Upper Moreland defeated Archbishop Wood 5-2 and CB South downed NP 7-6 in SHSHL playoff action on Friday.
By Ben Reese
WARMINSTER – Jordin Holmes is proving to be a huge asset for the Upper Moreland ice hockey team.
The freshman, playing in his first Varsity A playoff series, notched a hat trick to lead the Golden Bears to a 5-2 win over Archbishop Wood Friday night at Bucks County Ice.
Holmes scored all three goals on the specialty teams, getting his first in the first period on the power play, and scoring his last two, both in the third period, shorthanded. The second goal proved to be the game-winner.
“He's a big-time player,” said Upper Moreland coach Jim Stampler. “He had two the other night, three tonight.
“He's only a freshman and for a freshman to step up like that … He is a big-time player.”
Holmes, despite his scoring outburst, stayed humble.
“That helps,” he said of his three-goal spurt, “but I wouldn't have had it if it wasn't for the help of teammates like Matt Iehle, Nick Park and Colton Arizini.”
However, the Bears also got a great defensive effort against the normally high-scoring Vikings. While getting outshot 39-20, Upper Moreland allowed Wood only a single goal in the first period and one in the second and blanked the Vikings in the all-important third stanza.
“We did really well playing the 2-3 (defense) that we play,” Holmes said. “We're really physical but I have to give a lot of credit to Jared (Burch) because he's a five-star goalie.”
Stampler knew that his team would need the extra effort on defense against Wood.
“One of the things we've talked about, especially the last couple weeks, was just moving guys from out of the front of the net,” he said, “allowing Burch to see the puck because if he sees it he usually stops it. I thought they did a great job tonight just moving guys out of there.”
The Upper Moreland defense was especially stout in the third period when the Bears were trying to protect their lead. Wood had a five-on-four advantage and then a five-on-three advantage, both late in the period.
In fact, the Vikings even had a six-on-four advantage after pulling their goalie.
The win was a big one for the Upper Moreland program. The Bears came in as the second seed behind the top seeded Vikings.
“It's huge,” Stampler said. “We talked about it before the game, and I told them how important it was to get that first one.
“They came in as the favorite, dropping down from AA last year, and everybody expected them to be the champions this year. Getting the first game puts all the pressure back on them.”
The coach made the importance of the game evident to his players.
“Getting up one game in a three-game series is very important,” Holmes said.“Now we can go into the next game confident and hopefully pull out a win.”
The first period began with Archbishop Wood taking the body at every opportunity. The banging of the boards was almost deafening.
“We knew they were going to be very physical,” Holmes said. “We had to match their intensity and we did a good job of doing it.”
The Vikings got on the scoreboard first. With 5:37 gone in the opening period, Wood put the puck past Burch, but the referee waved off the goal after losing sight of the puck.
But slightly more than two minutes later, at the 7:41 mark, Wood got one that counted. Kevin Neiley scored with an assist from Shane Lydon for the 1-0 lead.
Nearly seven minutes later, Holmes got the equalizer. Working on the power play, he fired the puck past Wood netminder John Capinas with assists going to Matthew Baumgardner and Iehle, and the game was tied 1-1.
In some ways, the second period was a lot like the first. Wood got the first goal to take the lead and much later in the period the Bears came back to tie.
Jonathan Rosica put the Vikings on top again with 3:46 elapsed in the second period with Matt Mandes and Shane Freeman getting the assists. But, at the 13:08 mark, Arizini scored the tying goal off an assist from Jake Park.
The third period belonged to Upper Moreland and Holmes. He notched what proved to be the game-winner with 5:55 gone in the third, stealing the puck and rifling a slap shot past Capinas. The shorthanded goal was unassisted.
Nick Park, with an assist to Iehle, got the insurance goal with 7:47 remaining in the final stanza. Holmes finished it off, scoring shorthanded into an empty net with an assist from Arizini with only 11 seconds left in the game.
The two teams meet again Monday at Bucks County Ice. Game time is 7 p.m. If a third game is necessary, it will be played Tuesday at Bucks County at 7 p.m.
