CB South & Pennridge advanced to the championship game in Varsity AA while Hatboro-Horsham and Lower Moreland will do battle for the title in Varsity A. CB South/North Penn & Lower Moreland/Abington photos provided courtesy of Dara N. King Photography, and Wissahickon/Hatboro-Horsham and CB West/Pennridge photos provided courtesy of Julie Spahn.
Varsity AA semifinals
(2) PENNRIDGE 5, (6) CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 2
Things started out slowly for Pennridge in its SHSHL semifinal game against Central Bucks West.
In fact, the Rams didn't get a sniff of a goal until Pat McGinley shoved the puck past West goalie Jeremy Kennard with 11:33 gone in the opening period.
But that got things going for the Rams, who scored two more goals in the second period and two more in the third for the victory.
Pennridge will play Central Bucks South tonight (Thursday) at Ice World for the AA Championship. CB South beat North Penn 6-2 on Wednesday night.
"Give them credit," Pennridge coach Tom Coyne said of the Bucks. "They came out to play.
"We were trying to get a little bit of a match-up. It took a little while to get that. Once we found our groove, we got our line going."
After that first-period goal, it only took the Rams 1:27 of the second period to add a second marker. It was scored by Eric Slater, who scored another second-period goal and completed his hat trick in the third.
"It took us a while," Slater said of the slow start. "We got going and the goals came."
In between Slater's second period goals, the Bucks got a goal from Jake Boehm. They also scored to open the third period courtesy of Jake Lang, cutting Pennridge's lead to 3-2.
But Slater completed his hat trick on the power play and Michael Walker put in an empty-net goal to complete the scoring.
"That power play down the stretch was huge," said Coyne. "That's the way we want to do it - move the puck up top and then, if he's (Slater) open, that's his wheelhouse there at the top of the circle."
Even though the Rams are in the Flyers Cup mix, the SHSHL Championship has some meaning for them.
"It's important," said Slater. "It's big for us.
"Pennridge hasn't won a league in a while. We want it. If we win the league, there's a lot of momentum going into the Flyers Cup."
Pennridge 5, CB West 2
CB West 0 1 1 – 2
Pennridge 1 2 2 – 5
First period: 1, Pat McGinley P (Conrad Frisch) 11:33.
Second period: 2, Eric Slater P (Michael Walker, McGinley) 1:27; 3, Jake Boehm CBW (unassisted) 5:24; 4, Slater P (Walker) 7:15.
Third period: 5, Jake Lang CBW (unassisted) 3:52 SH; 6, Slater P (Frankie Rota, McGinley) 9:30 PP; 7, Walker P (McGinley, Frisch) 15:36 EN.
Shots: CBW 26, P 27. Saves: Jeremy Kennard (CBW) 22, Luke Stranick (P) 24.
(1) CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 6, (4) NORTH PENN 3
The Titans reeled off four unanswered goals in the third period, breaking a 2-2 tie and propelling South into Thursday’s SHSHL championship game against Pennridge.
The two teams exchanged first period goals with Joshua Kaufhold (John Kim assist) and Alex Stevens (Jared Albano assist) scoring for North Penn. Colin Abbonizio and Frank Carter each had a goal for the Titans. Joseph DeLaurentis assisted on both with Matt Stoll also assisting on Abbonizio’s goal and Reis Braccio having a hand in Carter’s power play goal.
Neither team scored in the second period, and that 2-2 tie stood until Stoll connected on back-to-back goals in the third period, both with DeLaurentis assists. 
Abbonizio’s second goal of the game – this one with a Jake Parlow assist – put the Titans on top 5-2. Carter closed out the scoring for the Titans with his second power play goal, this one with the fifth assist of the game for DeLaurentis. Stoll also had an assist on the score. North Penn’s Nathan Oh (Galetta assist) scored a late goal for the 6-3 final.
The Titans, who will face Pennridge in Thursday’s title game, held a 29-22 advantage in shots.
North Penn 2-0-1 3
Central Bucks South 2-0-4 6
Shots: CB South 29, North Penn 22.
Saves: Tim White (CBS) 19, Chris Maiden (NP) 23.
First period: 1, Joshua Kaufhold NP (John Kim) 7:01; 2, Colin Abbonizio CBS (Joseph DeLaurentis, Matt Stoll assists); 3, Alex Stevens NP (Jared Albano) 12:16; 4, Frank Carter CBS (Joseph DeLaurentis, Reis Braccio) 12:16.
Second period: No score.
