Central Bucks East defeated Souderton in SHSHL ice hockey action at Hatfield Ice. Ben Reese recaps the action. Souderton/CB East photos courtesy of Tracy Valko. CLICK HERE to go directly to Suburban One Sports' ICE HOCKEY GALLERIES.
By Ben Reese
HATFIELD — It’s funny how, in an ice hockey game, penalties can play a very important part in the outcome.
Central Bucks East and Souderton both know that. But it was the Patriots who wound up on the good end while
the Indians were hurt by penalties in the 7-4 win for East in a key Suburban High School Hockey League National Division game at Hatfield Ice.
The Patriots made it through the game with a minimum of problems with skaters in the penalty box. But the Big Red got caught in a squeeze which hurt badly.
Souderton’s difficulty came in the third period when one of its players was called for a two-minute minor penalty plus a 10-minute head contact call. It took one of its better players off the ice for more than 12 minutes when the Indians really needed him.
“We started with nine (players) tonight,” Souderton coach Scott Ryan said. “We’ve got six injuries.
“One penalty hurts you. A two-and-10 to one of our better players really puts us in a tough position. I think ultimately that’s what got us.”
During that period, East scored two goals to take the lead at 5-4 before adding two more tallies to finish with the final score.
For East coach Jeff Mitchell, the lack of penalties was something that his team really needed.
“I wasn’t too thrilled with how we kind of took our foot off the gas in the second and into the third period,” he said, “but I was happy that we were able to squeak it out at the end.
“And stay out of the box because against the better teams in the league, they are making us pay every single time we get down a man.”
For East, it was Alex Wilson who made sure that his team got the much-needed victory. He scored what proved
to be the game-winner and then added an empty-net goal to make sure of it.
How did that game-winner come about, Alex?
“I just crashed the net,” he said. “My teammate threw it up, it went through the air, and I just hit it in.”
Not with a high stick, hopefully.
“No,” Wilson responded. “I made sure it bounced first.”
The win was very important for East in two areas, the current standings heading toward the playoffs and the upcoming Flyers Cup.
“(The win) is almost everything,” said Mitchell.
Wilson agreed.
“This one was huge for us,” he said. “It sets a nice tone for the future games coming up. Our game tomorrow (Friday) against CR North, we’ll come out hot, get the W and get up in the standings for the playoffs.”
East got off to a quick start, scoring twice in the first period. Gavin Widmer put the Pats up 1-0 at the 4:55 mark and Evan Asimakopoulos netted the second one near the end of the stanza (16:21)
Joseph Walter added a third goal for East on the power play at 7:24 of the second period. Things looked good for the Patriots at that point.
But then Souderton woke up. The Indians came roaring back with two goals in the space of 42 seconds to narrow the deficit to one goal. Matthew Cross scored the first and Nicholas Smith found the net with the second.
That set up the third period. Souderton scored twice early in the third to take the lead at 4-3 as Matthew Cross and Max Ryon both found the back of the net.
However, the Indians couldn’t hold it. East scored the next four goals to take the win.
Widmer scored his second goal of the game at 4:53 to tie the score. Then Wilson tallied his game-winner followed by the third score for Widmer and Wilson’s empty-netter.
Wilson’s scoring isn’t a surprise to Mitchell.
“He’s at the top of the heap this year,” the coach said. “I hope to see it continue.
“He’s very creative. He’s got pure power and pure will to get to the net. It’s not always pretty but sometimes it is.”
Ryon had nothing but praise for his players.
“At the end of the game, I’m proud of the kids,” he said. “I thought they played really hard.
“They fought back, a 3-0 deficit, got it tied, went ahead on a shorthanded 5-on-3 which doesn’t happen often. But at the end of the day, we couldn’t afford any penalties, and we got a few.”
They always seem to come back and bite you.
CB East 7, Souderton 4
CB East 2 1 4 — 7
Souderton 0 2 2 — 4
First period: 1, Gavin Widmer CBE (Jaden Young, Evan Asimakopoulos) 4:55; 2, Asimakopoulos CBE (Widmer) 16:21.
Second period: 3, Joseph Walter CBE (Pat O’Brien) 7:24 PP; 4, Matthew Cross S (Cameron Fairweather) 13:36 SH; 5, Nicholas Smith S (Cross, Max Ryon) 14:18 SH.
Third period: 6, Cross S (Ryon) 1:19; 7, Ryon S (unassisted) 3:28 SH; 8, Widmer CBE (Sam Gottesman) 4:52; 9, Alex Wilson CBE (Charlie Keiser) 10:32; 10, Widmer CBE (unassisted) 15:39; 11, Wilson (unassisted) 16:40 EN.
Shots: CBE 34, S 34.
Saves: Cole Breen (CBE) 30, Connor Paulus (S) 28.
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