This week’s SOL ice hockey notebook highlights the conference races as the regular season winds down.
By Mike Prince, Sportswriter
With one month remaining in the season, the top of the standings in the three SOL conferences all remain steady with the usual suspects leading the way.
In the National Conference, Council Rock South (9-3-0) is in first place with 18 points, three points better than second-place Abington. In the Continental Conference, North Penn (9-1-1) is three points above Council Bucks South with 19. And in the American Conference, Archbishop Wood (9-1-1) remains on top with 19 points, four better than Wissahickon and Upper Moreland.
The Golden Hawks saw Alexander Drobot record a hat trick and Mitchell Vayman add two goals and an assist to help CR South to an 8-1 win over Pennridge (4-8-0) last Wednesday at Flyers SkateZone in Vorhees, NJ.
Drobot’s effort lifted his goal total to 12 on the year, good for No. 1 on the Golden Hawks’ roster, while Vaysman’s performance gave him 21 points on the year, second only to Drobot.
“Even when you get past guys like Mitchell and Alexander, the whole team is playing well,” CR South coach Joe Houk said. “Along with Drobot, his linemates make up one of the better lines in the league. Mitchell is stepping up this year, and when you get production from your second and third lines, you’re doing well.
“We’re coming down the stretch and we’re getting everybody back. We have six games left, and then we’ll jump into the playoffs and that’s always fun. We’re getting there. We have some big games coming up, so we’re just looking to stay focused.”
Elsewhere in the National Conference, Abington upped its unbeaten streak to six games, following a 5-5 tie against Neshaminy last Thursday in an in-conference matchup at Wintersports Ice Sports Arena.
The Ghosts (7-4-1) managed to hold onto its No. 2 seed in the conference, while Neshaminy was able to stay within reach of a playoff spot.
Despite sitting in fifth place in the conference, the Redskins (4-7-2) have improved in the past week, recovering from a five-goal loss to Abington with a win over William Tennent before tallying one point after their tie with the Ghosts.
In the game against Abington, Neshaminy saw five different players score goals, including Jordan Ducko, Matt Kaleck, Eric Graham, Gary Tippy and Nick Verdi, who added three assists.
In the American Conference, Wood won its third game in a row following a 10-1 victory over Upper Dublin last Thursday.
While Wood’s Kevin Neiley easily leads the entire Suburban One League with 38 points – seven better than Lansdale Catholic’s Michael Longhitano, who sits in second place overall – the Vikings got their win without Neiley on the ice.
Jonathan Rosica led the way in Neiley’s absence with three goals and an assist to help Wood to the easy victory. Troy Potts and Shane Lydon each added a pair of goals, while Kyle Gallen and Matt Mendes chipped in with a goal and three assists apiece.
“It just goes to show that the guys I have play as a team,” Wood coach Sam Gallen said. “We don’t rely on one guy at a time. Kevin is a scoring machine, but we have a lot of other guys who can put the puck in the net. We have a couple guys out with injuries, but we’re so well-rounded.”
Staying on top of the conference is the goal for the Vikings, and Gallen said his team is just going to continue to play the same exact style which it has been showing on the ice since the very first game of the season.
“We’re just going to stay with the script,” he said. “There are a lot of good teams in the American Division that are right behind us. We’re not taking anything for granted. Our guys know that sometimes it’s easier to get on top, but harder to stay there.”
Fighting for second place in the American Conference is Wissahickon (7-2-1), Upper Moreland (7-2-1) and Lansdale Catholic (7-3-0).
While the Trojans defeated Central Bucks East 3-2 last Thursday, and LC easily got past Hatboro-Horsham by a score of 12-2, the Bears were able to stretch their unbeaten streak to five games. thanks to a 10-0 win over Harry S. Truman last Thursday.
In their past five games, the Bears are now 4-0-1, including wins over Upper Dublin, Central Bucks West, LC and Truman.
In the 10-goal victory, Upper Moreland was led by Matthew Baumgardner and Matthew Iehle, who led the Bears with four goals and one assist and two goals and three assists, respectively.
“I think part of it has been our schedule, but part of it is trying to get it together after losing to Abington,” Upper Moreland coach Jim Stampler said regarding his team’s unbeaten streak. “The guys realized we were in that game and we just didn’t play that well and we didn’t try that hard. Since then, it seems like they’re giving it everything. I think they worked hard knowing that they can and that they do have the ability to come from behind. I think it’s just more of having the confidence.”
With games this week against both Wood and Wissahickon, Stampler knows that now is the time to fight for the second spot in the conference.
“We’re shooting for that No. 2 seed,” he said. “I don’t think anyone will get past Wood. A lot of it will be determined in the next few days, and I like our chances. I think we have a good team and we match up very well against Wissahickon and I think we have a real shot for second place.”
In the Continental Conference, while it appears that any team catching North Penn will be extremely tough, the fight for second place remains on track between Central Bucks South and Souderton.
But the Indians (7-6-0) have been doing anything but making a case for that second spot in the standings.
Two Thursdays ago, Souderton lost to CB South by a score of 8-5. It was the Indians’ third loss in four games and allowed the Titans (8-2-0) move up in the standings. CB South now sits two points ahead of Souderton with a full three games on hand.
While the Indians have been struggling, CB South has won five consecutive games, including two last week alone - an 8-2 win over Council Rock North last Thursday, and a 7-2 win over Father Judge last Friday.
Souderton coach Matt Montagna knows his team needs to turn it around immediately if they want to have a chance of staying in it with the top teams in the league.
“I think we’re going to be in good shape, honestly,” Montagna said. “We had a couple of tough losses, and that was a very tough stretch for us with some of the better teams, but we played well. Things just didn’t go right for us and things didn’t break out way, so to speak, but I think to climb back out of it, we have to do what we’ve done all year. We’re an interesting team, to say the least, and I think we’re going to be fine.”
Souderton will attempt to end its struggles when it faces CB West this Friday night (7:20 p.m.) at Hatfield Blue. Also on Friday, Upper Moreland visits Wissahickon at Bucks County Ice, while Neshaminy will visit Warwink Rink 1 to take on CR North.
Thursday will see a trio of Suburban One League games take place, including Pennridge versus Central Bucks East, Upper Moreland and Wood, and North Penn and Neshaminy.
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