                            2       0      0       4

C.B. South (2-2)                            1       0      0        2

Pennridge (1-1-1)                         0      1      0        0

C.B. West (1-3)                             0      1      0        0

Souderton (0-5)                           0       5      0       0

 

 

Class A

American Division                       W      L      T      Pts

Wissahickon (2-0-1)                      2      0      1       5

Lower Moreland (3-1-1)              2      1      1       5

Hatboro-Horsham (2-1)               2      1      0       4

Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-2)       2      2      0       4

Upper Dublin (0-4)                          0       4      0     4

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Scoring

Games                   Goals      Assists      Points

Coleman Peppelman LM                               5                            14              6             20

Dean Keller PW                                               5                             7               12           19

Vincent DeMaio LM                                       5                             11             8             19

Tyler Greenstein NP                                       5                             10             6            16

Logan Hurwitz CRS                                         6                              7              8             15

Nathan Oh NP                                                 5                             6               8             14

Bryan Garry Wiss                                           3                              8               6             14

Colin Franzoni PW                                         5                              8               5             13

Jake Weikel PW                                              5                              8              5              13

Mason McKeever WT                                   4                              6             6                12

Micahel Janora CRN                                     4                              11            1               12

Alex Howieson HH                                        5                              3             9                12

Tyler Scolnick LM                                          4                              9             3                12

 

 

Abington 9, Souderton 1

WILLOW GROVE— Stepping up can be hard to do. After competing in the Class A American Division of the Suburban High School Hockey League a year ago, Abington, which helped found the SHSHL four-and-a-half decades ago, has stepped up to Class 2A this year.
The Galloping Ghosts went through some growing pains at the start of the season but put all the pieces together Thursday night in the course of a 9-1 win over Souderton at Wintersport Arena.

Thursday marked the official league opener for Abington, which stands at 1-2-1 overall.

Captain Perry Carpenter led the way for the victors, delivering a hat trick plus three assists. Ryan Gosselin added two goals and two assists.

“We worked really well as a team,” Carpenter said, “which we’ve been struggling to do in the past games. But we really picked up our game this game.”

Abington coach Ken Brzozowski was pleased with the way the pieces fit. “When I look at a score sheet, whether it’s Perry or anybody else, I looing to see who got the assists,” he said. “Not necessarily who’s putting the puck in the net and Perry is one of those players who is a leader in putting assists on the scoresheet.

Souderton (0-5, 0-3 in league play) was without several key players who had club responsibilities and had just 12 skaters available.

The Galloping Ghosts jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period. Perry had a hand in all four goals, scoring once himself and providing three assists. But Souderton goaltender Amanda Kaminsky kept things from getting out of hand by making 15 saves in the 16-minute period.

“She cuts down the angles,” Carpenter said. “She makes herself big in net and that’s all the world to a goalie.”

Abington extended its lead by scoring four additional goals in the second frame. Carpenter scored twice to complete his hat trick.

Things got chippy over the course of a third period that featured nine penalties. The Big Red’s Luke Bowman scored a power-play goal off a deflection at the 4:25 mark to spoil Jacob Snellenberg’s shutout bid.

Souderton coach Ryan Uchniat noted that his team played Abington on even terms over the second half of the game thanks in large part to Kaminsky’s efforts. “She did a very good job,” he said. “She locked down the back half of the game.

“It was 1-1 the second half of the game (minus eight seconds). There were too many defensive errors in the beginning.”

 

Souderton 0 0 1—1

Abington 4 4 1—9

First-period goals: Ryan Gosselin (A) from Colin Bruton and Perry Carpenter, :43; Carpenter (A) from Gavin O’ Donnell and Nathan Broskey, 11:39; O’ Donnell (A) from Carpenter, 14;47; Shawn Lombardo (A) from Carpenter, 15:24.

