To view action photos of the game, visit the photo gallery and click on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
By Scott Huff
There was no need for a gorgeous Hollywood celebrity to open an envelope to proclaim the winner in the Suburban High School Hockey League American Division.The Hatboro-Horsham Hatters (8-3-1, 17) put on an Academy Award winning performance to capture the coveted trophy. The Hatters defeated Upper Dublin (8-4-0, 16) by a 6-4 score in front of a vocal crowd at the Bucks County Ice Sports Center in Warminster.
“This was a great game for our seniors – they were awesome tonight,” said Hatboro-Horsham head coach Tricia Silvestri. “We came in here with an idea of what we had to do to beat this team, and we did what we had to do.”
The curse of extremely talented Upper Dublin senior Brian Markman is being that ‘marked’ man. And – whether either coach really likes it or not – the game truly is all about the gifted Markman. If you can’t contain him, you lose – if you do contain him – you have a shot at winning.
“He (Markman) really hurt us in the second game we played them,” said Silvestri as Markman scored four goals in a 10-5 Upper Dublin victory. “He didn’t play in the first game we played them (an 8-3 Hatter win), and he took me a little by surprise in the second game.
“But we made some adjustments in preparation for this game,” added Silvestri. “And a huge part of that adjustment was Harry Nesbitt.”
Nesbitt – a senior who left the team for personal reasons on January 1, 2011 – was back in the Hatter lineup for the first time in 48 days.
“Harry is a remarkable defensive player,” said Silvestri. “He gives us a huge physical presence that we lacked. We matched him up with Markman whenever we could, and I was amazed at how much of the game he was able to play.”
Nesbitt – who made a ‘visit’ to the facilities to evacuate his dinner after the game – was very pleased with both his performance and the outcome of the game.“I don’t think I could be more tired than I am right now,” smiled a very pale Nesbitt. “I wanted to go out and be physical right away – I know I hit someone pretty good on my first shift – and I knew that we had to limit the open ice on this team.
“He (Markman) is such a good player and I knew that I had to try and keep up with him and take the body,” added Nesbitt. “I really haven’t worked out since I stopped playing, and right now I’m exhausted.”
Markman – the leading scorer in the SHSHL American Division – scored the game’s first goal in the first period. The power play goal gave the Cardinals their only lead of the game.
The Hatters scored the next four goals to take command of the game with a 4-1 lead. Included in that barrage were even strength goals by Randy Czerviski and Manny Billiones – a power play goal by Patrick Durkin – and a backbreaking short-handed goal by sophomore Kelsey Koelzer.
“Kelsey stepped up her game by being physical,” said Silvestri. “And she scored the big goal to give us the three-goal lead.”
“Everyone seemed to be making a big deal about how good Upper Dublin is,” said Koelzer. “We went out tonight with the idea that we were going to play our game and not worry about who was on the ice with us.“We played very well tonight as a team,” continued Koelzer. “I thought that we really outplayed them.”
Upper Dublin sliced the lead to 4-2 on a second-period goal by Ben Hoffmann.
But the Hatters counter punched with a pair of goals at the outset of the third period to take a seemingly safe 6-2 lead. Billones scored his second goal of the game on an unassisted, short handed goal – and Eric Foster closed the scoring book for the winners on an even strength goal.
Upper Dublin refused to go quietly and scored a pair of goals – by Tyler Peskin and Samuel Etskovitz – to close to within 6-4 with a full 9 minutes and 27 seconds left in the game. And those Flying Cardinals had Markman skating furiously on the ice in an attempt the get UD back into the game.
But it didn’t happen – not on this night – not on this ice.
On February 17, 2001 the Hatboro-Horsham Hatters got just what it deserved – the SHSHL American Division championship.
Scoring
Hatboro-Horsham 2 2 2 * 6
Upper Dublin 1 1 2 * 4
First Period:
UD - [12:10] – Brian Markman (Rob DeGregorio) – {Power Play}
HH – [8:20] – Randy Czerviski (Harry Nesbitt & Josh Gresko) – {Even Strength}
HH – [3:26] – Manny Billones (Chris Giuliani & Patrick Downing) – {Even Strength}
Second Period:
HH – [9:52] – Patrick Durkin (Tim Boyle & Billones) – {Power Play}
HH – [5:42] – Kelsey Koelzer (Gresko) – {Short Handed}
UD – [2:03] – Ben Hoffmann (Bret Abromowitz & Samuel Etskovitz) – {Power Play}
Third Period:
HH – [14:28] – Billones (unassisted) – {Short Handed}
HH – [13:09] – Eric Foster (Boyle) – {Even Strength}
UD – [12:13] – Tyler Peskin (Hoffmann & Ben Etskovitz) – {Even Strength}
UD – [9:27] – Samuel Etskovitz (Hoffman & Markman}
Shots On Goal
Hatboro-Horsham 8 10 6 * 24
Upper Dublin 11 8 11 * 30
Saves:
HH – Jimmy Salfiti – 26
UD – Jack Deragon - 18
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