North Penn notched a shutout over Pennridge in SHSHL action Thursday. Photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko. Check back for a gallery of photos. CLICK HERE to view Suburban One Sports' ICE HOCKEY GALLERIES.
By Ben Reese
HATFIELD — In just about every sport imaginable, defense wins games.
North Penn’s ice hockey team proved that Thursday night, shutting out Pennridge 5-0 at Hatfield Ice in a Suburban High School Hockey League National Division game.
And, as the score indicates, it wasn’t just an ordinary victory for the Knights. It was a shutout win over one of the highest-scoring teams in the league.
The shutout belongs to NP goalie Aidan Quigley, who stopped all 17 shots the Rams threw at him. And, in reality, it wasn’t a difficult shutout either.
“I didn’t face a whole lot of shots,” Quigley said. “It was hard trying to stay with it when you’re not getting a ton of shots.”
Knight coach Kevin Vaitis was impressed with Quigley’s performance.
“Aidan was awesome tonight,” the Knights’ coach said. “(He’s) in his second year of varsity and he just keeps getting better and better each week.”
While Quigley stood on his head for the entire game, he also had some good help — his defense.
“My defense helped me out,” he said. “Any rebounds that got out (they corralled). No really bad turnovers.”
Once again, Vaitis could do nothing but agree.
“Our defense, I think that is the best part of our game right now,” he said. “It’s not only the five defensemen that we have now playing, but it’s the overall team.
“We really worked a lot in practices with tightening up defensively. It’s all five guys on the ice. They proved that tonight.”
Vaitis also appreciates his two goalies, Quigley and Andrew Norton.
“Last night, Norton got a shutout (beating Neshaminy 5-0) and tonight Quigley,” Vaitis said. “They are both very talented goalies. With the two of them in the nets, we have very solid goaltending.”
The defense was strong in front of Quigley. Pennridge managed only six shots in the first period and only added 10 in the second and a lone shot in the third. The Rams have been averaging over 42 shots per game thus far in the season.
After a scoreless first period, North Penn got on the board at the 14:09 mark with a power-play goal from Nolan Shingle. He got assist help from James Boyle and Danny Cabrales.
The Knights added two more markers in the period. Cabrales netted the first of the two at 15:55 and Sam Norton got the third goal of the period at 16:39, this one shorthanded.
Luke Haftel and Cabrales finished up the scoring for the Knights in the third period. North Penn finished up the game with 52 shots on goal.
For Pennridge, it was a game to forget. In addition to the loss, the Rams had a pair of scares to two important players on their team.
First, Shane Dachowski, who leads the team in scoring, was checked hard into the boards. He didn’t get up after injuring his left shoulder.
“His shoulder popped out,” said Ram coach Jeff Montagna. “He’s going to the hospital to find out if there is any ligament damage.
“They got it back in (in the locker room with the aid of North Penn’s doctor). It came at a good time if it’s not too serious.”
This game was Pennridge’s last contest before the schedule break until after the new year arrives.
Secondly, Pennridge goalie Jacob Winton suffered an asthma attack in the third period. With both teams using their timeouts, he retired to the locker room for medication and returned to finish the game.
“He has asthma,” Montagna said. “I didn’t know that.
“He was hyperventilating. I had to get him calmed down.”
When did he realize he was having an attack?
“A few minutes before,” Montagna explained. “He was waiting for a stoppage. He was truly freaking out.”
But Montagna had other problems. Without his top scorer, his offense sagged markedly.
“You don’t want a guy to get hurt but it’s the best thing that can happen to us,” Montagna said. “These guys have got to learn how to do things for themselves, stop waiting for someone else to do it.
“You’ve got a bunch of guys who have not gone through this, have not done this without superheroes (like Dachowski and the graduated seniors from last year’s state championship team).
“Tonight and against CB South, it’s been too big a moment. The only way to do it is to go through it. It’s the only way to learn — and they will.”
North Penn 5, Pennridge 0
Pennridge 0 0 0 — 0
North Penn 0 3 2 — 5
First period: No scoring.
Second period: 1, Nolan Shingle NP (James Boyle, Danny Cabrales) 14:09 PP; 2, Cabrales NP (Sam Norton, Cole Pluck) 15:55; 3, Norton NP (unassisted) 16:39 SH.
Third period: 4, Luke Haftel NP (Chris Silvotti) 9:33; 5, Cabrales NP (Norton) 15:24.
Shots: P 17; NP 52. Saves: Jacob Winton (P) 47; Aidan Quigley (NP) 17.
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