Archrivals North Penn and LC battled to a 4-4 tie while Pennridge earned an important 5-2 win over neighboring Souderton in a twinbill at Hatfield Ice Arena on Wednesday night. To view action photos of both games, visit the Photo Gallery.
Neighboring Rivals All Knotted Up
HATFIELD – As LC and North Penn lined up for their post-game handshakes, the LC fans who packed the stands began chanting, ‘Overtime. Overtime. Overtime.’ They clearly wanted more of what had been a riveting game from start to finish between the neighboring rivals, and so did the players.
“Overtime and then a shootout would be even more exciting,” LC’s Anthony Valerio said. “It was a lot of fun. There were a lot of fans.”
Valerio – in his first action in several weeks - led the Crusaders with the hat trick while teammate Nick Sette had assists on all four LC goals. Valerio’s third and final goal with assists from teammates Nick Sette and Andrew Hart gave LC a 4-3 lead with 5:21 remaining. It looked as though the Crusaders might escape with the big win, but less than a minute later, North Penn’s Matt Stella – on the left post – scored a power play goal on the rebound of a goalie save (Eric Himmel/Jeremy Snyder assists) to knot the score 4-4.
“It was disappointing,” Valerio said. “It always is, especially in a big game against your rivals, but it was fun. It’s exciting. This was a big game for us.”
The Crusaders held a 35-22 advantage in shots – an advantage they accumulated in the first period when they outshot the Knights 17-6 and took a 1-0 lead, thanks to a Valerio goal (Sette assist).
“We were just trying to spread the ice, trying to go from lane to lane,” LC coach Mark DiDonato said of his team’s strategy. “We thought with the speed of our guys we could do that. We wanted to get it into their zone deep, forecheck and get it to the net, and that’s kind of what we were doing.”
On the other side of the ice, Knight coach Kevin Vaitis was puzzled by his team’s slow start.
“For whatever reason, we just didn’t come out ready to play,” he said. “(LC) came out flying. Their crowd was into it, and they probably fed off the crowd.
“They took it to us in the first period. We were lucky to be down just 1-0 at the end of the first. We kind of took it to them in the second period, but we couldn’t get that one extra goal to give us a little breathing room.”
The Knights came back with a vengeance in the second period, outshooting the Crusaders by a 10-5 mark and connecting on a pair of goals. First it was Dave Campolongo scoring at the 13:22 mark (Caleb Witzaney/Nick Capasso assists), and then Ryan Merk connected (Matt Stella assist) at the 8:23 mark, giving the Knights a 2-1 lead.
“Being the captain of the team, I have to lead the team to victory,” Merk said. “We just told each other – you have to step up and keep working hard. Working to get the puck out of the zone was a big thing we struggled with tonight.
“They just didn’t give up. They skated hard and won the puck battles.”
The Crusaders needed just over a minute to get that goal back, knotting the score at the 7:03 mark when Hart scored (Sette/Valerio assists). The two teams headed into the final period deadlocked 2-2, and that’s when things got real exciting.
Witzaney scored (Christian Ahn assist) to put the Knights on top 3-2 at the 10:09 mark, but LC came roaring back with Valerio scoring with 6:43 remaining (Sette/Ben Mills assist).
“He’s been out for the last couple of weeks, but he’s back healthy, and he looks good,” DiDonato said of Valerio. “I’m glad to have him back in the lineup. He’s a key component for us.”
The Crusaders took a 4-3 lead after another Valerio goal (Sette assist) only to watch the Knights battle back with Stella scoring the equalizer.
“We just couldn’t do it tonight, but a tie is better than a loss,” Merk said. “This is a big game. LC versus North Penn – we’ve been rivals from way back.
“It was great having our fans out and their fans out. We usually don’t have a lot of fans, so it was a lot of fun. I enjoyed playing them.”
“It was an exciting game,” Vaitis said. “They brought it tonight. They were very good, right from the beginning of the game.
“We kept battling. It was truly a battle. We kept working, and it was good to see them come back and get the goal to tie it.”
On the other side of the ice, DiDonato had no complaints about his team’s performance.
“It was a great effort,” he said. “I’ll take a tie with North Penn. They’re a great team, and they played good.”
