North Penn defeated Pennsbury on a busy night of SOL SHSHL action Thursday. Check out some of the results. To view photos of the Pennsbury/North Penn game, please visit the Photo Gallery...CLICK HERE.
By Ben Reese
HATFIELD -- North Penn entered this Suburban High School Hockey League season with the best goal-tending tandem in the league.
John Roberts and Jake Snyder have been successfully alternating in goal for the Knights for the last three years.
Thursday night was Roberts' turn, and he turned in an outstanding performance in North Penn's 6-2 victory over Pennsbury at Hatfield Ice. Roberts stopped 35 of the 37 shots the Falcons threw at him.
But that wasn't news to North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. He's been watching his goalie twosome and enjoying what he's seen.
"Johnny looked good," Vaitis said. "Johnny and Jake (Snyder), they've been strong all year.
"The last three games we've given up too many shots, but they've bailed us out defensively, making a lot of saves. Johnny had some spectacular ones tonight."
That he did.
Some of his best work came late in the first period with the Knights holding a slim 2-1 lead.
With 13:59 remaining, Pennsbury crowded into the crease, poking shots at Roberts. But he kicked away all of them.
"He's a very good goalie," Pennsbury coach Joe Deery said. "I remember him from last year in the Flyers Cup."
Roberts, for one, isn't bothered by the number of shots the opponents are putting on net.
"This year we've had a lot of shots (against us) but the defense clears what they need to clear," Roberts said. "They get the rebounds out.
"I only have to stop the first couple shots. They're usually getting the third and fourth shots out so that's not bad. I've got their back and they've got my back.
"Me and Snyder have done well all year just stopping the first and second shots and that's what we need to do. We're getting some wins now."
Vaitis realizes facing that many shots game in and game out is going to take its toll.
"We need to continue to work on our defensive zone," the Knights’ coach said, "because we're going to be going up against some of the top teams in CB South and CB West in the next couple weeks. We're going to need to play much better defense in our zone than we did tonight."
Pennsbury got off quickly, scoring the first goal of the game with only 3:22 gone in the first period. Jack Kelly beat Roberts with an assist from Zach Wilkins on a short-handed situation.
"That bothered me a little bit because I knew I could stop that," said Roberts. "Every time I give up a goal, I know I could stop it so I was a little frustrated but I knew I could bounce back."
And bounce back he did. He didn't allow a puck to reach the net until there was less than three minutes remaining in the game.
Both teams were missing their leading scorers. North Penn's Alex Peterson (nine goals and four assists) was forced to sit out one game after accruing five penalties in the previous game, and Jake Sieger of Pennsbury (four goals and one assist) was injured and sat out.
North Penn didn't miss Peterson too much, getting goals from Joshua Ruch, Spencer Silver, Jamie Green, Nathan Oh, Andrew Galetta and Derek Heckler. Kelly scored both goals for Pennsbury.
"In the third period, we started to get some scoring from guys not named Peterson or Heckler or Silver," Vaitis said. "It was nice to see other guys chipping in.
"That's what we're going to need when you play some of these other teams. You're going to need three lines that can score.
"It was nice to get those guys going. Other teams are going to look to shut down Peterson, Heckler and Silver, so it was nice to get some scoring from guys like Oh and Green and Galetta."
Deery, meanwhile, saw a silver lining in the play of his team.
"I was happy with the way we performed," he said. "That's probably the best we've played all season so far.
"It's a young team. I have three seniors, one junior and the rest are sophomores and freshmen. This team's going to be a heck of a team in two years. I think it's going to be fun to watch in a couple years."
Last year, Pennsbury ambushed North Penn in the first game of the season. Obviously, the Knights didn't want that to happen this year.
"Last year, we snuck up on them," Deery said. "We were trading goals back and forth and it ended up 7-6 us. They weren't going to let that happen again."
The Knights didn't.
North Penn 6, Pennsbury 2
Pennsbury 1 0 1 – 2
North Penn 2 0 4 – 6
First period: 1. Jack Kelly Pb (Zach Wilkins) 3:22 SH; 2. Joshua Ruch NP (unassisted) 9:21; 3. Spencer Silver NP (Jared Barkley, Jamie Green) 12:10.
Second period: No scoring.
Third period: 4. Green NP (Silver) 7:52; 5. Nathan Oh NP (Derek Heckler) 11:05; 6. Kelly Pb (Wilkins) 13:03; 7. Andrew Galetta NP (Oh, Heckler) 14:25; 8. Heckler (Oh) 15:37.
Shots: Pennsbury 37, North Penn 34. Saves: Trevor Schadler (Pb) 28, John Roberts (NP) 35.
PENNRIDGE 7, ABINGTON 0
Patrick McGinley had a four-point night (two goals/two assists) to lead the Rams while teammate Troy Crosson contributed the hat trick in a dominating performance that saw Pennridge fire 60 shots on goal.
