This week’s notebook highlights Pennridge, CR South and Archbishop Wood and recaps last week’s games.
By Scott Huff
And the beat goes on…
SHSHL Continental Conference ‘Snapshot’
Pennridge Rams
Pennridge head coach Wade Witzaney began the 2013-2014 SHSHL season with his eyes wide open. And he knew that the Rams eyes would be blackened at times.
“We began the season with only one senior,” said Witzaney. “And we also began the season with 11 freshmen that were going to get a whole lot of ice time. We have freshmen on the power play, we have freshmen on the penalty kills, and we just have freshman on the ice at all times.
“We happen to play in a conference that might have the best four teams in the area,” added Witzaney. “And for us to have 11 freshman – and Central Bucks South playing 12 seniors – it makes it tough for us.
“Our goal is to develop players and be better the second time we play a team than we were the first time we played them,” continued Witzaney. “It might not look like it on the score sheet, but we have played much better the second half of the season.”
Pennridge has showcased a pair of underclassmen in goal this year. Junior Steven Wilms and sophomore Michael Weaver have faced a staggering number of shots this season, but have played well.
“Both goalies have faced around 40 shots a game, but both have had some good results,” said Witzaney. “I wouldn’t hesitate to put either one into a tough game, and both have gotten better as the season has moved on.
“We have set some benchmarks as far as improvement goes, and we have met most of them,” added Witzaney. “We were forced to play a lot of freshman, but that should bode well for us next year.”
Stay tuned.
In the Rear View Mirror in the SHSHL Continental Conference
Central Bucks South captured a pair of critical wins in conference play last week. The Titans opened the week with a 6-2 victory over district rival Central Bucks West as six players scored single goals. Thomas Liberta, Jake Bauer, Mike Lucas, Leo Flick, Damon DeLaurentis, and Kevin Casey all found the back of the net in the win over the Bucks. CB South collected a huge 5-3 win over North Penn later in the week. Bauer scored a pair of goals for the Titans, while Mike Pilla, Brenden Clements, and Brandon Spognardi scored solo goals. Jeff Pelkowski stopped 25 shots on goal in the win over the Knights.
Central Bucks East remained in strong contention for a conference title as the Patriots collected a 7-2 victory over Pennridge. Zach Davis led the scoring for the winners with two goals - while Jake Davis, John Hughes, Nick Chimera, Sean Parahus, and Joe Ridolfi each scored single goals. Evan Angotti recorded a modest 10 saves.
Souderton kept pace with the conference leaders with a 10-3 victory over Abington. Daniel Rock was once again the terrific for the Indians with a four-goal performance. Chris Malanga and Alex Politsky each scored a pair of goals for Souderton, while Brian Broderick and Connor McCausland each scored solo goals. Brian Bingaman was the winning net minder for the Big Red and collected 18 saves.
North Penn will hope to rebound this week after its 5-3 loss to CB South. In the setback to the Titans, Jake Heckenberger, Nick Capasso, and Ryan Nowicki each scored single goals, while goaltender Jake Snyder came up with an impressive 36 saves.
Central Bucks West lost its lone conference game last week when the Bucks were stopped by district rival CB South 6-2. Goal tender Kenny Doak was wonderful in defeat with 48 saves. Tanner Ginn and Patrick Smith each scored single goals for the Bucks.
Pennridge lost a pair of conference games last week as the Rams opened the week with a 7-2 loss to Council Rock South and closed the week with a 7-2 loss to Central Bucks East. Aaron Crosson scored both goals in the loss to the Golden Hawks and goalie Michael Weaver had a nice game with 26 saves. Crosson and Nathan Runk scored single goals in the loss to CBE – while goalie Steven Wilms had a terrific game with 34 saves.
