SOL SHSHL Ice Hockey Notebook (1-30-19)

This week’s notebook features Souderton, Harry S Truman and Lower Moreland and includes the top scoring and goalie stats.

By Rick Woelfel

Continental Division Snapshot
Indians looking for a bright future - It’s been a difficult season at Souderton. The Big Red has won just once this year in 13 starts. But first-year coach Ryan Uchniat is optimistic about what the future holds and how his team has matured through the course of the season.

“We have a really young team,” he said, “and have been missing players (because of club duty).”
John Gray is leading the team in scoring with 12 goals and eight assists for 20 points in 11 games. Tyler McPhee is next with 10 goals and five assists for 15 points in 11 appearances. Both are sophomores.

Souderton is getting some solid play on the blue line from senior David Murphy whom Uchniat embraces for his leadership skills as well as his on-ice talents.

“He’s a great leader,” Uchniat said. “He doesn’t make too many bad passes and he’s always in good position.”

Carter Povazan has also turned in some good work on the blue line, after transitioning from his role as a forward.

The unsung hero for the Big Red this season however, is likely goaltender Jonathan Pritchard. In 11 appearances between the pipes he has faced 671 shots, or an average of 61 per each 48-minute game.  He’s faced 54 shots or more no fewer than eight times and more than 70 shots three times. His season high was 81 shots in an 11-4 loss to North Penn December 13. For all this, Pritchard’s save percentage at the start of the week was .879 which put him fifth among all SHSHL goaltenders who have played a minimum of five full games.

If the regular season had concluded at the start of this week, five of the six Continental Conference teams would qualify for the SHSHL playoffs; Central Bucks South, North Penn, Pennridge, Central Bucks East and Central Bucks West.

National Division Snapshot
Tigers looking to finish strong - In seasons past, the Truman Tigers have struggled with numbers. On many nights, they were unable to field as many as a dozen skaters. The manpower situation has improved this season, there are 16 skaters and a goaltender on this year’s roster.

Steven Avellino leads the Tigers in scoring with 24 goals and six assists for 30 points. Truman coach Bill Keyser is quick to point out that Avellino, a senior, does his best work when he’s moving the puck.

“Teams have been fixating on him, Keyser said, “and he hasn’t always been able to get the puck to the open man. When he does move the puck, he actually (opens up) the ice.”

John Saxton has been his team’s best defenseman.

“He’s fast and he can move the puck,” Keyser said. “He sees the ice well and doesn’t get beat very often. He keeps opponents on the outside.”

Senior Jeremy Wedul has been solid in goal with a solid save percentage of .873.  Wedul, a senior, is playing his first season of varsity hockey, although he’s experienced at the club level.

Truman will play its annual cancer awareness/benefit game against Pennsbury Friday at Grundy Arena. A middle-school game will precede the varsity contest, which has a scheduled puck drop of approximately 7:20. Truman started the week with an overall mark of 3-6-2, 2-4-1 in league play.

If the season had ended prior to this week, Neshaminy would be the only National Division team assured of a SHSHL playoff spot with a 4-3-1 league mark that puts it in third place as the week begins. As it stands now, the other five teams in the division - Pennsbury, Council Rock South, Abington, Truman, and William Tennent - are in effect playing for two playoff spots.

The playoff/overall Class AA standings are available at www.hockeyhappenings.wodpress.com

American Division Snapshot
Short-handed Lions making noise in American - The numbers game caught up to Lower Moreland last Friday night. The Lions had only eight skaters in uniform for their 6-5 loss to Hatboro-Horsham.

It was Lower Moreland’s first loss in 10 games. The Lions are 7-2-3 overall and 4-2-3 in divisional play, three points behind first-place Wissahickon; the teams were scheduled to meet Wednesday night at Hatfield Ice.

The Lions are known for their scoring prowess; in Coleman Peppelman (50 points), Vincenzo DeMaio (44 points) and Adam Bostock (41) they feature three of the top six scorers in the entire SHSHL, in part because of the amount of ice time those players receive, or have to shoulder because of numbers issues.

Lower Moreland Coach Gus Salfiti says his players must, on occasion, fight the temptation to watch Peppelman at work. “Even the better players get caught watching once in a while,” he said. “Because he is mesmerizing.

The Lions feature just two regular defensemen, seniors Arthur Rubinshteyn and Simon Pazalla. Other players rotate through the blue line when needed.  By the time the third period rolls around, the lack of available bodies is often a factor.

“I make a habit of calling timeout halfway about through the third period to give then a break,” Salfiti said.

In addition to the Lions and the Trojans, Plymouth Whitematsh and Hatboro-Horsham will be playoff qualifiers.

It should be noted that the results of the SHSHL playoffs will have no impact on the Flyers Cup seedings.