North Penn defeated Erie Cathedral Prep to win the coveted PA Cup on Saturday at Robert Morris University. (Photos provided by North Penn Ice Hockey/Eric Tye)
By GORDON GLANTZ
It was worth the trip.
Fresh off winning the first Flyers Cup title in the history of the North Penn ice hockey program, the Knights trekked five hours across the Keystone state to the campus of Robert Morris University to secure a 4-1 win over Erie Cathedral Prep for their first state title in Saturday’s PA Cup AA contest.
As was the case in the Flyers Cup final against SHSHL rival Council Rock South and in the semifinals against Downingtown East, the Knights rallied from behind.
While the win in the Flyers Cup semis was more of a seesaw battle that saw coach Kevin Vaitis’ squad score the
last two goals in a 4-3 win, the Knights surprised everyone but themselves by posting an 8-2 triumph over Council Rock South.
The head-turner came by virtue of five unanswered goals in the third period to earn a spot against a storied ECP program that was looking for its fourth state crown.
After falling behind, 3-2, to Downingtown East, the Knights ended their storybook season with 11 unanswered goals in the third period in their final three games combined.
“In games like this, the other team is not going to give it to you,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “You have to go out there and take it. We did that the other night, and it was really the same message tonight.”
The scoreboard showed all zeroes until ECP standout Tucker Kinnear tallied a goal 5:19 into a middle frame that saw the Knights outshoot the Ramblers, 15-12, and have a goal by Derek Lugura disallowed because of one of the several times that the net was dislodged off its moorings.
“We were down, 1-0, going into the third, but we were playing a good game,” said Vaitis, whose team is losing just three seniors. “I basically told them, ‘Don’t panic. Stick to the plan. If we play a five-man game out there on the ice, we are going to win this hockey game.’ Sure enough, that’s what we did.”
The third period belonged to the Knights, who came out with fresh legs and knotted the game up, 1-1, on a power play goal by Sam Norton 2:49 into the frame after Danial Cabrales broke up an attempt at a shorthanded goal by the Ramblers.
“That first one by Sam was huge,” said Vaitis. “We were playing well. We were getting chances. We had one there in the second that got called off because the net was off, which was unfortunate. We needed that one to get us back even and give us that little boost of confidence.”
The deadlock was permanently ended on the man advantage when James Boyle sent a perfectly placed wrist shot through a screen on a power play, with assists going to Sam Norton and Cole Pluck with 4:17 to play.
“It wasn’t the hardest shot,” said Boyle. “I kind of got a screen in front of the goalie and hit the corner. I just kind of snuck it through there.
“We knew, at that point, that we had a serious chance to finish the game out.”
After not scoring on the power play in the first two periods, the two power play goals in the final period were part of some strategic changes.
“We had some power play chances earlier in the game,” said Vaitis. “Give credit to their PK (penalty kill). Their PK did a good job of pressuring us. We made a little bit of an adjustment in the third, and got a little bit more traffic there in front of the net. It opened things up for guys like Danny, James and Nolan (Shingle).”
With the state championship going down as the first for the Knights, Boyle will be remembered for scoring the historic goal that ended up being the game-winner.
“It’s just a great feeling,” said the junior rearguard. “It’s probably the biggest goal I’ve ever scored, so it’s just a great feeling overall.
“The power play has been huge for us, especially in the playoffs. We work on it a lot at every practice, so it’s nice to see it pay off and click in the games.”
A mere 29 seconds later, Cabrales scored at even strength to provide a 3-1 lead and cap a strong individual two-way effort for the game.
“I think he saw the defenseman he was going against and said, ‘I can beat this guy, one on one,’ and that’s what he did,” said Vaitis. “He is just such a smart hockey player.”
Added Boyle: “After we got that third one, we knew we had it. We just had to finish it out.”
With 43 ticks showing, Nolan Shingle finished off the scoring with an empty-netter.
The winning goalie, freshman Andy Norton, was stellar, stopping 26 of 27 shots.
Meanwhile, the defense in front of him cleared the front porch all night and pounced on rebounds to limit second chances, particularly as the game wore on.
“We focus on doing that all year,” said Cabrales. “We just like to keep it simple. That’s what we’re good at.”
The Ramblers had an overall size advantage, and tried to use it early – sending Declan Leahy out of the game while Declan Willison stepped up and into his spot on the second line – but the Knights were not intimidated.
“I think the boys did a great job,” said Vaitis. “We knew they were going to come out and play physical. We knew that was their style of play. They like to put the puck deep, and look to be physical on our defense and on our wingers along the wall.
“They had a big hit on Declan Leahy in the beginning of the game, but I like how our boys responded. In the third period, we really turned it up a level.”
Whether it is conditioning or depth or a will to win, the success against top-shelf opponents did not occur by happenstance.
“That’s something we have been stressing,” said Boyle. “Coming out hard in third period and playing a full game.”
North Penn 0-0-4
Erie Cathedral Prep 0-1-0 1
Shots: NP-36, Cathedral Prep -27; Saves: Andy Norton (NP) 26, Ian Brown (ECP) 32.
First period: No score
Second period: 1. Tucker Kinnear ECP (Ethan Cunningham/Chris Bruschi) 5:19.
Third period: 2. Samuel Norton NP, 2:49; 3. James Boyle NP (Samuel Norton/Cole Pluck) 13:24; 4. Danial Cabrales NP, 13:43; 5. Nolan Shingle NP, 16:17
Extra Shots
(By Mary Jane Souder)
Heavy hitters: Every successful team has its share of players who don’t live in the spotlight but play key roles in the success of their team. Chase Kelly Del Ricci and Chris Silvotti, according to their coach, fall into that category.
