WARMINSTER – Jared Burch made 52 saves in Upper Moreland’s SHSL Class A semifinal victory over top-seeded Lansdale Catholic. In Wednesday’s Class A Finals Game 1 against Upper Dublin, the Golden Bears’ keeper made 35 stops.So what do you do for an encore? All Burch did was to turn aside 44 more shots – including 19 in the third period – to hold off Upper Dublin as the fourth-seeded Bears completed the sweep with a 4-2 victory to claim the SHSHL Class A Championship at the Bucks County Ice Sports Center.
“It all starts with the goaltending and ends with the goaltending,” said Upper Moreland coach Jim Stampler. “He throws this team on his back and just goes.”
“For the playoffs, everyone steps it up, especially the goalies,” Burch said.
The Golden Bears – who are no strangers to being outshot in games – withstood a furious Upper Dublin rally attempt in the third period. Trailing 3-0, the Cardinals unleashed 21 shots in the final frame, with Burch making leaping, lunging and acrobatic saves to deny the Cards. Upper Dublin did make things interesting when they scored on a Robbie DeGregorio rebound on a 5-on-3 power play with 4:32 left, then pulled to within one 50 seconds later when Gil Lederhandler redirected a Sam Etskovitz shot from the point. But Burch came up with a pair of saves down the stretch to keep the Cards from completing the comeback.
“Even when they scored the goals, Jared just gets fired up and played better,” Stampler said.
“Jared is by far our most valuable player,” said forward Matt Baumgardner. “If we didn’t have him, we wouldn’t have been able to do anything we did all year. We were outshot by every team all year, he keeps us in every single game. He’s unbelievable.”
Baumgardner – who scored the overtime game-winner against Lansdale Catholic – came up big again in this game. He netted a pair of goals, including the critical first goal with just six ticks left on the first-period clock.
“That was textbook dump-and-chase,” Baumgardner said. “Nick (Park Jr.) dumps it in, Sean (Lloyd) throws it out in front, I just hold it till I had the opening.”
“We told them, if we could get the first goal, we thought the game was ours,” Stampler said. “It was so big to not let them get in the game. We felt if we could get a lead, that every goal we got, they were going to start getting tighter and tighter.”
The Bears added to their lead just over a minute into the second period when a Robert Goold shot from the point found its way through a mass of bodies in front and past Upper Dublin keeper Zach Hanson (20 saves). Upper Moreland made it 3-0 midway through the period when Baumgardner scored his second of the game.
Burch made a pair of quality stops on Upper Dublin sniper Tyler Peskin late in the second period, as well as a stop on a Jonathan Bebey blast from the point to keep the Cardinals off the board.
“Once we get a lead like that, with Jared back there, we feel pretty confident,” said Upper Moreland senior defenseman Matthew Hoagland. “Jared’s a great goaltender, one of the best in the state. I’m glad to have him on our side.”
Park was awarded a goal with 22 seconds left in the game when an Upper Dublin player threw his stick at the puck in the Cardinal defensive zone while the net was empty. As the rule book states, a thrown stick with the goalie pulled results in a goal, whether the puck has been shot or not.
Twenty-two seconds later, the improbable playoff journey was completed and the SHSHL Class A Championship belonged to the underdog Golden Bears.
“If somebody would have told me at the beginning of the year, I wouldn’t have believed it,” Stampler said. “We have such a young team. But youth is on our side, we just go out and have fun. We talked about it again tonight, just go out, have fun.
“Personally, this means a lot. I went to Upper Moreland, I came back to coach this team. To win a championship with them is a great feeling. And we’ve never been to the Flyers Cup, so it’s a great accomplishment. And they’re only going to get better.”
The Golden Bears (12-11 overall) will begin their pursuit of the Flyers Cup on March 6 at the Bucks County Ice Sports Center. The 15th seeded Golden Bears will host 18th seed Radnor in a 6:40 p.m. matchup.
But the team will take the next few days to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Following the game, Hoagland stood in the arena lobby, a huge smile on his face and the Class A Championship trophy firmly in his grasp, as he expounded on his plans.
“I’m taking it into school and showing everybody,” he said of the hardware. “I’m showing the principal, ‘This is what we got.’ It feels amazing. I can’t even explain it.
“We’re going to enjoy this for a couple of days, start practice Monday, and then we start the Flyers Cup on Tuesday. We’ll be ready.”
NOTES … Upper Dublin is seeded 16th in the Class A Flyers Cup tournament and will host 17th-seeded Williamstown at 6:40 p.m. March 5 at Bucks County Ice Sports Center.
Upper Dublin 0 0 2 – 2
Upper Moreland 1 2 1 – 4
Scoring
First period
UM – Matt Baumgardner (Nick Park Jr.), :06.
Second period
UM – Robert Goold (unassisted), 13:58.
UM – Baumgardner (Goold), 7:12.
Third period
UD – Robbie DeGregorio (Sam Etskovitz, Ben Hoffmann), 4:32.
UD – Gil Lederhandler (Etskovitz), PP, 3:42.
UM – Park (unassisted), EN, :22.
Shots on goal
Upper Dublin 6 19 21 – 46
Upper Moreland 7 11 6 – 24
Saves
Jared Burch (UM) 44; Zach Hanson (UD) 20.
