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By Scott Huff
And the winner of the 4th Annual Thanksgiving Eve Classic Cup is ………….. the Central Bucks East Patriots.
CB East (5-3) – which won the Cup in both 2007 and 2008 – earned its third straight Classic victory with a 5-2 Suburban High School Hockey League victory over rival CB West (1-6-2). The game was played at the Warwick Ice Rink before a raucous crowd.
“Emotions run high in this game,” said CB East coach Ken Latchum. “A lot has to do with the East-West rivalry, and the fact that you can win the trophy adds to the game.“I had to remind the players to calm down some,” added Latchum. “We took too many penalties.”
The Patriots finished the fast and furious contest with 13 penalties, while the Bucks were whistled for nine infractions.
“This was not a typical game for us – or for East,” said CB West coach Dave Baun. “The game was played with a little more spirit with all the fans we had tonight, and there was a little extra curricular activity at times.
“The penalties seemed to break our stride,” added Baun. “We started out the game well, but we let some of the emotion get the best of us.”
The game could not have started much better for the Bucks. CB West took the opening face-off – skated into the East zone – and senior Nathan Routier found the back of the net just 15 seconds into the contest.
“I had a nice set up from T.J. Sak on that play,” said Routier. “We seem to get the lead in every game we play, and then we turn around and give it away. It has been very frustrating.”
West gave away the lead just 42 seconds later when Bobby Destefano scored the first of his three goals on a clever penalty shot.
“I really don’t practice penalty shots,” said Destefano – who also assisted on the other two East goals for a five-point night. “I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but when the goalie went down, I knew I could beat him.“To beat West in front of this big crowd was a great feeling,” added Destefano. “We have some real good players, and this should help set us up for the rest of the season.”
“The penalty shot really got us settled down,” said Latchum. “(Goaltender) Brandon (Meehan) was a little nervous at the beginning of the game, but he played well after that.”
Meehan – who allowed just two goals on 20 shots – gave way to Steve Adams in the final six minutes of the game. Adams stopped all five shots that he saw.
The Patriots took the lead for good before the close of the first period. Alex Piccione scored on a power play goal that was assisted by both Destefano and Tyler Mcintosh.At the outset of the second period, Piccione scored his second goal on an assist from Destefano and Ryan Joyce.
West sliced the lead to 3-2 on an unassisted goal by Sak. The power play goal was scored with 11:34 left in the period – it was the closest the Bucks would get for the remainder of the game.
Destefano scored two more goals before the close of the second period – one on the power play on an assist from Kevin Rauch – and the other an even strength goal with an assist from Piccione.
“It’s nice to win a couple of games in a row,” said Latchum. “The more you win – the more confidence you get.”
“We need to improve in a lot of areas,” said Baun. “We will keep working.”
CB West 1 1 0 - 2
CB East 2 3 0 - 5
Shots On Goal:
CB West – 3 8 11 - 22
CB East – 4 11 10 - 27
Scoring:
1st Period:
CBW – Nathan Routier (TJ Sak & David Parkinson) @ 14:45 – Even
CBE – Bobby DeStefano (Penalty Shot) @ 14:03 – Penalty shot
CBE - Alex Piccione (Destefano & Tyler Mcintosh) @ 5:27 – power play
2nd Period:
CBE - Piccone (Ryan Joyce & Destefano) @ 14:39 – Even
CBW – Sak (unassisted) @ 11:34 – power play
CBE – Destefano (Kevin Rauch) - @ 5:16 – power play
CBE – Destefano (Piccone) - @ 2:50 - even
In the SHSHL nightcap played at the Warwick Ice Rink, Upper Moreland defeated Hatboro-Horsham by a 7-1 tally.
“Upper Moreland dominated the game from the very beginning,” said Hatboro-Horsham coach Mike Shiels. “They had their full contingent of players, and they played great.”
Hatboro-Horsham had defeated Upper Moreland, 6-5, earlier this season.
“Jimmy Salfiti kept us in the game the first period,” said Shiels as the Bears led 2-0 despite a 20-shot barrage on the Hatter goalkeeper. “But it’s impossible to keep us in the game when you face that many shots.”
Upper Moreland out shot the Hatters by a staggering 47-22 margin.
“Brian Callahan is one of the best players in the area,” said Shiels in reference to the Golden Bear standout. “He only scored one goal, but he dominated on both ends of the ice.”
The Golden Bears had six different players find the back of the net. In addition to Callahan, goal scorers for UM included Jordan Storz – who scored twice – Anthony Moore, Matt Baumgardner, Pat Morrissey, and Stephen Tompkins.
The lone goal scorer for the Hatters was Manny Billones.
Despite the loss, Hatboro-Horsham remains on top of the SHSHL American Conference standings.
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