COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH vs. COUNCIL ROCK NORTH
This is the matchup that most expected. And the matchup everyone wants to see.
Council Rock North and Council Rock South ... rivals, club teammates, top two teams in the SHSHL National Division, if not in the league itself ... meeting once again with the Varsity AA championship on the line.
The two teams have already provided two stellar games this season, and nothing less than two or three more tightly played battles are expected from the finals.
"You want to finish on top for bragging rights. But it's all good, clean hockey," said South coach Joe Houk. "A lot of these kids on both teams know each other, they play together on club teams. I've been friends with (North coach) Eric Tye for 20 years."
While both teams boast high-octane offenses (five of the top 10 league scoring leaders are on either South or North), both coaches expect the upcoming series to be low-scoring affairs. And that can be directly attributed to the masked men between the pipes.
"I've been saying for the last two years, I've got the best goalie in all of high school hockey," Tye said of his senior netminder, Jessie Goldberg. "He's been here four years, and I've never seen him as focused as he is right now. I've never seen him this hot. He's let up more than two goals in a game three times this year. And it's not just him, the five guys in front of him do the job, too."
Goldberg has a shutout to his name this season as well as seven games (including two in the playoffs) in which he's allowed only one goal.
"Any high-scoring games I think are going to be a fluke," Houk said. "Jessie's a hell of a goaltender. If he stands on his head, it's going to be hard to get one by him."
Of course, Houk has a pretty solid netminder in senior Sean Boyd, who has posted a shutout and had five games in which he allowed just one goal, as well as a very capable backup in David Chiokadze, who has a pair of goose-eggs this season.
"Sean's the senior, he's earned it, and we're going with him right now," Houk said. "Sean's been awesome all season. Even in the playoff game against Central Bucks South (a 7-4 Golden Hawks' victory), he got stronger and stronger as the game went on."
Another key to this series, according to both coaches, may not be their respective top offensive lines, but rather getting production out of the second and third lines.
"Our third line knows what their role is, they give the others a breather," Tye said. "That third line is key: AJ Garboski (2 goals,1 assist), Jim McKenzie (1,2) and Alex Trier (2, 5). They do a good job. And it's not like they're playing every third shift. They can sit while we're shifting the first line then the second line then first line again. But they make the plays when they're out there. And they're the biggest cheerleaders on the bench. This is a good learning experience for those guys."
Houk echoed the sentiment in regards to his squad.
"My second and third lines will be key," he said. "They're the most important assets of the team. Our first line is going to be there. The defense is always there. But if we can get great production out of the other guys, that's the key. A lot of the games, (opposing teams) try to shut down your number one line, we've had a lot of guys scoring and contributing."
Both teams will be looking to take a quick start in the series and take control with a Game 1 win. While the Golden Hawks are flying high with five straight wins (by a combined score of 33-11), the Indians have won seven of their past eight games, including a thrilling overtime victory over Pennsbury to clinch a berth in the finals.
"To go through what they did last week, playing a game late Wednesday (a 4-1 win over Pennridge) and then playing 5 p.m. Thursday and going to overtime, that's growing up lessons right there," Tye said. "We're where we need to be right now."
As far as injuries go, the Hawks enter the series without Jonathan Houk, who is likely out for the rest of the season with a broken collarbone. Zack Goodman is expected to be ready to play in the series opener.
And as with all playoff series -- and local rivalries -- past games mean nothing. All that matters now is winning two of the next three games. Both teams are ready. Both teams want it. Both believe they're capable of winning the championship.
Still, neither coach wanted to provide any added incentive to the opposition, choosing instead to focus on the respect and skill that will be on display in the Varsity AA final.
"It's going to be hard-nosed and physical," Houk said. "It should be interesting. We're excited. If North is at the top of their game, it's going to be really tough. But my guys have been through this all before, with the playoffs and the Flyers Cup. We'll be ready."
"The biggest concern is winning the Suburban League championship, that's the goal every team has," Tye said. "The next goal is the most important -- you've got the Flyers Cup coming up, and you put the best two teams in the league, everyone expects it to go three games, we're going to be beating the hell out of each other, the goal is for both teams to come out healthy.
"But Council Rock South expects to win and Council Rock North expects to win. I expect them all to be close games, I don't predict any blowouts. But I do believe that Game 1 is huge. Whoever wins Game 1 and then has two days to rest is really in the driver's seat."
