Souderton and North Penn battled to a 2-2 tie in a key Continental Conference battle. Check out all of Wednesday’s results. To view photos of the Souderton/NP game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Ben Reese
HATFIELD – It might be the oldest cliché in sports.
A tie is like kissing your sister. So said Souderton ice hockey coach Matt Montagna after his Indians battled North Penn to a 2-2 deadlock at the Hatfield Ice Arena Wednesday night.
But it was more than that. It was a defensive struggle between two of the better teams in the Suburban High School Hockey League.
“All bets are off when we play North Penn,” Montagna said. “It's neighborhood. There's a lot of pride (at stake).”
That was obvious throughout the game. Both teams worked hard trying to beat the other.
It was basically what North Penn captain Matt Stella expected.
“We expected a tough hitting game,” Stella said. “They're a good team; we're a good team.
“We're pretty evenly matched. In years past, we've always been close. You know it's a close game always when we play Souderton.”
Stella's coach Kevin Vaitis agreed.
“They're a very good hockey team,” he said. “There is a reason they're one of the top teams in AA hockey right now and they showed it tonight. We're one of the top teams in AA hockey as well but we have to do better than we did tonight.”
The reason for Vaitis' worries came from the Souderton defense. The Indians held a high-powered Knight attack to only 14 shots.
“(Our defense) blocked everything,” Montagna said. “They made quick outs from the zone.
“I love my defense. They're big, strong kids and they all did their jobs tonight.”
North Penn's defense was strong also. While Souderton got off 30 shots on goal, the Indians also only managed a pair of goals, both from Daniel Rock.
The Knights shadowed both Rock and Alex Politsky, the two leading scorers in the Continental Division of the SHSHL. Politsky has 19 goals this season and Rock now has 14.
Politsky and Rock are part of an offense that has scored 45 goals this season. They work well together.
“We've been playing with each other for a while,” Rock explained. “We always know where one another are on the ice.
“He's really good with his positioning. We really work well together.”
Vaitis put Jake Heckenberger on Politsky and Kevin Saylor on Rock to try to slow them down. It worked, for the most part.
Politsky didn't score any goals but did have two assists. And Rock took care of the scoring for the Indians.
“I knew they had two very talented players and they had a good team that works hard,” Vaitis said. “We were shadowing both Politsky and Rock.
“It was working there for a while and then we kind of made a slight adjustment and Rock ended up scoring two goals.
“That was our goal: if we could shut those two players down and see if the other players could beat us. He got two and that was enough for them to get a point.”
Montagna knew what Vaitis was trying to do.
“He was trying to match them (Politsky and Rock) but they were still getting their chances,” the Indians coach said. “I just kept putting them out there. I wasn't even trying to match back.”
The Knights jumped out to a lead in the first period when Alex Peterson scored on the power pla
y with an assist going to defenseman Jeremy Snyder.
Souderton came back to tie the game in second period. Rock notched his first
goal of the game off assists from Politsky and Clay Anders five minutes into the period.
North Penn again took the lead slightly more than five minutes later. Saylor took a pass from Christian Ahn and beat Indian goalie Dawson Anders for a 2-1 lead.
Rock got the tying goal in the waning seconds of the period. Politsky and Connor Walsh got the assists on the goal.
Stella put it all in perspective when all was said and done.
“You always went to come out with a win but it's (a tie) better than a loss,” Stella said. “You always want to win every game but a tie is better than a loss.”
Souderton 0 2 0 – 2
North Penn 1 1 0 – 2
First Period
1. Alex Peterson NP (Jeremy Snyder) 3:15. Penalty: Tyler Dipietro (S) elbowing.
Second Period
2. Daniel Rock S (Clay Anders, Alex Politsky) 5:08; 3. Kevin Saylor NP (Christian Ahn) 10:39' 4. Rock S (Politsky, Connor Walsh) 15:41. Penalties: Dipietro (S) roughing; J Snyder (NP) roughing; Peterson (NP) charging; Peterson (NP) charging misconduct; J> Snyder (NP) cross-checking.
Third Period
No scoring. Penalties: Thomas Tierney (S) holding; Peterson (NP) removal of helmet match; Kyle Milosec (S) facemask major; Milosec (S) facemask game misconduct.
Shots: S – 30; NP – 14. Saves: Dawson Anders (S) 12; Jake Snyder (NP) 28.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 8, ABINGTON 1
Jake Bauer connected for the hat trick while teammate Mike Pilla had a goal and two assists to lead the Titans to the convincing win.
