Photo courtesy of Michael Rice: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f710114994
By Ben Reese
HATFIELD — Goalies are made. They are not born.
It is exciting to see a goalie when the light finally goes on and they realize what they are doing standing in a net while people fire hard rubber objects at them at high speeds.
It is a thrilling sight to see a goalie “stand on his head” to win a hockey game. It was certainly neat to watch Souderton goalie Connor Paulus turn in the game of his life on Wednesday night in a 6-5 overtime victory over Pennsbury at Hatfield Ice.
It is even more impressive when you consider that two years ago, when Paulus was a freshman in his first year of playing hockey, he wasn’t a goalie. He was a forward.
“It’s incredible,” Souderton coach Ryan Uchniat said. “It’s truly a great story.
“This is his first year really playing goalie. He started suiting up last year, started practicing as a goalie, and this is his first year seeing live action.
“He knows it’s a challenge. There are some studs in this league that can really fire the puck.”
OK, Connor, why are you a goalie?
“We needed one,” Paulus said with a smile. “It’s fun. I like it.
“I like the position. I like trying to find the puck. I think that’s a big piece, getting the feel and feeling more comfortable in there.”
He certainly didn’t make Pennsbury feel comfortable. Paulus kicked out 28 shots and made some spectacular stops in the overtime period.
“That kid played out of his mind,” said Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley. “Some of the saves he made in overtime and at the end of the third (were great).
“I don’t think he’s been a goalie his whole career. It was very impressive on his part. That was a great game for him.”
His teammates know what he has been giving them thus far this season.
“We got into a shaky situation there at the end,” team captain Seth Grossman said of his team scoring the tying goal in the third period and then the game-winner in overtime. “Our goalie stood on his head there and made some big saves.
“Our goalie has just been making extreme strides in his play throughout the season. He’s just been getting better and better with each game. He really bailed us out.”
Grossman had a big contribution in the game also. He scored the winning goal with 2:20 left in the five-minute overtime.
Nick Smith picked up the puck in his defensive zone and saw Grossman ahead of him. He hit him with a pass, and Grossman fired a wrist shot past Pennsbury goalie Aaron McDaniel.
It seems that the two teams have started a rivalry on the ice. It might appear strange since they are separated by a bit of distance.
“We kind of created a Souderton-Pennsbury rivalry,” Daley said. “No matter how good either team is, it’s always a tight one.”
This one certainly was.
Chris Sarver put the first point on the board for the Falcons, beating Paulus with an unassisted goal at the 7:12 mark. But one minute and forty seconds later, Jackson Kelly tied the game with a goal for the Indians off an assist from Smith.
Nearly two minutes later, Maxwell Ryon gave Souderton the lead at 10:50. It didn’t last too long as Stephen Grosscup tied it for Pennsbury with 40 seconds remaining in the period.
If you thought there were a lot of goals in the first period, you were right, but there were more in the second. The teams combined to score five goals in the second stanza.
Marcus Roberts gave the Falcons the lead at 3-2 before Souderton came back with two power-play goals, one from Pierceson Egan and one from Smith. Pennsbury notched the final two goals of the period, both on the power-play also with Logan Doyle and Jason Fowler getting the scores.
It was almost anticlimactic that only one goal was scored in the third period. Ryon got that one at the 12:30 mark.
All of which set things up for Grossman, who finished it off with his goal in overtime.
But it all came back to the play of Paulus in the net. He made sprawling saves, especially in the overtime, to keep the Indians going.
“He won this game for us,” Uchniat said. “I’m just so proud to see it.
“He’s a guy who has earned it. If he sticks with it, he might be able to stretch this pretty far.”
Souderton 6, Pennsbury 5
Pennsbury 2 3 0 0 — 5
Souderton 2 2 1 1 — 6
First period: 1, Chris Sarver P (unassisted) 7:12; 2, Jackson Kelly S (Nick Smith) 8:52; 3, Maxwell Ryon S (Matt Malanga) 10:50; 4, Stephen Grossup P (Shane Gleisner, Kevin DeRosa) 16:20.
Second period: 5, Marcus Roberts P (Evan Eisler, DeRosa) 5:10; 6, Matthew Cross S (Seth Grossman, M. Ryon) 6:07 PP; 7, Smith S (unassisted)12:03 PP; 8, Logan Doyle P (C. Sarver, Jason Fowler) 14:07 PP; 9, Fowler P (Doyle) 14:40 PP.
Third period: 10, M. Ryon S (Malanga, Grossman) 12:30.
Overtime: 11, Grossman S (Smith) 2:40.
Shots: P 33, S 24. Saves: Aaron McDaniel (P) 18, Connor Paulus (S) 28.
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