William Tennent earned a 5-2 win over Pennridge in SHSHL ice hockey action on Thursday night.
By Ben Reese
HATFIELD -- If you were around the Hatfield Ice World arena on Thursday night, sometime between 9 and 10 p.m., you might have heard a loud noise or felt the earth shake a bit.
It wasn't an earthquake or some natural disaster.
It was the William Tennent ice hockey team's offense exploding for four goals that pretty much salted away a Suburban High School Hockey League victory over Pennridge. The Panthers added another marker in the third period to offset two Ram goals in the first period for a 5-2 win.
Pennridge came out flying in the first period. The Rams scored two goals and limited Tennent to only nine shots on goal.
But things changed quickly in the second stanza. Chris Kreider and Alec Dugan each scored two goals in the second to put the Panthers up 4-2 and Dugan notched the final goal in the third to complete his hat trick.
"We came out sluggish again in the first period," said William Tennent coach Nick D'Aurizio. "I think we have come out sluggish in every first period so far.
"I challenged them after the first (period) to wake up and take control of the game that I thought was still very much up in the air even though we were down two goals. I thought we had a lot of chances."
Pennridge coach Matt Stabile saw what was happening, but the Rams didn’t have an answer.
"They definitely came alive and we just didn't seem like we could find an answer for what they were doing," he said. "They took it to us and we didn't respond the way we needed to.
"They made the adjustments they needed to make to answer what we were having some success with in the first period. They picked up the pace and they played physical. We didn't adjust properly to what they were doing to counteract what was going on."
What was going on was that Tennent was taking control of the game and the momentum and not letting it go.
In the opening period, the Rams appeared to have all the momentum. Nathan Runk scored a goal 9:46 into the period, using a Luke Slater assist. Five minutes later, a goal by Anthony Vecere (Danny O’Malley/Josh Finlayson assists) gave Pennridge a 2-0 lead.
But not for long.
Kreider got the Panthers on the scoreboard with 7:36 gone in the second period to cut the deficit to 2-1 and Dugan tied the game 2:32 later. Kreider put Tennent into the lead at the 11:13 mark on the power play and Dugan again followed up with only six seconds left in the period for a 4-2 lead.
"It took a lot of coming together as a team and a lot of help from our coach," Dugan said, "but we knew that we had to stay out of the (penalty) box and we needed to go back to the way we had been playing. We needed to get back to what we had been doing."
Dugan's three goals and Kreider's two took care of the scoring for the Panthers. And that is what D'Aurizio has seen this year and wants.
"Dugan has been our go-to guy this year," the coach said. "He's been scoring two, three goals a game.
"We switched him up to Kreider's line to kind of get Chris going. I think it worked tonight.
"The power play goal that Chris scored was exactly what we're looking for from him. He got out in front of the net, bothered the goalie and gets a deflection goal. That's the kind of goal that makes coaches happy."
Tennent also shut down the Pennridge offense in the final two periods. After taking 13 shots on goal in the opening stanza, the Rams put only 13 more on net in the final two periods.
"We tried to pay special attention to some of their big guns," D'Aurizio said. "We gave them way too much time and space in that first period.
"Our defense limited their opportunities and Eric Lineman (the William Tennent goalie) showed some poise and really buckled down in that second and third period."
Oh, Alec Dugan, how about that hat trick?
"It was exciting," Dugan said. "(But it took) a lot of good passing from the entire team."
It's always nice to meet a humble star.
William Tennent 5, Pennridge 2
Pennridge 2 0 0 – 2
William Tennent 0 4 1 – 5
First period: 1. Nathan Runk P (Luke Slater) 9:46; 2. Anthony Vecere P (Danny O'Malley, Josh Finlayson) 14:55.
Second period: 3. Chris Kreider WT (Charlie Feeney) 7:36; 4. Alec Dugan WT (Sean Ovington) 10:08; 5. Kreider WT (Dugan) 11:13 PP; 6. Dugan WT (Liam Ovington) 15:44.
Third period: 7. Dugan WT (L. Ovington) 6:52.
Shots: P -- 26; WT -- 27. Saves: Luke Stranick (P) 22; Eric Lineman (WT) 24.
WISSAHICKON 8, LOWER MORELAND 3
Matt Wilson (one goal, three assists) and Brandon Rosoff (three goals, one assist) had four-point nights to lead the Trojans in Thursday’s American Conference win.