Crosson put the Rams on the scoreboard just over five minutes into the game, using a Michael Padgeon assist. A minute later, McGinley (Nathan Runk assist) found the net, and then it was Joe Finlayson (Josh Finlayson assist) scoring to make it a 3-0 game. When Padgeon connected, using a Luke Gotwals assist, the Rams led 4-0.
Neither team scored in the second period, but the Rams closed it out by tacking on three goals in the third period with Crosson connecting on a pair – the first with assists from McGinley and Eric Slater and the second with a McGinley assist. McGinley also scored a power play goal for the 7-0 final.
Luke Stranick turned away all 15 shots he faced to earn the shutout while his counterpart – Mason Large – was credited with 53 saves in a busy outing.
Pennridge 4-0-3 7
Abington 0-0-0 0
HARRY S TRUMAN 7, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 4
Michael Roarty had an impressive six-point night to lead the Tigers to the win, contributing three goals and three assists.
In a preview of things to come, Roarty scored 19 seconds into the game, and less than a minute later, he set up a goal by Steven Avellino. Rock North’s Mark Tosti (Cavan Tully assist) connected to make it a 2-1 game, but Roarty (William Findlay assist) scored 10 minutes into the period to give the Tigers a two-goal advantage.
Cade Gordon (Roarty assist) scored just over a minute into the second period to put the Tigers on top 4-1, but Rock North’s Brian Leinheiser scored with assists from Brandon Simmonds and Zachary Herman to trim the Tigers’ lead to two. John Saxton (Codey Gordon/Roarty assists) got that goal back to put the Tigers on top 5-2 heading into the final period.
The Indians made things interesting with back-to-back goals by Daniel Guest (Cavan Tully assist) and Simmonds, trimming Truman’s lead to 5-4 just over six minutes into the final period. Roarty answered with a power play goal 7:34 into the period (Gordon assist), and Avellino close out the scoring with a late goal for the 7-4 final.
Truman goalie Kyle Huth was credited with 18 saves in the win while Rock North’s Chas D’Arcangelo recorded 20 saves.
Council Rock North 1-1-2 4
Truman 3-2-2 7
SOUDERTON 8, ARCHBISHOP WOOD 0
Tyler Johnson (one goal/three assists) had a hand in four goals while teammates Weston Bainbridge (three assists) and Miles Minnick (one goal/two assists) both were part of three. Dawson Anders was impenetrable in goal, turning away all 20 shots he faced to earn the win.
Joshua Reeves (Gabe Evans/Bainbridge assists) scored the only goal in the first period. Two minutes into the second period, Johnson connected, using an Austin Mower assist. Goals by Joshua Reeves (Minnick/Colin Wurtz assists) and Jordan Engelhart (Johnson assist) gave the Indians a 4-0 lead after two periods.
In the final period, Minnick, Josh Killough, Evans and Thomas Tierney each tacked on single goals.
Souderton 1-3-4 8
Archbishop Wood 0-0-0 0
Wednesday, Dec. 2
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 2, PENNRIDGE 1
Eric Schwass scored a late goal, using assists from Shawn Philipps and John McCreadie, to break a 1-1 tie that stood since the first period, propelling the Bucks to the hard fought win.
The two teams exchanged goals in the first period. Pennridge’s Tony Crosson scored a power play goal, using assists from Michael Padgeon and Luke Slater. The Bucks evened the score on a goal by McCreadie (Ryan Trefz/Shawn Philipps assists) late in the period. That tie stood until the Schwass game winner.
Jonah Brous earned the win in goal, turning away 23 of 24 shots he faced. Pennridge’s Mike Weaver also was impressive in net, recording 34 saves.
Central Bucks West 1-0-1 2
Pennridge 1-0-0 1
WISSAHICKON 11, HATBORO-HORSHAM 2
On a night that saw 11 of 12 players who saw action get their names in the scoring column, the Trojans – who led 4-0 after one period - opened up a 7-0 lead on their way to the lopsided win.
Kyle Wolf had five assists in a six-point night to lead the Trojans while Brandon Rosoff finished with the hat trick and also had an assist. Matt Cade had three assists while Calle Kuffner (one goal/one assist), Noah Harrington (one goal/one assist), Matt Wilson (one goal/one assist), Jagger Doll (two goals) and Andrew Cade (one goal/one assist) each had two-point games.
Wissahickon 4-5-2 11
Hatboro-Horsham 0-1-1 2
PENNSBURY 15, ABINGTON 7
Defense was at a premium in a contest that saw the two teams combine for 22 goals. The score was deadlocked 3-3 after one period, but the Falcons went on a 5-2 second period tear to go on top 8-5. A seven-goal third period blew the game wide open.
Jack Kelly and Anthony Bench both had 10-point nights to lead the Falcons. Bench scored seven goals and had three assists while Kelly had four goals and six assists. Jake Sieger had a six-point night, contributing two goals and four assists. Kyle Wilkins added three assists.
For the Ghosts, Tommy Carroll (four goals, one assist) and Thomas Panella (two goals/two assists) led the way with five and four-point nights respectively.
Abington 3-2-2 7
Pennsbury 3-5-7 15
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