By Scott Huff
There are two types of inexperienced.
There is inexperienced with a roster full of freshmen and sophomores, and then there is inexperienced with a roster full or juniors and seniors.
Both teams exist within the confines of the Suburban High School Hockey League as teams gain that valued ice time as the season progresses.
“We have a lot of first year varsity players that are upperclassmen,” said Pennsbury head coach John Bria. “We graduated 13 or 14 players from last year’s team, and we had a lot of holes to fill.”
“We have a very young team that are freshmen and sophomores,” said Central Bucks South head coach Tom Coyne. “We are going to take some lumps – learn as we go – and we will better in the second half of the season.”
“We came into the season without an experienced goalie,” said Upper Dublin head coach Dave Japchen. “And we were putting in a brand new system. I expect us to be much better as the goalie gains experience and we learn the system better.”
And the beat goes on …
The SHSHL National Division
Pennsbury (5-2-1 SHSHL, 5-3-1 overall) is one of those teams that will continue to develop in the 2010-2011 SHSHL season.
“We got out of the gate slowly, but I like the way we have improved lately,” said Pennsbury head coach John Bria. “This is a team that is going to get better with the number of games that we play. We can work on things in practice, but we have to play the game to get better.”
An example of the Falcon improvement could be seen in a 5-1 victory over Neshaminy(3-4-2, 4-4-2).
Pennsbury captain Ken McCormick had a huge game for the Falcons with a hat trick and a pair of assists for a five-point night. Phillip Herring and Mike Hlatky scored single goals for the winners.
“Ken McCormick has been a great a captain – a very tough kid that always gives 110 percent,” said Bria. “He, along with Mike Htatky, has shown great leadership for an inexperienced team.”
The Pennsbury goaltending situation has yet to be resolved as the Falcons have rotated three goalies in the nets. Senior Kevin Kandetzke along with underclassmen Jeff Stitt and Benjamin Herring have all seen ice time between the pipes.
Neshaminy (3-4-2, 4-4-2) split its SHSHL games last week as the Skins suffered that 5-1 loss to Pennsbury, but notched a 6-3 win over Souderton (2-6-0, 2-7-0).
Neshaminy led 4-0 early but had to score late to secure the win.
Jordan Ducko scored a pair of goals to highlight the scoring for the Skins. Single goal scorers for the winners were DJ Bell, Anthony Finocchiaro, Steven Lee, and Nick Palombara.
Goaltender Collin Mazer registered 26 saves.
Council Rock South (9-0-0, 11-0-0) continued its unbeaten run with an 11-1 victory over Central Bucks West (1-9-0, 1-9-0).
Steve Junod had a huge game with seven assists and a pair of goals for a nine-point night. SHSHL leading goal scorer Patrick Grill fired four pucks into the net and had a pair of assists. Dan Ufberg scored a hat trick for the Hawks, while Vincenzo Primavera and Greg Aquaro each scored single goals. Colin Criage had five assists.
William Tennent (5-4-0, 6-5-0) climbed over the .500 mark with a 5-2 victory over North Penn (3-3-2, 4-3-2).
Clint Assprung had a hat trick for the Panthers and finished the night with four points. Single goal scorers for Tennent were Cameron Goodell and AJ Carbone.
Council Rock North (1-5-2, 1-6-2) was competitive in its 3-0 loss to Central Bucks East (7-2-0, 7-3-2).
The Indians had a terrific outing turned in by goaltender Haydan Richards. Richards faced a staggering 41 shots and had 38 saves for Rock North.
SHSHL Continental Division
Central Bucks South (4-3-1 SHSHL, 4-5-1 overall) is in search of itself as the 2010-2011 season gathers momentum.
“I think we might have an identity problem,” said Central Bucks South head coach Tom Coyne. “There are some things that should have been settled by now, like picking a captain, but that will come.
“This is a team that has some skill, but we have not been consistent,” added Coyne. “We’re very young, and I have to be patient.”
The backbone of the Titans this season has been the team’s leading scorer – Tom Dougherty.
“Tom has been a very solid player the last three years for this program,” said Coyne. “Tom, along with Matt Schultz and Ed Siger, have been the ‘lean-on’ guys.”
CB South looks for the maturation of Bobby Mallon, Connor Bechtel, and Jimmy Milanesi to help out ASAP. Goaltenders Dennis Ruff and Matt McGarvey are still fighting for the No. 1 role.
