Check out the results for SOL SHSHL ice hockey teams in action Thursday.
By Ben Reese
WARWICK – North Penn ice hockey coach Kevin Vaitis didn’t need anyone to tell him what happened when his Knights played Central Bucks South on Thursday night.
What happened was the Titans came away from the Warwick Ice Arena with a 5-3 victory, which puts them ahead of North Penn in the Continental Division by four points and five points ahead of Central Bucks East.
“We won the first period,” Vaitis said, “and they won the last two. You win two out of three periods, you usually win the game. They won tonight.”
That is just about exactly how the game went. North Penn took the first period, leading 2-1. South came back and tied the score in the second and then dominated the third.
The Knights took the lead in the third period but the Titans came roaring back. South scored two goals in the space of three minutes and 14 seconds to grab the lead and the game.
Jake Bauer scored the first South goal of the third period, beating North Penn goalie Jake Snyder with a blistering slapshot from the left point. But it was Brenden Clements who connected for the game-winner.
“Jack Pohl came up the wing and he shot it,” Clements said. “It hit his (Snyder) shoulder and went over. It was just sitting in the crease and I just put it home.”
That gave the Titans a 4-3 lead, which expanded to the 5-3 final when Bauer scored into an empty net after North Penn had pulled Snyder from the nets.
That shooting philosophy was how South coach Tom Coyne, who was absent for the game, and assistant Shaun McGinty wanted their offense to go. They wanted their players to shoot the puck.
“I expect these guys to get at least 30 to 35 shots a game,” McGinty said. “I always tell these boys that - put the puck on the net and make the goalie work. Sooner or later, he's going to crack.
“Bauer walked over the line, took a shot and he caught the kid off guard. Once that went in, we told the boys to keep peppering him, make him make saves.”
Up to that point, though, Snyder had been all but impossible to beat His play in the second period kept the Knights in the game.
“Jake has played well for us all year,” Vaitis said. “We probably have the best goalies in the league, but we need to do a better job of playing in front of them in the second and third period.
“We had breakdowns defensively, and Jake bailed us out numerous times. They had a couple that they put in the back of the net.”
It was in the third period that the Titans really got going. They scored three times to put the game away.
“We had to keep going from the second (period),” Clements said. “We just had to keep moving and moving and moving, keep taking the body, keep pucks on the net and go hard.”
South teammate Kevin Casey, who had three assists in the game, agreed with Clements.
“We were playing hard, and (we had to) keep our foot on the gas pedal,” Casey said. “We've got to keep going because East and North Penn are right (behind us) and we just have to keep winning the rest of our games.”
The Knights scored two first-period goals and held a 2-1 edge at the end of the period.
Jake Heckenberger got North Penn on the scoreboard with only 2:55 gone in the period, beating Jeff Pelkowski high to the glove side for his 14th goal of the season. It was unassisted.
But the Titans came right back. They scored the tying goal off the stick of Brandon Spognardi, with an assist from Casey, 1:21 later in a short-handed situation with Mike Pilla in the penalty box for roughing.
Later in the period, the Knights retook the lead when Ryan Nowicki scored off assists from Matt Stella and Heckenberger. It was a power play goal.
Despite the one-goal deficit, South gave late notice of its intention to come back. The Titans outshot North Penn 10-9 in the first period.
South scored the lone goal of the second stanza. With 5:11 gone in the period, Pilla scored with Jared Conroy getting an assist on the goal.
The third period started out with North Penn taking the lead 3-2. Nick Capasso scored off a pass from Christian Ahn at the 7:05 mark of the final period.
But that was it for the Knights as the Titans took over.
Bauer evened the score again with 8:01 left in the period. His big blast was the turning point.
But it was Clements' goal that secured the victory for the Titans. Pohl and Alex Stoll got the assists.
Bauer's empty-net goal was just icing on the cake for the Titans.
McGinty wasn't surprised by the intensity of the game.
