By Alex Frazier
Kyle Schwarz didn’t notice his injured calf.
The last time he played against Central Bucks East, the Hatboro-Horsham attackman had to sit out the last part of the game because of a serious calf strain.
His teammates missed him as they saw a 5-5 deadlock turn into an 8-5 loss.
That was back on April 12. Schwarz sat out rehabbing every day with the trainer until last Wednesday when he returned against Central Bucks South.
But the real test came Tuesday in the re-match with C.B. East on the Patriots’ home field.
It was Schwarz’ time to make a difference.
“I knew this game that we had to come up big because last game was a big disappointment,” he said.
With 6:01 left in the fourth quarter, he assisted on Jake Durkin’s goal that knotted the score at five.
After Hatboro-Horsham goalie Dino Vitale made a fantastic point-blank save on East’s Brian Urban with just over two minutes left, Schwarz had a good chance for the game winner with about 10 seconds left, but after charging around the left side of the cage, his shot sailed wide right.
The Hatters recovered the bound and got the ball to Eddie Coombs, who fired the apparent game winner past sophomore East keeper Harrison Holak. But the officials ruled the goal came after the final buzzer.
So the Hatters would have to wait until overtime.
East’s Sean Reilly won the faceoff and the Patriots fired three shots at Vitale, who made the only saves he had to to keep the game tied.
As the final seconds ticked away in the first overtime period, Ryan Kreston picked up the ball behind the East goal and started dodging around to the left.
He saw Schwarz setting up a pick on the crease and played it perfectly losing his defender and winging a shot high inside the left post to set of a bench-clearing 6-5 celebration.
“Our coach (Duncan) Swezey has been teaching us a lot about setting picks so I set the pick for Kreston,” said Schwarz. “We’ve been working at it all the time, and when I set the pick he saw me on the crease and scored. I knew he was able to score because he’s our best shooter.”
“It was good to have him back,” said Kreston. “We needed him this game. He’s one of our top shooters and players on this team.”
The key to the victory, according to Hatboro-Horsham coach Dave Sowers, was execution.
“When we look back at the first game we played them, we just didn’t execute the way we could,” he said.
East coach Bruce Garcia knows the feeling.
“The defense gave up six goals,” he said. “I can’t ask that part of the field to do any more than that. They managed to get through five man-downs. You look on the other side of the field, and we just didn’t put it away when we had to. Offensively we weren’t patient enough and they were.”
But Garcia wasn’t too upset.
“We played a good game,” he said. “You lose in overtime, it’s a loss on paper, but I don’t consider it a loss for the team.”
After Ben Auteri gave the Patriots a 1-0 lead just 50 seconds into the game, Kreston tied the game at one with 3:37 left in the first quarter.
For the Hatters, the game was a bit of déjà-vu. Last year they lost to East on the road and then rallied to win the second game in the rain on their home field.
What started out to be a gorgeous, cloudless day turned ugly right before the half as black storm clouds moved in and the rain began.
The cloudburst continued into the second half, when C.B. East, which trailed 2-1 and hadn’t scored a goal in the second quarter, came out smoking.
In a matter of less than 20 seconds, Matt Brodzik and Brenden Coleman gave East a 3-2 lead. But just as quickly the Hatters’ Gregg Cutilli evened the score at three, just 27 seconds into the second half.
Then Alex Fetterman and Brenden Coleman reeled off two straight to give Patriots a 5-3 lead.
“We came out slow in the second half,” said Kreston. “I was worried we wouldn’t get back in it. (Goalie) Dino (Vitale) and the ‘D’ stepped up and we got a few in and got the momentum back. That was the most energy I saw out of our team this whole year.”
Robert Nagel got one of those back on an assist by Kreston at the 4:32 mark, but the tension would mount into the last period as both teams failed to find the net.
Finally, with 6:01 left in regulation, Schwarz served Jake Durkin the tying goal.
In the remaining time, the defenses stood strong and Holak came up big for East on a save to send the game into overtime.
“A sophomore is still young,” said Garcia, “but he played like a senior.”
Holak’s counterpart also turned in a great game for the Hatters.
Vitale finished with 11 saves, but it was his play on the field as well as in the goal that made a difference. In the fourth quarter, he almost recorded an assist as he weaved all the way upfield and dished the ball to a teammate who unfortunately missed the cage.
“I like to get my feet moving,” said Vitale. “I do what I need to do. If the ball’s out and no one sees it, I’m going to come out and get it.”
“He did awesome,” said Kreston. “Some of those saves he wasn’t even in net and he ran back in. He did it all today for us.”
Vitale was humble about his performance.
“It wasn’t just me,” he said. “My defense gave me some easy shots that made me look good. I’ve never seen this team more together in four years.”
The win creates a tie for first place in the Continental Conference with both teams at 8-1.
“I’m very excited,” said Schwarz. “Our team has been working hard for this win all year round and we came up big this time.”
Although it’s very likely the two teams will share the crown, they still both have three league games remaining so nothing is a lock at this point.
“Hopefully we’ll share the title and win out this season,” said Kreston. “It’s a great feeling right now.”
Hatboro Horsham (11-3, 8-1) 6, Central Bucks East (11-2, 8-1) 5 (OT)
Goals: First quarter—Ben Auteri (CBE), Ryan Kreston (HH); Second quarter—Eddie Combs (HH); Third quarter—Matt Brodzik (CBE), Brenden Coleman (CBE), Greg Cutilli (HH), Alex Fetterman (CBE), Brenden Coleman (CBE), Robert Nagel (HH); Fourth quarter— Jake Durkin (HH); Overtime—Ryan Kreston (HH)
Assists: Ryan Kreston (HH) 2, Kyle Schwarz (HH) 2, Robert Ferrall (CBE)
Saves: Dino Vitale (HH) 11, Harrison Holak (CBE) 5
Faceoffs: Hatboro-Horsham 4, Central Bucks East 9
Penalties: Hatboro-Horsham 2, Central Bucks East 5
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