“We need players to step – the young kids and the goalies,” said Coyne. “We play Council Rock South this week, and we’ll see if we are ready to swim with the big fish.”
Central Bucks East (7-2-0, 7-3-2) held on to first place in the division with a 3-0 victory over Council Rock North (1-5-2, 1-6-2).
The Patriots had single goals scored by Austin Cianalli, John Esposito, and Tom Schloendorn. East out shot Rock North 41-14. Justin Golia registered the shut out for the Patriots with 14 saves.
North Penn (3-3-2, 4-3-2) rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie William Tennent (5-4-0, 6-5-0), but the Knights lost both momentum and the game to the Panthers – 5-2.
Jim McKelvie scored the tying goal for the Knights in the third period. McKelvie also assisted on the first NP goal by Caleb Witzaney at the close of the second period.
Pennridge (3-5-0, 3-6-0) rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie Pennsbury (4-2-1, 4-3-1), but the Rams lost both momentum and the game to the Falcons – 3-2.
Matt Brown scored the first Pennridge goal, and it appeared that the Rams would earn a tie when Kyle Henofer scored the second goal with just 2:55 left in the third period. However, a late Falcon goal sealed the win for Pennsbury.
Souderton (2-6-0, 2-7-0) rallied from a 4-0 deficit to close to 4-3 against Neshaminy (3-3-2, 4-3-2), but the Indians lost both momentum and the game to the Redskins – 6-3.
The goal scorers for the Big Red were Anthony McPhee, Dylan Manto, and Travis McKay.
Central Bucks West (1-9, 1-9) faced unbeaten Council Rock South (9-0, 11-0) and had little luck against the high-flying Golden Hawks. West lost to CRS – 11-1.
The lone goal for the Bucks came in the third period. Nick Moffett scored for West on assists from Austin Siemion and Geoff Turcich.
SHSHL American Division
Upper Dublin (3-3-0 SHSHL, 5-4-1 overall) head coach Dave Japchen knew there was going to be a maturation process to his Flying Cardinals.
“Jack Deragon is our goaltender, and he never played a game of ice hockey before this season,” said Japchen. “He is an excellent lacrosse player, and he was willing to give ice hockey a shot this year.
“Plus with me being a new coach here, there was some getting used to between the coach and the players,” added Japchen. “Our goal is get better every shift, every period, and every game.”
Upper Dublin has not had problems putting the puck in the net with Brian Markman (26 points), Tyler Peskin (22), Sam Etskowitz (19), and Gil Lederhandler (19) all near the top of the SHSHL scoring leaders.
“Another one of our goals was to spread the scoring around a little this year,” said Japchen. “We want teams to be able to defend more than one of two players.”
Upper Dublin fired 40 shots on goal in its recent win over Upper Moreland (0-7-0, 0-9-0) in a 5-2 Flying Cardinal victory.
Markman was a marksman as he scored a hat trick for UD, while Robbie Degregorio and Lederhandler each scored single goals for the winners.
Upper Moreland had a bright spot between the pipes as Jared Burch came up with 35 saves. Matt Baumgarder scored a pair of third period goals for the Golden Bears.
Wissahickon (3-3-0, 5-6-0) had a wonderful game turned in by net minder Adam Solomon as the Trojans defeated Lansdale Catholic (5-2-0, 7-3-0). Solomon registered 32 saves for Wissy.
Joey Sutkow and Jeff Schaeffer each scored a couple of goals for the Trojans, while Dustin Rabinowitz and Sean Delaney each scored single goals.
Lansdale Catholic fell out of first place in the SHSHL American Divisionwith the loss. The Crusaders out shot the Trojans 34-18 but could not outscore them over 45 minutes.
The goal scorers for LC were Kevin Quinn and Nick Sette.
Hatboro-Horsham (5-1-0, 7-2) remained in first place even though the Hatters lost their only game last week, 4-2 to the Father Judge JV team in a non-league contest.
Judge (8-1-1 overall) is a Class AA team, while the Hatters are a Class A team.
Playing ‘up’ was a great experience for Hatter goalie Vincent Mirarchi who saw some quality shots from a successful team.
Suburban One Sports.com * Great Eight*
1. Council Rock South Golden Hawks
2. Central Bucks East Patriots
3. William Tennent Panthers
4. Central Bucks South Titans
5. Pennsbury Falcons
6. North Penn Knights
7. Neshaminy Redskins
8. Hatboro-Horsham Hatters
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