Council Rock South edged North Penn 5-4 in a battle of two of the SOL’s top ice hockey squads.
North Penn ice hockey coach Kevin Vaitis firmly believes that his team can play with -- and defeat -- any opponent so long as the Knights stick to their game plan and play error-free hockey.
In Friday night's SHSHL game against Council Rock South, the Knights did just that early on, and as a result, jumped out to a 2-0 lead. But mistakes began to add up, and against a team like the Golden Hawks, that often proves to be costly.
The Hawks scored three goals in the second period and added two in the third to pull ahead and edge the Knights 5-4 in a highly entertaining battle at Bucks County Ice Sports Center.
"I told the guys, if we play our style of play and execute our game plan, there's not a team that can beat us," Vaitis said. "When we make mistakes like that, this is what happens.
"The first period and the first five minutes of the second period were exactly what we wanted. We were playing well, intensity was high, we got out to the two-goal lead."
North Penn defenseman Caleb Witzaney put the Knights on the board late in a first period that saw both teams' defenses break up numerous rushes and quickly clear shots out of the defensive end. Witzaney took a lead pass from Matt Barkley off a steal, split the Hawks' defense and beat South goalkeeper Justin Houk high to the stick side. Less than a minute into the second period, Witzaney scored on a nearly identical play, taking the pass from Richard Feher, splitting the defense and shoveling the puck into the bottom corner.
"We come into this one, you'd think they'd be more fired up than they were," said South coach Joe Houk, whose team was coming off its first loss of the season a week earlier. "We came out flat, and honestly it's been that way all year. But we hit the second period and picked it up."
"We definitely wanted to come out stronger and we just didn't get enough shots on net," said Hawks sophomore forward Nick Keck. "We weren't really controlling the puck, and North Penn was doing a great job in their zone."
The Hawks finally got on the board less than a minute later when Kyle Walter scored from the side of the net. Two-and-a-half minutes later, Keck centered a pass from behind the net, and Walter fluttered an off-balance backhander that found its way into the cage to knot the score at 2-2.
The Hawks had a chance to take a lead on a North Penn holding penalty a few minutes later, but it turned out to be the Knights who capitalized when Ted Stoler corralled a South giveaway and buried the puck in the net for a 3-2 lead with 7:36 left in the second.
But the Hawks began to pick up the physical play in the second period, punishing the Knights with hard forechecks along the boards. As the second period wore on, that physical style started to take its toll.
"Coach was telling us to use the body more," Keck said. "North Penn is big and physical and we had to use that to get control of the puck and get it in the net."
"They definitely came out hitting a little bit," Vaitis said. "They threw us off our game a little bit. But this is ice hockey -- it's a physical game and we have to be able to learn to be able to play that style as well."
The Hawks tied the score at three with 1:41 left in the second period when the rebound of a Mitchell Vaysman shot came out to Jevon Fillette, who fired the puck into a yawning net.
The Hawks took their first lead of the game when senior defenseman Dan Ufberg carried the puck from his own end and blasted a slap shot from just inside the blue line that got past Knights' keeper Cody Matthews.
"I'll do that a lot," Ufberg said. "I just try to get it on the net and hope he gives up rebounds. But I'll take the goal. I'm definitely happy about that."
Trailing for the first time, the Knights responded, and evened the score at 4-4 three minutes later on a Doug Barber rebound of a Stoler shot at the side of the net.
North Penn threatened to take back the lead late when Ryan Merk was ridden off the puck on an odd-man rush and Matt Stella gathered the loose disk and fired it on Houk, who made a strong save. On the ensuing rush, the puck ended up behind the North Penn net, where Keck centered it to Walter, whose shot was denied, but Steve Junod was there to poke in the rebound with 2:35 remaining and pick up his team-leading 11th goal and 26th point.
"I came down and the puck was in the corner -- I saw it wrapping around, so I came and pressured," Keck said of the game-winning goal. "I got it on my backhand and threw it in front of the net. Kyle and Steve were in front. They're good at finishing, so I threw the puck to them and they got it into the net."
Though they didn’t play their best hockey for the full 45 minutes, the victory still put the Hawks back on the winning track.
"We played well today … well, we definitely didn't play our best game in the first period," Ufberg said. "But we came back, started scoring some goals and found a way to win."
"We persevered," coach Houk said. "They started getting tired and I thought by the third period we had better legs than them. We got a lot of shots and we made them count. A win's a win. Good teams find a way to win and that’s what we did tonight."
The Knights (6-1-3 Continental, 7-1-5 overall) now find themselves in exactly the same situation that Council Rock South (9-1-1 National, 10-1-1 overall) faced last week -- recovering from their first loss of the season.
They'll have plenty of time to think about the loss, as the Knights don't plan another game until Jan. 6.
"The wheels kind of fell off a little bit for us tonight," Vaitis said. "We were scrambling a little and making tons of mistakes, and against a team like this, you can't make mistakes like that because they capitalize on them.
"We've got a lot of games left, but let's look to learn from this and hopefully it gives a little extra incentive. We're off until the new year. I want the kids to get (the loss) off their minds for now, but we've got Souderton right after the break, so hopefully they come back focused and let's fix the mistakes that we're making."
NOTES
Despite the nine goals surrendered, both goalies came up with numerous superb saves throughout the game. Matthews came up big in the opening moments of the game when he stoned Vinny Primavera on a breakaway. He made a terrific stop on a long shot that was deflected right in front of him late in the second period and denied Keck on a rush early in the third. On the other side of the rink, Houk was outstanding in the third period. He came up with a pair of huge saves during a third-period penalty kill in which one of the South players lost his stick, and made several stops in the final 1:09 -- including denying two shots from Witzaney in the final 10 seconds -- while North Penn had a six-on-four opportunity with a power play and the goalie pulled for an extra attacker.
North Penn 1 2 1 - 4
Council Rock South 0 3 2 - 5
First Period Scoring:
NP - Caleb Witzaney (Matt Barkley assist) 2:03.
Second Period Scoring:
NP - Witzaney (Richard Feher assist), 14:22.
CRS - Kyle Walter (Thomas Kopania, Mitchell Vaysman assist), PP, 13:30.
CRS - Walter (Nick Keck assist), 11:00
NP - Ted Stoler (unassisted), 7:36.
CRS - Jevon Fillette (Vaysman assist), 1:41.
Third Period Scoring:
CRS - Dan Ufberg (unassisted), 13:20.
NP - Doug Barber (Stoler, Ryan Merk assist), 8:11.
CRS - Steve Junod (Walter, Keck assist) 2:35.
Shots On Goal:
North Penn 5 7 12 - 24
Council Rock South 4 10 17 - 31
Goaltenders:
NP - Cody Matthews 26 saves
CRS - Justin Houk 20 saves
- Log in to post comments
