CB South defeated North Penn in a battle of Continental Conference powers. Check out the results for SOL SHSHL ice hockey teams in action.
By Ben Reese
WARWICK -- In sports, defense wins games.
Ice hockey is no exception. If you can shut down the opposing team's offense, more times than not you will win.
That was Central Bucks South's strategy on Thursday night at Revolution Ice Gardens. The Titans put the clamps on North Penn's explosive offense to grab a 3-0 victory in an important Suburban High School Hockey League game.
South's defense was so good that the Knights only managed 14 shots in the game - one in the first period. North Penn's top scorer, Alex Peterson, who has 26 goals and 16 assists this season, was blanked.
"That was our main goal," South's Damon DeLaurentis said. "We had to suppress their first line, don't let Peterson do anything. Always had a guy on him, making sure we shut him down."
South’s defensive game plan came as no surprise to North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis.
"They have a very strong defense back there," he said. "It looked like they had a kind of plan to slow (Peterson) down and keep him from picking up speed. They did a nice job of that defensively."
The Titans also had the benefit of a hot goalie. Kevin Dorozinsky got the start in the nets for South and tossed a shutout at North Penn.
"Their goalie stood on his head," Vaitis said, "and made a couple outstanding saves."
South coach Tom Coyne is happy to have Dorozinsky.
"Kevin's not new in the school, but he's new to the club this year," Coyne said. "In year's past, he's played a pretty hectic Tier One schedule and he was never permitted time management-wise to play for two teams."
Both coaches also had a lot to say about Knights goalie John Roberts. He faced a barrage of 47 shots - including 22 in the opening period - and stopped 44 of them.
"Johnny was Johnny," Vaitis said of his net-minder. "Johnny was outstanding in net."
"You certainly can't fault the effort of that guy behind you," Coyne said of Roberts. "We were saying in the locker room that the magic number (of shots on goal) was 50 because you've got to get those misdirection, back-door kind of goals to get him off his game. If anybody is there at the top of the paint, he's there battling."
That was what Roberts had to do for much of the night. A South rush down the ice would produce at a minimum two or three shots and often more.
He stopped all 22 South shots in the first period, but the Titans scored a pair of goals in the second – one each to Jared Conroy and Jason Bechtel.
In the second period, he faced "only" 11 shots and another 14 in the third. He surrendered the final goal to Joe DeLaurentis in the final period.
DeLaurentis said that taking a lot of shots was part of South's offensive plan.
"We had to get as many shots as we could because they have good goal-tending," he said. "Get every shot that we could, get to the rebounds and finish it."
Coyne was concerned with his team coming into the game. But as the game went on, that concern went away.
"I thought we came out really tense," the Titans’ coach said. "I think maybe it was the emphasis of really 'Shut down, shut down, shut down.' Then we started getting it going and the puck started going our way.
"You just have to be concerned about those games where you've got possession of the puck, possession of the puck and then they get that one bounce and they've got the skill up front with that line of Heck (Derek Heckler), Peterson and (Spencer) Silver. They can hurt you."
There was a familiarity about the CB South team. There are many names that ring true to ice hockey at South.
This is a team that won the PIAA Championship just two years ago. That team had a lot of the same names playing on this year's version.
"The younger generation," Coyne said with a laugh. "We're fortunate to have the DeLaurentises and Bechtels, the next wave, I guess. The younger brothers.
"Stoll is a name you might know. His older brother played the year we won states."
Coyne was referring to this year's Jason Bechtel (younger brother of graduated Connor), Damon and Joe DeLaurentis (younger brothers of graduated Nick) and Matt Stoll (younger brother of graduated Alex).
But there are still some names left over from that run to the 2013 state title. Goalie Aaron King is still there as are defenseman Thomas Liberta, Connor Matsinger and Jared Conroy.
In addition to the Thursday’s loss, North Penn also lost four other games - but not on the ice. The Knights forfeited four games because they had an ineligible player on their roster.
"What we thought would make the player eligible to play for North Penn wasn't the case," Vaitis said prior to the game. "After looking through all the details, we found out he wasn't eligible.
"It's something we found out about before the holidays. As we found out, we notified the league to make them aware.
"The understanding I had going into it was that all his credits (for being home schooled) were being gotten through North Penn and later found out that that wasn't the case. I think he is being home schooled for part of the time and the other part of the time he's attending Plumstead Christian.
"It's extremely disappointing. We were 7-0-1 before the holidays and now were 4-4 (actually 4-5 with the defeat Thursday night)."
CB South 3, North Penn 0
North Penn 0 0 0 – 0
CB South 0 2 1 – 3
First period: No scoring.
Second period: 1. Jared Conroy CBS (unassisted) 1:19 SH; 2. Jason Bechtel CBS (Jackson Koblick, Conroy) 4:27.
Third period: Joe DeLaurentis CBS (Damon DeLaurentis, Bechtel) 0:20.
Shots: NP -- 14; CBS -- 47. Saves: John Roberts (NP) 44; Kevin Dorozinsky (CBS) 14.
WILLIAM TENNENT 6, PENNSBURY 3
Jack McKeever scored a goal late in the opening period – using a Brendan Sherwood assist – to put Tennent on the scoreboard. The Panthers never looked back.
The Panthers added three goals in the second period – thanks to goals by Chris Kreider, Tim McMonogale and Alec Dugan (power play). Sherwood, Blake Bagdon, McKeever, Liam Ovington and Sean Ovington contributed assists as the Panthers opened up a 4-0 lead after two periods.