“They're a great team and we expect that from them,” he said. “They are going to get up for us and we're going to get up for them.
“It doesn't matter what the record is, we're going to play hard against each other.”
Clements couldn't have agreed more.
“They're a good team,” he said. “Our whole team has to show up and we showed up for that game.”
Boy, did they ever.
North Penn 2 0 1 – 3
Central Bucks South 1 1 3 – 5
First Period
1. Jake Heckenberger NP (unassisted) 2:55; 2. Brandon Spognardi CBS (Kevin Casey) 4:16 SH; 3. Ryan Nowicki NP (Matt Stella, Heckenberger) 12:23 PP. Penalties: Mike Pilla (CBS) roughing 3:47; Alex Peterson (NP) slashing 9:23; Dominic Bova (CBS) high sticking 11:36.
Second Period
4. Pilla CBS (Jared Conroy) 5:11. Penalties: Brenden Clements (CBS) unsportsmanlike conduct 1:53; Nowicki (NP) holding 1:53; Bova (CBS) interference 5:38; Casey (CBS) slashing 15:41; Nick Capasso (NP) slashing 15:41.
Third Period
5. Capasso NP (Christian Ahn) 7:05; 6. Jake Bauer CBS (Casey) 8:01; 7. Brenden Clements CBS (Jack Pohl, Alex Stoll) 11:15; 8. Bauer CBS (Casey) 15:22 EN. Penalties: None.
Shots:NP – 28; CBS – 41. Saves: Jake Snyder (NP) 35; Jeff Pelkowski (CBS) 25.
Council Rock North 7 Pennsbury 3
The Indians jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one period and never looked back on their way to the win.
Mark Tosti, Sam Kroh and Justin Fricke each scored single goals in the opening period, and in the second, Trey Elmer added a goal to put the Indians on top 4-0. The two teams spent the third period exchanging goals. Pennsbury’s Kevin Koerner scored a power play goal 1:18 into the period, but Tristan Wieczorek got that goal back. Pennsbury’s Adam Shapiro made it a 5-2 game, but again Wieczorek answered, this time with a power play goal. Pennsbury’s John Thornton (power play) and Fricke exchanged goals to close out the game.
Pennsbury held a 26-22 edge in shots. Rock North goalie Kyle McQuillan turned away 23 of 26 shots.
GAME DETAILS
SCORING
Pennsbury 0 0 3 3
Council Rock North 3 1 3 7
SHOTS
Pennsbury 8 9 9 26
Council Rock North 9 5 8 22
POWERPLAYS
Pennsbury 2 for 3 : Council Rock North 1 for 2
SCORING SUMMARY
Period 1
Council Rock North - Mark Tosti (penalty shot) 13:24
Council Rock North - Sam Kroh (unassisted) 14:09
Council Rock North - Justin Fricke (unassisted) 14:34
Period 2
Council Rock North - Trey Elmer (Andrew Speeney, Joe Rutkowski) 15:05
Period 3
Pennsbury - Kevin Koerner (powerplay) (John Thornton) 1:18
Council Rock North - Tristan Wieczorek (Sam Kroh, Mark Tosti) 2:42
Pennsbury - Adam Shapiro (Ryan Johnson, Mike Tarasiewicz) 6:18
Council Rock North - Tristan Wieczorek (powerplay) (Jaccob Borden) 8:56
Pennsbury - John Thornton (powerplay) (Kevin Koerner, Kyle Wilkins) 8:56
Council Rock North - Justin Fricke (Colton Snow) 14:07
GOALIES
48 Trevor Schadler (PENNS) LOSS 48:00 22 15
42 Kyle McQuillan (CRN) WIN 48:00 26 23
Harry S Truman 5 Neshaminy 3
Justin Vickery scored a pair of third period goals, breaking a 3-3 tie and giving the Tigers the hard fought win. His first came 9:10 into the period, and he added an insurance goal four minutes later.
