Ben Reese recaps all the action in Central Bucks South 6-5 overtime win over North Penn. CB East defeated CB West 6-2, and Neshaminy downed Pennsbury 5-3. Goalie Jacob Winton was perfect in Pennridge’s 7-0 win over Souderton on SHSHL Rivalry Night. Hatfield Rivalry Night photos courtesy of Tracy Valko. Neshaminy/Pennsbury photos courtesy of Trish Sexton. Check back for galleries of all four games that will also include photos by Michael Rice Photography.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 6, NORTH PENN 5 (OT)
By Ben Reese
HATFIELD — Joey Slobodrian was in the right place at the right time on Wednesday night at Hatfield Ice Arena.
The Central Bucks South junior scored the winning goal in a 6-5 overtime victory for the Titans over North Penn. The win meant that the Titans keep the County Line Trophy for another year.
Slobodrian got that goal with 2:33 elapsed in the five-minute overtime period off a pass from teammate Sean Cutter. It was Slobodrian’s second goal of the night.
What happened on that play, Joey?
“My coach (Shaun McGinty) said to do this play where we pass (the puck) through the guy’s legs,” Slobodrian said. “He (Cutter) passed it to me back door.
“Basically, I was just looking at the puck and chipped it, and it went through the five hole (between North Penn goalie Andrew Norton’s legs). It just went in.”
And bedlam ensued.
The Titan bench erupted and rushed onto the ice, mobbing Slobodrian and Cutter.
It was the culmination of a strong comeback by CB South. After the first nine minutes of the first period, the Titans were trailing 2-0 as North Penn came out strong. A Cutter goal at the 13:05 mark got South its first tally on the scoreboard.
But the Knights came out in the second period and increased their lead. Nolan Shingle scored at the 4:20 mark for a 3-1 lead.
However, then things started to go wrong for the Knights and right for the Titans.
Two South goals, including one by Slobodrian, within one minute and 17 seconds tied the game going into the third period.
A quick goal by Dominic Gibson gave the Titans a brief lead. However, North Penn scored the next two goals to put the Knights back on top as Cole Pluck (at 7:27) and Sam Norton (9:11) beat South goalie Nathan Napolitano.
Fourteen seconds later, the game was tied again. Ryan Frey flipped a puck past Andrew Norton for the deadlock, forcing a five-minute overtime.
That set the stage for Slobodrian. With 2:33 gone in the OT, he ended it.
“I thought we had a little bit of a slow start in the first period, not playing physical,” said McGinty. “Once that period is over, we have to reset and really go.
“We had a couple shifts there where we really hemmed them in which was good. The boys battled back and that’s what we need.”
What about the efforts of Slobodrian?
“Slobo is a very good hockey player,” McGinty said. “He’s all heart. He wears his heart on his sleeve.
“He’s the kind of kid, if I can get him more shifts, getting him out there, more opportunities to really impress his will on players and force the offensive pressure, it’s huge. He plays big. Having him is a great asset to the team.”
The momentum of the game shifted in the second period. That happened when the Titans came back to score twice late in the stanza and tie the game.
“I got the boys going on the bench,” Slobodrian said. “We got the confidence up with some big hits and we got the momentum back and won the game.”
That momentum carried over into the third period and ultimately into the overtime. That is where South put the game away.
But what happened to the Knights in that third period expressly?
“We kind of ran out of gas there a little in the third,” said NP coach Kevin Vaitis. “We got a couple guys banged up and we had a short bench. CB South kept on pressuring in the third period.
“Unfortunately, we had a couple mistakes, and you give that to a good team, they’re going to capitalize on it.
“In the first period, we played a great hockey game. For the first half of the first period, I thought we played great.
“They’re a good team and well coached and they kind of hit another gear there. They did a nice job kind of picking up their intensity and taking it to us for a period.”
This game was the continuation of a Thanksgiving eve game for both teams. It was pretty much why the County Line Trophy was created.
“The Thanksgiving eve thing is awesome,” McGinty said. “We started it for the kids. Coming out on top is great.”
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
CB South 6, North Penn 5 (OT)
CB South 1-2-2-1 6
North Penn 2-1-2-0 5
First period: 1, Luke Haftel NP (James Boyle) 5:39; 2, Cole Pluck NP (Sam Norton, Nolan Shingle) 8:58; 3, Sean Cutter CBS (Joey Slobodrian, Jake Stepp) 13:05.
Second period: 4, Shingle NP (S. Norton) 4:20; 5, Slobodrian CBS (Keith Waldron) 14:40; 6, Stepp CBS (Jeffrey Kvecher) 15:57.
Third period: 7, Dominic Gibson CBS (Logan Hood, Alexander Cannon) 6:15; 8, Pluck NP (S. Norton, Boyle) 7:27; 9, S. Norton NP (unassisted) 9:11; 10, Ryan Frey CBS (Slobodrian) 9:25.