The two teams exchanged goals in the final period. Anthony Bench (Nathan Raccagno/Kyle Wilkins assist) put the Falcons on the board with a power play goal six minutes into the third period. Sean Ovington answered for the Panthers, using an Andre Trozzi assist. Ryan Mudrick (Griffin Foll/Bench assists) scored on a power play and Adam Shapiro (Raccagno assist) also found the net for the Falcons, but a short-handed empty net goal by Brett Goldstein (John Dern assist) gave the Panthers their final 6-3 margin of victory.
Eric Lineman was credited with 19 saves in a winning effort in goal.
William Tennent 1-3-2 6
Pennsbury 0-0-3 3
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 10, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 6
Mark Tosti scored four goals and assisted on another while John Vanni added three goals and an assist to lead the Indians to the convincing win. The Indians’ balanced effort offset the five-goal, one-assist performance of PW’s Chris Rinaldi. Christopher Zawislak had a four-point game the Colonials, contributing one goal and four assists.
The Colonials got on the scoreboard first, thanks to a goal by Rinaldi (Zawislak assist), but the Indians scored the next six to seize control of the game.
Daniel Guest (Tosti assist) scored the equalizer, and Vanni closed out the first period with three straight goals – the second with an Andrew Speeney assist and the third unassisted on a power play.
Tosti opened the second period with back-to-back goals to put the Indians on top 6-1. Guest assisted on both, and Christian Zemzik had a hand in the second. Rinaldi scored his second goal of the game to break the Indians’ run. But two minutes later, Jared Epstein found the net, using a Zemzik assist, before Rinaldi connected for his third goal to make it a 7-3 game, this time using assists from Nate Slowik and Zawislak).
The two teams exchanged goals in the third period.
Chase D’Arcangelo earned the win in goal for the Indians, turning away 22 shots. PW’s Cole Shula was credited with 41 saves on a night that saw the Indians fire 51 shots on goal.
Council Rock North4-3-3 10
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1-2-3 6
SOUDERTON 7, NESHAMINY 5
The Indians broke a 4-4 tie with three goals in the final period to win Thursday’s contest.
Neshaminy took an early 1-0 lead after Richard Adami (Jeremy Sheley assist) found the net, but goals by Joshua Reeves (Miles Minnick assist) and Tyler Apple (Thomas Tierney assist) sent the Indians into the second period with a 2-1 lead.
They upped their advantage to 3-1 on an Austin Mower goal (Tyler Johnson assist). Anthony Bickle’s power play goal (Anthony Sabatini/Christopher Wojnar assist) made it a 3-2 game, but Souderton got that goal back to go on top 4-2 only to watch the ‘Skins close out the period with back-to-back goals by Nicholas Riggero (Tyler Norbeck assist) and Sheley (Antonio Alicea assist). Sheley’s short-handed goal knotted the score 4-4 after three periods.
Justin Goshow turned a Tyler Johnson pass into the go-ahead goal 12 seconds into the final period, and Jordan Engelhart (Apple/Johnson assist) found the net to give the Indians a two-goal advantage. Sabatini (Ian Dixon assist) trimmed that lead to one midway through the period, but Reeves connected for his second goal at the 14:19 mark, using a Lukas Chesla assist, to seal the deal for the Indians.
Dawson Anders earned the win in goal for the Indians, turning away 17 shots. Neshaminy’s Steven Glik was credited with 29 saves.
Neshaminy 1-3-1 5
Souderton 2-2-3 7
Wednesday, Jan. 6
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 8, NESHAMINY 1
The Bucks gave new meaning to the phrase balanced scoring in Wednesday’s win that saw 11 players contribute points. Dalton Karl – who had one goal and two assists – was the only player with three points as everyone got into the act.
Goals by Eric Schwass (Brandon Savona assist) and Edward Shields (Luke McCleerey assist) gave the Bucks a 2-0 lead after one period. In the second period, Tucker Forte scored a short-handed goal, using a Karl assist, and then it was John McCreadie (Karl/Savona assist) finding the net. A goal by Shawn Philipps (McCreadie/Michael D’Argenio assists) made it a 6-0 game after two periods.
Ryan Trefz’s goal a minute into the third period upped the Bucks’ advantage to 7-0 before Ian Dixon (Chirstopher Wojnar/Richard Adami assists) put the Redskins on the board. The Bucks closed it out with goals by Joe Anton and Karl.
The Bucks held a 43-11 advantage in shots.
Central Bucks West2-3-3 8
Neshaminy 0-0-1 1
PENNSBURY 8, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 3
Jack Kelly contributed three goals and two assists while teammates Nathan Raccagno (one goal, three assists) and Jake Sieger (two goals, two assists) both had four-point nights to lead the Falcons to the come-from-behind win.
The Patriots used a pair of Bryan McIntosh goals – the first with assists from Jeff Carp and Trevor Larson and the second assisted by Colin Quinn – to go on top 2-0 midway through the opening period. Sieger (Raccagno assist) cut that lead in half with a goal less than a minute later, and the Patriots led 2-1 after one period.
Kelly (Sieger assist) scored the equalizer 32 seconds into the second period, and goals by Ryan Michael (Raccagno assist) and Sieger (Kelly assist) gave the Falcons a 4-2 lead after two periods.
A goal by Quinn (Alex Wasserman assist) 42 seconds into the final period made it a 4-3 game, but the Falcons closed it out with four straight goals – two from Kelly and one each from Ryan Mudrick and Raccago.
August Dous turned away 21 of 22 shots in faced in 41 minutes in the net, earning the win for the Falcons.
Central Bucks East 2-0-1 3
Pennsbury 1-3-4 8
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