By Ben Reese
HATFIELD -- The Truman ice hockey team had a plan going into its game against Lansdale Catholic on Wednesday night.
The Tigers were going to shadow the Crusaders' top scorer, Andrew Hart, with their best player, Zach Bennett. But then Bennett got hit in the foot with a slap shot and all bets were off.
Of course, Hart had as much to do with the change as did Bennett's sore foot. Hart scored six goals, including the first goal in all three periods, to lead LC to a 13-3 mercy rule win over Truman at Hatfield Ice Arena.
"We were trying to match (Bennett) up with No. 31 (Hart)," said Truman assistant Mike Cox. "The kid (Hart) is an excellent player.
"When Bennett got hit in the foot, we had to change things around. We were trying to match the two of them up, but as soon as he got hit, we had to change our game plan.
"He can match him pretty good; they're both good players. But skating on one foot, it's tough to stay with that kid."
The shadowing wasn't new to either Hart or LC head coach Rocco Sexton. Both had seen it before.
"That pretty much happens in most of the games," Hart said. "They stick a couple players on me and a couple other of the good players on our team."
It looked familiar to Sexton, too.
"There seems to be a trend every game we play," he said. "There seems to be one or two players hanging off Hart the whole time.
"I didn't know who they were going to put on him, but it looked like Hart did a good job of getting into his head and making his night rough."
Sexton did have some sympathy for Bennett, though.
"He was struggling to move around out there," the LC coach said. "I think he took three shots to that ankle so he was getting pretty beat up out there."
Hart drew some praise from Sexton.
"The man knows how to deliver," Sexton said of Hart's six goals. "He's an amazing player.
"He's got amazing sense; he's got great hands. He's just neat to see."
Truman didn't think so.
But Hart was only a part -- albeit a large part -- of the Lansdale Catholic offensive show against Truman. Anthony Valerio scored four goals, Nick Cunningham, John Volpe and Michael Longhitano, who also had five assists, all added singletons.
Oh, by the way, Hart also contributed two assists for an eight-point game.
"We were due for one," Sexton said of the offensive onslaught. "We've been struggling here for a while so it was definitely nice to see the puck going in the right direction for once."
Hart got the Crusaders off to a flying start in the first period. With only 34 seconds elapsed in the game, he beat Truman goalie Christian Morlando with assists from Volpe and Joe Nace.
That got things started for LC. Valerio followed that with his first goal and, after Josh Robinson scored for the Tigers, Valerio got his second on the power play.
Hart got a little quicker as the second period began. It only took him 30 seconds to score his second goal. And he then added two more in succession as part of a six-goal outburst for the Crusaders.
In that explosion, Cunningham, Valerio and Volpe also found the net. Truman came back with a goal from Ross Koenig, but Hart finished up the period with his fifth goal of the game with only four seconds remaining in the stanza.
Hart's sixth goal was the fastest of the all. With only 13 seconds gone in the final period, Hart lit the lights.
The Tigers' Robinson notched his second goal and the third for his team only 14 seconds later. However, Longhitano and Valerio finished off the scoring with Valerio's goal with 4:29 gone ending the game under the mercy rule.
Lansdale Catholic goalie Helen Cooney played an outstanding game in net for the Crusaders. She stopped 17 of 20 shots, many of them from in close.
Sexton recognized Cooney's worth to the team as well as the defense in front of her.
"Helen played a real good game," Sexton said. "(The defense was) a little sloppy here and there but, on the whole, I think we did pretty well. We had our core D back so it was good to have them back there and doing well."
Harry S Truman 1 1 1 – 3
Lansdale Catholic 3 7 3 – 13
First Period
1. Andrew Hart LC (John Volpe, Joe Nace) 0:34; 2. Anthony Valerio LC (unassisted) 5:05; 3. Josh Robinson T (Zach Bennett, Mike Roarty) 7:38; 4. Valerio LC (unassisted) 9:45 PP. Penalty: Bennett (T) tripping 8:18.
Second Period
5. Hart LC (Volpe, James Knack) 0:30; 6. Hart LC (Michael Longhitano) 3:36; 7. Hart LC (Longhitano) 5:14; 8. Nick Cunningham LC (Knack, Volpe) 6:15; 9. Valero LC (Longhitano) 7:17; 10. Volpe LC (Tim Haney) 12:15; 11. Ross Koenig T (unassisted) 12:56; 12. Hart LC (Longhitano, Helen Cooney) 15:56 PP. Penalty: Bennett (T) holding 14:39.
Third Period
13. Hart LC (Volpe) 0:13; 14. Robinson T (Aaron Liebel) 0:27; 15. Longhitano LC (Hart) 2:18; 16. Valerio LC (Longhitano, Hart) 4:29. Penalties: None.
Shots: T -- 20; LC -- 27. Saves: Christian Morlando (T) 14; Helen Cooney (LC) 17.
SHOTS
Truman 9 9 2 20
Lansdale Catholic 8 13 4 25
POWERPLAYS
Truman 0 for 0 : Lansdale Catholic 0 for 2
GOALIES
2 Christian Morlando (TRU) LOSS 48:00 25 12
35 Helen Cooney (LC) WIN 48:00 20 17
Upper Moreland 18, Wissahickon 13
Upper Moreland’s Sean Lloyd turned in a nine-point performance, contributing four goals and five assists, to lead an offensive onslaught that saw the two teams combine for 31 goals. Teammates Jordin Holmes (one goal, five assists) and Colton Arizini (five goals, one assist) both had six-point nights. Andy Iehle added four goals and one assist for five points.