Overtime: 11, Slobodrian CBS (Cutter) 2:33.
Shots: CBS 43, NP 26. Saves: Nathan Napolitano (CBS) 21, Andrew Norton (NP) 37.
PENNRIDGE 7, SOUDERTON 0
The SHSHL season is young, but one fact is becoming abundantly clear – the Rams, anchored by veteran goalie Jacob Winton, are throwing some serious defense at their opponents.
Thursday’s rivalry game – a shutout over the Indians – was Pennridge’s second shutout in as many games.
“It’s been all year, and I haven’t really said much – it’s our defense,” Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna said. “I really had no idea what we were going to get out of them.
“We gave up 30-some shots in tonight’s game, but I thought they did a really good job keeping the pucks to the outside, and they’ve done it all year. That’s what I’m by far and away most happy about because if it’s going to take us some time to change and be different, we better be good defensively, and so far this year, we’ve been very, very good defensively.”
Playing defense in front of Winton are veteran defensemen Jared Garber and Nick Young. Newcomers to the defense are Justin Dinsmore, Sal Daquino and Josh Kelly. Kelly was a forward last year but was moved to defense this year.
“The difference with us and some of the teams in this league as we’re finding out who we are is we have an absolute rock in net,” Montagna said of Winton. “We can make mistakes, and he’ll mask a lot of mistakes. He’s been there, and he’s done that. He’s a safety net for us. He’s allowing us to find our way this season. He’s been phenomenal in all five games we’ve played.”
Winton was kept busy in Wednesday’s contest and survived a Souderton flurry in the closing minutes with several big saves to keep the shutout.
“Especially in our Thanksgiving game – it’s definitely a confidence booster getting two shutouts in a row,” Winton said. “Hopefully, we can just keep building off of that.”
“It’s definitely an adjustment playing with some newer guys, but they’ve all stepped up, they’ve all helped me out a ton. The way they’ve been playing is the reason why we’re winning by so much. A couple plays (tonight) they really came in clutch for us.”
The Rams scored the only goals they would need in the first period. Shane Dachowski’s power play goal with a James Rush assist less than three minutes into the game turned out to be the game-winner. Ten minutes later, Dachowski returned the favor, assisting on a goal by Rush that gave the Rams a 2-0 lead after one period.
Early in the second period, the shots were tied 17-17 when Kelly scored with assists from Salvatore Daquino and Dhilan Howard. Dachowski (Rush assist) scored his second goal with 1:45 remaining in the period to send the Rams into the final period with a 4-0 lead.
That score stood until the Rams scored three goals in final five minutes. Nolan Shaw scored back-to-back goals. Justin Dinsmore and Landan Bishop assisted on the first, and Bishop also had an assist on the second. Bishop scored the game’s final goal – unassisted - with 1:36 remaining.
The Rams – 3-1 in league play - lost six key players from last year’s state title squad, and while that might not sound like a whole lot, they were key contributors.
“(We’ve had to) get used to a whole bunch of guys who are playing new positions and new roles for us,” Montagna said. “I just told them in the locker room – we’re going to have to win differently this year.
“I have to get used to winning differently. We have five defensemen, and three of them have really played no varsity defense at all coming into the season.
“What do we do for an encore this year? It’s a whole new challenge because it’s basically a new team. Even though you have a lot of returning guys, it’s a completely different style team and who we’re going to be as a team. It’s a work in progress, it’s a gradual work in progress, and I’m not the most patient guy at times.”
For Winton, last year’s success is just that – last year’s success.
“Honestly, you try and forget about it,” Winton said. “Because at the end of the day, what happened last year doesn’t really matter this year, especially when you have a whole new team. It’s just about trying to stay focused on what we can do this year and try and make it back.”
And what’s the key for Winton?
“It’s a lot of what I do to warm up,” the veteran goalie said. “It’s also my faith. I put a lot of faith in Jesus. I definitely feel that helps me out, and just having the boys out there uplifting your spirits – it all comes together, and it’s a good mixture.”
So far so good for Winton and the Rams.
Souderton 0-0-0 0
Pennridge 2-2-3 7
Shots: S 33, P 47; Saves: Connor Paulus/Alexander Archer (S) 26; Jacob Winton/Andrew Slutsky (P) 33.
First period: 1. Shane Dachowski P (James Rush) 14:21; 2. James Rush P (Shane Dachowski) 3:18.
Second period: 3. Joshua Kelly P (Salvatore Daquino/Dhilan Howard) 14:10; 4. Shane Dachowski P (James Rush) 1:45.
Third period: 5. Nolan Shaw P (Justin Dinsmore/Landan Bishop) 5:01; 6. Nolan Shaw P (Landan Bishop) 4:26; 7. Landan Bishop P, 1:36.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 6, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 2
(Check back for a complete game wrap)
NESHAMINY 5, PENNSBURY 3
(Check back for a complete game wrap)
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