Thanksgiving Eve marked the official kickoff for SHSHL ice hockey action. CB South/North Penn, Pennridge/Souderton & Wissahickon/UD photos provided courtesy of Dara N. King Photography. CR North/CR South & CB East/CB West photos provided by Keith Clemens Photography...CLICK HERE to go directly to the ICE HOCKEY GALLERY.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 4, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 4 (2-1 CRS in a shootout)
This was a game for the ages.
Although it will go down in the standings as a tie, with the Rock Cup trophy at stake, the two teams used a three-player shootout to determine a winner. The Golden Hawks eked out a 2-1 edge in the shootout, bringing to a dramatic end a riveting contest that kept the fans who packed the house on the edge of their seats.
This one was a war from the outset. The two teams exchanged first-period goals with Logan Hurwitz (Bill Harrelson assist) giving the Golden Hawks a 1-0 lead that was erased when Zac Herman scored on a power play, using a Brandon Simmonds assist.
South regained the lead on David Mueller’s power play goal (Collin Kleiser assist). Again, the Indians had an answer. This time if it was John Vanni scoring on a power play with assists from Daniel Guest and Herman. Matthew Meli’s even strength goal (Brandon Zahal assist) gave the Golden Hawks a 3-2 lead heading into the final period.
That lead proved to be anything but secure as Harrison Treiman’s power play goal knotted the score, and Simmonds (CJ Zemzik assist) scored the go-ahead goal less than a minute later. Meli scored the equalizer in the game’s closing minutes, setting the stage for the shootout.
Council Rock North 1-1-2 4
Council Rock South 1-2-1 4
Shots: CR North 37, CR South 22
Saves: Rex Goldberg (CRN) 18, Mason Procz (CRS) 21, Owen Law (CRS) 12.
First Period
CRS – Logan Hurwitz (Bill Harrelson)
CRN – Zac Herman (Bradon Simmonds)
Second Period
CRS – David Mueller (Collin Kleiser)
CRN – John Vanni (Daniel Tues, Zac Herman)
CRS – Matthew Meli (Brandon Zahal)
Third Period
CRN – Harrison Treiman
CRN – Brandon Simmonds (CJ Zemzik)
CRS – Matthew Meli
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 7, NORTH PENN 0
The Titans – who lost just two players from last year’s successful squad - entered the season with decidedly high expectations. High expectations are nothing new for a program that has been among the SHSHL’s elite.
“I think the guys on our team kind of live up to that,” senior captain Joe DeLaurentis said of the pressure that goes hand-in-hand with that lofty status. “It kind of excites them - the success we've had in the past, and we kind of just work off of that and that makes us come out on fire and ready to play every game.”
Although the Titans led from wire to wire, Tyler Skroski, filling in for coach Shaun McGinty, would have liked a much stronger start. At one point, the Knights – despite trailing 1-0 – held a 4-1 advantage in shots and finished the first period with an 11-9 edge.
"Our team has struggled in the first period all season,” Skroski said. “(North Penn) came out hard, they came out ready to play. We get caught napping sometimes.”
The Knights may have held an edge in shots in the opening quarter, but the Titans had the advantage the only place that mattered – on the scoreboard. A goal by Reis Braccio (DJ LoVerdi assist) put the Titans on top 6:26 into the period, and goals by James Schuler (LoVerdi and Dominic Patrone assists) and DeLaurentis (Matt Stoll assist) gave the Titans a 3-0 lead.
“I think we came out a little bit slow at first,” said DeLaurentis, who came from behind the net to score with 12 seconds remaining. “We kind of let them hang around a little bit.
“Sometimes we think we're a little better than we are, but we just have to stick to our game plan and play like we did tonight. Once the second period came - that was our best period. That's when we started to pick it up.”
The Titans owned the second period. They not only scored four unanswered goals, they held a lopsided 18-2 advantage in shots. Frank Carter (Patrone assist), Tyler Boylan (Stoll, Braccio assists), Drew Kiriloff (Braccio, Carter assists) and Schuler (shorthanded) each scored a goal.
"I'm happy with how they bounced back after the first period,” said Skroski, whose team walked away with the County Line Classic trophy. “This was the first ever rivalry game we're trying to start Thanksgiving Eve.
“Everybody's kind of got their rival. Pennridge has Souderton. CB East has CB West. We're trying to get something started, and it was a good year to get it started.”
The Titans – and goalie Oscar Levin - held off a late surge by the Knights to earn the shutout win.
“Especially for the goalie's confidence first time being on varsity, it's good to get a shutout today,” DeLaurentis said.
"It's awesome,” Skroski said. “We have two goalies. They both didn't get much experience last year when we had our senior.