In the first period, Eric Graham put the Redskins on the scoreboard, but less than a minute later, Truman’s Tyler Bucci scored the equalizer. Another Graham goal gave Neshaminy a 2-1 edge, but Zach Bennett’s power play goal knotted the score 2-2 at the end of one period.
In the second period, Neshaminy’s Matt Maher and Bennett exchanged goals, setting the stage for Vickery’s third period heroics.
The Tigers held a 32-27 advantage in shots on goal. Truman goalie Christian Morlando turned away 24 shots while Neshaminy’s Matt Lucas had 27 stops.
GAME DETAILS
SCORING
Neshaminy 2 1 0 3
Truman 2 1 2 5
SHOTS
Neshaminy 12 8 7 27
Truman 13 13 6 32
POWERPLAYS
Neshaminy 0 for 0 : Truman 1 for 4
SCORING SUMMARY
Period 1
Neshaminy - Eric Graham (Bobby Lucas, Mark Kruise) 2:09
Truman - Tyler Bucci (Billy Keyser, Aaron Liebel) 2:55
Neshaminy - Eric Graham (Matt Kaleck) 6:58
Truman - Zach Bennett (powerplay) (Josh Robinson) 15:52
Period 2
Neshaminy - Mike Maher (Matt Kaleck, Antonio Alicea) 4:43
Truman - Zach Bennett (Justin Vickery, Josh Fewtrell) 14:37
Period 3
Truman - Justin Vickery (unassisted) 9:10
Truman - Justin Vickery (Zach Bennett) 12:50
GOALIES
40 Matt Lucas (NESH) LOSS 48:00 32 27
21 Christian Morlando (TRU) WIN 48:00 27 24
Souderton 10 Abington 3
Daniel Rock had an impressive seven-point night, contributing four goals and three assists to lead the Indians to the big win.
It was Rock putting the Indians on the scoreboard early with a power play goal, and the Indians led 2-0 after an Alex Politsky goal. Abington's Thomas Carroll made it a 2-1 game with an unassisted goal 7:07 into the opening period, but Rock answered with his second goal two minutes later. Another Carroll goal made it a 3-2 game at the end of one period.
The second period was all Souderton as the Indians used goals goals from Rock, Chris Malanga and Connor McCausland - all on power plays - to go on top 6-2. Politsky, Rock, Brian Broderick and Malanga scored to open the third period, extending the Indians' lead to 10-2 before Alex DeCristofano scored for the Ghosts.
GAME DETAILS
SCORING
Abington 2 0 1 3
Souderton 3 3 4 10
SHOTS
Abington 2 0 19 21
Souderton 3 3 33 39
POWERPLAYS
Abington 0 for 1 : Souderton 4 for 7
SCORING SUMMARY
Period 1
Souderton - Daniel Rock (powerplay) (unassisted) 0:00
Souderton - Alex Politsky (Weston Bainbridge, Daniel Rock) 5:05
Abington - Thomas Carroll (unassisted) 7:07
Souderton - Daniel Rock (Luke Dieterich) 8:53
Abington - Thomas Carroll (Justin Adamski Jr) 13:02
Period 2
Souderton - Daniel Rock (powerplay) (Alex Politsky) 6:07
Souderton - Chris Malanga (powerplay) (Daniel Rock) 12:23
Souderton - Connor McCausland (powerplay) (Alex Politsky, Daniel Rock) 13:02
Period 3
Souderton - Alex Politsky (Weston Bainbridge, Connor Walsh) 2:26
Souderton - Daniel Rock (Alex Politsky) 7:31
Souderton - Brian Broderick (David Capobianchi, Luke Dieterich) 8:10
Souderton - Chris Malanga (Tyler Dipietro, Charles Kakreka) 9:29
Abington - Alex DeCristofano (Justice Large) 14:31
GOALIES
30 Cole Kramer (ABG) LOSS 48:00 39 29
35 Brian Bingaman (SOU) WIN 48:00 21 18
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