Truman defeated CR North 12-8 in a shootout. Check out Wednesday's SOL SHSHL recap.
By Ben Reese
WARWICK -- In an ice hockey game where a lot of goals are scored, it can often be debated whether the offense was overpowering or the defense was lacking.
When two teams combine for 20 goals in 48 minutes of play, that argument could come to the forefront. However, in this case, it all fell on the defense.
Truman scored four goals in the first period, six in the second and two in the third en route to a 12-8 victory over Council Rock North. For the Tigers, Mike Roarty and linemate Steve Avellino each scored four goals.
But it was the defense that was the most noticeable as the two teams also combined to take 89 shots on goal. A total like that would indicate that there was little defense. The strange thing about that shot total is that the Indians had the majority of the shots, 55, but lost.
"We're not defensively sound this year," Truman coach Bill Keyser said. "We're young and we definitely have to work on defense.
"On offense, we're fine; on defense, we have a problem. It's a double-edged sword there."
Roarty was a bit more forgiving than his coach.
"They have their games," he said of the Tigers' defense. "It's all right. They'll bounce back, learn from their mistakes."
Council Rock North coach Chris Gallagher was not pleased with his team’s defense but found the game entertaining.
"It was a fun game to watch," he said with a smile. "I was happy with our offensive production. Defensively, we were poor."
Offensively, the Tigers were on fire. They scored four times in the first period with Avellino getting three of them.
But it wasn't as lopsided as it seemed. The Indians rallied from a 3-0 deficit with a pair of goals of their own in the space of 28 seconds in that first period only to be topped by Avellino's third goal with only 49 seconds left in the stanza.
Roarty took over the scoring chores in the second period. He netted three straight goals beginning at the 1:58 mark to offset a Mark Tosti tally only 41 seconds into the period.
The two Tigers finished things up in the third period. Both Roarty and Avellino scored in the last period.
"Steve and I click," Roarty said. "We have a really great chemistry.
"We work off each other. It's been like that since Day One, ever since we've been on the ice. We just kept it up tonight, got lucky sometimes and got our bounces."
Keyser appreciates what the two bring to the table for the Tigers.
"They're my two go-to guys," he said. "They work well together.
"I need some help from the other guys. When we play the better teams, they pick up on that and they shut us down."
No one could even slow down the duo, much less shut them down. Roarty scored in the only three ways available -- even strength, power play and short-handed.
Rock North actually cut the deficit to one goal (4-3) on Tosti's goal in the second. But Truman scored the next five goals to grab a 9-3 lead.
Three of those markers were tallied by Roarty. The final two went to William Findlay and Robert DiCrosta.
Brandon Simmonds got one back for the Indians. However, Findlay scored for the Tigers with 1:02 left in the second for a 10-4 lead.
Tosti scored for Rock North on the power play to begin the third period. Roarty got his fourth goal slightly more than a minute later with a teammate in the penalty box.
But then the Indians started to find the net. They scored three straight goals to reduce their deficit from six goals to three.
Zac Herman, off assists from C.J. Zemzik and Michael Cozzolino, got things started. That was followed by goals from Oleg Sapranenko and Herman, both unassisted. Avellino finished up the scoring for the Tigers.
Despite the score, Gallagher found some bright spots.
"We got a little bit of momentum (in the third period) and they fought to the end," he said of his team. "We're proud of that.
"When we put up eight goals, we'd like to win those games. That's something we need to improve on.
"It's something positive to build off of and the shot totals and the offensive zone time were in our favor. That's positive stuff we can build on."
But in the end, it was the Tigers on the long end of the score. And it was a win they wanted and needed.
"We have to win most of our games coming out if we want to make a shot (at the playoffs)," said Roarty. "We're on the bubble so we have to keep going, keep pushing, keep winning."
Truman 12, Council Rock North 8
Truman 4 6 2 – 12
Council Rock North 2 2 4 – 8
First period: 1, Steve Avellino T (unassisted) 2:13; 2, William Findlay T (Timothy Decker, Robert DiCrosta) 9:19; 3, Avellino T (James Johnson, Findlay) 10:45; 4, C.J. Zemzik CRN (Zac Herman, Harrison Treiman) 11:24; 5, Dan Guest CRN (Mark Tosti) 11:52; 6, Avellino T (unassisted) 15:11.
Second period: 7, Tosti CRN (Treiman) 0:41; 8, Mike Roarty T (Trevor Zemzik) 1:58; 9, Roarty T (Avellino) 6:27; 10, Roarty (Kyle Bennett, Codey Gordon) 8:24 PP; 11, Findlay T (Roarty) 9:23 PP; 12, DiCrosta T (Johnson) 10:19; 13, Herman CRN (Tosti) 13:06; 14, Findlay T (Gordon) 14:58.
