North Penn captured the SHSHL AA title on Thursday night. To view photos of all the action, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Ben Reese
HATFIELD -- North Penn's ice hockey team finally got over the hump.
The Knights defeated Souderton 5-4 in a thriller at Hatfield Ice on Thursday night to win the Suburban High School Hockey League AA championship. North Penn had lost in the title game the two previous seasons.
"Last night was a great game for us against CB East, and tonight is another great game against Souderton," North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis said. "We've been here for the last three years and the last two we kind of came out on the short end of the stick, losing to CB East both times.
"This is big for us to come out here and win tonight. This is the first step. We've got the Flyers Cup next week and the state championship."
But if not for the play of his sophomore goalie Jake Snyder, Vaitis would have been singing a different song. 
Snyder was strong against the sharp-shooting Indians, kicking out 28 of the 30 shots they threw at him.
But, then again, Vaitis knows what he has in that final line of defense.
"Jake's been phenomenal all year," the coach said. "We lost two senior goalies last year, and that was one of the big question marks coming in.
"Jake and John Roberts (the team's freshman goalie) have played outstanding all year. Jake's stepping it up right now at the right time."
The play of Snyder in net hasn't gone unnoticed by his teammates, either.
"Jake's been the horse for this team," North Penn captain Matt Stella said. "You can say offense wins it, but it really starts with Jake.
"Being a sophomore and playing his first year for North Penn, he really played hard and worked hard every game. He's been an amazing goaltender for us."
Snyder, however, credited everyone but himself.
"I thought our team did well around me, clearing out the rebounds and helping me out on shots from the outside," the young goalie said. "I just did my part and the team played well."
That was especially true when, with less than a minute to play and North Penn leading by one goal, Souderton went on the power play and then also pulled its goalie to get a six-on-four man advantage. In that short period of time, Snyder had to be at his best.
"You've got to know that there are two men up for the other team and know where they are," Snyder explained about his plans with the Indians on the man advantage. "You just hope your team blocks the shots. I thought we were blocking shots when we needed to and moving out of the way so I could see the puck."
Another Snyder had a big part in North Penn's title win. Jeremy Snyder, the senior defenseman, was stellar in helping prevent the high-scoring Souderton offense from getting into gear.
And he also contributed a goal, which proved to be key in the Knights' victory. With 11 seconds remaining in the second period, Jeremy Snyder beat Souderton goalie Dawson Anders to give North Penn a 3-2 lead entering the third period.
"That was huge," Vaitis said of the goal. "We had a 2-1 lead going into the second period and we had a bit of a misfortune when they blocked a shot and (Daniel) Rock went in on a breakaway.
"That goal by Snyder with 11 seconds left was big for us to have a lead going into the final period."
And the third period sealed the win for North Penn. The Knights scored two goals after Souderton had tied the game at 3-3.
But Souderton coach Matt Montagna didn't blame his goalie for the five goals the Knights scored.
"I think they caught him on a couple angles," Montagna said of Anders. "Overall, he made a couple of saves to really keep us in the game.
"They scored some nice goals. The second goal (scored by North Penn's Christian Ahn in the first period) just bounced right onto his stick. That happens in hockey."
North Penn broke into the scoring column first, taking advantage of a tripping penalty to Souderton's Chris Malanga. Only 44 seconds into the power play, Ryan Nowicki scored on a tip-in in front of the net with assists from Alex Peterson and Jeremy Snyder.
Ahn netted the second goal on his breakaway with 13:17 gone in the opening period. Dalton Bideau and Nick Capasso assisted on the goal.
Daniel Rock got one of those goals back with less than two minutes left in the stanza. He took a pass from Connor Walsh and beat Jake Snyder to bring the Indians within one goal at 2-1.
Rock scored his second goal of the game with 11:04 gone in the second period to tie the score at 2-2. Malanga and Clay Anders got the assists.
But then, with 11 seconds remaining, Jeremy Snyder untied it. He got help from Derek Heckler and Kevin Saylor.
But Souderton wasn't done yet. Alex Politsky, with an assist from Rock, tied the game again with only 3:34 gone in the third period.
However, North Penn wouldn't be denied this time around. First Saylor scored unassisted and then Peterson, with assists from Stella and Jake Heckenberger, scored to give North Penn a two-goal lead at 5-3.
Connor McCausland's goal with 13:58 elapsed brought the Indians close. Then, when Saylor was whistled for roughing at the same time as the goal was scored, Souderton pulled its goalie and that was when Jake Snyder was at his best.
"You have to give it up for them," Stella said of Souderton. "They're a remarkable bunch of players and a good team.
"It was just a grind effort. We knew it wasn't going to be a blowout; we knew it would be a one-goal game."
Now both teams enter Flyers Cup competition beginning next week. North Penn is ranked third in the 16-team tournament and Souderton is ranked fourth.
The Knights will open up next Wednesday against the winner of the Downingtown East-Truman game. The Indians will meet the winner of the Neshaminy-Wilson contest, also on Wednesday.
North Penn 2 1 2 -- 5
Souderton 1 1 2 -- 4
First Period
1. Ryan Nowicki NP (Alex Peterson, Jeremy Snyder) 5:34; 2. Chistian Ahn NP (Dalton Bideau, Nick Capasso) 13:17 PP; 3. Daniel Rock S (Connor Walsh) 14:02. Penalty: Chris Malanga (S) tripping.
Second Period
4. Daniel Rock S (Clay Anders, Malanga) 11:04; 5, Jeremy Snyder NP (Derek Heckler, Kevin Saylor) 15:49. Penalties: Bideau (NP) interference 1:00; Jeremy Snyder (NP) hooking 6:16; Ryan Nowicki (NP) interference 13:33.
Third Period
6. Alex Politsky S (Daniel Rock) 3:34; 7. Saylor NP (unassisted) 6:25; 8. Peterson NP (Matt Stella, Jake Heckenberger) 9:56; 9. Connor McCausland S (unassisted) 13:58. Penalties: Walsh (S) tripping 3:58; Peterson (NP) slashing 10:32; Saylor (NP) roughing 13:58.
Shots: NP -- 24; S -- 30. Saves: Jake Snyder (NP) 28; Dawson Anders (S) 19.
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