CB South used a late-game goal from Jimmy Milanesi to edge North Penn in a key SHSHL contest Thursday.
By Ben Reese
HATFIELD – Jimmy Milanesi has a flare for the dramatic.
Although, if you asked him he might deny it.
But the Central Bucks South senior batted a loose puck past a surprised North Penn goalie Cody Matthews for the game-winning goal with slightly more than two minutes remaining in the game as the Titans won their second straight against the Knights 5-3 at Hatfield Ice on Thursday.
The two teams were tied at 3-3 after two periods, and the game, for all intents and purposes, looked like it was going to end that way. But, with 13:49 gone in the final period, Milanesi picked up the puck in front of the North Penn net and slid it past Matthews.
That proved to be the difference for the Titans even though Connor Bechtel scored an empty-net goal with slightly less than eight seconds left.
“That was huge,” CB South coach Tom Coyne said of Milanesi's goal. “It was well deserved, too.
“He worked hard for the last couple games, like from the Father Judge game on. He's been working his tail off and it's really nice to see him get payday.”
Milanesi was a bit humbler about the goal.
“I can tell you it was just luck,” he said of the tally. “I'd like to say skill but (being in) the right place at the right time is really right.”
The game itself was as tight as the score indicates. It might have been the best high school hockey game of the year.
“That was a really good game,” said Coyne. “North Penn deserves a lot of credit; they played hard.
“We had to get through the stupid penalty part, but we eventually got there. (We had) some dumb penalties that kind of hurt us.
“Once we got our act together, we started going. There were times when we looked like we dominated, had them penned in pretty good, but we just couldn't get good looks at the net.”
Milanesi agreed.
“It was definitely heart-racing,” he said, “especially because they're a big rival. We just keep pushing, but we had to have that one last push to win.
“We're both really good teams and every game you know that we're both going to work hard so you know it'll be just that much harder.”
North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis was disappointed with the outcome, but he realized it was a good game.
“We were battling with them,” the Knights’ coach said. “They came out and jumped on us in the first period.
“We hung with them the second and third periods, and they got those two last power plays that kind of took some energy out of us. We killed off the penalties.
“They've got very skilled players. You put them out there five-on-four, and it wears on some of our guys that are out there.
“They got a bounce at the end that put it in the back of the net. They're a good hockey team.”
That bounce at the end was Milanesi's goal.
According to the goal-scorer, one of the North Penn forwards had the puck and fumbled it. Milanesi just poked at it and it went between Matthews' legs and into the net.
Of course, all that was set up by what happened in the first two periods.
In the first period, North Penn's Caleb Witzaney took a pass out of his own end from Nick Capasso and started down the ice. He deked between two South defenders and beat Titan goalie Jeff Pelkowski with only 2:37 gone in the game.
South got that goal back nearly four and a half minutes later. Nick DeLaurentis got a pass from Mike Pilla and poked it through a mass in front of the net to tie the game.
The Titans took the lead with 5:16 elapsed in the second period. Dominic Bova netted the first of his two goals in the game off an assist from Jake Bauer.
With South's Brenden Clements in the penalty box for slashing, North Penn struck again. Matt Barkley tallied the power play goal with assists going to Christian Ahn and Witzaney.
The Knights took the lead back with four minutes left in the second stanza. Alex Peterson slid the puck home off passes from Barkley and Ahn.
However, 1:15 later, the Titans again tied the score. Bova notched his second goal with an assist going to Bobby Mallon.
In reality, the game could have ended there because the Titans had outshot the Knights 27-17 by the end of the second period. Much of the credit goes to North Penn goalie Matthews, who made quite a few outstanding saves.
“He was awesome,” Vaitis said of his goalie. “He was unbelievable. He just played phenomenal.”
As it turned out, Matthews made 36 saves of 41 shots taken at him. Conversely, South goalie Pelkowski stopped 20 of 23 shots.
In the third period, neither team looked like it was getting the upper hand on offense. A tie appeared to be the forgone conclusion.
But then Milanesi stepped in and scored his unassisted goal. After North Penn pulled Matthews in the final minute, Bechtel finished the scoring into an empty net.
With the win, South tightens up the SHSHL Continental race. Milanesi and Coyne both realize how close it is.
“It's not over,” Milanesi said. “We still have to keep pushing.”
“We've got to take care of all the rest of the games we have,” said Coyne. “There's some tough ones still to go and we can't take anybody lightly.”
CB South 1 2 2 – 5
North Penn 1 2 0 – 3
First Period
1. Caleb Witzaney NP (Nick Capasso) 2:37; 2. Nick DeLaurentis CBS (Mike Pilla) 6:53. Penalties: Brenden Clements CBS (roughing) 5:50; Witzaney NP (roughing) 5:50; DeLaurentis CBS (interference) 10:47; Alex Peterson NP (holding) 12:35; Jake Bauer CBS (high sticking) 15:58.
Second period
3. Dominic Bova CBS (Jake Bauer) 5:16; 4. Matt Barkley NP (Christian Ahn, Witzaney PP 9:53; 5. Alex Peterson NP (Barkley, Ahn) 12:00; 6. Bova CBS (Bobby Mallon) 13:13. Penalties: Connor Matsiner CBS (holding) 1:09; Clements CBS (slashing) 8:13; Bauer CBS (unsportsmanlike conduct 10 minutes) 10:48.
Third Period
7. Jimmy Milanesi CBS (unassisted) 13:49; 8. Connor Bechtel CBS (Mallon) 15:52. Penalties: Kevin Saylor NP (head contact) 4:31; Matthew Fox NP (interference) 4:54.
Shots: CBS 42; NP 23. Saves: Jeff Pelkowski CBS 20, Cody Matthews NP 36.
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