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By Scott Huff
WARWICK – Both Wissahickon and Hatboro-Horsham were playing for first place in the Suburban High School Hockey League American Division when the puck was dropped at the Warwick Ice Arena last night.And both teams played like it as the Trojans (5-0-0 SHSHL, 8-4-0 overall) skated to a hotly contested 4-2 victory over the Hatters (3-1-1 SHSHL, 7-4-1 overall).
“Of course you want to win every game, but some games are bigger than others,” said Wissahickon head coach Ryan McLaughlin. “This game was huge for us – we want this program to turn the corner.”
“The (championship) should really come down to one us,” said Hatboro-Horsham head coach Mike Shiels. “We get to see them two more times this year, we will have to take advantage of those games.
“We are still a team that is going through some growing pains,” added Shiels. “We had our opportunities tonight, we had some good chances to score goals.”Wissahickon controlled the action for most of the first two periods. The Trojans fired 27 shots on goal the first two periods compared to just 12 shots by the Hatters.
The first Wissy goal came on an unassisted - even strength - goal by David Ko at the 9:30 mark. And the Trojans followed with a second first period goal when Joey Sutkow scored with just 15 seconds left in the period.
Wissahickon continued to dominate the contest early in the second period. A goal by David Patski – on an assist from Ko – came at the 13:25 mark and stretched the Trojan lead to 3-0.
It was here that the momentum of the game began to shift in favor of the Hatters.
“Jimmy (Salfitti) did a great job of keeping us in the game,” said Shiels of his goaltender. “He made some tough saves and was solid all night.”
Hatboro-Horsham scored its first goal before the close of the second period. Keith Eisenberg scored unassisted with 6:54 left to shave the lead to 3-1. It was Eisenberg’s 13th goal of the season.The Hatters came within a single goal by scoring at the outset of the third period. With 10:50 remaining in the game, Manny Billones scored on assists from Chris Flannery and Tim Boyle to cut the lead to 3-2.
“Hatboro rebounded very well,” said McLaughlin. “They have a good team, and that is what good teams do.”
Ko – who played in the Hatboro-Horsham ‘system’ as an eighth grader – did not score the game winner – but the game clincher – with 4:03 left in the game to make the score 4-2.
“I just wanted to get the shot on goal,” said Ko – who has now scored 10 goals this season. “It definitely made it more comfortable to skate the last two minutes.
“We really wanted to win the game,” added Ko – a senior. “We worked very hard – we had to.”
Salfitti – who bordered on spectacular for most of the game in the nets for the Hatters – took giving up the decisive goal in stride.
“He (Ko) was very fast and got by our defensemen,” said Salfitti who recorded 34 saves on the night. “He beat me to the ‘5’ hole, and that was that. It was guessing game, and he guessed right.”
But there in no guessing who is in first place – for the moment – in the SHSHL American Division.
Wissahickon.
Hatboro-Horsham 0 1 1 - 2 19 shots on goal
Wissahickon 2 1 1 - 4 38 shots on goal
First Period
W: David Ko (unassisted) 9:30
W: Joey Sutkow (Brian Kaissi) 0:15
Second Period
W: David Patski (Ko) 13:25
HH: Keith Eisenberg (unassisted) 6:54
Third Period
HH: Manny Billones (Chris Flannery, Tim Boyle) 10:50
W: Ko (Pat Wilson) 4:03
Goaltending:
W: Adam Solomon -- 17 saves
HH: Jimmy Salfitti -- 34 saves
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