By Scott Huff
The teams of the Suburban One High School League have reached the halfway mark of its regular season. And the teams that are currently on the bottom of their respective conference standings – Central Bucks West, Plymouth Whitemarsh, and William Tennent - are anything but discouraged as the season goes along.
Suburban High School Hockey League
Continental Conference
Central Bucks West (1-8-2 – 4 points) is coming off a pair of competitive losses to the two premier teams in the entire SHSHL – Council Rock South (10-0-1) and Council Rock North (10-0-1).
“We played right with both of them, and they are the best two teams we have seen all season,” said Central Bucks West coach Dave Baun. “We continue to improve, we have moved the puck better, and we have not been blown out of games.
“Our biggest improvement has been defensively,” added Baun. “Colin Kreft, David Parkinson, and Will Jones have all been tremendous lately on defense.
“Plus it was great to get Matt Wing back,” said Baun of his senior who returned from a fracture of his left arm. “He gave us a huge lift offensively against Council Rock South with a hat trick.”Wing scored an unassisted goal in the first period as the Bucks played the Golden Hawks to a 1-1 tie in a contest played at the Face-Off Circle in Warminster.
Wing also scored a power play goal in the second period as West fell behind, 3-2, and Wing also scored an even strength goal as the Bucks eventually fell to Rock South, 5-3.
“I feel that we are going to have a much better second half of the season,” said Baun. “We need to keep improving.”
Central Bucks South (5-5-1 – 11 points) remained on top of the conference standings despite a recent 5-4 loss to CR South (10-0-1) in a game played at the Warwick Ice Arena.
The goal scorers for the Titans were Tom Doughty – who scored a pair of goals – Kevin Carter and Nick Gibson. Carter also has three assists.
South net minder Dennis Ruff had 17 saves on 22 Rock South shots on goal.
Central Bucks East (5-6-1 – 11 points) played Neshaminy to a 3-3 SHSHL tie in a recent game played at the Grundy Ice Rink in Bristol.
The Patriots led the Skins 3-1 behind a two-goal performance by John Esposito and a single goal by Nick Partuillo.
The goaltender for Central Bucks East was Justin Golia who stopped 19 of 22 Neshaminy shots.
Souderton (5-4 – 10 points) came up with a 6-4 victory over winless William Tennent (0-7-5) in a conference game played at Hatfield Ice.
The Indians trailed 4-2 after two periods, but scored four unanswered goals in the third period. Michael McCarthy scored two goals for the winners, while Brian McMullin and Colin Montgomery each scored single goals.
Drew Politsky earned the win for Souderton with 18 saves of 22 Panther shots on goal.
North Penn (3-6-2 – 8 points) defeated Abington (2-6-2) in an SHSHL league contest played at Hatfield Ice.
Kevin Kerwick scored a pair of goals for the Knights, while Allan Fenton, Shane Kerwick, and Dan Corrado each scored single goals.
Jon Ford manned the nets for the winners and registered 29 saves on 31 Ghost shots on goal.
Pennridge (3-6-2 – 8 points) had two very tough games recently against the high flying Pennsbury Falcons (9-2). The Rams lost 7-2 and followed with a 9-0 setback.
The lone goal scorer for PHS in the first of the two Pennsbury games was Shane Lyons who scored a pair of goals.
In the two games, the Rams were out shot by a staggering 61-30.
Suburban High School Hockey League
American Conference
Plymouth Whitemarsh (1-8-1 overall, 0-6 – 0 points SHSHL) has had its collective hands full with a roster of only 10 active players.
“We are a little shorthanded most games,” said Plymouth Whitemarsh head coach Luke McCarty. “But the kids have worked hard, and we are having a good season.
“We have half the season left, and we feel we can get things going,” continued McCarty. “We are getting better – and that is everyone on the roster from top to bottom.”Plymouth Whitemash is coming off a 3-3 tie with Bishop McDevitt recently in a game played at the Old York Road Rink.
“We have a good idea of what we have to do,” said McCarty. “We are going to have to keep working to get better.”
In the McDevitt deadlock, the Colonials scored the final goal to forge the tie. Matt Willits scored the game-tying goal on an assist from Kenny Yanni. The other goal scorers for PW were Phil Iaccarino and Andrew Cox.
Anthony Lamin was solid in goal with 25 saves on 28 Lancer shots.
Wissahickon (7-3 overall, 4-0- 8 points SHSHL) remained perfect in the conference with a recent 4-2 win over Upper Dublin (2-3-1) in a recent game played at Old York Road.
The Trojans – who fired 23 shots on goal in the first period alone – had four players find the back of the net. David Ko, Jules Lever, Joey Sutkow, and Sean Delaney all scored for the winners.
The goalkeeper for Wissy was Adam Solomon who gave up two third period goals and recorded 19 saves.
