Council Rock South advanced to the Flyers Cup final against Pennridge with a 3-1 win over Boyertown at Hatfield Ice on Thursday night. Photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko.
Flyers Cup AA semifinal
#2 COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 3, #3 BOYERTOWN 1
367 days.
That’s a long time but not nearly long enough to erase memories of last year’s 7-5 loss to Pennsbury in a Flyers Cup semifinal game that saw the Golden Hawks let a 4-1 lead slip away.
“Last year - that was a shame,” Rock South junior defenseman Jake Maurer said. “Everyone rewatches that game constantly. Everyone’s hungry - hungry for more.”
The Golden Hawks will have a chance to get “more” when they face a very familiar opponent – Pennridge – in Wednesday’s’ Flyers Cup final, thanks to their 3-1 win in a
classic battle against Boyertown in Thursday’s semifinal at Hatfield Ice.
“This means a lot because it’s my last year here,” senior Evan Mostoller said. “And I just want to make that final push to try and win the Flyers Cup and go right to states.”
Mostoller delivered the game’s biggest goal, scoring in a crowd with 12:29 remaining in regulation to break a 1-1 tie. His goal – with assists from assists from Peter Pereborow and Blaize Pepe - stood as the game-winner.
“I didn’t know if it went in at first, and then I’m like –‘Holy crap, I just scored, and it’s 2-1 now,’” Mostoller said. “I was like, ‘Thank god, we needed that’ Momentum changed our way.”
The Golden Hawks had a lead they would not lose and made it a 3-1 game when Gavin Nisenzon connected on an empty net goal with 38 seconds remaining.
Rock South’s shot advantage over Boyertown (44-20) would suggest this could have been an easy win, but it certainly was anything but that, thanks in no small part to the brilliant 41-save effort in goal by Boyertown’s Tyler Griffith.
“He was phenomenal,” Rock South coach Joe Houk said. “They played a very good game, they really
did. They had us on our heels all the time.
“When you go against a team like that, you get frustrated. Now the kids are trying to do too much, and you get back to that one-on-one – I can go around this guy and get to him. When I say he made (41) quality saves, he made (41) quality saves.”
“He played a phenomenal game, I’ll give him that,” Mostoller said of Griffith. “We had to find the chances. We capitalized on their mistakes.”
The Bears certainly didn’t make many mistakes. Rock South had a 17-6 advantage in shots in a scoreless opening period, and then 44 seconds into the second period, Noah Cutillo (Luke Hennessey assist) found the net, giving the Bears a 1-0 lead.
Six minutes later, with both teams down a player, the Golden Hawks scored the equalizer on a highlight reel goal that didn’t give anyone a chance to react when Nikita Volobuiev found teammate Jake Weiner with a laser pass that the sophomore put into the net.
“That play right there – it was a four-on-four, and I was like, ‘Let me get both of these guys out there, fresh legs,’ and it just happened to work out that way,” Houk said. “Those two guys – they worked hard.
“Boyertown had us on our heels the first half – we were making stupid mistakes, we were doing things we have not
done for the last two months, and we got away from our regular game and how we won the last couple of weeks. We’ve got to get back to it. Good teams find ways to win, and we found a way to win.”
Neither team scored again until Mostoller’s game-winner. The Golden Hawks certainly had their chances, but they were stonewalled by Griffith.
“Honestly, I think their goalie just had the game of his life,” Maurer said. “We were pounding him, we were just waiting them to fall. Sometimes we’ll get on each other, but when we got 40 shots on net – they’ve gotta fall.
“Everyone knows we were dominating the entire game, but that goalie kept them in that game. We didn’t really feed into any of their stuff. We just kept our heads straight.”
Maurer and his fellow defensemen made sure that there would be no Boyertown comebacks, never allowing the Bears to generate any meaningful offense the rest of the way.
“Some of these boys we’ve been playing with since freshman year,” Maurer said. “These seniors – it
could be their last game. Some of them aren’t playing college hockey – you enjoy every moment you’ve got with them. Seize the opportunity.”
Trevor Rakszawski turned away 19 of 20 shots to earn the win between the pipes.
Houk lauded the efforts of several players in the win.
“Illia Muhkin played his heart out, and, of course, Kolesey (Kevin Koles) plays his heart out every time,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said. “Nikita (Volobuiev) and Jake (Weiner) were my best line out there. They generated more offense tonight – they just couldn’t get it in. Hey, we move on to the next game.”
And that next game is the anticipated fourth meeting with top-seeded Pennridge in the Flyers Cup Tournament final next Wednesday at Hatfield Ice at 8:45 p.m. The Rams won the first meeting between the two teams, but the Golden Hawks won the next two.
“No complaints, no complaints – love it,” Maurer said of facing the Rams for the fourth time. “I can’t wait.”
Boyertown 0-1-0 1
Council Rock South 0-1-2 3
Shots: Boyertown 20, CRS 44. Saves: Tyler Griffith (B) 41, Trevor Rakszawski (CRS) 19.
First period: No goals
Second period: 1. Noah Cutillo B (Luke Hennessey) 16:16; 2. Jake Weiner CRS (Nikita Volobuiev) 10:29.
Third period: 3. Evan Mostoller CRS (Peter Pereborow/Blaize Pepe) 12:29; 4. Gavin Nisenzon CRS, 00:38.
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