“It's tough for goalies, especially in a game where he's only seeing 19 shots - it's hard to stay on your toes. When they have a power play and he makes those saves, it's a positive for him and it's a positive for everybody because it's tough sitting there cold and then getting a flurry of shots.”
Levin recorded 19 saves in the shutout for the Titans, who outshot the Knights 22-8 over the final two periods.
Central Bucks South 3-4-0 7
North Penn 0-0-0 0
Shots: CB South 31, North Penn 19
Saves: Oscar Levin (CBS) 19, Chris Maiden/Andrew Zanoni (NP) 24.
First Period
CBS – Reis Braccio (DJ LoVerdi)
CBS – James Schuler (DJ LoVerdi, Dominic Patrone)
CBS – Joseph DeLaurentis (Matt Stoll)
Second Period
CBS – Frank Carter (Dominic Patrone)
CBS – Tyler Boylan (Matt Stoll, Reis Braccio)
CBS – Drew Kiriloff (Reis Braccio, Frank Carter)
CBS – James Schuler
Third Period
No Score
PENNRIDGE 6, SOUDERTON 2
Josh Smith all but stood on his head in goal for the Indians, turning away one Pennridge shot after another and keeping his team in it with a stellar outing.
“Every time we play Souderton – last year we had 55 shots and scored twice,” Pennridge coach Ken Doak said. “That kid played incredible. If we had more traffic in front of the net, we had easy tip-ins there. We just weren’t there to tip it in, and we hit about four posts.”
All told, Smith turned away 55 shots.
“It’s frustrating, but when you’re putting shots on net like that, it comes to you eventually,” Mike Walker said.
“Their goalie played outstanding – hats off to him,” Eric Slater added. “You put shots on goal, eventually they’ll go in. He can’t save them all.”
For a while, it looked as though Smith might save them until Slater (Frankie Rota assist) found the net with 4:37 remaining in the opening period.
At the 9:31 mark of the second period, Souderton’s John Gray turned a Tommy Harris pass into a goal that knotted the score.
Less than two minutes later, Rota found Slater for a goal that gave the Rams a one-goal lead. Slater followed that with an unassisted goal to complete his hat trick, and then it was Michael Eissler scoring with assists from Blake Stewart and Conrad Frisch to put the Rams on top 4-1 after two periods.
“We just come out every game, trying to win and doing our best,” Slater said.
The Rams opened up a 6-1 lead after goals by Nick Eissler (Walker assist) and Dylan Lowery (Pat McGinley and Slater assists) before the Indians’ Austin Mower scored a late goal for the 6-2 final.
Although it’s early, the Rams are hoping to vie for a conference title.
“We’re just trying to get the wins as a team, building up to play Central Bucks in January,” Slater said. “We have some time to work on things.”
Slater, Walker and McGinley are the nucleus of a young but experienced Ram squad.
“They are the team,” Doak said. “They tick, we tick. They’re good players.
“And (Frankie) Rota on defense - he’s the best defenseman in the DVHL. He’s unbelievable. He was in the all-star game last week.”
Slater and Walker have been playing together for nine years, and early on in their playing days, they gave glimpses of their immense potential when they combined for 25 points in four playoff games with the Ice Dogs.
“Him and I always kind of clicked,” Walker said.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Slater added. “I can throw the puck on the ice to Mike and know exactly where he’s going to be all the time.”
“What’s great about those two – they’re both very, very good hockey players, and they look for each other,” Doak said. “They’re not selfish, and they don’t get upset when one has more goals than the other because there’s enough goals to go around for everybody.
Pennridge held a 61-21 advantage in shots.
Pennridge 1-3-2 6
Souderton 0-1-1 2
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 5, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 1
The Bucks led 2-0 at the end of one quarter, and after the Patriots cut that lead in half, the Bucks closed out the game with three unanswered goals to earn a win in the battle of neighboring rivals.
Joey Rockovich gave the Bucks a lead 15 seconds into the game, and Michael Samson’s goal with a Daniel Poliak assist made it a 2-0 game. East’s Chris Mangiacapre scored 5:49 into the second period to make it a one-goal game, but a shorthanded goal by Luke McCleerey (Rockovich assist) sent the Bucks into the final period with a 3-1 lead.
Goals by Christian Young (Christopher Trefz assist) and Jake Lang (Matthew McCarthy assist) closed out the scoring.
Jeremy Kennard turned away 15 of 16 shots he faced in a winning effort in goal for the Bucks. East goalie Chris McIntyre was credited with 13 saves.
Central Bucks West 2-1-2 5
Central Bucks East 0-1-0 1
Shots: CB West 18, CB East 16.
Saves: Jeremy Kennard (CBW) 15, Chris McIntyre (CBE) 13.
