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By Nick DeLorenzo
Down just one goal on the power play with under a minute left, Council Rock North looked to use its third period momentum to tie the game up. Pennsbury’s Ken McCormick had other plans.
With North attempting to set up a power-play rush, McCormick, the only Pennsbury player in North’s zone, forced a turnover and beat goalie Blake Hutner to seal the game and give Pennsbury the 3-1 victory.
“Mainly I had to get past the ‘D,’” McCormick said of his unassisted tally – his 49th point of the year, good for seventh in the SOL. “I just tried to make the goalie make a play. Then I tried to make the nicest move I could have.”
The tone of the game was set in a scoreless first period that saw the Indians and Falcons exchanging big hits back and forth, including a huge open-ice hit on McCormick in the game’s opening minutes. Players from both sides were visibly frustrated and testy with one another all night.
McCormick acknowledged there’s a definite intensity when these two teams meet up.“From the first shift [emotions were running high],” McCormick said. “They were coming out hard, throwing a big hit. We came back harder though.”
The game’s first goal came a few minutes into the second period, when Mike Hlatky put the puck in from close range after a rebound. Sean Harlow added another goal later in the period to give the Falcons a 2-0 lead.
North was given plenty of man-advantages to try and cut into the lead, but Pennsbury’s special teams unit held the scoring chances to a minimum all night.
“We got a little sloppy there at the end and took some undisciplined penalties,” Falcon coach John Bria said. “[But killing penalties has] been our strength all year.”
North cut the deficit to 2-1 after a goal by A.J. Garboski with four minutes to go in the game, but Pennsbury was able to hold on to improve its record to 17-3-1.
Though the game didn’t mean much in terms of the standings, Bria doesn’t under estimate the importance of the win in terms of his team’s confidence.
“It’s not going to change anybody’s standings or seeding, but we played pretty well,” the Falcons’ coach said. “Hopefully what we saw tonight is a preview [of how we play in the playoffs].”
McCormick too is confident in his team’s abilities come playoff time.
“It gives us the momentum going into the playoffs,” he said. “[North] got us earlier in the year (4-1). We got a little bit of revenge. This is big for us.”
The loss was only the second of the season for the Indians, who lead the SOL National with 19 wins and 39 points going into the playoffs, which will begin next Tuesday.For Pennsbury, goalie Corey Chapin stopped 24 of 25 shots, including a great save on a short-handed break-away attempt early on in the first period to keep the score 0-0.
The Falcons were missing two of their top defenders – Erik Rinehold, who did not play due to an illness, and Alex Dobzanski, who was injured during the game. The absence of those two players made Pennsbury’s defensive effort against one of the highest scoring teams in the league all the more impressive.
“The other guys really stepped up and [Chapin] played strong,” McCormick said.
“Hopefully they’re going to be healthy by next week,” Bria add. “You’ve got to play hurt this time of year. That’s just the way it is.”
Based on the emotional play on the ice and records that will award each team a high seed in the in the playoff bracket, it is clear that players on both sides would love another crack at each other come playoff time.
However, Bria wants to keep his team in check and have them focus on their first round match-up at home next Tuesday.
“I don’t want to look [too far] ahead,” Bria said. “We still got to play someone else prior to that. I’ve learned a lot of times – don’t look ahead – it’s hurt us too many times in the past.”
PENNSBURY 3, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 1
Pennsbury: 0 2 1-3
Council Rock North: 0 0 1-1
1st Period: None
2nd Period: Mike Hlatky (Pennsbury) from Matt Topley 2:29; Sean Harlow (Pennsbury) from Andrew Patterson 11:09
3rd Period: AJ Garboski (CR-N) from Scott Titus 10:48; Ken McCormick (Pennsbury) 14:13
Shots
Pennsbury: 10 12 7 29
Council Rock North: 7 9 9 25
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