CB South & CB West will meet in Thursday’s SHSHL ‘AA’ final while CR North & Truman will do battle in the SHSHL ‘A’ final. Photos of the CB South/CR South and CB West/Tennent games are courtesy of Dara King of DNK Photography. Check back for galleries of both games.
By Ben Reese
HATFIELD -- Jared Conroy went from goat to hero in the space of about five minutes.
The Central Bucks South defenseman was heavily involved in the final two goals of the Suburban High School Hockey League Class AA semifinal game against Council Rock South at Hatfield Ice on Wednesday night.
The first one – after a costly turnover - tied the game at 1-1 with slightly over two minutes left in the third period. The second one Conroy scored with 3:34 gone in overtime to give the Titans a 2-1 victory and advance them to the championship game on Thursday.
"I turned it over," Conroy said of the tying goal. "It went off someone on our team and they got a lucky bounce."
In addition to tying the game, it also set up a 10-minute sudden-death overtime period. Conroy took care of that, also.
"Damon DeLaurentis goes down low," Conroy said, explaining his game winner. "He sees me in the slot and makes a nice pass and I just put it away."
Sounds simple, doesn't it? Well, Titan coach Tom Coyne knew it wasn't that easy, acknowledging that Conroy “owed” him one after an uncharacteristic miscue.
"Conroy turns toward the net, which we practice all the time about turning out (away from the net)," Coyne said. "He made the decision to turn toward the net.
"We went to make the clear, it got the shin pad and went into the back of our net. Ninety-nine point nine percent of the time he's going to get that out."
But how did you feel when he scored the game-winner in overtime?
"He owed me," Coyne said with a smile. "That's what I thought. He owed me.
"Typically he makes a lot of great decisions. It was a great bounce. You've got to be hustling to make plays like that."
Except for a second-period goal by Jackson Koblick of CB South and a third period score by CR South's Darren Barder, the game was an up-and-down barnburner. Neither team could get any advantage.
That was due to the play of the two goalies. The Golden Hawks' Mason Procz and the Titans' Aaron King were both outstanding in the nets.
King had the shutout going into the third period and made 26 saves. Procz kicked out 31 of 33 shots on net.
"Our goal was to get him (Procz) tested early and we didn't do it," said Coyne. "After a while, he got the confidence he needed and he held us at bay.
"Aaron played great. Once you get a bad bounce and it goes in, you kind of get scrambled upstairs and start wondering if this is going to be our night. He collected himself and did a good job."
Rock South coach Joe Houk knew what hurt his team.
"It comes down to a couple of mistakes," he said. "We made two mistakes. The first goal was a total mistake on our part.
"It's a game of puck possession and mistakes. Possess the puck and it gives them limited time. We made a couple of mistakes and they capitalized."
The two teams played a scoreless first period. Procz and King only faced seven and eight shots respectively.
Roughly two-thirds of the way through the second stanza, the Titans got on the board. Koblick raced down the ice with two teammates on a three-on-none break and batted the puck past Procz with an assist from Alex Rubas.
It stayed at 1-0 for nearly the rest of regulation. With 2:09 remaining in the third period, Barder tied the score, benefitting from the Titan miscue.
Conroy got redemption in the overtime. He took that pass from Damon DeLaurentis and beat Procz and the Titans went wild.
"In overtime, we got a good bounce and Conroy went down the middle and got one," Coyne said. "We're glad we found a way to win."
The Titans will face Central Bucks West, a 5-1 winner over William Tennent, in the championship game. The game will be played at 7:20 p.m. at Hatfield.
Central Bucks South 2, Council Rock South 1
CR South 0 0 1 0 – 1
CB South 0 1 0 1 – 2
First period: No scoring.
Second period: 1. Jackson Koblick CBS (Alex Rubas) 10:38.
Third period: 2. Darren Barder CRS (unassisted) 13:57.
Overtime: 3. Jared Conroy CBS (Damon DeLaurentis, Joe DeLaurentis) 3:34.
Shots: CRS 27, CBS 33. Saves: Mason Procz (CRS) 31; Aaron King (CBS) 26.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 5, WILLIAM TENNENT 1
In the other SHSHL AA semifinal, the Bucks defeated the National Conference champion Panthers, opening up a 2-0 advantage in the first period and leading this one wire to wire.