Regular season records
Council Rock South 19-0-3 (21-0-3 overall) for 41 points, first in National Division
Council Rock North 19-2-1 (21-2-1 overall) for 39 points, second in National Division
Goals scored: Council Rock South 142, Council Rock North 120
Goals allowed: Council Rock North 43, Council Rock South 44
Season series
Nov. 25 Council Rock South 2, Council Rock North 2
Jan. 22 Council Rock South 3, Council Rock North 1
Scoring leaders
Council Rock South: Patrick Grilli (40 goals, 35 assists); Tyler Dietrick (23, 47); Peter Malamud (24, 45)
Council Rock North: Scott Titus (25, 36); Kyle Weitz (35, 17); Thomas Elmer (17, 25)
Playoffs
Council Rock North def. Pennridge, 4-1 (Feb. 24)
Council Rock South def. Abington, 5-0
Council Rock North def. Pennsbury, 2-1 OT (Feb. 25)
Council Rock South def. Central Bucks South, 7-4
Varsity AA Finals
March 1, Council Rock North at Council Rock South, 6:50 p.m., Face-Off Circle
March 4, Council Rock South at Council RockNorth, 7 p.m., Face-Off Circle
March 5, Council Rock North at Council Rock South, 7:20 p.m., Face-Off Circle (if necessary)
WISSAHICKON vs. UPPER DUBLIN
No matter the sport, no matter the records ... when neighborhood rivals Upper Dublin and Wissahickon play each other, fireworks are sure to ensue.
Add a league title into the mix, and the upcoming Varsity A finals could be a blockbuster of a series.
Wissahickon enters the series confident but not cocky, winners of six straight and having lost only once in calendar year 2010. The Trojans faced a scrappy Plymouth-Whitemarsh team in the semifinal, with the score tied at 4-4 heading into the third period before the Trojans pulled away for a 7-5 win.
"That game wakes us up again," Wissahickon coach Ryan McLaughlin said. "We're ready for this. We're going to keep doing what we've been doing, it's been successful for us so far.
"We have the composure to break open a tight game with the team we have, but the first period is really important. We had a game against PW (a 3-0 loss on Jan. 14) where we went down in the first period and we weren't able to climb back, so the first period is very important to us."
And while a fast start may be the goal for the Trojans, the first period will also answer a lot of questions as to how well Upper Dublin will be react to the loss of senior leaders Jacob Long and Alex Faust.
"We lost Long and Faust over the last two games," said Cardinals coach Chris Seamens. "But the younger guys have stepped up. We're down two senior starters, and our third senior is the goalie (Michael Swiren). Half the group are freshmen. You've got young kids playing with bigger, stronger, older kids. We challenged those guys, we told them, 'It is your time now. You can't be leaning on anybody, it's your time to step up.'"
Leading scorer Brian Markman will lead the way for the Cardinals, and Seamens said he is looking for the likes of Steve Barbera (9 goals, 9 assists), Robbie Degregorio (6, 6) and freshmen Sam Etskovitz (9, 10) and Tyler Peskin (9, 6) to continue to mature and contribute to the effort.
"I want the guys to play at their best, be at their best," Seamens said. "And if they can do that and do it consistently, they might not be the best team on the ice, but they'll be successful, win or lose."
Consistency may be the defining characteristic of the Wissahickon squad this season, with just one league loss and only a few stumbles along the way. The Trojans also feature one of the more spread-out offenses in the Suburban High School Hockey League, with 11 players in double-digit scoring, a pair of 20-goal scorers and three more with more than 10 tallies each.
And they can do more than just put the puck in the net.
"It's important to have a lot of offensive balance," McLaughlin said. "And they do it all. David Ko, for example, is one guy I have full confidence in in any situation -- power play, penalty kill, last minute of a game."
Both teams enter the finals with high hopes, and expectations that this series will be a hard-fought battle.
"The rivalry is a huge part of this, even with the guys on the coaching staff," Seamens said. "Wissahickon has always been a rival for years.
"Wissahickon is very consistent, that's the big thing. They're a physical team, they wear you down. We need to make sure we're doing the things to make sure we're not worn down. I'm looking for guys to step up, change the progression of what's happened (between the two teams) so far this season."
The rivalry and respect is mutual. As expected, though, the Trojans' expectations vary slightly from the Cards'.
"Upper Dublin has a lot of good players. They're going to come at us with a strong effort, so we have to be ready for that," McLaughlin said. "But, honestly, I think we feel that the way we're playing now, if we lost this series, it's going to be a disappointment."
Regular season records
Wissahickon (14-5-0 overall, 8-1-0 American Division, 16 points, first place)
Upper Dublin (9-9-1 overall, 4-4-1 American Division, 9 points, tied-second place)
Goals scored: Wissahickon 124; Upper Dublin 104
Goals allowed; Wissahickon 65, Upper Dublin 94
Season series
Oct. 29 Wissahickon 10, Upper Dublin 2
Dec. 10, Wissahickon 4, Upper Dublin 2
Feb. 3, Wissahickon 11, Upper Dublin 5
Scoring leaders
Wissahickon ... Joey Sutow (22 goals, 17 assists); Pat Delaney (20, 13); Sean Delaney (14, 14)
Upper Dublin ... Brian Markman (30, 21); Jacob Long (7, 15), Samuel Etskovitz (9, 10)
Playoffs
Wissahickon def. Plymouth Whitemarsh, 7-5
Upper Dublin def. Hatboro-Horsham 3-2 OT
Varsity A Finals
March 2, 7 p.m., Upper Dublin at Wissahickon, at Face-Off Circle
March 4, 8:40 p.m., Wissahickon at Upper Dublin, at Face-Off Circle
March 5, 7:20 p.m., Upper Dublin at Wissahickon, at Hatfield Ice (if necessary)
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