Hatboro-Horsham defeated CB East in a battle of the Continental Conference’s top squads. Check out Wednesday and Thursday’s results. To view photos of the Hatboro/CB East game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Mike Prince, Sportswriter
Last season, Hatboro-Horsham and Central Bucks East finished the season with a share of the SOL Continental Conference title. The year before that, CB East won the conference outright.
But after Thursday night, it’s the Hatters who control their own destiny.
For the first time in 12 years, the Hatters won the first head-to-head meeting of the year with CB East, defeating the Patriots 8-5 under the lights at Hatboro-Horsham High School.
Led by the three-point games of Zach Erwine, Jimmy Murphy and Ryan Higgins, the Hatters (7-2 overall) improved to 6-0 in league play and took over sole possession of first place in the conference with the victory.
“I’ve been around for the whole program since the start,” Hatboro-Horsham coach John Kurek said. “We’ve never beaten East the first time. It was always the second time. It’s somehow ironic that this happened this way.”
“I told the guys that this win came from September. This group came together. It’s an excellent group of leaders and they got an excellent taste of success last year. They sold out in the weight room, they sold out in the fall and winter leagues and they couldn’t wait for a game like this. It all started with their training and all the compliments go to the seniors who got them ready for this.”
The Hatters came out firing, jumping out to an early 2-0 lead after goals by senior Ben Cellini and junior Zach Erwine less than five minutes into the contest.
The Patriots (9-2, 5-1) got one back before the end of the first, however, as Anthony Casselli beat goalkeeper Mark Poust for the Patriots’ first goal of the game.
The two teams each scored two more times in the second quarter, leaving the Hatters up 4-3 at the half, and the third quarter again saw each team put two goals on the board. But it was the fourth quarter, which started out with a goal by Erwine just 31 seconds into the period, that made all the difference.
“This win is huge, and it was all because of our conditioning,” said Murphy, who scored the eventual game-winning goal late in the third quarter. “It was all our conditioning. They were dead in the fourth quarter and their poles were screaming for timeouts. We had three games this week and it was tough not to think about this game, but we were able to put all the focus on them. We wanted them.”
CB East, which was unable to score a goal for the final 15 minutes and 51 seconds of the contest, appeared tired for much of the second half – especially in the fourth quarter.
“We were always chasing them from the beginning,” said East’s Anthony Casselli, who tallied two goals and an assist. “As soon as they put one in the net in the fourth, they put another one in and kind of iced us. They held the ball, they kept it well and we couldn’t get any ground balls.”
And while the Patriots seemed fatigued, the Hatters got exactly what they wanted, and the contributions came from all over.
Murphy and Higgins each contributed two goals and an assist, and Erwine led the way with three goals. Murphy added a team-high four ground balls, while Jimmy Durkin, who had one assist, finished with three. Poust stopped 15 shots for the Hatters, who received solid defensive play from Jake Cresta, TJ Keleher, Kaith Cameron and Matt McPoyle.
“This win is huge and it motivates the guys,” Kurek said. “Our team loves playing East and they know East is the cream of the cop. They have talent every year and our team loves playing a team like that. It’s huge for our program and it’s huge for the kids. These kids really sold out and really did a great job.”
The Patriots received two goals from Zach Kane and one from Matt Milici, as well as 14 saves in net from goalkeeper Sean McGovern. Dustin Buchanan and Zach Nelson each had three ground balls.
“The next one is going to be huge,” Casselli said of his team’s rematch with the Hatters. “We’re going to have to win that one to have a chance at any part of the title. It’s going to be huge and we’re going to have to be ready.”
Central Bucks East 0-3-2-0 5
Hatboro-Horsham 2-2-2-2 8
NESHAMINY 6, HOLY GHOST PREP 5
Behind Alex McKenzie's three goals, the visiting Redskins stunned (6-1) Holy Ghost Prep 6-5. Matt Magdelinskas added a goal and an assist while Cale Kitchenman and Mike Pfender rouded out the scoring with a goal apiece. Matt Miller had two assists and John Blickle and TJ Daino each added an assist apiece to further Neshaminy's cause. Austin Marshall was solid in goal, tallying 20 saves.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 6, PENNSBURY 5
UPPER DUBLIN 19, UPPER MERION 9 (Wednesday, April 17)
The Flying Cardinals opened up a 13-5 lead by halftime and never looked back on their way to Wednesday’s big win. Ben Winebrake (five goals, four assists) led the Cardinals with a nine-point night while freshman Michael Sowers added six points on three goals and three assists. Michael Rama had five goals while Will Lunney, Nicholas Vernacchio (one assist) and Michael Mullen each added single goals.
For the Vikings, Mikey Zadroga had a team-high five goals, and Trevor Kupecky had one goal and four assists. Joe Mintzer added a pair of goals, and Tyler Thornton had one goal.
Viking goalie Troy Minnich was credited with 16 saves while his counterparty, Jack Deragon, had eight saves.
Upper Dublin 7-6-4-2 19
Upper Merion 2-3-2-2 9
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 15, HARRY S TRUMAN 2
NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 15, UPPER MORELAND 10
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