TITANS SWEEP KNIGHTS FOR CLASS AA TITLE
WARMINSTER – This year’s seniors were the foundation of the Central Bucks South ice hockey team. As such, the early days weren’t always easy.
Now they stand atop the mountain.
The Titans scored twice in the third period to break a 2-2 tie and complete the two-game sweep over North Penn to claim the school’s first SHSHL Class AA Championship at Bucks County Ice Sports Center.
“It’s special for Tim (DiRugeris) and Zimmy (Karl Zimmerman) and Adam (Calabrese), those guys that were there in the beginning,” said Titans’ coach Tom Coyne. “We took our lumps when we were younger. Now we’ve got our first Suburban League Championship at Central Bucks South.”
“There are no words to describe it,” said Calabrese, who backstopped the Titans through the past three playoff games. “I’m so honored to be in the net, through all the ups and downs we’ve been through.”
Calabrese turned aside 58 of the 64 shots he faced en route to the championship, including 26 saves in Game 2. The senior netminder stopped 12 of 13 shots in the second period, including a number of huge saves to keep the game close.
“It all starts with Adam,” DiRugeris said. “He comes up big every game for us.”
“North Penn is very good offensively. They pester you with shots,” Calabrese said. “I knew I had to stay focused, stay in the game and make the saves I needed to make. The biggest thing for a goalie is to have confidence in the defense and we have the best defense in the league.”
With momentum swinging back and forth, the top two seeds in the Class AA playoffs battled fiercely through the first two periods of Thursday’s Game 2. South struck first when sophomore Jake Bauer ripped a rebound from the bottom of the faceoff circle that snuck under the arm of North Penn goalie Cody Matthews. The Knights answered five minutes later when Matt Stella deflected a Mike Raimo shot from the point to tie the game at 1-1 after the first period.
The Knights took a 2-1 lead early in the second when a Caleb Witzaney shot was saved by Calabrese, but the rebound popped up in the air. Ryan Merk grabbed the spinning disc in front of the crease, dropped it to the ice, and ripped home a power play goal. A Connor Bechtel slap shot on a crossing pass in front of the net evened the score at 2-2 heading into the final period.
“We came back from a deficit (in Game 1) in the third,” Calabrese said. “We showed some heart and showed we wanted to win. And when we went down again today I knew we could come back and finish it off.”
Much like in Game 1, the Titans scored a key goal early in the third. Bauer netted his second when a North Penn defender checked Bechtel off the puck deep in the Knights’ defensive end, but the puck lay untouched along the goal line. Bauer picked it up, headed to the net and roofed the puck into the top of the goal.
“That was just a gift, for the puck to pop right out like that,” Bauer said.
“Nick (DeLaurentis) and Connor draw a lot of attention from opponents, and it’s well-deserved,” Coyne said. “But silently, all year, guys like Bauer, (Jimmy) Milanese have really played well for us.”
Bechtel gave the Titans an insurance goal with 5:30 remaining when he corralled a misplayed North Penn pass and swooped in on a breakaway, putting on a beautiful move to deke the goalkeeper and calmly deposit a shorthanded goal into the cage.
“Another good third period,” Coyne said. “We had a little bit of late heroics, but we’ll take it.”
The Titan defense and Calabrese did the rest throughout the third. After allowing 23 shots through the first two periods, South allowed just five in the third. Calabrese made a nice glove save on a Doub Barber shot on a 3-on-2 midway through the period, and went to the ice to make a terrific stop on a Merk attempt in the final minute.
“I have all the confidence in the world in my defense,” Calabrese said. “We have guys who will dive in front of shots, guys who stand in front of the net to clear out rebounds. When they have my back, I have theirs.”
Following up their undefeated league season (16-0-1), the Titans have claimed their first league championship (while improving their overall record to 21-2-2).
And there’s more to come. Central Bucks South will carry the top seed into the Flyers Cup Class AA Tournament. The Titans will host the winner of the March 6 game between 16th seed Central Bucks East and 17th seed Hempfield in a second-round matchup at 7 p.m. March 8 at Warwick Ice Arena.
“Winning the title is a special thing and hopefully it’s just one of many to come this month,” Coyne said. “This could be real special for this team.”
“We’re going to enjoy this for the weekend, then Monday at practice, we’re back to Stage1,” Calabrese said. “We’re back to the beginning. We’ve got to work our way up through the Flyers Cup. That’s our next goal.”
NOTES … North Penn will look to rebound when it begins Flyers Cup play on March 8. The Knights, seeded second in the tournament, will host the winner of the March 5 game between Avon Grove (15th seed) and Wilson (18) in an 8 p.m. March 8 game at Hatfield Ice.
Central Bucks South 1 1 2 – 4
North Penn 1 1 0 – 2
Scoring
First period
CBS – Jake Bauer (Jimmy Milanesi), 7:53.
NP – Matt Stella (Mike Raimo, Caleb Witzaney), 2:49.
Second period
NP – Ryan Merk (Witzaney), PP, 12:39.
CBS – Connor Bechtel (Bobby Mallon, Tim DiRugeris), PP, 11:05.
Third period
CBS – Bauer (Mallon, Brandon Spognardi), 13:27.
CBS – Bechtel (unassisted), SH, 5:30.
Shots on goal
Central Bucks South 8 13 8 – 29
North Penn 10 13 5 – 28
Saves
Adam Calabrese (CBS) 26; Cody Matthews (NP) 25.
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