Second-period goals: Bruton (A) from Gosselin, 4:27; Carpenter (A) from Gosselin, 6:30; Carpenter (A) from O’ Donnell, 7:39; David Staley (A) from Broskey and Bruton, 7:53.

Third-period goals: Luke Bowman (S) from Carter Povazon, 4:25 (pp); Gosselin (A) from O’ Donnell, 8:08.

Shots: Souderton 25, Abington 36; Saves: Amanda Kaminsky (S) 27, Jacob Snellenberg (A) 24.

Central Bucks East 6, Neshaminy 3

They’re doing it quietly, but the Central Bucks East Patriots are off to a solid start in the Suburban High School Hockey League. Freshman Sean Gorman scored two goals as East stayed unbeaten with a 6-3 win over Neshaminy Monday night at Revolution Ice Gardens.

The Patriots have won four straight after a season-opening tie and are 2-0 in the SHSHL Class 2A league standings
East coach Ken Latchum was elated at his team’s effort but was particularly enthused about his third line; Richard Kaczmarczyk (goal), Dan Tori (two assists), and Brendan Lynch (goal) combined for four points.

“The third line made me ecstatic,” Latchum said. “They were our best line. They played awesome”
The first period started with a shootout, a flurry of four goals, two each way, in a span of just 3:35. Robert Seewagen got things started for Neshaminy (2-1-1, 2-1 in the league) when he sped up the center of the ice and beat East goaltender Matt Oganowski with a shot from four strides inside the blue line just 63 seconds after the opening faceoff. Owen Connor answered for the Patriots from the high slot at 2:32. Seewagen scored his second goal on a power-play effort at 3:25 but Jason Cluckey tied the game for East just 15 seconds later.

The Patriots added two goals late in the period, from Kaczmarcyzk at 14:12 and Gorman on a two-on-one situation at 15:33. They extended their lead in the second frame on goals from Lynch at 5:20 and Gorman at 12:41.

Connor noted that he and his teammates did the little things well. “We played our positions really well,” he said. “We got the puck in deep and applied a lot of pressure.”

The Patriots were swarming all around Neshaminy goaltender Steven Glik. Neshaminy assistant coach Mike McColgan, filling in for the absent  Matt DeMatteo, said his team didn’t give their netminder a lot of help, particularly in the first period. “We didn’t knock guys down in front of the net,” he said. “We just kind of let them have a free hand. The goaltender had three shots he didn’t really see, three goals.

“We had a lack of energy on our forecheck. It really wasn’t buzzing at all for us tonight.”

Brett Nelson scored the goal of the game for Neshaminy at the 9:07 mark of the third period.

The Patriots had a 39-23 advantage in shots. Both goaltenders were sharp after the run-and-gun first period. Oganoswski finished with 20 saves, including a sensational stop on Neshaminy’s Joey DeMatteo in the third period while Glik, one of the premier netminders in the area, finished with 33 saves.

Latchum was pleased to get a quality effort from his entire lineup. “You need three lines to play,” he said. You want to win, you need three lines.”

By Rick Woelfel

Neshaminy 2 0 1—3

C.B. East 4 2 0—6

First-period goals: Robbie Seewagen (N) unassisted, 1:03; Owen Connor (CBE) unassisted, 2:32; Seewagen (N) from Joseph DeMatteo, 3:25 (pp); Jason Cluckey (CBE)  unassisted, 3:40; Richard Kaczmarczyk (CBE) from Nick Locastro and Dan Tori, 14:12; Sean Gorman (CBE) from Connor Kelser and Rob Kern, 15:33.

Second-period goals: Brendan Lynch (CBE) from Tori and Chris Mangiacapre, 5:20; Gorman (CBE) from Kern and Cluckey, 12:41.

Third-period goal: Brett Nelson (N) from Josh Haines, 9:07.

Shots: Neshaminy 23, C.B. East 39; Saves, Steven Glik (N) 33, Matt Oganowski (CBE) 20.

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