SHSHL Standings in the Continental Conference
Central Bucks South Titans 11 2 1 - 23
Central Bucks East Patriots 10 2 0 - 20
North Penn Knights 9 3 1 - 19
Souderton Indians 8 2 2 - 18
Central Bucks West Bucks 3 7 2 - 8
Pennridge Rams 3 11 0 - 6
‘On Ice’ in the SHSHL Continental Conference
Wednesday (2/5/14)
Souderton Indians vs. Pennsbury Falcons @ Grundy – 8:30 pm
Thursday (2/6/14)
Pennridge Rams vs. Central Bucks South Titans @ Warwick – 7 pm
Central Bucks East Patriots vs. Central Bucks West Bucks @ Hatfield – 7:20 pm
Friday (2/7/14)
Council Rock North Indians vs. Central Bucks West Bucks @ Warwick – 7 pm
Council Rock South Hawks vs. North Penn Knights @ Hatfield – 9 pm
SHSHL National Conference ‘Snapshot’
Council Rock South Golden Hawks
Council Rock South is well on its way to winning the SHSHL National Conference title – and that might just be a bad thing.
“We have won the Flyers Cup three out of the last four years – and the only year we didn’t win it – we won the conference championship,” said Council Rock South head coach Joe Houck. “The other three years we didn’t win the league, but we won the Cup. It’s really rather funny.”
Rock South came into the season with just five seniors – and two of those seniors were goaltenders Zachary Magro and Andrew Stone.
“To be honest, we’re doing a lot better than we expected,” said Houck. “The players have really bought into what we want to do, and we have been successful within our conference.”
The Golden Hawks (9-3-1) are unbeaten against SHSHL National foes Neshaminy, Pennsbury, Council Rock North, Truman, and Abington. However, CR South is 0-3-1 against the SHSHL Continental Conference with losses to Souderton (4-2), Central Bucks East (6-3), Central Bucks West (5-3) and a tie with Central Bucks South (4-4).
“We were competitive with the good teams in the other conference, and CB South actually had to come back to tie us the other night,” said Houck. “Our goal right now is to continue to play hard, and see how far we can go.”
The Golden Hawk offense has Jason Brockman (13 goals, 11 assists, 24 points), Steven Bollendorf (6-16-22), and Justin Adams (9-12-21) as leading scorers thus far. Stone has a 2.78 goal against average but is out the next month with a concussion, while Magro will man the nets full time and has a wonderful 3.05 goals against average.
“I’m happy that we are going to be playing in the Flyers Cup,” said Houck. “But by winning the league championship, I’m not too sure how far we can advance.”
Stay tuned.
In the Rear View Mirror in the SHSHL National Conference
Council Rock South kept its firm grip on first place in the conference with a 7-2 victory over Pennridge. Eric Higgins led the scoring attack with a pair of goals, while Dylan Varian, Jason Brockman, Karl Martin, Matt Gulack, and Steven Bollendorf each scored single goals for the Hawks. Zachary Magro was the winning net minder with a modest 11 saves.
Council Rock North was unbeaten last week as the Indians collected a key victory and a tie. Rock North opened the week with a 7-3 victory over Pennsbury as Tristan Wieczorek and Justin Fricke each scored a pair of goals - while Mark Tosti, Sam Kroh, and Trey Elmer scored single goals. CR North tied Neshaminy 3-3 at the end of the week as goaltender Kyle McQuillan was terrific with 36 saves. Goal scorers for the Indians were Colton Snow, Tosti, and Elmer.
Truman captured a nice conference win as the Tigers defeated Neshaminy 5-3. Justin Vickery and Zach Bennett each scored a pair of goals for the winners, while Tyler Bucci scored a solo goal. Christian Morlando came up 24 saves in net for the Tigers.
Neshaminy earned a single point in the conference standings as the Redskins collected a tie along with a loss last week. Neshaminy tied CR North 3-3 as Ian Dixon scored a pair of goals and Nick Sweeney added a solo score. In the 5-3 loss to Truman, Eric Graham scored a pair of goals for the Skins, while Mike Maher scored a single goal; Goalie Matt Lucas collected 27 saves for NHS.
Pennsbury lost its only game of the week as the Falcons were defeated by Council Rock North 7-3. Adam Shapiro, John Thornton, and Kevin Koerner were the single goal scorers for Pennsbury. Falcon goal tender Trevor Shandler came up with 15 saves.
Abington lost its only game of the week as the Ghosts were defeated by Souderton 10-3. Thomas Carroll scored a pair of goals for Abington, while Alex DeCristofano scored a solo goal. Ghost net minder Cole Kramer had a fine game with 29 saves.