Third period: 15, Tosti CRN (Simmonds, Herman) 2:31 PP; 16, Roarty T (unassisted) 3:49 SH; 17, Herman CRN (Zemzik, Michael Cozzolino) 12:00; 18, Oleg Sapranenko CRN (unassisted) 12:18; 19, Herman CRN (unassisted) 12:24; 20, Avellino T (DiCrosta, Bennett) 13:51.
Shots: T 34, CRN 55. Saves: Kyle Huth (T) 47, Madison Ambler (CRN) 22.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 3, SOUDERTON 3
The Indians did what no team before them had done this season. No, they didn’t hand the West its first loss, but they did force the Bucks – for the first time this season – to settle for a tie. Only a Joe Anton goal at the 12:50 mark of the third period with assists from Tucker Forte and Shawn Philipps separated the Indians from the big win.
Joshua Smith was the hero in goal for the Indians, turning away 45 of 48 shots in a stellar outing in a contest that saw the Bucks hold a 48-25 advantage in shots.
The Bucks went on top 1-0 on a goal by Forte (Dalton Carroll/Anton assists) just over three minutes into the opening period. Five minutes later, Joshua Reeves answered with the equalizer, using assists from Austin Mower and Matthew Masciulli.
Souderton’s Jordan Engelhart scored with an assist from Tyler Apple midway through the second period, and the Indians led 3-1 after Tyler Johnson found the net (Thomas Tierney assist). In the final minute of the period, Joey Rockovich scored for the Bucks with an assist from Anton, making it a 3-2 game heading into the final period.
West goalies Patrick Ventresca (nine saves) and Jonah Brous (13 saves) combined for 22 saves.
Central Bucks West 1-1-1 3
Souderton 1-2-0 3
Shots: CB West 48, Souderton 25
Saves: Patric Ventresca (CBW) 9, Jonah Brous (CBW) 13, Joshua Smith (S) 45
First Period
CBW: Tucker Forte (Dalton Karl/Joel Anton)
S: Joshua Reeves (Austin Mower/Mattew Masciulli)
Second Period
S: Jordan Engelhart (Tyler Apple)
S: Tyler Johnson (Thomas Tierney)
CBW: Joey Rockovich (Joe Anton)
Third Period
CBW Joe Anton (Tucker Forte/Shawn Philipps)
LOWER MORELAND 12, UPPER MORELAND 2
Coleman Peppelman delivered a monster seven-point performance for the Lions, scoring four goals and assisting on three others. Brennan Bostock (two goals, one assist), Sean Irving (three goals) and AJ D’Orazio (one goal, two assists) all had three-point games for the Lions, who had 10 different players contribute points.
The Golden Bears took a 1-0 lead when Ryan MacFarland scored just over a minute into the first period, using assists from Conner Buehler and Dylan Cossaboon. Peppelman and Sean Irving (Justin Smith assist) connected on back-to-back goals with Irving scoring on a power play put the Lions on top 2-1. MacFarland scored his second goal of the period, this one on a power play. It would be the Golden Bears’ last hurrah. The Lions closed out the period with goals by Irving and Peppelman (power play) to go on top 4-2. It marked the beginning of a 10-0 Lion tear to close out the game.
Goalie John Duesler was forced to make just 11 saves in a winning effort. UM’s Trevor Frazier recorded 25 saves.
Upper Moreland 2-0-0 2
Lower Moreland 4-7-1 12
Shots: UM 13, LM 37.
Saves: Trevor Frazier (UM) 25, John Duesler (M) 11.
First Period
UM: Ryan MacFarland (Conner Buehler/Dylan Cossaboon)
LM: Coleman Peppelman
LM: Sean Irving (Justin Smith)
UM: Ryan MacFarland
LM: Sean Irving (Brennan Bostock/Arthur Rubinshteyn)
LM: Coleman Peppelman (Campbell Manin/AJ D’Orazio)
Second Period
LM: Simon Gratowski
LM: Sean Irving (Alex Cohen)
LM: AJ D’Orazio (Coleman Peppelman)
LM: Brennan Bostock (Arthur Rubinshteyn/Coleman Peppelman)
LM: Coleman Peppelman)
LM: Campbell Manin (Ryan Hoffman/Simon Pezalla)
LM: Coleman Peppelman
Third Period
LM: Brennan Bostock
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