Edward Burkhart led the charge for the Trojans with six goals and two assists for an eight-point night. Luke Honorowski had a six-point game with four goals and two assists.
The Golden Bears scored early and often, opening up a 7-0 lead just over 10 minutes into the opening period. By the time the period was over, the Bears led 9-2. Both teams scored five goals in the second period, and it was the Golden Bears taking a 14-7 lead into the final period when the Trojans held a 6-4 advantage in goals.
The Golden Bears held a 39-31 advantage in shots.
GAME DETAILS
SCORING
Wissahickon 2 5 6 13
Upper Moreland 9 5 4 18
SHOTS
Wissahickon 5 11 15 31
Upper Moreland 13 17 9 39
POWERPLAYS
Wissahickon 0 for 1 : Upper Moreland 4 for 5
SCORING SUMMARY
Period 1
Upper Moreland - Colton Arizini (unassisted) 1:03
Upper Moreland - Sean Lloyd (Jake Park) 1:34
Upper Moreland - Andy Iehle (powerplay) (Sean Lloyd) 2:12
Upper Moreland - Sean Lloyd (shorthanded) (unassisted) 3:29
Upper Moreland - Andy Iehle (Sean Lloyd) 4:02
Upper Moreland - Jordin Holmes (unassisted) 7:23
Upper Moreland - Andy Iehle (powerplay) (Sean Lloyd) 10:07
Wissahickon - Edward Burkart (Luke Honorowski) 10:07
Upper Moreland - Matthew Iehle (Colton Arizini) 12:06
Wissahickon - Edward Burkart (unassisted) 13:01
Upper Moreland - Colton Arizini (unassisted) 15:50
Period 2
Wissahickon - Edward Burkart (unassisted) 1:39
Upper Moreland - Matthew Iehle (powerplay) (Sean Lloyd, Jordin Holmes) 2:40
Wissahickon - Edward Burkart (unassisted) 3:28
Upper Moreland - Colton Arizini (Jordin Holmes) 6:11
Upper Moreland - Sean Lloyd (Alec Delaurentis, Jordin Holmes) 6:29
Wissahickon - Luke Honorowski (unassisted) 7:08
Wissahickon - Dustin Rabinowitz (unassisted) 7:57
Wissahickon - Jacob Dalsemer (Edward Burkart) 8:07
Upper Moreland - Sean Lloyd (Jordin Holmes) 10:54
Upper Moreland - Colton Arizini (unassisted) 13:51
Period 3
Upper Moreland - Colton Arizini (Andy Iehle) 4:46
Wissahickon - Edward Burkart (unassisted) 4:46
Upper Moreland - Andy Iehle (unassisted) 5:43
Wissahickon - Luke Honorowski (Edward Burkart) 6:30
Upper Moreland - Jake Park (powerplay) (Jordin Holmes) 8:51
Wissahickon - Luke Honorowski (shorthanded) (Dustin Rabinowitz) 9:39
Wissahickon - Dustin Rabinowitz (shorthanded) (Luke Honorowski, Matt Vervlied) 9:54
Upper Moreland - Jake Park (Sean Lloyd) 14:25
Wissahickon - Luke Honorowski (unassisted) 15:40
Wissahickon - Edward Burkart (unassisted) 15:53
GOALIES
55 Noah Katz (WISS) LOSS 48:00 39 21
87 Nick Park (UMO) WIN 48:00 31 18
Central Bucks South, Pennridge 0 (Monday, Feb. 10)
Domnic Bova (one goal, two assists) and Mike Pilla (one goal, two assists) led a balanced Titan attack with three-point games. Goalie Nick Madson turned away all 14 shots he faced in a game that saw the Titans hold a 61-14 advantage in shots. Only the 52-save effort of Ram goalie Michael Weaver kept the score from being even more lopsided.
The Titans, who held a 22-4 advantage in shots in the first period, led 3-0 heading into the second period, thanks to goals from Pilla, Thomas Liberta (power play) and Dominic Bova. That lead grew to 6-0 after two periods as Sean Horan (shorthanded), Mike Lucas and Jake Bauer each scored in the second period. Goals by Brenden Clements, Jake Kelinson and Mark Schmidt closed out the scoring.
GAME DETAILS
SCORING Pennridge 0 0 0 0
Central Bucks South 3 3 3 9
SHOTS
Pennridge 4 8 2 14
Central Bucks South 22 19 20 61
POWERPLAYS
Pennridge 0 for 11 : Central Bucks South 1 for 7
SCORING SUMMARY
Period 1
Central Bucks South - Mike Pilla (unassisted) 1:14
Central Bucks South - Thomas Liberta (powerplay) (Brandon Spognardi) 11:12
Central Bucks South - Dominic Bova (Kevin Casey, David Cochran) 12:36
Period 2
Central Bucks South - Sean Horan (shorthanded) (Brenden Clements) 9:28
Central Bucks South - Mike Lucas (Mike Pilla, Brandon Spognardi) 10:55
Central Bucks South - Jake Bauer (Dominic Bova, Connor Matsinger) 15:45
Period 3
Central Bucks South - Brenden Clements (Alex Stoll, Jack Pohl) 0:27
Central Bucks South - Jake Kelinson (Mike Lucas, Mike Pilla) 9:48
Central Bucks South - Mark Schmidt (Kevin Casey, Dominic Bova) 14:58
GOALIES
31 Michael Weaver (PR) LOSS 48:00 61 52
27 Nick Madson (CBS) WIN 48:00 14 14
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