North Penn advanced to the Flyers Cup final with a 4-3 come-from-behind win over Downingtown East at Hatfield Ice. Photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko. Check back for a gallery of photos. (Celebration photos provided courtesy of Chris Gehlert)
Flyers Cup AA semifinal
#2 NORTH PENN 4, #3 DOWNINGTOWN EAST 3
‘Just put it on net.’
That was Nolan Shingle’s singular thought when – with the puck on his stick for a split second and time winding down - he found the back of the net, breaking a 3-3 tie with a goal that turned out to be the game-winner in Thursday’s Flyers Cup semifinal at Hatfield Ice.
“We had the momentum of just coming off the tying goal after a pretty disappointing third period,” Shingle said. “I kind of poked it at the blue line. I saw it was Sam (Norton), and it was a 2-on-0, but when he passed it over, I was on my backhand, and I couldn’t finish it.
“So, I just thought to myself ‘Just put it on net.’ I tried bouncing it off the goalie and put it in. When I saw it go in, I breathed a sigh of relief.”
So did his teammates and the North Penn faithful who had watched the Knights take a 2-0 lead into the third period only to watch the Cougars reel off three straight goals to go on top 3-2 when Ryan Nichols scored with 4:36 remaining in regulation.
That’s when Shingle went to work, scoring the equalizer 53 seconds later with assists from Danial Cabrales and Landon Hostetter.
“I tried to give us a little push there,” Cabrales said. “I saw Nolan (Shingle) in front of the net. I gave it to him, and he put it in the net.”
That set the stage for Shingle’s third goal, the game-winner.
“In games like this, you just gotta crash the net as hard as you can,” Shingle said. “You can’t just take a shot then loop around. You’ve got to keep going until the whistle’s blown. It’s just good to see them fall in.”
In truth, it looked as though Downingtown East had all the momentum after trimming the Knights’ 2-0 lead in half with a goal by Nichols just over four minutes into the final period. That score stood until Anderson Frain connected on the tying goal, setting the stage for a dramatic final seven minutes.
“Going up 2-0 especially going after an ice cut (between the second and third periods)– last year’s Flyers Cup we were winning 1-0, there was an ice cut, and we just got absolutely demolished,” Shingle said of a 6-2 loss to Haverford in the Flyers Cup opening round. “An ice cut’s always bad when you’ve got momentum.
“When we went down 3-2, we kind of had to reset and think about how we were going to win this game – the game’s not over, and we can still win it.”
Cabrales added, “We told each other – stay resilient, don’t worry about what happened, just keep going. We can always come back. We’ve done it before this year, so we can do it again.
“This feels really good. In the playoffs against CB South, we blew a lead just like this, so we didn’t want to do that again. We learned from experience.”
Were there doubts?
‘There’s always doubts seeing three goals straight going in, but you just look at the clock – see how much time
you have left, see how much you can do with it,” Shingle said. “We knew we had to make something happen. I’m just glad we did.”
From the outset, it was an evenly matched game, but it was Cole Pluck putting the Knights on the board with a power play goal late in the opening period, using assists from James Boyle and Shingle.
Shingle – who had a hand in all four goals – scored his first goal eight minutes into the second period, using a Boyle assist to spot the Knights a 2-0 lead, but the game was far from over.
“Downingtown East is a great hockey team,” North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis said. “Hats off to them. They’re well coached, a lot of talent on that team.
“Going into the third up 2-0 – we knew it probably wasn’t going to end 2-0. I didn’t necessarily want to get down 3-2, but I’m proud of the boys. They continued to work, continued to battle, and we got two goals at the end to win it.”
The Knights’ coach acknowledged Shingle’s standout effort.
“Shingle – he’s great,” Vaitis said. “I actually think he makes that line click with him, Sam (Norton), and Cole (Pluck). He’s very unselfish, moves the puck well. He has a great hockey IQ – always in the right spot, and I
think that was the key tonight.
“He was there and had that third goal on the high slot, puck came free to him, and he buried it, and then he was able to get the rebound after Sam tucked it. Nolan was awesome.”
Shingle’s unselfish approach was underscored by his response when asked about his four-point game.
“I feel like any of us on this team could step up and make those plays,” Shingle said. “Tonight, I decided to, but Sam’s a really good player, Cole, Boyle – any of them can do this. I feel like when all of us are working as a team together, I don’t think there’s a team that can beat us.”
For a young Knights’ squad that suffered an early exit from the Flyers Cup last year, it’s been a remarkable run through the playoffs.
“We knew we had a chance going in, especially how last year was so disappointing,” Shingle said. “We made Flyers Cup, up 1-0 missing half our team and we lost.
“This year we kind of knew we could make some noise. I think we’ve done a lot more than people might have expected, but I feel like everyone on this team knows what we’re capable of, and we set these expectations, and it’s nice to see them come together.”
“We have a lot of skill,” Cabrales said. “We’ve been trying to play a little more physical because a lot of the teams try to push around, so we’ve got to fight back, but I think our skill gets us a lot.”
Not to be overlooked was the 26-save effort of goalie Andy Norton, who took a shutout into the final period.
With the win, North Penn will face SHSHL rival Council Rock South in Wednesday’s title game at Hatfield Ice (8:45 pm).
“This is huge,” Vaitis said. “We had a rough go a couple years ago, but I’m proud of the boys. We all kept working. We knew someday we’d get back to this point.
“We have a young team. I said to them before the game – ‘We’re not happy just getting here.’ We know we have one more game to go in the Flyers Cup. We have to focus on that and take care of that.
“We know it’s Council Rock South. We’ve played them twice. We beat them once and they beat us once, so we know we’re going to have to bring our best game.”
Downingtown East 0-0-3 3
North Penn 1-1-2 4
Shots: DE 29, NP 31; Saves: Andy Norton (NP) 26, Lucas Fleuty (DE) 27.
First period: 1. Cole Pluck NP (James Boyle/Nolan Shingle) 5:11.
Second period: 2. Nolan Shingle NP (James Boyle) 9:12.
Third period: 3. Ryan Nichols DE (Chase McKeown/Aydan Nichols) 12:41; 4. Anderson Frain DE (Christian McCuch/Brody Matthews) 6:44; 5. Ryan Nichols DE, 4:36; 6. Nolan Shingle NP (Danial Cabrales/Landon Hostetter) 3:43; 7. Nolan Shingle NP (Samuel Norton) 2:15.
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