Photo courtesy of Tracy Valko: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/p989514065
By Ben Reese
HATFIELD — Cole Pluck couldn’t have put the puck in any better spot.
The North Penn forward fired it from the point across the ice to Nolan Shingle who was standing just to the right of Neshaminy goalie Aidan Hullings. And Shingle knew just what to do with it.
It was Shingle’s second goal of the game en route to a hat trick that led the Knights to a 4-0 Suburban High School Hockey League win over Neshaminy at Hatfield Ice. It was as pretty a goal as you’ll see all season.
“We got it out to the point,” Shingle said. “I was playing below the net, and I was trying to see if the ‘D’ saw me.
“He (Pluck) played it right on my stick. It was a good pass and I just tipped it in.”
The goal also served another purpose for North Penn. After a sluggish first period, the goal got the Knights moving in the right direction.
“For whatever reason, that first half of the first period, we started off kind of slow,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “In the second half of the period, we started to pick up our play a little bit and maintain some of the offensive pressure. We got that second goal (Shingle’s) and more good things started to happen for us.”
The first period was rather moribund. While North Penn did manage 11 shots on goal and Neshaminy six, it didn’t look like either team was gathering any momentum.
Then, after a fashion, Shingle came to the rescue.
He scored the only goal in the first period, but it came after 12:21 had elapsed in the stanza. But it was his second goal that got things going for the Knights.
With 2:28 gone in the second period, he got that nearly perfect feed from Pluck and tipped it past Hullings. Then he finished off his hat trick on the power play at 12:57 before Matt Yothers completed the scoring 52 seconds later.
This wasn’t a usual game for Shingle, was it Coach?
“He works extremely hard out there,” Vaitis said. “I think he’s had a number of assists this year (25) but he’s been a bit snake-bitten for goals.
“He happened to break his stick early into the game. Maybe he’s been using the wrong stick the last couple weeks.
“The puck ended up finding his stick, and he put them in the back of the net. He was in the right spot for the deflection.
“It was a great play by Cole Pluck getting that puck and then finding him down low. I’m screaming from the bench (at Pluck) to shoot it and Cole made a great play to find him down low.”
It wasn’t an especially enjoyable evening for Neshaminy coach Bill Keyser.
“North Penn played really well,” he said. “They had a good game plan coming into it tonight.
“They executed it well. They came out with an agenda.
“Our problem all year long has been trying to put the puck in the net. Not keeping it out of the net.”
In the opening period, Shingle beat Hullings for his first goal off an assist from Sam Norton. On his second, he got an assist from Pluck.
His third, on the power play, came with assists from James Boyle and Norton. Yothers had help from Derek DeLong and Ryan Patenaude on his tally.
Shingle, however, seemed to be more oriented to the team aspect of the victory.
“It was a good win,” he said. “That’s just what we need to do. We’ve got to keep the momentum going for the playoffs.”
Aidan Quigley turned away all 20 shots he faced to notch the shutout in goal.
North Penn 4, Neshaminy 0
Neshaminy 0 0 0 — 0
North Penn 1 3 0 — 4
First period: 1, Nolan Shingle NP (Sam Norton) 12:21.
Second period: 2, Shingle NP (Cole Pluck) 2:25; 3, Shingle NP (James Boyle, Norton) 12:57 PP; 4, Matt Yothers NP (Derek DeLong, Ryan Patenaude) 13:49.
Third period: No scoring.
Shots: Neshaminy 20, North Penn 44. Saves: Aidan Hullings (N) 40, Aidan Quigley (NP) 20.
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