Defense Propels Indians to Semifinals

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WARMINSTER - Council Rock North coach Eric Tye has repeatedly called his goaltender, Jessie Goldberg, the best around. Every time the senior keeper steps between the pipes, all he does is proves his coach right.
 
Goldberg turned aside all 27 shots he faced against seventh-seeded Avon Grove as the second-seeded Indians secured a 3-0 victory in Friday's Flyers Cup Class AA quarterfinal matchup at Face-Off Circle.
 
"(Goldberg's) stats speak for him at this point," Tye said following the win.
 
Goldberg had a fairly easy night, though. Most of the Red Devils' shots came on the power play, as North dominated the defensive battle while the teams were at even strength. The Indians' defense and forwards did a stellar job of giving Goldberg plenty of looks at oncoming shots and allowed for few second chances.
 
"Just because there's a zero up there (on the scoreboard) and Jessie makes the saves, it's a team effort," Tye said. "He's got to make some saves ... but the defense is keeping the guys to the outside and the forwards are covering the point men. If he sees it, he's going to stop it."
 
Goldberg was quick to share the goose-egg with his defense.
 
"It was as much them as it was me," he said. "They cleared everybody in front. The other team didn't really have any rebound opportunities."
 
And the defense methodically clamped down on the Red Devils, who had used a third period rally to defeat Central Bucks East and earn a spot in the quarterfinals.
 
"We talked about it before the game, we knew we had to keep a couple guys in check, and we did just that tonight," said senior defenseman Pat Cunningham.
 
Tim Kroh put the Indians on the board eight minutes into the game when he poked in a rebound on a goalmouth scramble that was set up by Kyle Weitz intercepting a clearance pass at the blue line. Scott Titus also picked up an assist on the goal.
 
Despite outshooting Avon Grove 15-4 in the second period and controlling the tempo of the game, Rock North headed into the final stanza still holding the slimmest of leads. But Weitz gave the Indians some breathing room four minutes into the final period on a stellar solo effort around one defenseman and the goalie, ripping a shot into the top shelf on the goalie's glove side to make the score 2-0. Tom Elmer would add an empty net goal with 29 ticks left on the clock to ice the Red Devils.
 
With the victory, Council Rock North moves on to a semifinal matchup against third seed Downingtown East, which pulled out a 4-3 overtime win over Ridley in its quarterfinal game. The two teams have a little bit of history, as East knocked the Indians out of the Flyers Cup in the first round last season
.
"We've been hearing all year how good Downingtown East is," Goldberg said. "They knocked us out of the Flyers Cup last year, we know how good they are, so we've got to play well."
 
Avon Grove    0          0          0--0
Council Rock North    1          0          2--3
 
1st Period
Scoring
CRN - Tim Kroh (Scott Titus, Kyle Weitz) 7:06
 
Penalties
CRN - Alex Lenninger, holding minor, 11:44
 
2nd Period
Scoring
None
 
Penalties
CRN - Kroh, high sticking minor, 10:58
CRN - Mark McDonald, minor, 10:00
CRN - McDonald, interference minor, 4:26
 
3rd Period
Scoring
CRN - Weitz (A.J. Garboski, Pat Cunningham) 11:01
CRN - Tom Elmer (unassisted), empty net, :29
 
Penalties
CRN - Kroh, roughing minor, 7:57
 
Goalies
AG - Kevin Propst, 38 shots, 36 saves, 2 goals allowed (one empty net goal)
CRN - Jessie Goldberg, 27 shots, 27 saves, 0 goals allowed
 
 

 

 

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