By Ben Reese
WARWICK -- It could have been a strange spot for Central Bucks South goalie Tim White.
Here he was, starting in the nets for the Titans against Souderton in the quarterfinals of the Flyers Cup at Revolution Ice Gardens. South's usual starting goalie, Kevin Dorozinsky, was serving a one-game suspension after received a game misconduct penalty late in Wednesday’s night’s win over Spring-Ford.
It was also a game played on two rinks but more on that later.
White has started a good number of games for the Titans this season and played well. But maybe not quite as well as he played in South's 6-2 win over the Indians.
"I thought Kevin was going to go in and carry the team like he usually does," White said when asked if he expected to start against Souderton before Wednesday night. "I just knew that I had to stick to my game. We had to play our game, kick their butts and move on."
White definitely contributed to that. He stopped 22 of the 24 shots that Souderton directed on goal.
“Tim did a great job," said CB South coach Shaun McGinty. " Kevin plays Tier I hockey for the Minutemen (a club team) so he usually had to miss quite a bit this year. Tim knew his role coming into the season, that he was going to be a backup.
"With Kevin's schedule, Tim was still going to get quite a few opportunities. During the season, he played a lot of big games for us. Him having to play tonight I don't think was something that we were super worried about. We didn't change our game; we didn't do anything differently.
"We were just trying to take care of our zone, keep the shots to the outside and let Tim do his job. He was able to answer the bell. The bell rang and he answered."
The bell tolled for Souderton. The Big Red couldn't replicate the game they played in beating Council Rock South on Wednesday.
"You want to be able to go out there and have the emotion you have after your first goal and we didn't to start the game," said Souderton coach Matt Montagna "I can't reproduce it. It's hard for them to push back."
Souderton employed a dump-and-run offensive philosophy against the Titans. It was semi-effective.
"We were just trying to play get it out, then in," Montagna said. "That was the game plan.
"We're not going to overpower them. We're not going to push them around. They're too skilled.
"So we tried to do what we're good at. Sometimes it worked tonight, but I'll give them a lot of credit. They're really good."
As for the two rinks, luckily Revolution Ice Gardens has two on the same site. Otherwise, the game might have had to be completed at some other rink on some other night.
With 15:38 gone in the second period, a player was checked into the boards and the glass above the section broke all over the ice. Unfortunately, another glass panel was not available.
So everyone -- players, coaches, officials, spectators, etc. -- got up and went across the lobby to the other rink and play was resumed. The only difference was that the respective team benches were reversed, meaning that the South bench, which was on the left of the penalty boxes and game officials area, was now on the right.
It was a unique situation for just about everyone involved.
"I have never seen that before," South captain Matt Stoll said of the broken glass. I have seen pucks over the walls, Zamboni doors broken but never glass breaking in the middle of a game. It's a different experience."
The game itself belonged to South. The Titans scored three goals in the first period, one in the second and two in the third to offset two goals for Souderton in the second period.
Stoll recorded a hat trick and Joe DeLaurentis had a pair of goals. Both players also had two assists each.
The other South goal was scored by Reis Braccio. Miles Minnick and Tyler Johnson had the Souderton goals.
Central Bucks South will take on Downingtown East, a 7-1 winner over Downingtown West, in a semifinal game. It will be played Monday, March 13, at Revolution Ice Gardens at 8:15 p.m.
CB South 6, Souderton 2
Souderton 0 2 0 – 2
CB South 3 1 2 – 6
First period: 1, Reis Braccio CBS (Nick Morelli) 4:47; 2, Joe DeLaurentis CBS (Braccio, Matt Stoll) 6:20 PP; 3, Stoll CBS (Morelli, Braccio) 8:33.
Second period: 4, Miles Minnick S (Tyler Johnson, Thomas Tierney) 0:50; 5, Colin Abbonizio CBS (DeLaurentis) 9:37; 6, Johnson S (Gabe Evans, Minnick) 15:12.
Third period: 7, DeLaurentis CBS (Frank Carter, Stoll) 0:53 PP; 8, Stoll CBS (DeLaurentis) 10:43.
Shots: S 24, CBS 35. Saves: Dawson Anders (S) 7; Joshua Smith (S) 22; Tim White (CBS) 22.
#1 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 1, #8 RIDLEY 0 (Forfeit)
The Bucks were well on their way to a convincing win – leading 7-1 with 7:12 remaining in the third period – when a brawl erupted. The game was halted, and Ridley will forfeit the game.
Prior to the incident, the Bucks were in command, opening up a 3-0 lead after one period. Shawn Philipps scored a pair of goals sandwiched around a power play goal by Tucker Forte. Dalton Karl assisted on the first two, and Joe Anton was credited with assists on the second and third goals. Brandon Savona also had an assist on the third goal.
The Bucks upped that lead to 4-0 when Forte (Matt McCarthy/Anton assists) scored early in the second period. Ron Higgins connected on a power play to put the Raiders on the board, but Savona and Luke McCleerey answered with back-to-back goals – both on power plays. Scotty Cappuccio assisted on Savona’s goal, and Christian Young had the assist on McCleerey’s goal.
Cappuccio (Savona assist) scored on a power play early in the third period, and that would be the extent of the scoring.
Ridley held a 14-10 advantage in shots in the first period, but the Bucks outshot the Green Raiders 19-6 the rest of the way.
Goalie Jonah Brous was once again key, turning away 19 of 20 shots he faced.
Central Bucks West will face William Tennent in Monday’s semifinal contest at Hatfield Ice (7:45 p.m.).
#4 WILLIAM TENNENT 5, #5 HAVERFORD 4 (OT)
Jack McKeever turned a Sean Ovington pass into a goal 6:02 into overtime to propel the Panthers to a dramatic win over the Fords. The win vaulted the Panthers into Monday’s Flyers Cup semifinal where they will face top-seeded Central Bucks West at Hatfield Ice (7:45 p.m.)
Ovington’s unassisted goal just over a minute into the game spotted the Panthers an early 1-0 lead, and they doubled their advantage when Andre Trozzi (Jack McKeever assist) scored a minute later. Dominic Pantalone cut that lead in half less than a minute later with a goal, and that 2-1 score stood until Stephen Skiba (Blake Bagdon assist) scored 3:06 into the second period to put the Panthers on top 3-1. Again, Pantalone had an answer, scoring to make it a 3-2 game heading into the final period.
Henry DeVoe’s goal 31 seconds into the third period knotted the score, and although the Panthers took a 4-3 lead when Christopher Kreider scored on a power play, using an Ovington assist, the Fords knotted the score when Shane Moran found the net 9:54 into the period, setting the stage for overtime.
Both teams took 35 shot, underscoring just how even the game was. Eric Lineman turned away 31 shots in a winning performance for the Panthers. Haverford’s Tyler Cassidy was credited with 30 saves.
Haverford 1-1-2-0 4
William Tennent 2-1-1-1 5
Shots: WT 35, H 35
Saves: Eric Lineman (WT) 31, Tyler Cassidy (H) 30.
Period 1
WT: Sean Ovington (unassisted) 1:04
WT: Andre Trozzi (Jack McKeever) 2:06
H: Dominic Pantalone (Dante Gattone) 2:37
Period 2
WT: Stephen Skiba (Blake Bagdon) 3:06
H: Dominic Pantalone (Henry DeVoe) 8:39
Period 3
H: Henry DeVoe (Shane Moran) 0:31
WT: Christopher Kreider (power play) (Sean Ovington) 2:08
H: Shane Moran (Dante Gattone) 9:54
Overtime
WT: Jack McKeever (Sean Ovington) 6:02
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