Hatboro-Horsham (6-3-1 overall, 3-0-1 – 7 points SHSHL) moved up to play a Class AA team – Boyertown – and lost to the Bears by a 7-1 count. The Hatters trailed by just 2-1 after the first two periods.
The only score for Hatboro-Horsham came in the second period on a power play goal by Evan Wreen on assists from Manny Billones and Tim Boyle.
Goaltender Vincent Mirachi was excellent in the first two periods and ended with 23 saves for the game.
Upper Dublin (4-4-1 overall, 2-3-1 – 5 points SHSHL) dropped its last game to conference leader Wissahickon, 4-2, in an SHSHL game played at Old York Road.
The Flying Cardinals rallied for two third period goals to make the score respectable. The goal scorers for UD were Samuel Etskovitz and Jacob Long.
Michael Swiren faced 41 shots on goal and came up with 37 saves.
Upper Moreland (10-2 overall) played ‘up’ in its 5-4 win over Spring Ford. The Rams are a Class AA team, while the Golden Bears are a Class A squad.
Upper Moreland had five different players score goals in the win. Anthony Moore scored the game winner in the third period – Bobby Cervone, Anthony Sher, Brian Callahan, and Jordon Storz each scored single goals for the Bears.
Jared Buch had a fine outing in net for Upper Moreland with 22 saves on 26 shots on goal.
Suburban High School Hockey League
National Conference
William Tennent (0-7-5 – 5 points) may be winless, but the Panthers just may have the best goalie in the SHSHL in Eric Horrox.
“Eric is lightening quick,” said William Tennent head coach Jim Stampler. “He is the reason that we are in almost every game, and he is the reason that we are going to win games in the second half.
“Our biggest problem right now is numbers,” added Stampler. “We only have 13 skaters, and we tend to run out of gas in the third period.”
Stampler pointed out that the Panthers had a 4-2 lead over Souderton in its last SHSHL contest. But the Indians scored four unanswered goals in the third period to secure the 6-4 win in a contest played at Hatfield Ice.
“Depth is going to be an issue for us all season,” said Stampler. “We don’t have a junior varsity program, and we are very limited with what we can with our roster.
“We have a young team, and we are getting better every game,” continued Stampler. “And with Eric in goal, we can compete with every team in our league.”
Council Rock North (10-0-1 – 21 points) broke open a tight game with CB West (1-8-2) before claiming a 5-1 win in an SHSHL contest played at the Face-Off Circle in Warminister.
Both Tim Kroh and Kyle Weitz scored a pair of goals to pace the Indian offense, while Thomas Elmer chipped in with a single goal.
Rock North goalie Jessie Goldberg allowed a single goal and registered 15 saves.
Council Rock South (10-0-1 – 21 points) kept pace with Rock North with a 5-4 SHSHL victory over Central Bucks South (5-5-1) in a game played at the Warwick Ice Arena.
Scoring single goals for the Golden Hawks were Zack Goodman, Tyler Deitrick, Patrick Grilli, Colin Craige, and Peter Malamund.
Rock South net minder David Chiokadze came up with 20 saves on 24 shots on goal.
Pennsbury (9-2 – 18 points) kept pace with both Rock North and Rock South with a 9-0 rout of Pennridge (3-6-2) in a contest played at the Grundy Ice Center.
Brett Incollingo led the Falcon attack with a pair of goals. Single goal scorers for PHS included Ken McCormick, Sean Harlow, Matt Mager, Colin Haley, Erik Rinehold, Phil Herring, and Matt Topley.
Falcon goalie Tim Wunder came up with 14 saves to record the shutout.
Neshaminy (2-6-2 – 6 points) tied Central Bucks East in a recent SHSHL game played at the Grundy Ice Arena – 3-3.
The goal scorers for the Redskins were Shane Thomas – with a pair of goals – and Jake Kitchenman.
Collin Mazer was in goal for Neshaminy and came up with 25 saves on 28 shots on goal.
Abington (2-6-2 – 6 points) dropped its last SHSHL contest when the Ghosts fell to North Penn (3-6-2), 5-2.
The goal scorers for Abington were Jimmy McKee and Thailner.
Ghost goalie Thomas Kain stopped 19 of 23 Knight shots on goal.
This Week in the SHSHL
12/16/09
Lansdale Catholic vs Upper Dublin @ Hatfield 9 pm
12/17/09
Central Bucks South vs Neshaminy @ Warwick 6:50 pm
Council Rock North vs Pennridge @ Face-Off 7 pm
Pennsbury vs North Penn @ Grundy 7:15 pm
Abington vs CB West @ Old York Road 7:20 pm
William Tennent vs Souderton @ Face-Off 8:40 pm
12/18/09
Central Bucks East vs Pennsbury @ Warwick 6:50 pm
Council Rock South vs North Penn @ Face-Off 7:20 pm
Lansdale Catholic vs Hatboro-Horsham @ Hatfield 9 pm
Wissahickon vs Upper Moreland @ Face-Off 9 pm
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