CR South defeated Pennridge to advance to Wednesday SHSHL semifinals. Ben Reese recaps all the action. CR South/Pennridge photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos.
By Ben Reese
WARWICK -- Brennen Wright isn't your typical scorer.
He is, after all, perhaps the biggest skater on the ice. And he is, without a doubt, the biggest one on the Council Rock South roster.
However, on Monday night against Pennridge at Revolution Ice Garden in the quarterfinals of the AA Division of the Suburban High School Hockey League playoffs, he was the scorer of the night. His hat trick led the Golden Hawks to an 8-1 victory over the Rams.
Two of his goals came on the power play as Rock South exploded for five goals in the second period. The first one was his alone.
On his first goal, Wright skated into the middle of the offensive zone and fired a shot past Pennridge goalie Ryan Pico for an unassisted goal. The second and third goals came from assists from Michael Roby, David Mueller and Antii Autere.
When was the last time you scored three goals in a game, Brennen?
"I'd say I'd have to go back to Bantam 16A, about three years ago," he said. "It's been a while. I can't tell you the last time I scored three goals on defense."
That's what Wright is, a defenseman. He isn't the fancy skating forward.
But his coach, Joe Houk, knows just what to do with him, especially on the power play.
"You're 290, what do you do with the guy on the power play," Houk asked with a grin. "You stick him in front (of the net).
"He's a lineman on the football team also. He's got a good shot, and for a big guy, he can move pretty well."
Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna, who coached Wright in club hockey last year, also knew what Houk was going to do with him.
"He's one of the smartest players I've ever been around," Montagna said of Wright. "He understands the game and he understands his job.
"It's one thing to tell someone to sit in front (on power plays) and it's another thing to do it. He's really good at creating space and opening things up. He's lethal on the power play."
It was that second period that really sank any chances the Rams had of sticking with the Hawks. It took less than 10 minutes for South to collect five goals and blow a 2-0 lead up into a 7-0 margin.
Three of those goals were power play markers. Two were from Wright and the other came from Julian Wagenmann.
"The power play goals in the middle of the second period killed them," said Houk. "The big 77 (Wright) got two of them. He's a good character guy. He's a good leader on the team."
Houk wasn't pleased with everything about the win, however.
"Honestly, I thought we did okay," he said. "Some parts of the game we were great and other parts where we stunk.
"We scored the first couple of goals but it was still choppy. We turned the puck over too many times. We made mistakes we shouldn't have made.
"They had (34) shots on goal; I think we had (36), so there wasn't that much difference. We just made it count."
For Montagna, it was a nightmare.
"That was a horrific match-up for us," he said. "It's just a really, really tough match-up.
"It got away from us and it got away from us quick. But when you have the talent they do it's just hard to contain them. That's what we talked about, controlling when we start games. Control, control, control.
"They're an experienced team and we weren't ready for that tonight. Our youth really showed. They didn't handle it well."
The Golden Hawks broke out of the gate quickly. They scored two goals in the first period slightly more than five minutes apart. Roby got the first one unassisted at 5:10. Matt Constantini notched the second with an assist from Sam Cerkassky at 10:58.
Then the roof fell in on Pennridge. South scored five goals in the space of 4:36 including two in 19 seconds.
Roby got the first one at 4:31 followed by the first of Wright's at 5:19. Wagenmann tallied the first power play goal at 8:37 and Wright added the final two at 9:36 and 9:55.
Richie Shanks made sure the Rams didn't get shutout with his goal with two seconds left in the second period. The final goal of the game came in the third when Autere scored unassisted at 2:50.
Jimmy Sweeney stopped 33 of 34 shots in a winning effort in goal for the Golden Hawks.
The Golden Hawks advance to the AA semifinals on Wednesday, Feb. 26, at Hatfield Ice. They will face North Penn, a 7-4 winner over Pennsbury.
Pennridge 0 1 0 -- 1
CR South 2 5 1 -- 8
First period: 1, Michael Roby CRS (unassisted) 5:10; 2, Matt Constantini CRS (Sam Cerkassky) 10:58.
Second period: 3, Roby CRS (Antii Autere) 4:31; 4, Brennen Wright CRS (unassisted) 5:19; 5, Julian Wagenmann CRS (David Mueller) 8:37 PP; 6, Wright CRS (Roby, Mueller) 9:36 PP; 7, Wright CRS (Roby, Autere) 9:55 PP; 8, Richie Shanks P (Blake Stewart) 15:58.
Third period: 9, Autere CRS (unassisted) 2:50.
Shots: P 334, CRS 36. Saves: Ryan Pico (P) 28, Jimmy Sweeney (CRS) 33.
NESHAMINY 5, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 3
The Redskins eked out a win over the Patriots in Monday’s quarterfinal game at Grundy that was anything but easy. The two teams were deadlocked heading into the final period when Robert Seewagen (Trevor Kuhn) connected on the go-ahead goal midway through the period. That one-goal lead stood until Joey DeMatteo scored an empty net goal in the closing seconds of the game.
The Redskins doubled the Patriots shots on goal, holding a 41-20 advantage, but keeping the Patriots in it was the glittering performance of goalie Chris McIntyre, who turned away 37 of 41 shots he faced.
After a scoreless first period, Phil McIntyre (Chris McIntyre assist) put the Patriots on the scoreboard just under three minutes into the period. Seewagen’s power play goal with a DeMatteo assist evened the scored 4:16 into the period. Three minutes later, the Redskins took their first lead when Thomas Gallagher scored with assists from DeMatteo and Jacob Helms. Seewagen, who finished with a hat trick, scored with a Charles Potash assist to put the Redskins on top 3-1.
The Patriots came roaring back to knot the score with goals by Tyler Godown (Matt Cipriano/Aiden Schmidt assists) and Sean Gorman (Phil McIntyre/Cipriano assists), and the stage was set for the exciting finish.
Neshaminy will face top-seeded Central Bucks South in a SHSHL semifinal contest at Hatfield Ice (6:30 p.m.).
Central Bucks East 0-3-0 3
Neshaminy 0-3-2 5
Shots: CBE 20, Neshaminy 57. Saves: Chris McIntyre (CBE) 37, Brian Nelson (N) 17.
First period: No score
Second period: 1, Phil McIntyre CBE (Chris McIntyre) 2:48; 2, Robert Seewagen N (Joey DeMatteo) 4:16; 3, Thomas Gallagher N (Joey DeMatteo/Jacob Helms) 7:17; 4, Robert Seewagen N (Charles Potash) 7:37; 5, Tyler Godown CBE (Matt Cipriano/Aiden Schmidt) 9:42; 6, Sean Gorman CBE (Phil McIntyre/Matt Cipriano) 12:33.
Third period: 7, Robert Seewagen N (Trevor Kuhn) 7:39; 8, Joey DeMatteo N, 15:32.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 13, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3
NORTH PENN 7, PENNSBURY 4
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