Pilla put his team on the scoreboard less than four minutes into the game when he connected on an unassisted goal. Bauer (Dominic Bova assist) made it 2-0 before Thomas Carroll scored a power play goal for the Ghosts to cut the Titans’ lead in half. Goals by Jake Kelinson and Bauer to close out the period gave the Titans a 4-1 advantage. They added two goals in both the second and third periods.
The Titans held a lopsided 54-6 advantage in shots.
Abington 1 0 0-1
Central Bucks South4 2 2-8
Scoring Summary
Period 1
CBS – Mike Pilla (unassisted) 3:54
CBS – Jake Bauer (Dominic Bova) 7:07
A – Thomas Carroll (powerplay) (Brian Scipione) 8:17
CBS – Jake Kelinson (Brenden Clements, Connor Matsinger) 12:08
CBS – Jake Bauer (Jared Conroy) 14:53
Period 2
CBS – Brandon Spognardi (powerplay) (Mike Pilla) 1:07
CBS – Jake Bauer (Jared Conroy) 14:24
Period 3
CBS – Thomas Liberta (powerplay) (Brandon Spognardi, Mike Pilla) 2:55
CBS – Brenden Clements (powerplay) (Damon Delaurentis, Kevin Casey) 12:35
Shots
Abington 4 2 0-6
Central Bucks South15 23 16-54
Goalie Saves
Thomas Meehan (A) 32, Cole Kramer (A) 14; Nick Madson (CBS) 5.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, PENNRIDGE 0
The Bucks scored a single goal in each of the three periods, and Jonah Brous was perfect in goal, turning away all 21 shots he faced. Pennridge goalie Michael Weaver turned in a standout effort of his own, keeping the Rams within striking distance by turning away 43 shots.
Brous had the only goal he would need when Patrick Smith (John McCreadie/Shawn Germann assists) scored midway through the first period. That 1-0 lead stood until Ryan Trefz (McCreadie assist) scored five minutes into the second period. Smith’s second goal – this one unassisted – in the closing minutes of the third period gave the Bucks their final margin of victory.
Pennridge 0 0 0-0
Central Bucks West 1 1 1-3
Scoring Summary
Period 1
CBW – Patrick Smith (John McCreadie, Shawn Germann) 7:26
Period 2
CBW – Ryan Trefz (John McCreadie) 5:09
Period 3
CBW – Patrick Smith (unassisted) 13:44
Shots
Pennridge 6 7 8-21
Central Bucks West 12 12 13-46
Goalie Saves
Michael Weaver (P) 43; Jonah Brous (CBW) 21.
UPPER MORELAND 12, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 4
Sean Lloyd turned in a stellar six-goal effort to lead the Golden Bears while teammate Matthew Iehle added three goals and an assist. Andy Iehle and Alex Caligiuri both had three assists.
Matthew Iehle put the Bears on the scoreboard with an early goal, but Ryan Reed answered for the Colonials. Nick Park, Lloyd and Matthew Iehle scored consecutive goals to send the Golden Bears into the second period with a 4-1 lead.
Back-to-back unassisted goals by Lloyd to open the second period put the Golden Bears on top 6-1, and Upper Moreland took a 9-3 lead into the final period when the Bears – sparked by a pair of Lloyd goals – added three more.
Patrick Beissel turned away 27 shots in goal for the Golden Bears, who had a 42-31 advantage in shots.
Upper Moreland 4 5 3-12
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1 2 1-4
Scoring Summary
Period 1
UM – Matthew Iehle (Alec Delaurentis, Matthew Beck) 4:21
PW – Ryan Reed (Jonathan Isely, Jared Aiello) 6:01
UM – Nick Park (Andy Iehle) 6:01
UM – Sean Lloyd (unassisted) 8:23
UM – Matthew Iehle (Colton Arizini, Matthew Shilling) 12:59
Period 2
UM – Sean Lloyd (unassisted) 3:35
UM – Sean Lloyd (unassisted) 4:17
PW – Jacob Laudenbach (Brad Keller) 7:33
UM – Colton Arizini (Matthew Iehle) 11:55
PW – Joe Jordan (Bo Flint) 12:34
UM – Sean Lloyd (Alex Caligiuri)
UM – Matthew Iehle (Jordin Holmes, Andy Iehle) 13:53
Period 3
UM – Sean Lloyd (Nick Park, Alex Caligiuri) 4:59
UM – Sean Lloyd (Andy Iehle, Jordin Holmes) 14:55
PW – Chris Rinaldi (Jacob Laudenbach) 15:19
UM – Jordin Holmes (Alex Caligiuri) 15:59
Shots
Upper Moreland 24 7 11-42
Plymouth Whitemarsh 14 5 12-31
Goalie Saves
Patrick Beissel (UM) 27; Jim Smith (PW) 30.
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