Ben Reese recaps Council Rock South's no-doubt-about-it win over Central Bucks West. Upper Dublin also was a winner on Wednesday. CR South/CB West and Abington/PW photos provided by Keith Clemens Photography. CLICK HERE to go directly to the ICE HOCKEY GALLERY.
By Ben Reese
HATFIELD -- You can often tell which team will be getting a win during the first period of a high school ice hockey game.
One team will dominate the action while the other team will try its best but won’t be able to stay with the dominant team. That domination will continue throughout the game and result in a victory.
That is pretty much what happened on Wednesday night at Hatfield Ice where Council Rock South jumped out to a 4-0 lead over Central Bucks West before five minutes had elapsed in the first period. That lead turned into a 10-2 Suburban High School Hockey League victory for the Golden Hawks over the Bucks.
Matt Meli got the Hawks going quickly, scoring the first of his three goals with only 1:57 gone in the game. And then he came right back 21 seconds later to score his second goal.
Things only got better for Rock South and worse for CB West. The Golden Hawks scored five goals in the first period while allowing one.
They followed that up with two in the second period and three in the third. The Bucks tallied one goal in the third period.
"To jump on them and get two, three goals real quick kind of put us at ease a little bit," Hawks coach Joe Houk said.
But all wasn't sunshine and light for Houk and his team.
"When you get games like that and you really don't have to put your 'A' game on -- we've got Holy Ghost next week -- that really doesn't prep us for that," Houk said. "You really start to create bad habits. You start giving jayvee guys more ice time rather than regular guys."
For West coach Dave Baun, Wednesday’s game is one he would probably rather not remember.
"I don't think we were ever in that game," he said. "It was pretty clear to me from the first couple minutes of the game that they were the better hockey team tonight.
"The game was one-sided right from the jump. I think they had three or four goals before we got across their blue line. They were all over us."
Meli and teammate Jared Wagenmann carried the Golden Hawk offense, scoring three goals each. They both also had an assist.
But Meli didn't want to take all the credit for the offensive outburst.
"We started strong," he said. "It's a struggle (staying in the game with a large lead) but we just stayed strong.
"We're just good all-around (as a team). Everything is working."
And he didn't think that he and Wagenmann were all of the offense.
"No, not at all," he said in protest. "Other kids scored, too."
Houk knows what he has in Meli.
"He's a skilled player," the coach said. "He's a strong player. He's strong on the puck. He can shoot.
"He needs to bring that game every single game. He was lucky tonight because everything he shot went in.
"He can compete. Even better, he's a good teammate."
The "other kids" Meli mentioned scoring were Andy Stoychev with two goals and Logan Hurwitz and Collin Kleiser with one each.
Joey Rockovich and Matt Clarke each scored a goal for the Bucks.
One concern for the Bucks was the early departure of goalie Jeremy Kennard. He left the ice after only 6:53 had gone in the first period and was replaced by Nicholas Ritz.
"He has an infection in his leg and we thought it was becoming a problem," Baun said. "We thought we'd start him and see how he did."
CR South 10, CB West 2
CR South 5 2 3 – 10
CB West 1 0 1 – 2
First period: 1, Matt Meli CRS (unassisted) 1:57; 2, Meli CRS (Andrew Darling) 2:19; 3, Jared Wagenmann CRS (David Mueller) 3:31; 4, Wagenmann CRS (Meli, Brennen Wright) 4:54; 5, Matt Clarke CBW (Owen Shields) 7:57; 6, Andy Stoychev CRS (Logan Hurwitz, Collin Kleiser) 13:57.
Second period: 7, Wagenmann CRS (Hurwitz) 3:30; 8, Kleiser CRS (unassisted).
Third period: 9, Meli CRS (Hurwitz) 4:34; 10, Stoychev CRS (Wagenmann, Mueller) 9:15 PP; 11, Hurwitz CRS (Darling, Wright) 10:18; 12, Joey Rockovich CBW (Daniel Poliak, Shields) 12:09.
Shots: CRS 34, CBW 26. Saves: Mason Procz (CRS) 18; Owen Law (CRS) 6; Jeremy Kennard (CBW) 11; Nicholas Ritz (CBW) 13.
UPPER DUBLIN 6, UPPER MORELAND 2
The Flying Cardinals found themselves staring at a 1-0 deficit when UM’s Louis Knoebel scored with an assist from Dylan Cossaboon 5:31 into the opening period. They responded with five straight goals to seize control of Wednesday’s contest.
Upper Moreland’s 1-0 lead lasted all of four minutes until Chris Barbera scored the equalizer, using an assist from Thomas Cubit. Ari Nordlinger’s goal with an Oren Serafin assist a minute later gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead after one period.
The Cardinals never looked back, reeling off three straight goals to open the second period to go on top 5-1.
During that UD tear, Barbera scored a power play goal with a Quinn Burns assist, and then it was Serafin connecting on a power play with a DJ Giammaruti assist. Giammaruti’s even strength goal with a Brian Brown assist gave the Cardinals a four-goal advantage before Aiden Croce broke UD’s run with an assist from Noah Goodson.
Seth Wild’s unassisted goal was the only goal in the third period.
Upper Moreland 1-1-0 2
Upper Dublin 2-3-1 6
First Period
UM – Louis Knoebel (Dylan Cossoboon)
UD – Chris Barbera (Thomas Cubit)
UD – Ari Nordinger (Oren Serafin)
Second Period
UD – Chris Barbera (Quinn Burns)
UD – Oren Serafin (DJ Giammaruti)
UD – DJ giammaruti (Brian Brown)
UM – Aiden Croce (Noah Goodson)
Third Period
UD – Seth Wild
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