CB South, Tennent, CB West & CR South were winners in SHSHL playoff action Monday. Photos are courtesy of Dara King of DNK Photographer. Check back for a gallery of the CB South/Souderton game.
By Ben Reese
WARMINSTER -- For William Tennent, it was a complete turnaround.
The team that had been so bad in a loss to Council Rock South last week was so good Monday night in a 2-1 win over North Penn in the first round of the Suburban High School Hockey League Class AA playoffs at Bucks County Ice.
The Panthers struggled in every phase of the game against Rock South, losing 9-0 in a game which pitted the two top teams in the National Conference. In that contest, everything Tennent tried to do didn't work and everything Rock South attempted did work.
Well, now the Panthers know what it is like to be on the other side. They made very few mistakes and hounded North Penn into many.
"What we did in the Rock game, we did the complete opposite of that tonight," Tennent coach Nick D'Aurizio said. "I didn't think one guy had a good game against Rock and every single guy on our roster had a great game tonight.
"I thought this was one of our best complete team games. I'm real proud of the way our team played as a whole tonight."
Leading the way for Tennent was Sean Ovington. He scored both Panther goals and finished up the game double-shifting to help keep the Knights from getting on the scoreboard.
"We came out much stronger (than we did against Rock South)," Ovington said. "We gave it all we had. We knew it was one-and-done."
Tennent certainly did give it all they had. The Panthers outshot North Penn 30-18 and prevented the Knights' offensive firepower from going off.
"We had a game plan coming in and we executed it," said D'Aurizio "That's what makes me happy as a coach.
"We tried to play suffocating D especially on (Alex) Peterson, who's one of the top players in this area. I think we did a pretty good job of shutting him down and frustrating him.
"As a coach, I don't like focusing on one player. But in this case, it was a special case because he's such a special player."
Entering the game, Peterson had scored 30 goals and passed out 30 assists. His 60 points were tops in the league.
Against Tennent, Peterson didn't score any goals nor did he assist on the one Knight goal. The Panthers frustrated his game so much that he finally received a game misconduct in the third period, putting him out of the game.
"Offensively, we just couldn't get enough going," North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis said. "Derek Heckler got injured halfway through the game. Losing Alex toward the end of the game obviously hurt as well."
Heckler is the second-leading scorer on the North Penn team.
Ovington had a unique perspective on the Panthers’ improvement.
"Coach Nick brought us up," Ovington said. "We had to start playing big boy hockey because it was the playoffs."
Ovington took care of the offensive output for Tennent. He scored the first goal in the first period at the 14:18 mark on a scramble in front of the net.
His second goal came in the second period. With 3:16 gone in the period, he beat North Penn goalie John Roberts in close.
North Penn cut the deficit to one goal at the very end of the second period. Andrew Galetta hit the nets with only 26 seconds remaining in the period.
"Defensively, we did a lot of the things we wanted to do where we kept shots to the outside," said Vaitis. "There are certain teams that are going to put up a lot of shots.
"With Johnny (Roberts) and Jake (Snyder) in nets, as long as we can keep the shots to the outside, we're going to be in good shape. Unfortunately, the two goals they scored were breakdowns in front and those are the ones we look to limit and avoid happening."
William Tennent advances into the semifinals of the SHSHL playoffs. The Panthers will face Central Bucks West, a 4-1 winner over Pennsbury, on Wednesday at Hatfield at 9 p.m.
William Tennent 2, North Penn 1
William Tennent 1 1 0 – 2
North Penn 0 1 0 – 1
First period: 1. Sean Ovington WT (Jack McKeever, Alec Dugan) 14:18 PP.
Second period: 2. Ovington WT (Dugan, McKeever) 3:16; 3. Andrew Galetta NP (Nathan Oh) 15:34.
Third period: No scoring.
Shots: NP 18; WT 30. Saves: John Roberts (NP) 28; Eric Lineman (WT) 17.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 4, PENNSBURY 1
The Bucks trailed 1-0 after one period but exploded for three goals in the second period on their way to the win. Shawn Philipps (two goals, one assist) and John McCreadie (one goal, two assists) led the Bucks’ attack.
Jack Kelly put the Falcons on the scoreboard 14:41 into the opening period, using a Kyle Wilkins assist. That 1-0 lead held up until Eric Schwass (McCreadie/Philipps assists) scored just over a minute into the second period to knot the score. Twenty-six seconds later, Philipps (Dalton Karl/Joe Anton assists) found the net with a short-handed goal, and the Bucks had a lead they would not lose. McCreadie (Luke McCleerey/Jake Boehm assists) added an insurance goal late in the period, and Philipps put the finishing touches on the win when he scored 12:21 into the final period (McCreadie/Michael D’Argenio assists).
West had a 33-25 advantage in shots. Pennsbury’s Trevor Schadler was credited with 29 saves while West’s Jonah Brous turned away 24 of 25 shots to earn the win.
Central Bucks West will face William Tennent on Wednesday at Hatfield Ice (9 p.m.)
Pennsbury 1-0-0 1
Central Bucks West 0-3-1 4
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 10, SOUDERTON 0
The Titans looked every bit the part of the top seed in Monday’s playoff opener, racing to a 6-0 lead after one period on their way to the lopsided win. In a contest that saw just about everyone get into the scoring column, Matt Stoll (three goals, one assist) and Joe DeLaurentis (two goals, two assists) led a balanced Titan attack with four-point efforts.
Alex Rubas (Nick Smith/Jackson Koblick assists) scored 1:18 into the opening period, and the Titans were off and running. Goals by Jason Bechtel, Koblick, Nick Morelli, Jake Anastasia and Joe DeLaurentis spotted the Titans a 6-0 lead.
Koblick scored the only goal of the second period, and the Titans closed it out with goals from Joe DeLaurentis, Damon DeLaurentis and Koblick for the 10-0 final.
CB South held a 58-10 advantage in shots on goal. Souderton goalie Dawson Anders turned away 48 shots. Aaron King was forced to make just 10 saves in the shutout win.
Central Bucks South will face Council Rock South in a semifinal contest on Wednesday at Hatfield Ice (7:20 p.m.).
Souderton 0-0-0 0
Central Bucks South 6-1-3 10
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 3, PENNRIDGE 1
Rock South turned in a strong defensive effort and rode the 20-save effort of goalie Mason Procz to a hard-fought win over the Rams.
The Golden Hawks scored the only goal of the opening period when Nicholas Meli found the net 8:25 into the contest. The Rams came back to knot the score on Troy Crosson’s power play goal 8:04 into the second period, using an Eric Slater assist. The Golden Hawks got that goal back when Darren Barder (Anthony DeRose/Jared Wagenmann assists) scored a goal late in the period to go on top 2-1.
Meli sealed the Rams’ fate when he scored 10:30 into the final period, using assists from Barder and Josh Vergules.
The Golden Hawks held a 29-21 advantage in shots. Mike Weaver turned away 26 shots for the Rams in goal.
Council Rock South will face top-seeded Central Bucks South at Hatfield Ice on Wednesday (7:20 p.m.).
Pennridge 0-1-0 1
Council Rock South 1-1-1 3
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