Del Ricci is one of the team’s captains.
“He’s not one of the guys that are mentioned often for some of the goals and assists that they score,” Vaitis said. “If you go back to the Rock South game on Wednesday that we won (8-2) to get to this point. It was 3-2 going into the third period, and Chase had some big hits defensively that kind of changed the momentum for us on Wednesday night and helped seal that win.
“He brought that again tonight, and he had some real big plays against their top line in the third period. That allowed us to not only get back in the game but then take the lead as well.”
Silvotti is another important contributor.
“Sam, Nolan and Cole play together (on the line), and they score a number of goals,” Vaitis said. “You need to have multiple guys chipping in. Chris Silvotti kind of leads the way for our second line with Derek Lugara and Declan Leahy (who was replaced by Declan Willison after leaving the game early with an injury).
“He’s out there against other team’s top guys at times and just plays really sound defensively in our zone. Whenever we need a big hit, he’s a player – like chase - you can count on to bring that.”
The Knights, according to Silvotti, never lost confidence even after trailing for a good part of the game.
“We just said we had to pick it up and had to move the puck more because they were being really aggressive,” Del Ricci said. “We had to move the puck and put the puck on net.
“(ECP’s goalie) took up a lot of the net, but he let a lot of the space open. Once we got the first goal, we knew there would be more to come.”
Knights' version of Brother Act: Siblings Sam and Andy Norton are a sophomore and freshman, respectively, but their value to the North Penn ice hockey team cannot be overstated.
Sam Norton received the Bobby Clarke Award for the most valuable player in the Flyers Cup Tournament. In Saturday’s state title game, he scored the tying goal that ignited a dazzling 4-0 run to close out the game.
“Sam is extremely talented,” Vaitis said. “You could see it in his eyes a little bit tonight where he just wanted it.”
While Sam is a catalyst on attack, his younger sibling is a rock between the pipes. In Saturday’s win, he turned away 26 of 27 shots in a stellar outing.
“Andy’s another one where he lives for these moments, these big games,” Vaitis said. “He gave up a goal in the first minute in the Flyers Cup final and really settled down against a very strong Council Rock South team.
“Today, the same thing. It was 0-0 after one. He gave up a goal in the second period but really shut them down the rest of the way. You could see it in his eyes – he was so locked in.”
Andy excelled against a veteran ECP squad.
“I was very nervous going into this game,” he said. We didn’t know what to expect from this team. Most of their guys definitely towered over our guys, but knowing our team in the Flyers Cup and mostly all season - we played a very physical game, so I wasn’t too worried about that”
Even after the Knights fell behind, Andy remained confident.
“I was just worried about not letting up another one and just giving our team a chance,” he said. “I knew our team wasn’t going to get shut out.
“I was a bit nervous that we didn’t score one at the end of the second, but I had faith in our team. I just had to keep doing what I was doing, focus on my game.”
For the two brothers, this year has been a rare opportunity to play on the same team. They also played together in middle school, their only other chance to share the ice before joining forces for their high school team.
“We knew we had a big task coming into this game against a team like that with a lot of seniors and a lot of older kids,” Sam said. “We were definitely confident. We knew we were going to be able to win that game.”
Sam – always quick to credit his teammates – has faith in his younger brother.
“When he’s in net, I know he’s going to make some big saves to keep us in big games,” said Sam. “I’m definitely confident in him, I know what he can do, I know he’s a very good goaltender.”
Coming as no surprise, Andy has that same high level of trust in his brother.
“I have a lot of confidence in him - that whole line just being able to put it in the goal almost whenever they want,” Andy said. “It’s kind of hard to describe what it’s like playing with him. Since he’s such a good player, it’s like playing with any good player. I always have faith in him.’”
High expectations from the start for Knights: While the young Knights surprised some with their magical postseason run to the state title, the coaches and players were not in that number.
“It’s just great to see us get to this point,” Vaitis said. “It was one of those things – as coaches, we told these kids back in September that we had the team that was capable of doing something like this, and we knew it. But the big thing was – would we be able to put it all together? As the season progressed, they started to believe in themselves and see it themselves.”
Vaitis has been involved in the organization for over 25 years – 23 of them coaching. He has coached the varsity team for the last 16 years.
“Obviously, once we got in the Flyers Cup – this was the goal, this is what we wanted to get to,” the veteran coach said. “This is huge.”
The players, it turns out, shared their coach’s confidence.
“From the start, I knew that we had a special group and that we were going to be able to achieve some goals – like the Flyers Cup for the first time and states,” Sam Norton said. “It was always something from the start – we knew we had a good team, and we were going to go far.”
A trademark of the North Penn ice hockey team, according to Sam Norton, is playing with a lot of energy.
“For the first period today, we didn’t come out with a lot of energy, and that’s when they were beating us to the puck,” he said. “During the second, we really turned up the energy, and when we got to the third, every shift we had a lot of energy. We were buzzing, and that led to the first goal and that led to the second, then the third, then the fourth.”
Another key to the Knights’ success, according to their junior captain, is teamwork.
“Just knowing that we can support each other and play as a team really helps us,” Del Ricci said. “We clearly showed it in tonight’s game and the Flyers Cup games.”
“We were nervous– it’s the biggest game most of us have ever played in, but this feels amazing. This is awesome.”
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