Abington/PW photos provided courtesy of Michael Rice. Check back for a gallery of photos: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f1064915949
By Craig Ostroff
This was the goal from Day 1.
No matter that this Abington ice hockey team would look considerably different from the one that won the 2021-22 American Conference Championship, no matter how many players graduated or did not return, the Ghosts entered this season with expectations of returning to the American Conference championship game and retaining their league title.
On Wednesday night at Hatfield Ice, the Ghosts did just that. Overcoming a slow start and first-period deficit, Abington erupted for 5 second-period goals and rolled to a 7-2 victory over Plymouth Whitemarsh to hoist the league championship trophy for the second consecutive year.
“We talked about that before the game, that wasn’t lost on them,” said Abington coach Ken Brzozowski. “They had a chance to really cement themselves as one of the best teams to come out of Abington. They’ve won back-to-back titles, and we lost in this game three years ago by 1 goal to Wissahickon. These players have been at this level now for 3 years in a row.”
“This means everything to me, I don’t even know what to say,” said senior Pat Stelacio, who paced the Ghosts with a hat trick, including two critical goals to help spark the second-period outburst. “I’m going to cherish this one forever. I’m going to be in my 50s telling my grandkids about this. I feel like I’m on top of the world right now.”
The victory was especially sweet for Sam Nemec. The senior goalkeeper had spent his first three seasons with the Ghosts as part of a solid tandem with Ben Panella, but it was Panella who got the call throughout the 2021-22 postseason run.
“Sam getting that win tonight was so gratifying for me personally because that was such a hard decision last year,” Brzozowski said. “We had the playoff play-in game, the championship game, went to Flyers Cup and Ben was just playing great hockey last year, so he got all those games and Sam had to watch. That propelled him a little bit and really made him understand this was his season and this was his opportunity to get his championship.”
Nemec was not about to squander his chance to lead his team to another title.
“I knew this was my season, and it was my time to step up,” said Nemec, who turned aside 20 of 22 PW shots on the night. “I had to make it back here. I wanted this from the very beginning.”
Nemec had a little extra motivation as well.
“After my grandfather passed, this season was for him,” Nemec said. “To win this … I can’t believe I did it for him.”
The victory didn’t come as easily as the score might indicate. The Colonials’ aggressive style forced the Ghosts into making mistakes and turnovers, and the speedy PW forwards were quick to pounce on loose pucks. Matt Flynn fed Dylan Novitski to give PW the 1-0 lead with 7 minutes left in the first period. Abington would knot the
score less than three minutes later when Jordan Heydt fired home the rebound of a Ryan Portner shot from the top of the right circle. Ian Heydt also earned an assist on the goal. But PW came right back. Seven seconds into a power play, and with just 61 seconds left in the opening frame, Novitski again found the net (Conlan Carpenter assist) on a laser from the short-side boards to give the Colonials a 2-1 lead heading into the second period.
The second period made all the difference, as the Ghosts powered home 5 goals. Matt Kramer opened the scoring on this third quality attempt of the period. He was stopped on a terrific glove save from PW goalie Chris Maslij (33 saves) early in the period, and had a blast clang off the crossbar and post before deflecting out of harm’s way. But after Ian Heydt won an offensive zone face-off, Kramer found the back of the net on a wrist shot from the slot to tie the game.
“Once we got that goal I could feel the energy shift,” Stelacio said. “We knew we just had to keep pressuring them and pressuring them.”
Three minutes later, Stelacio took a shorthanded clearing pass and came into the offensive zone with one defender to beat. Stelacio made a spectacular move through the defender’s skate and went to the backhand to tuck the puck past the outstretched pad of Maslij to give the Ghosts a lead they would never relinquish.
“We knew PW was going to bring a lot of energy and effort into this game and that’s exactly what they did in that first period,” Brzozowski said. “We just stayed consistent to our game, and the second period we got a couple pucks that bounced our way and from there our confidence was riding high.”
Abington added three more goals in the final 2 minutes of the second period. Stelacio scored on a goalmouth scramble (Griffin Carpenter assist), Steven Dorn zipped a low shot from the point that found its way into the cage (Sam Paulik assist), and on a rush with the final seconds ticking off the clock, Jordan Heydt followed his deflected shot into the corner and fed Ian Heydt in front for the Ghosts fifth goal just before the horn sounded to end the period.
“We had a little bit of a strategy, win the first couple minutes of every period and the last couple minutes of every period and that’s what you saw there in the second period,” Brzozowski said. “We had the right guys on the ice at the right time to put a few more pucks in the net and put a little more pressure on them.”
Stelacio completed the hat trick with the only goal of the third period, firing the puck into a yawning net on a perfect cross-ice pass from Sam Abramson. Carpenter also picked up an assist on the power play goal.
In all, it was an impressive effort for a team that is finally healthy at the right time.
“This is our second game out of 18 games where we’ve had our full lineup,” Brzozowski said. “We were without Pat for a portion of the season, Matt Kramer, Jordan Heydt missed time … to have all of them on the ice gives us a little more depth.”
With the Ghosts’ second straight league title – and eighth overall – under their belts, they now turn their attention toward the Flyers Cup. The 12th-seeded Ghosts (16-0-1-1 overall on the season) will face fifth seed Pennsbury (14-5 overall) at 6:15 pm March 7 at Grundy Ice Arena in the first round of the Class AA tournament. PW (12-7) is seeded ninth in the Class A tournament and will face eighth seed Penncrest at 7 pm March 6 at the Skatium.
“We’ll celebrate tonight, get together, get some practices to get under our belt, and we’ll get ready,” Brzozowski said. “We still have a sour taste in our mouths from last year where we had a lead going into the third period and we lost it. But we’re going to have a full team this year, we’re going to be ready to go.”
“We’re celebrating now, but that all changes after we leave the locker room,” Nemec said. “Everyone’s mindset should go to that next game now. We’re not done yet. We want to keep winning.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh 2-0-0 2
Abington 1-5-1 7
First period: 1. Dylan Novitski, PW (Matthew Flynn) 6:56; 2. Jordan Heydt, Ab (Ian Heydt, Ryan Portner) 4:18; 3. Dylan Novitski, PW (Conlan Carpenter) PP, 1:01.
Second period: 4. Matt Kramer, Ab (Ian Heydt) 9:32; 5. Pat Stelacio, Ab (Ian Heydt) SH, 6:11; 6. Pat Stelacio, Ab (Griffin Carpenter) 1:59; 7. Steven Dorn, Ab (Sam Paulik), 1:02; 8. Ian Heydt, Ab (Jordan Heydt) 0:01.
Third period: 9. Pat Stelacio, Ab (Sam Abramson, Griffin Carpenter) PP, 7:07.
Shots: PW 22; Abington 40. Saves: Chris Maslij (PW) 33; Sam Nemec (Ab) 20.
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