Period One
CBW – Joey Rockovich
CBW – Michael Samson (Daniel Poliak)
Period Two
CBE – Chris Mangiacapre
CBW – Luke McCleerey (Joey Rockovich)
Period Three
CBW – Christian Young (Christopher Trefz)
CBW – Jake Lang (Matthew McCarthy)
WISSAHICKON 10, UPPER DUBLIN 4
The night belonged to the Garrys, who combined for seven goals and 10 points in the Trojans lopsided win over the Flying Cardinals at Hatfield Ice. Bryan Garry had a hand in six goals with three goals and three assists while Sean added four goals for the Trojans, who controlled play from start to finish.
Bryan Garry put the Trojans on the board in the opening minute of the contest, and then it was Sean Garry scoring a shorthanded goal (Nolan Ryan assist). Alex Myhrman’s goal with a Matt Harrington assist put the Trojans on top 3-0, and it was a 4-0 game after Nolan Piatkowski scored with a Samuel Junker assist. Chris Barbera broke the Trojans’ run with an unassisted goal in the closing minutes of the quarter.
Sean Garry’s goal with assists from Daniel Glazer and Bryan Garry was the only score of the second quarter.
The Trojans upped their lead to 8-1 after back-to-back goals by Bryan Garry – the first with a Ryan assist and the second with a Piatkowsi helper – and a single goal by Myhrman (Matt Cade assist). The Cardinals made it an 8-3 game after consecutive goals by Ari Nordlinger – the first with a Daniel Katz assist. Wissahickon’s Sean Garry (Bryan Garry/ Glazer assists) and UD’s Oren Serafin (shorthanded) exchanged goals to close out the scoring.
Wissahickon 4-1-5 10
Upper Dublin 1-0-3 4
First Period
W – Bryan Garry
W – Sean Garry (Nolan Ryan)
W – Alex Myhrman (Matt Harrington)
W - Nolan Platkowski (Samuel Junker)
UD – Chris Barbera
Second Period
W – Sean Garry (Daniel Glazer, Bryan Garry)
Third Period
W - Bryan Garry (Nolan Ryan)
W – Bryan Garry (Nolan Piatkowski)
W – Alex Myhrman (Matt Cade)
UD – Ari Nordlinger (Daniel Katz)
UD – Ari Nordlinger
W – Sean Garry (Bryan Garry/Nolan Piatkowski)
W – Sean Garry (Bryan Garry/Daniel Glazer)
UD – Oren Serafin
ABINGTON 7, LOWER MORELAND 5
Jacob Snellenburg and Perry Carpenter were difference makers at opposite ends of the ice for the Ghosts. While Snellenburg kept the Ghosts in it with 35 saves, Carpenter breathed life into the Ghosts’ offense, reeling off three straight goals in the second period to erase a 4-1 Lions’ lead. He finished the game with six points on four goals and two assists.
Early on, it looked as though the Lions might win in a romp when Devin Green scored on a power play to give LM a 4-0 lead late in the opening period. Sam Panella scored with assists from Aleksei Hulayev and Nikolai Portner to make it a 4-1 game after one period.
In the second period, Carpenter went to work, scoring three straight goals in a seven-minute span – his first with an assist from Eric Miller and his third on a power play with Portner and Miller assists.
Ryan Gosselin’s power play goal in the opening minute of the third period (Portner, Carpenter assists) gave the Ghosts their first lead of the game at 5-4. When Carpenter found the net with his fourth goal – this one with a Miller assist, the Ghosts led by two. A goal by Simon Gratowski (Campbell Manin, Arthur Rubinshteyn assists) made it a one-goal game, but Gavin O’Donnell (Carpenter, Colin Bruton assists) gave the Ghosts a 7-5 lead that held until the final horn.
Gratowski and Manin led the Lions with three points each.
Lower Moreland 4-0-1 5
Abington 1-3-3 7
Shots: Lower Moreland 40, Abington 22.
Saves: Jacobo Snellenburg 33, John Duesler 15.
First Period
LM – Adam Bostock (Campbelll Manin, Simon Gratowski)
LM – Devin Green (Adam Bostock)
LM – Simon Gratowski (Connor Duddy, Campbell Manin)
LM – Devin Green
A – Sam Panella (Aleksei Hulayev, Nikolai Portner)
Second Period
A – Perry Carpenter (Eric Miller)
A – Perry Carpenter
A – Perry Carpenter (Nikolai Portner, Eric Miller)
Third Period
A – Ryan Gosselin (Nikolai Portner, Perry Carpenter)
A – Perry Carpenter (Eric Miller)
LM – Simon Gratowski (Campbell Manin, Arthur Rubinshteyn)
A – Gavin O’Donnell (Perry Carpenter, Colin Bruton)
NESHAMINY 1, PENNSBURY 0
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