SHSHL Standings in the National Conference
Council Rock South Golden Hawks 9 3 1 - 19
Council Rock North Indians 4 7 2 - 10
Neshaminy Redskins 4 7 2 - 10
Pennsbury Falcons 4 7 1 - 9
Truman Tigers 3 8 2 - 8
Abington Ghosts 2 10 0 - 4
‘On Ice’ in the SHSHL National Conference
Wednesday (2/5/14)
Souderton Indians vs. Pennsbury Falcons @ Grundy – 8:30 pm
Thursday (2/6/14)
Council Rock South Hawks vs. Pennsbury Falcons @ Grundy – 7:20 pm
Neshaminy Redskins vs. Abington Ghosts @ Wintersport – 7:20 pm
Council Rock North Indians vs. Truman Tigers @ Grundy – 9 pm
Friday (2/7/14)
Council Rock North Indians vs. Central Bucks West Bucks @ Warwick – 9 pm
Council Rock South Hawks vs. North Penn Knights @ Hatfield – 9 pm
SHSHL American Conference ‘Snapshot’
Archbishop Wood Vikings
Archbishop Wood head coach Sam Gallen had high expectations for his senior dominated Viking roster this 2013-2014 SHSHL season.
“We have 10 seniors on this team, and it is a team that has played together for a while,” said Gallen. “Right now, we are a team that looks to the playoffs – hopefully a Flyers Cup invitation – and wants to be a team that can compete with the teams at our level.”
That level would be as an ‘A’ team that makes up the teams in the SHSHL American Conference. There is a scheduling mystery of sorts in what does – or does not – count as a conference game. But in the end, the Vikings (2-2 SHSHL, 7-8-1 overall) will be in competition for both a conference championship and a Flyers invitation.
“The way I understand it, we will play Lansdale Catholic for a parochial championship,” said Gallen. “And we will then play the winner of the public school championship (Wissahickon, Upper Moreland, William Tennent, and Plymouth Whitemarsh) for our conference title. Winning championships, though, is just for bragging rights.
“We will still have to be invited by the Flyers Cup committee,” added Gallen. “That committee looks hard at your overall record, and the competition you played during the season.”
Archbishop Wood was a gusty 5-0-1 from December 12to January 15. Included in that stretch were wins over ‘AA’ teams like Central Bucks West (5-3), Pennsbury (5-4), Pennridge (5-3) and a tie with ‘AA’ Truman (5-5).
“We have a team of really hard working guys,” said Gallen. “Our core group are seniors, and they want to be able to end their high school careers with some success.”
Included in that senior core are Matt Mendes (19 goals, 10 assists, 29 points), Ryan Meinke (12-17-29), Nick Patton (11-17-28), Patrick Cavanaugh (12-14-26), and Troy Potts (12-8-20). Senior goaltender Nick DeRosa is also going to be a key contributor down the stretch for the Vikings.
Stay tuned.
In the Rear View Mirror in the SHSHL American Conference
William Tennent and Upper Moreland played the only ‘conference’ game last week and the Panthers and Golden Bears were fit to be tied in a 3-3 contest. The goal scorers for Tennent were Andrew Bean, Danny Gatto, and Mike Padgeon – while goal tender CJ Lineman collected 28 saves. The goal scorers for UMHS were Andy Iehle, Matthew Iehle, and Nick Park – while goal tender Patrick Beissel collected 32 saves.
SHSHL Standings in the American Conference
Wissahickon Trojans 6 3 0 - 12
Upper Moreland Golden Bears 5 2 1 - 11
William Tennent Panthers 4 4 1 - 9
Archbishop Wood Vikings 2 2 0 - 4
Lansdale Catholic Crusaders 1 3 0 - 2
Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials 1 6 0 - 2
‘On Ice’ in the SHSHL American Conference
Thursday (2/6/14)
Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials vs. Upper Moreland Bears @ Hatfield – 9 pm
William Tennent Panthers vs. Wissahickon Trojans @ Bucks County Ice – 7:15 pm
Suburban One Sports.com
‘Fab Five’
1. Central Bucks East Patriots
2. Central Bucks South Titans
3. North Penn Knights
4. Souderton Indians
5. Council Rock South Golden Hawks
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