By Alex Frazier
Three Suburban One team remain alive in the tournament. The winners of Saturday’s quarterfinals will automatically qualify for the state tournament. The losers will battle each other for the final playoff spot. Last year seven teams qualified, but this year only five make it.
(13) Pennsbury 8, (4) Downingtown East 6
For the first time in school history, Pennsbury has made it past the second round of districts, and the Falcons did it with a big upset.
“We played as good a game as we have all season,” said coach Jamie Huber. “We put it all together.”
Pennsbury took a 2-0 lead in the first quarter, but East came back to tie it at the half.
The third quarter was key for the Falcons, who came out and opened up a 4-2 lead
Huber credited his staff for spending hours poring over scouting tapes and coming up with a successful game plan.
“We thought we could take advantage of some of the things they did,” said Huber.
One of the keys to the game was shutting down East’s three big scorers. Dan Marr shut down one, and Sean Rinko took care of a second. Neither defenseman gave up a goal or an assist.
East’s third player, however, did score four goals.
Two out of three ain’t bad, especially against a team that averages close to10 goals a game.
In goal, Drew Sweetland stopped 15 shots and did a good job of clearing the ball. The Falcons successfully cleared the ball 22 of 28 times.
Offensively, Luke Matthews notched three goals, Ricky Jutkiewicz had two and an assist, Josh Caven had a goal and two assists, and Calvin Hopkins and Ryan McDonald had one each.
The boys did what they were supposed to,” said Huber. “We’re peaking at the right time.”
The Falcons take on (5) Avon Grove Saturday at noon at Plymouth Whitemarsh. They lost to the Red Devils 5-3 back on April 21.
(1) Conestoga 15, (16) Hatboro-Horsham 3
The Hatters kept it close for a half. They fell behind 2-1 at the first quarter and then 5-1 at the half.
The Pioneers pumped in a few quick goals to begin the second half and things went downhill from there.
“Conestoga is everything they said they are,” said HH coach J.P. Banks, who praised his kids for their effort, despite the lopsided score.
“I’m most proud that they worked hard all night,” he said.
Goalie Marc Poust had a busy night. He faced at least 33 shots and saved 18 of them or the score could have been worse. Backup Kyle Muller made two stops.
Sean Saunders hit the net twice, and Kevin Sweeney accounted for the third goal as well as an assist to Saunders.
Banks got a late start to this season because he wasn’t hired until last November and didn’t get his staff together until December.
That will be different for next year.
“We’ll take a couple of days and get back at it to get ready for those teams next year,” said Banks.
The Hatters finished their season at 10-10 overall and 9-3 in the Continental Conference.
“It was a great year,” said Banks. “I’m already excited for next year.”
(8) Abington 11, (9) Great Valley 9
For three quarters and a bit more, it was a close game. The Ghosts led 5-3 at the half, but Great Valley came back to take a 6-5 lead. Abington rallied to regain the lead and held a 10-6 advantage with eight minutes to go.
With 1:30 left the Patriots scored to make it 10-9, but Abington won the ensuing faceoff, and Nick Pisko scored the insurance goal with 15 seconds remaining.
“It was a great game,” said Abington coach Randy McNeill. “Both teams played really well.”
Offensively, Matt Lomady, Ryan Ambler (assist), Brian Gallagher and Matt Figueroa each scored two goals.
Gage Gormley, Pisko and Austin Pisani (assist) added one apiece, while Dan Lomady had two assists.
Matt Lomady also came up with numerous key faceoffs, and Anthony Greco scooped up nine ground balls.
On the defensive end, Travis O’Connor stopped nine shots and the defensive unit of Chris Duffy, Josh Kluger and Pisani each had eight ground balls.
“The defense picked up a ton of ground balls,” said McNeill. “Overall it was a good team effort.”
The Ghosts will face Conestoga Saturday at 2 p.m. at a site to be determined.
(2) Central Bucks East 10, (15) Bishop Shanahan 6
East set the tone early blanking the Eagles 2-0 after the first quarter. The Patriots extended the lead to 4-1 at the half.
Blake Ament (assist) and Chris Vetter (two assists) led the attack with three goals apiece, while Parker Self and Ryan Whitney each chipped in two. Connor McSherry contributed one assist to round out the scoring.
In goal Harrison Holak saved nine shots.
"It was a good start to the playoffs for the team,” said coach Bruce Garcia. “The strength of our seniors showed on the field tonight. We are looking forward to Round Three on Saturday."
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