Stampler was excited about the team's win. And he knows his team will be ready Monday.
“We'll have a little chance to let this soak in and feel what it's like,” he said. “I really think it helps having done this last year and having gone through it.
“A lot of these guys know what it's going to take. We'll be ready Monday night.”
Upper Moreland 1 1 3 – 5
Archbishop Wood 1 1 0 – 2
First Period
1. Kevin Neiley AW (Shane Lydon) 7:41; 2. Jordin Holmes UM (Matthew Baumgardner, Matt Iehle) 14:10 PP. Penalties: Matt Mandes AW (high sticking) 8:33; Jonathan Rosica AW (elbowing) 12:12; Jake Park UM (slashing) 12:12; Neiley AW (interference) 13:01; Nick Park UM (slashing) 13:01; Patrick Cavanaugh AW (hooking) 13:31.
Second Period
3. Rosica AW (Mandes, Shane Freeman) 3:46; 4. Colton Arizini UM (J. Park) 13:08. Penalties: Baumgardner UM (tripping) 6:03; Holmes UM (cross checking) 8:56; Joshua Barber UM (roughing) 13:30.
Third Period
5. Holmes UM (unassisted) 5:55 SH; 6. N. Park UM (Iehle) 8:13; 6. Holmes UM (Arizini) 15:49 SH. Penalties: Holmes UM (slashing) 2:03; Baumgardner UM (tripping) 4:45; Ryan Meinke AW (unsportsmanlike conduct; game misconduct) 8:03; Matthew Shilling UM (hooking) 13:25; Iehle UM (tripping) 14:37.
Shots on goal: UM 20; AW 39. Saves: Jared Burch UM 37; John Capinas AW 14.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 7, NORTH PENN 6
The Titans took a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three championship series after Friday’s win over the Knights.
CB South opened up a 4-1 lead at the end of one period and took what appeared to be a commanding 7-4 lead into the final period only to watch the Knights rally to make things interesting.
In a remarkably balanced scoring effort, seven players contributed goals for the Titans with Dominic Bova, Mike Pilla, Jared Conroy, Nick DeLaurentis, Kevin Casey, Connor Bechtel and Brandon Spognardi each contributing single goals. DeLaurentis also had a pair of assists to lead the Titans with a three-point night. Bova and Bechtel each added an assist. Jake Bauer had a pair of assists.
The Knights were led by the four-point performances of Alex Peterson and Matthew Stella. Peterson contributed four goals while Stella had a goal and three assists. Caleb Witzaney added three assists for the Knights, who used a pair of Peterson goals in the third period to make it a one-goal game.
South’s Jeff Peklowski stopped 26 of 32 shots while North Penn’s Jake Wolff collected eight saves on 11 shots and Cody Matthews stopped 28 of 32 shots he faced.
NORTH PENN 1 3 2-6
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 4 3 0-7
Scoring Summary
Period 1
CBS-Nick DeLaurentis (Jimmy Milanesi) 1:56
CBS-Connor Bechtel (Nick DeLaurentis) 4:28
CBS – Dominic Bova (unassisted) 7:11
CBS – Jared Conroy (Dominic Bova) 11:41
NP – Alex Peterson (Matthew Stella) 11:41
Period 2
CBS-Mike Pilla (Connor Bechtel, Nick DeLaurentis) 1:26
NP- Alex Peterson (Matthew Stella) 1:26
CBS – Brandon Spognardi (Jake Bauer) 2:11
CBS – Kevin Casey (Jake Bauer) 7:26
NP – Matthew Stella (Caleb Witzaney) 10:35
NP – Nick Capasso (powerplay) (Ryan Nowicki, Matthew Mette) 16:00
Period 3
NP – Alex Peterson (Caleb Witzaney, Matthew Stella) 10:47
NP – Alex Peterson (Caleb Witzaney) 13:144
Shots
North Penn 6 12 14-32
Central Bucks South12 14 17-43
Goalie Saves
Jake Wolff (NP) 8, Cody Matthews (NP) 28; Jeff Peklowski (CBS) 26.
- Log in to post comments