Wilson used a Matt Cade assist to put the Trojans on the scoreboard late in the opening period. Lower Moreland’s Campbell Manin (Simon Gratowski assist) scored the equalizer 6:28 into the second period, but two minutes later, the Trojans took a lead they would not lose when Kyle Wolf found the net, using assists from Jake Flancer and Wilson. Goals by Rosoff (Wilson assist) and Ryan Haney (Rosoff/Wilson assists) to close out the period put the Trojans on top 4-1. They outscored the Lions 4-2 in the final period to earn the win.
Coleman Peppelman had a pair of goals to lead the Lions’ attack.
Trojan keeper Jake Modelevsky turned away 15 shots in a winning effort. Lower Moreland’s Ryan Hoffman was credited with 29 saves.
Wissahickon 1-3-4 8
Lower Moreland 0-1-2 3
Wednesday, Dec. 9
PENNSBURY 9, ARCHBISHOP WOOD 5
Jack Kelly scored four goals and added a pair of assists to lead a potent Falcon attack. Nathan Raccagno (two goals, two assists) and Anthony Bench (two goals, two assists) both added four-point nights for Pennsbury. Wood was led by the two-goal, three-assist effort of Timothy Cordero. Patrick Sheehan added a goal and two assists.
Bench scored an unassisted goal to put the Falcons on the scoreboard 4:44 into the opening period. Kelly connected on a power play goal with assists from Bench and Ryan Mudrick, but a power play goal by Cordero made it a 2-1 game. Bench got that goal back in the closing minute of the period, using a John Bezilla assist.
Another Cordero goal (Bendan Cullura assist) 39 seconds into the second period made it a 3-2 game, but Kelly and Jake Sieger answered with goals for the Falcons, who went on top 5-2. Jake Barcza scored for the Vikings, but a goal by Nathan Raccagno (Kelly assist) sent the Falcons into the final period with a 6-3 lead. Wood would get no closer the rest of the way.
Trevor Schadler earned the win in goal for the Falcons, turning away 30 of 35 shots he faced.
Archbishop Wood 1-2-2 5
Pennsbury 3-3-3 9
HARRY S TRUMAN 8, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 5
Michael Roarty (two goals, three assists) and Steven Avellino (four goals) had big nights for the Tigers in Wednesday’s win.
It was Avellino (Roarty/Kyle Bennett assists) setting the tone for a big offensive night with a goal 36 seconds into the opening period. Koenig’s power play goal (Codey Gordon assist) made it a 2-0 game, the Tigers led 3-0 after John Saxton scored, using a Roarty assist. Avellino’s second goal of the night put the Tigers on top 4-0 13:17 into the period, but the Colonials closed out the quarter with a three-goal burst in a span of 78 seconds to make things very interesting.
Chris Rinaldi (Christopher Zawislak assist) ignited the surge with a goal at the 14:04 mark, and 35 seconds later Nate Slowik scored (Rinaldi/Zawislak assist). Steve Fandozzi’s goal with assists from Kevin Lawrence and Christopher Ward made it a 4-3 game at the end of one period.
A Roarty goal early in the third period gave the Tigers a 5-3 lead, but Skyler Goldstein (Lawrence assist) got that goal back in the period’s closing second to trim the Tigers’ lead to 5-4. Back-to-back goals by Avellino in the third period put the Tigers on top 7-4, and the Colonials would get no closer than two the rest of the way.
Truman’s Kyle Heath earned the win in goal, turning away 30 shots.
Truman 4-1-3 8
PW 3-1-1 5
ABINGTON 2, NESHAMINY 2
The Ghosts and Redskins were forced to settle for a 2-2 tie in SHSHL National Conference action Wednesday night.
The ‘Skins took a 1-0 lead in the first period when Chase Gordon scored, using assists from Nicholas Ruggero and Tyler Norbeck. The Ghosts evened the score 7:03 into the second period when Tommy Carroll scored an unassisted goal, but Jeremy Sheley’s power play goal (Ruggero/Aric Miller assists) put the Redskins on top 2-1 after two periods.
Perry Carpenter’s power play goal 31 seconds into the third period (Thomas Panella/Tyler Kramer assists) knotted the score, and neither team found the net the rest of the way.
Neshaminy goalie Steven Glik was credited with 29 saves, and Abington goalie Mason Large had 26 saves.
Abington 0-1-1 2
Neshaminy 1-1-0 2
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