To view game action photos, visit the photo gallery at the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
WARMINSTER - It will go down in the standings as a tie.
But it will likely be among the sweetest ties the Council Rock South ice hockey team will ever experience.
A late goal by Council Rock North prevented the Golden Hawks from earning two points in the standings, but Peter Malamud's goal on the Hawks' final attempt was the lone tally in the shootout, and while the scoreboard showed a 2-2 tie among the neighborhood rivals, South was the squad that was able to hoist the 2009 Rock Cup.
A standing-room-only crowd at Warminster's Face-Off Circle was treated to an outstanding display of hockey from two talented and tough squads."This was a great game, for both teams, probably one of the better games you've seen in the past couple years," said Council Rock South coach Joe Houk. "Both teams come in 7-0, you don't know what's going to happen.
"For us, it was hard to prepare for this. we've had a couple games so far with the 10-goal rule, but we knew it was going to come down to a close game, it comes down to it every year."
Despite both teams' high-powered offenses, Wednesday's matchup gave the respective defenses a chance to shine. And none shone brighter than North goalkeeper Jessie Goldberg -- who made 23 saves on the night -- and South backstop Sean Boyd, who turned aside 18 of 20 shots.
"Jessie is an excellent goalie for them," Houk said, "and Sean was outstanding."
"Our defense plays great every game," Boyd added. "I think we've given up the least amount of goals (as a team) all year, so our defense is huge part of our team."
The goalies were nearly flawless in the shootout as well, with Goldberg denying attempts by two of the league's top scorers in Pat Grilli and Tyler Deitrick. Boyd stopped all three Indians' attempts, including a gutsy diving poke check on the third attempt.
"He told me before the game, 'Coach, I got this game,'" Houk said of his senior netminder. "Even in the shootout he was, 'I got it coach, I got it.' Sean's been awesome all year. He's really taken the bull by the horns, he's a good leader for us."
Council Rock North coach Eric Tye said after the game that his team has nothing to be ashamed of, and he expects that after the initial disappointment wears off, the players will focus on the fact that they remain tied atop the National Division with their rivals (both are now 7-0-1 overall and still have nary a blemish in the loss column).
"We had a goal to come into this game undefeated, and we did that, and to leave undefeated, and we did that," Tye said. "In the end, we lost a trophy on a shootout. But it's still a tie. And it was one hell of a game."
The two squads jockeyed for an advantage through a back-and-forth first period. Goldberg and Boyd were equal to everything thrown their way and received plenty of help from swarming, aggressive defenses to keep both potent offenses scoreless through the opening 15 minutes.
"We switched our lines around for this one," Tye said. "Our top line of (Scott) Titus, (Brad) Chleboski and (Thomas) Elmer aren't on the same line during the season. But we knew we had to match their best line with our best line."
That plan proved to be successful for the Indians, who held the Hawks' explosive top line of Grilli, Deitrick and Malamud scoreless through regulation.
"Pat Cunningham and Alex Leininger, my two big defensemen, did a lot against South's top line," said Tye, who also credited Titus and Kyle Weitz for their strong performances in the game. "It's not just the three forwards who shut down their top line, the two on defense helped out a lot."
South opened the scoring three minutes, 18 seconds into the second period when Dan Ufberg fired in a rebound after the Hawks intercepted a clearing attempt in the Indians' zone.
North responded with just under six minutes to go in the period when Chleboski converted during a goalmouth scramble. Despite plenty of chances -- both teams took 11 shots in the frame, and the Hawks had a pair of quality scoring chances in the final three minutes -- neither team was able to find the net again in the second period.
The Hawks had a number of solid chances in the third period before finally beating Goldberg with 5:13 left when Jonathan Houk fired in a shot through a screen.
But even trailing late, Tye never doubted his players could knot the score.
"With 3:46 left in the game, Council Rock South took a time out," Tye said. "I looked those guys in the eye and said, 'Can you last 3 minutes and 46 seconds?' They didn't hesitate."
And the Indians responded. Chleboski scored his second of the game from the side of the net with 1:40 to go on a goal set up by the stellar work of Titus behind the net.
With the score knotted at 2-2, the teams headed into the shootout for the sole purpose of determining the winner of the Rock Cup. And with Malamud and Boyd's heroics, it was the home Hawks that emerged victorious.
The two teams will clash again on Jan. 22 in what is expected to be another classic battle between the two rivals.
"We knew this was going to be a good game, and we know we're going to have to play them again," Boyd said. "North played awesome tonight, did a great job matching up the lines. We know this is one of the best teams in our division."
***
There was a time when the William Tennent/Archbishop Wood football game was the most eagerly anticipated matchup among the students and alumni of the neighboring schools.
Now that the two squads no longer meet on the gridiron, the hockey rink seems to be the place to be.
Quite a few disappointed late-arriving spectators had to be turned away from Warminster's Face-Off Circle, which was filled to capacity with rowdy, raucous fans anticipating a battle between the neighborhood rivals.
And that's just what they received, with an evenly played game that saw Wood break a 1-1 tie with less than five minutes remaining in the game and adding an empty net goal to come away with a 3-1 win over the Panthers in the second half of a SHSHL double header on Wednesday night.
Wood opened the scoring on the game's opening shift, and Tennent knotted the score on a goal from Clint Aussprung with 8:20 left in the second period.
Panthers' goalkeeper Eric Horrox stopped 19 of the 21 shots he faced.
"We outshot them, 8-5, in the first period," said Tennent coach Jim Stampler. "And for a good amount of the game, I thought we were taking the game to them.
"The guys are upset about losing the only game against Wood, but this is a young team, and they're focused. I have no doubt they'll bounce back from this."
With the loss, Tennent falls to 0-7-4 overall (0-6-4 league), and is back in action Dec. 4 against North Penn.
- Log in to post comments
0
