By Alex Frazier
District One First Round
Four Suburban One teams will play in the second round of the district playoffs. Hatboro-Horsham, Abington and Pennsbury all won first-round games, while Central Bucks East had a bye into the second round.
(16) Hatboro-Horsham 13, (17) Owen J. Roberts 9
The Hatters broke a 2-2 tie and surged to a six-goal lead only to see the Wildcats cut it to three, but they hung on for the victory, despite being down a man five times in the fourth quarter. On one occasion they fended off a two-man deficit.
The key to the game for the Hatters was ball possession. Joey and Steve Palo combined to win 17 of 23 faceoffs. Steve Palo also scored a goal.
Offensively, Jake Durkin scored five goals and an assist and brother Jimmy chipped in a pair of scores.
Sean Saunders also netted five goals. Trevor Downing was credited with an assist.
In goal, freshman Marc Poust stopped 11 shots.
“It was a really good game,” said Hatboro coach J.P. Banks. “We executed very well.”
(8) Abington 12, (25) Boyertown 4
Abington took control early and never looked back.
With five minutes left in the first quarter, the Ghosts were ahead 6-0.
“Overall it was a great team effort,” said coach Randy McNeill.
Matt Figueroa led the Abington attack with five goals and an assist. Matt and Dan Lomady each pumped in pair goals, while Austin Pisani, Nick Pisko and Brian Gallagher had one tally apiece.
Ryan Ambler contributed four assists.
“The defense played well, making a couple of stops, and we capitalized on our opportunities early to keep momentum on our side,” said McNeill.
(13) Pennsbury 10, (20) Plymouth Whitemarsh 9
Unfortunately, one SOL team had to go home at the expense of another.
“I knew it would be close,” said Pennsbury coach Jamie Huber. “They were two evenly matched teams.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh nearly pulled off the upset. Down 10-7 with 3:15 left to play, the Colonials scored two man-up goals. And with three seconds left, PW goalie Andrew Sabia tossed up a full-court shot that bounced over the head of Pennsbury goalie Drew Sweetland and into the net. Unfortunately for the Colonials, time had expired.
“We played pretty well the first and fourth quarters,” said PW coach Phil Chang, “but in the second and third quarters we struggled with too many turnovers.”
Andrew Cox led the Colonials with four goals, Craig Lowery scored three, Nick Swift had two and Griffin Kelly and Colin Joka scored one each.
Despite the last-second drama, Sweetland (15 saves) was key to the Falcons’ victory.
“He’s been making key saves all year long,” said Huber. “Tonight he came up with one or two that he shouldn’t have.”
One of those was on the Colonials’ ace Colin Joka who tried to get a shot through the five hole in the fourth quarter.
Also Josh Caven came up big in the second half on faceoffs. After losing 9-2 to PW’s Griffin Kelly in the first half, he rallied to win six of nine in the second half.
“Josh is a difference maker,” said Huber.
Defenseman Dan Marr held Joka to just one goal (the first of the game) and an assist on the last goal.
“Game in and game out, he’s holding the top player to a goal or less,” said Huber.
Ricky Jutkiewicz, Luke Matthews, Calvin Hopkins and Ryan McDonald paced the Falcons with two goals each; Josh Caven and Colin Sullivan scored the other two.
PW finished its season at 14-4 overall and 12-0 in the American Conference.
“It was a good season,” said Chang. “No one expected us to win the league title. I told the kids to keep their heads up. They played hard and just came up short.”
(11) Spring-Ford 10, (22) Upper Dublin 9
This was another back and forth game. Upper Dublin led 5-4 at the half, but the Rams came back to lead 8-7 at the end of the third quarter.
“They capitalized on our mistakes,” said UD coach Jon Levine. “We did the best we could.”
Willy Beury led the Cards with five goals and three assists. Andy Lunney and Leighton Young scored two each, and Drew Potts added a single tally.
Levin also lauded the play of the defense.
“The entire defense played a great game,” he said. “If we play again, it could end a different way. They got the bounces.”
The Cardinals finished their season at 12-7 overall and 9-3, tied for second in the American Conference.
Upper Dublin graduates nine seniors, four of whom will continue playing in college.
“We lose a lot of good leaders,” said Levine. “Our young kids have to step up and work hard in the off-season to fill the void.”
(6) Garnet Valley 8, (27) Council Rock North 5
No one really expected the Indians to make a game of it, but they surely did.
“It was definitely a close game,” said coach Joe Kivlen. “I’m happy with the way we played. We turned the ball over too much, but we played hard.”
Rock North took a 1-0 lead to begin the game and later led 3-2, but Garnet Valley tied it at the half 3-3.
Chris Gifford scored a pair of goals for the Indians, while Bryan Fitzpatrick, Connor D’Amelia and Drew Despirto netted one goal apiece.
In goal Mark McDonald stopped 15 shots.
“He did a good job clearing the ball,” said Kivlen. “The whole defense played well. It was a key to the game because their offense was quick and strong.”
Kivlen also lauded the play of sophomore defensive middie Zach Zell.
The Indians finished their season at 10-9 overall and 5-5 in the National Conference.
“We proved we belonged in the playoffs,” said Kivlen. “We were a little inconsistent at times, but we played hard.”
Thursday’s Schedule
(16) Hatboro-Horsham at (1) Conestoga, 7 p.m.
(8) Abington vs. winner (9) Great Valley–(24) Strath Haven
(13) Pennsbury at (4) Downingtown East
(15) Bishop Shanahan at (2) Central Bucks East (at C.B. West, 7 p.m.)
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