It took the Bucks just 45 seconds to get on the scoreboard when Joe Anton turned an Eric Schwass pass into a goal. A goal late in the period by Shawn Philipps (Dalton Karl assist) put CB West on top 2-0.
Anton’s second goal 7:17 into the second period – this one with assists from Schwass and Edward Shields – gave the Bucks a 3-0 lead before the Panthers got on the scoreboard, thanks to a Liam Ovington power play goal (Sean Ovington assist).
The Bucks put the finishing touches on the impressive win with a pair of third period goals. Brandon Savona (Michael D’Argenio/John McCreadie assists) scored 8:57 into the period, and Tucker Forte added a power play goal, using a Karl assist, for the 5-1 final.
Jonah Brous was all but impenetrable in goal, turning away 19 of 20 shots he faced in the win. Eric Lineman was credited with 25 saves for the Panthers.
Central Bucks West will face archrival Central Bucks South for the SHSHL AA title on Thursday at Hatfield Ice (7:20 p.m.)
William Tennent 0-1-0 1
Central Bucks West 2-1-2 5
HARRY S TRUMAN 4, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 2
Truman earned a spot in Thursday’s SHSHL ‘A’ finals with its win over PW in a semifinal at Grundy on Wednesday night. Codey Gordon assisted on three of the four goals to lead a balanced offensive effort for the Tigers.
Colin Roberts broke a scoreless tie when he found the net 10:18 into the opening period, using Michael Roarty and Steven Avellino assists. William Findley scored back-to-back goals in a three-and-a-half minute span – the first with assists from Gordon and Roberts and the second with Kyle Bennett/Gordon assists – to put the Tigers on top 3-0 after one period.
PW’s Chris Rinaldi scored the only goal of the second period to make it a 3-1 game. His goal was unassisted.
Things got interesting when – 10:15 into the final period – Kevin Lawrence scored a power play goal to make it a one-goal game, using assists from Rinaldi and Christopher Ward. Four minutes later, Avellino (Roarty/Gordon assists) tacked on an insurance goal for the 4-2 final.
The Tigers held a 32-19 advantage in shots. PW goalie Cole Shula recorded 28 saves while Truman’s Kyle Huth had 17 saves in a winning effort.
Truman will face Council Rock North in Thursday’s SHSHL ‘A’ final at Grundy (7:20 p.m.).
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0-1-1 2
Harry S Truman 3-0-1 4
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 7, WISSAHICKON 4
The Indians - who finished a close second to the Tigers in a tightly-contest American Conference race - earned a rematch with their rivals, thanks to Wednesday’s win over the Trojans in an SHSHL ‘A’ semifinal contest.
Andrew Speeney assisted on three goals for a team-high three points on a night that saw 12 Rock North players get into the scoring column. Kyle Wolf led the Trojans with three goals and one assist for four points.
A goal by Jacob Borden (Cavan Tully/Kameron Bontempo assists) spotted the Indians a 1-0 lead with 5:45 remaining in the opening period. That one-goal lead stood until Zachary Herman (Daniel Guest/Mark Tosti assists) found the net in the opening minute of the second period. Back-to-back goals by Wolf – the first with assists from Brandon Rosoff and Ryan Haney – knotted the score 2-2 less than three minutes into the period.
Rock North answered with a pair of goals within a 39-second span from Brandon Simmonds (Ian Rice/Borden assists) and John Vanni (Christian Zemzik/Dante Rienzi assists) to go back on top 4-3. Another Wolf goal – unassisted – made it a 4-3 game heading into the final period.
Early in the third period, Tosti (Guest/Speeney assists) found the net to put the Indians on top 5-3, but Matt Cade (Wolf/Nolan Piatkowski assists) answered with a goal for the Trojans to make it a one-goal game. Just over a minute later, Christian Zemzik (Speeney assist) tacked on an insurance goal for the Indians, and Vanni closed out the scoring with a goal, using assists from Zemzik and Speeney.
Rock North held a 36-25 advantage in shots. Trojan goalie Noah Katz turned away 29 shots. Rock North’s Chase D’Arcangelo had 21 saves in the win.
Rock North will do battle with Truman in Thursday’s final at Grundy (7:20 p.m.).
Wissahickon 0-3-1 4
Council Rock North 1-3-3 7
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