Truman earned a big win in SHSHL SOL ice hockey action Friday. Check out Friday’s results.
By Ben Reese
WARWICK -- Truman has the highest scoring line in the American Division of the Suburban High School Hockey League.
Together, the line of Zack Bennett, Kyle Bennett and Mike Roarty had accounted for 61 of the team's 97 goals this season prior to Friday night's 9-2 victory over Lower Moreland at the Warwick Ice Arena.
However, the leading scorer in the SHSHL was missing from that line and might be out for a while. Senior Zack Bennett has a partial tear in the medial collateral ligament of his right knee.
His two linemates more than made up for his absence. Roarty had a seven-point night with five goals and two assists and Kyle Bennett added a goal and two assists.
"They play great when I'm by their side," Zack Bennett said after the game, "and when I'm not there, they control the team.
"They do a great job when I'm not there. When I'm there, they do an even better job."
Truman coach Bill Keyser knew what he had before the season started. He put his top senior, Zack, between the two sophomores to create a high-scoring line.
"Both Bennett brothers and Mike Roarty are travel, high-end players," Keyser said, "(They) can definitely make plays and move the puck and create opportunities for each other.
"With some teams, we're struggling (with Zack out). With other teams, it's nice because we can start to develop. Guys are seeing more time on the ice and they're getting better."
Zack wasn't as convinced as his coach that the line would have this much firepower.
"Based on the past two years, I didn't know how the year was going to go, but it's going great so far,” he said.
The biggest contribution that Zack has made for the Tigers, however, isn't in his personal goal-scoring column. It is what he does with the rest of the team.
He has scored 23 goals for Truman, trailing only his brother in that category, but he has also dished out 30 assists.
Zack understands that this is his final season of high school hockey. He would like to leave the program in better shape than it was when he got there.
"I know the next year I'm gone," he said. "I've played my whole life, 15 years."
His future?
"I'm planning on going to college," he said. "Just going to go to Bucks (County Community College) for a year or two and then look to play hockey, maybe at Penn State. I'm just keeping my options open.
"I'm just trying to help the freshmen get better and build the program. I'm just trying to help them out there.
"I try my hardest (to score) but I really try to help the underclassmen because I know how much it means to them. They get their first goal, I grab the puck for them, their face is lit up like no tomorrow. I really like to try and help out the freshmen, but I don't mind myself getting a couple (too).”
With Zack off the ice, Roarty took center stage. He scored the first goal of the game, added a natural hat trick in the second period and then notched his final goal early in the third.
"Mike has definitely taken a role as a leader of the team," Keyser said. "Kyle, who gets in the right spot at the right time to bury the puck, does as well."
Lower Moreland assistant coach Tony D'Orazio, filling in for absent head coach Joel Sauls, knew that Roarty was the player his team had to defend with Zack on the sidelines. Unfortunately for the Lions, they were shorthanded with only nine skaters and their goalie.
"He's a very special player," D'Orazio said of Roarty. "I even told our guys that 14 (Roarty) was the dangerous guy with the puck
"Fourteen is the guy we really had to lock in on, but by the middle of the second (period), we were gassed."
D'Orazio also knew that Truman's first line was going to be tough to stop.
"Extremely difficult (to defend) especially when we're undermanned like that," he said. "Tonight I tried to juggle the lines a little bit, but we had no answers for them."
Roarty got things going early on in the first period. He scored the only goal of the opening stanza with only 49 seconds gone off the clock.
Kyle Bennett opened the second period nearly as quickly as Roarty did the first. He hit the nets with only 54 seconds elapsed.
Roarty then scored three straight goals in under two minutes to build up a 5-0 lead. Cory Blumenthal put the Lions on the scoreboard, scoring with one second left in the period.
With 1:49 gone in the third, Roarty netted his final goal. It was followed by a Lower Moreland goal by Justin Smith and Truman goals from Tyler Bucci (two) and Shane Donahue.
The shots on goal tell the tale all too well. Truman fired 63 shots at Lion goalie Eric Sphar, who stopped 54 of them, while Lower Moreland took 13 shots on Kyle Huth.
Truman 9, Lower Moreland 2
Lower Moreland 0 1 1 – 2
Truman 1 4 4 – 9
First Period -- Mike Roarty T (Michael Cox, Kyle Bennett( 0:42.
Second Period -- Bennett T (Roarty) 0:54; Roarty T (Tyler Bucci) 2:15 PP; Roarty T (Bennett) 2:56; Roarty T (unassisted) 3:43; Cory Blumenthal LM (unassisted) 15:59 PP.