North Penn 0 2 2-4
Lansdale Catholic 1 1 2-4
First Period Scoring
LC-Anthony Valerio (Nick Sette assist) 2:28
Second Period Scoring
NP-David Campolongo (Caleb Witzaney/Nick Capasso assists) – 13:22
NP-Ryan Merk (Matt Stella assist) – 8:23
Third Period Scoring
NP-Witzaney (Christian Ahn assist) – 10:09
LC-Valerio (Andrew Hart/Stella assist) – 6:43
LC-Valerio (Stella assist) – 5:21
NP-Stella (Eric Himmel/Jeremy Snyder assists) – 4:35
Shot on Goal
North Penn – 22
Lansdale Catholic – 35
Goaltending Stats
Jake Wolff/Cody Matthews (NP) – 31 saves
Ben Mills (LC) – 18 saves
Rams Earn Big Win Over Neighboring Rivals
HATFIELD – It looked as though Pennridge might be in for a long night when Souderton came out on the attack in the opening minutes of Wednesday night’s SHSHL showdown, taking six quick shots to just one for the Rams.
The Indians, however, had nothing to show for their efforts, and when Matthew Brown (Zach Heizenrater assist) scored off a rebound with 4:04 remaining in the opening period, the tide began to turn. By the end of the period, the Rams led 1-0 and also held a 10-9 edge in shots. They led the rest of the way – both on the scoreboard and in shots on goal.
“Our kids played phenomenally, they really did,” Ram coach Larry Wheatley said after his team’s 5-2 win over the Indians. “The kids always start a little flat. They’re a funny group – they’re really quiet. They don’t usually say much of anything to anybody.
“They were pumped for the game. It just took them a little while to start clicking, but once they started clicking, they didn’t let up.”
The Rams led 2-0 after Kyle Henofer (Justin Roberts assist) scored a power play goal after a series of shots in a wild sequence in front of the net.
“As soon as we scored our first goal, I feel like our momentum went up,” Pennridge’s Shane Lyons said. “It helps with the fans too – this is the first time we had this many fans.
“A lot of our physical play started picking up after we went ahead by two.”
The Indians cut the Rams’ lead in half when Brian McMullin scored an unassisted goal at the 9:03 mark of the second period, but the Rams had an answer. Tyler Shagen scored, using the first of three straight assists by Lyons, and the Rams led 4-1 when Heitzenrater scored with 3:35 remaining in the period, also with a Lyons assist.
“A huge part of us scoring goals is slowing the play down and looking for the open man,” Lyons said.
A goal by Souderton’s Rodney Anders (Brannon Evans/Alex Politsky assists) made it a 4-2 game, and the Indians continued to pressure. Ram goalie Dustin Wexler – who had 28 saves – came up with the stop on a point blank shot on a two-on-one, allowing the Rams to maintain their two-goal lead.
“He came up really big in a couple of spots where we needed it too,” Wheatley said of Wexler.
The Rams added an insurance goal when Heitzenrater connected for his second goal of the period (Lyons/Stephen Fite assists) at the 2:07 mark. That lead held up the rest of the way.
“This is huge because Souderton is a big rival,” Lyons said. “We have North Penn next, so hopefully, we can win again.”
“This is a good rivalry,” Wheatley added. “The schools are really close together.
“We have been playing all the (Class) A teams, and Souderton is a AA team like we are. We needed this. We needed this big.”
Pennridge 1 3 1-5
Souderton 0 1 1-2
First Period Scoring
P-Matthew Brown (Zach Heitzenrater assist) – 4:04
Second Period Scoring
P-Kyle Henofer (Justin Roberts assist) – 13:19 (Power Play)
S-Brian McMullin (Unassisted) – 9:03
P-Tyler Shagen (Shane Lyons assist) – 6:15
P-Heitzenrater (Lyons assist) – 3:35
Third Period Scoring
S-Rodney Anders (Brannon Evans/Alex Politsky assists) – 13:03
P-Heitzenrater (Lyons assist) – 2:07
Shot on Goal
Pennridge – 36
Souderton - 30
Goaltending Stats
Dustin Wexler (Pennridge) – 28 saves
Peter Clarke (Souderton) – 31 saves
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