Third period: 5, Matt Stoll CBS (Joseph DeLaurentsi) 0:52; 6, Matt Stoll (Joseph DeLaurentis) 4:38; 7, Colin Abbonizio CBS (Jake Parlow) 6;35; 8, Frank Carter CBS (Joseph DeLaurentis, Matt Stoll) 10:28; 9, Nathan Oh NP (Andrew Galetta) 15:55.
Varsity A semifinals
(4) HATBORO-HORSHAM 5, (1) WISSAHICKON 2
By Ben Reese
HATFIELD -- Hatboro-Horsham didn't get an invitation to the Flyers Cup.
So the Hatters have made the Suburban High School Hockey League championships their Flyers Cup.
And they are off to a good start after knocking off top seed Wissahickon 5-2 on Wednesday night at Ice World. It is the second straight win for Hatboro-Horsham over the Trojans and the only two losses of the season for Wissahickon.
"Every game is important to our boys," said. Hatter coach Gianni LaFratta. "It'll be our SHSHL Cup. It's a great effort in both games, keeping them to the outside. Definitely five men out on the ice doing the job."
The same feeling runs through the team as epitomized by senior Jake Mueller.
"More or less correct," he said when asked about the SHSHL championship and the Flyers Cup. "It's everything to us and we're just trying to go out there and win it as a team.
"Even if we had lost to them tonight, we beat them last week and that was kind of like our championship. They've been blowing out everybody by eight, 10 goals besides us so it's really special."
The win propels the Hatters into Thursday’s championship game against Lower Moreland. The Lions beat Abington 5-3 on Wednesday.
The victory on Wednesday night was also special for Mueller. His first goal of the game in the third period tied the game at 2-2.
He then assisted on what proved to be the game-winning goal and added his second goal later in the period.
"Jake is definitely the one who pushes and motivates the boys," LaFratta said. "Every now and again, we need a buzz or a jump, Jake is the man."
Wissahickon played the game without one of its scoring leaders. Sean Garry is out for the rest of the season with mononucleosis.
He finished his season with 37 goals and 27 assists. He had paired with his brother Bryan to score a combined 80 goals with 54 assists.
"It absolutely made a difference," Mueller said, "but it's a shame for him. I'm not going to complain about it."
The Hatters got on the scoreboard first. Dylan McClure hit the nets at the 3:54 mark of the first period, the lone goal of the stanza.
In the second period, the Trojans grabbed the lead. Alex Myhrman and Bryan Garry both scored on power plays, Myhrman at 4:49 and Garry at 7:25.
That lead lasted until 19 seconds had elapsed in the third period. That's when Mueller scored an unassisted goal to tie the score.
James McCoy unknotted the score at 2:55 off an assist from Mueller and Mueller got some insurance less than a minute later off an assist from Nathan Reilly. Ziyad Elsabbach completed the scoring into an empty net with 11 seconds left in the game.
Hatboro-Horsham will face Lower Moreland tonight (Thursday) at Ice World. The game will begin at 8:50 p.m.
Hatboro-Horsham 5, Wissahickon 2
Hatboro-Horsham 1 0 4 – 5
Wissahickon 0 2 0 – 2
First period: 1, Dylan McClure HH (unassisted) 3:54.
Second period: 2, Alex Myhrman W (Bryan Garry) 4:49 PP; 3, Garry W (Myhrman, Matt Cade) 7:25 PP.
Third period: 4, Jake Mueller HH (unassisted) 0:19; 5, James McCoy HH (Mueller) 2:55; 6, Mueller HH (Nathan Reilly) 3:52; 7, Ziyan Elsabbach HH (unassisted) 15:49 EN.
Shots: HH 21, W 26. Saves: Ryan Bell (HH) 24, Jake Modelevsky (W) 16.
(3) LOWER MORELAND 5, (2) ABINGTON 3
Lower Moreland and Abington found themselves deadlocked 2-2 entering the final period when the Lions erupted for three goals to earn the big win.
The two teams exchanged first period goals with Ryan Gosselin scoring for he Ghosts and Adam Bostock accounting for the Lions’ goal. It was the same story in the second period. Bostock scored his second goal of the game, this one with a Coleman Peppelman assist, and Perry Carpenter found the net for the Ghosts.
The action picked up considerably in the third period. Campbell Manin put the Lions ahead with a goal assisted by Adam Bostock and Brennan Bostock. Gavin O’Donnell answered with the equalizer for the Ghosts, using assists from Eric Miller and Carpenter. Simon Gratowski turned a Brennan Bostock pass into the game-winner, and Manin added an insurance goal, using assists from Gratowski and Brennan Bostock.
Lower Moreland earned a spot in Thursday’s title game against Hatboro-Horsham.
Lower Moreland 1-1-3 5
Abington 1-1-1 3
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