Third Period -- Roarty T (unassisted) 1:49; Justin Smith LM (Blumenthal, Campbell Manin) 10:46; Bucci T (James Johnson, Christian Morlando) 13:08; Shane Donahue T (Morlando) 14:05; Bucci T (Roarty, Morlando) 15:32.
Shots: LM -- 13; T -- 63. Saves : Eric Sphar (LM) 54; Kyle Huth (T) 11.
WISSAHICKON 9, UPPER DUBLIN 7
Jake Flancer scored four goals while teammate Edward Burkart added a goal and two assists to lead a balanced Wissahickon attack.
Upper Dublin opened up a 4-2 lead, but a late goal by Brandon Rosoff (Ryan Haney assist) made it a 4-3 game after one period. The Trojans had the better of play in the second period, opening the frame with three straight goals. Jacob Segelbaum (Burkart assist) scored the equalizer 9:50 into the period, and Rosoff’s shorthanded goal put the Trojans on top 5-4. A goal by Flancer (Burkart assist) made it a 6-4 game, but the Cardinals’ Ricky Reynolds (two goals, two assists) cut that lead to one.
Luke Zachy (three goals, three assists) scored an unassisted goal to knot the score, and Reynolds gave the Cardinals a 7-6 lead, but the Trojans closed it out with a 3-0 run that included a pair of Flancer goals and a single goal by Burkhart.
GAME DETAILS
SCORING
Wissahickon 3 3 3 9
Upper Dublin 4 1 2 7
SHOTS
Wissahickon 3 3 29 35
Upper Dublin 4 1 14 19
POWERPLAYS
Wissahickon 0 for 8 : Upper Dublin 1 for 9
SCORING SUMMARY
Period 1
Upper Dublin - Zach Hanson (Luke Zachy, Ricky Reynolds) 0:36
Wissahickon - Kyle Wolf (unassisted) 1:46
Upper Dublin - Luke Zachy (Kevin Callahan) 4:40
Wissahickon - Jake Flancer (Harry Hessler, Nolan Piatkowski) 6:15
Upper Dublin - Zach Hanson (Ethan Schwartz, Jack Sanders) 10:20
Upper Dublin - Luke Zachy (Ricky Reynolds) 11:33
Wissahickon - Brandon Rosoff (Ryen Haney) 14:50
Period 2
Wissahickon - Jacob Segelbaum (Edward Burkart) 9:50
Wissahickon - Brandon Rosoff (shorthanded) (unassisted) 10:18
Wissahickon - Jake Flancer (Edward Burkart) 11:54
Upper Dublin - Ricky Reynolds (powerplay) (Luke Zachy) 14:04
Period 3
Upper Dublin - Luke Zachy (unassisted) 0:58
Upper Dublin - Ricky Reynolds (Jack Sanders, Luke Zachy) 4:41
Wissahickon - Jake Flancer (Harry Hessler, Nolan Piatkowski) 9:07
Wissahickon - Edward Burkart (unassisted) 11:05
Wissahickon - Jake Flancer (unassisted) 11:35
GOALIES
35 Jake Modelevsky WIN 48:00 19 12
31 Stephen Sanders LOSS 48:00 35 26
PENALTY TOTALS
Wissahickon 16 minutes on 8 infraction(s) Upper Dublin 24 minutes on 8 infraction(s)
Truman 9 Lower Moreland 2
GAME DETAILS
SCORING
Truman 1 4 4 9
Lower Moreland 0 0 2 2
SHOTS
Truman 11 28 24 63
Lower Moreland 4 4 5 13
POWERPLAYS
Truman 1 for 3 : Lower Moreland 1 for 6
SCORING SUMMARY
Period 1
Truman - Michael Roarty (Michael Cox, Kyle Bennett) 0:42
Period 2
Truman - Kyle Bennett (Michael Roarty) 0:54
Truman - Michael Roarty (powerplay) (Tyler Bucci) 2:15
Truman - Michael Roarty (Kyle Bennett) 2:56
Truman - Michael Roarty (shorthanded) (unassisted) 3:43
Period 3
Truman - Michael Roarty (unassisted) 1:49
Lower Moreland - Justin Smith (Cory Blumenthal, Campbell Manin) 10:46
Truman - Tyler Bucci (James Johnson, Christian Morlando) 13:18
Truman - Shane Donahue (Christian Morlando) 14:05
Truman - Tyler Bucci (Michael Roarty, Christian Morlando) 15:32
Lower Moreland - Cory Blumenthal (powerplay) (unassisted) 15:59
GOALIES
35 Kyle Huth WIN 48:00 13 11
27 Eric Sphar LOSS 48:00 63 54
PENALTY TOTALS
Truman 14 minutes on 7 infraction(s) Lower Moreland 8 minutes on 4 infraction(s)
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