WARWICK – Council Rock North couldn’t have hoped for a better start to Tuesday’s Flyers Cup Class AA first-round matchup against ninth-seeded Cherokee.
The Indians, seeded eighth in the tournament, scored one minute in, on their first shot of the game when an Eric Ceslak shot was deflected over to AJ Garboski, who scored into a yawning net.
But from there, things went rapidly downhill for the Indians, who were outworked and overwhelmed for much of the game by the speed and skill of Cherokee, which went on to post a 4-1 victory.
“The game’s 45 minutes long, not one,” said Indians’ coach Eric Tye. “We scored a goal a minute in, there’s still 44 minutes to play and (Cherokee) wanted to play and (we) didn’t want to play. I don’t know what it was.
“That’s a good team. They’re fast, they’re big, they’re deep. They’re going to be a tough out for anyone.”
The Chiefs, who outshot North 14-3 in the opening frame, pulled even in the final minutes when Cole Zucker scored shorthanded while being double-teamed in front of the Indians’ net. A Brian Miller goal 68 seconds into the second period put the momentum firmly in the Cherokee corner.
The Chiefs would add another shorthanded goal on a Dylan Bradley breakaway just over a minute later.
Toward the end of the second period, the Indians began to pick up their physical game, throwing checks at Cherokee players at every opportunity. It allowed the Indians to control the puck more, though quality shots on the Cherokee cage remained few and far between.
“We thought we had a plan, and we didn’t execute the plan,” Tye said. “We knew we had to play physical, in-your-face hockey, and it looked like we were in a public skating session for the first period-and-a-half.”
Alec Greenhalgh and Alex Pontarelli, who played aggressive hockey in the first period, led the resurgent Indians with numerous body checks, and junior John Hughes was a spark plug during his time on the ice.
The Indians had several chances late in the second, including a nice backhand shovel shot on a footrace to the puck by Garboski and a quick wrist shot through a screen from Jim McKenzie, but Cherokee goalkeeper Justin Badurina was equal to everything the Indians threw at him.
Another result of North’s more physical play was the referees found a lot more use for their whistles. Fourteen penalties were whistled over the final two periods, including three sets of coincidental minors. North was whistled for 10 penalties, including a pair of game misconducts in the final 10 seconds.
Goalkeeper Hayden Richards was the best player on the ice for North on this night. The junior netminder turned aside 30 shots, and made numerous spectacular stops of what appeared to be certain goals by Cherokee.
“If he’s not in that game, it’s 8-0 before we even know what the hell’s going on,” Tye said.
In particular, Richards stoned Bradley twice early in the third period, including a remarkable side-to-side slide on a crossing pass to deny what had looked to be an open net for Bradley.
But the offense was unable to give Richards the support needed to get back into the game. The Indians were held to just 15 shots on goal in the season-ending loss. Council Rock North completes the season with a 12-12-2 overall record (9-8-1 in the SHSHL National Division).
And despite the loss … despite the early season struggles when the Indians could not seem to field a full team due to injuries, illnesses and other commitments … Tye said his team has nothing to feel bad about.
“They fought. They fought till the end,” Tye said. “They never quit once. They played in the best hockey game I ever got to coach in, that Rock South game (a double-overtime loss in the SHSHL playoffs on Feb. 22).
“There are a lot of things they should be proud of, not just for this year, but the eight guys I just had to say goodbye to, they had a good career and they should be proud of themselves. They represented themselves, they represented Council Rock North, they represented me and my assistant coaches with the utmost respect.”
Cherokee 1 2 1 – 4
Council Rock North 1 0 0 – 1
Scoring
First period
CRN – AJ Garboski (Eric Ceslak, Harrison Pitts), 14:00.
C – Cole Zucker (Brian Miller), SH, 1:38.
Second period
C – Miller (Dylan Bradley, Zucker), 13:52.
C – Bradley (Zach Tiernan), SH, 12:37.
Third period
C – Miller (Bradley), EN, 0:10.
Shots on goal
Cherokee 14 12 8 – 34
Council Rock North 3 7 5 – 15
Saves: Justin Badurina (C) 15; Hayden Richards (CRN) 30.
Hempfield blanks Patriots
Hempfield notched one goal in each period and goalkeeper Wes Bagrowski posted a hat trick as well as an assist as the 17th seeded Senators downed 16th seed Central Bucks East, 3-0, in Tuesday’s Flyers Cup Class AA first-round matchup at Warwick Ice Arena.
East outshot Hempfield, 24-22. Freshman goalkeeper Steven Gilchrist made 19 stops for the Patriots.
Hempfield 1 1 1 – 3
Central Bucks East 0 0 0 – 0
Scoring
First period
H – Kyle Long (Jarrett Lehman), 9:36.
Second period
H – Alex Bagrowski (Elliot Kleckner, Wes Bagrowski), PP, 5:02.
Third period
H – Long (unassisted), 4:41.
Shots on goal
Hempfield 11 6 5 – 22
Central Bucks East 8 7 9 – 24
Saves: Wes Bagrowski (H) 24; Steven Gilchrist (CBE) 19.
Radnor ousts Golden Bears in overtime
Radnor scored with 68 seconds left in regulation for force overtime, then notched the game-winning goal 46 seconds into the extra frame as the 18th seeded Red Raiders defeated the SHSHL Class A Champion and Flyers Cup 15th seed Upper Moreland in Tuesday’s first-round matchup at Bucks County Ice Sports Center.
The Golden Bears trailed 1-0, but Robert Goold scored (Sean Lloyd, Mat Baumgardner assists) on the power play with 12 seconds left in the first to tie the score. Upper Moreland took a 2-1 lead when Goold and Jake Park assisted on Sean Lloyd’s second-period goal.
Upper Moreland goalkeeper Jared Burch made 35 saves for the Golden Bears.
Radnor 1 0 1 1 – 3
Upper Moreland 1 1 0 0 – 2
Scoring
First period
R- Michael Cleek (Dalton Morris), PP, 9:57.
UM – Robert Goold (Sean Lloyd, Matt Baumgardner), PP, 0:12.
Second period
UM – Lloyd (Goold, Jake Park), 12:05.
Third period
R – Connor McNally (Cullen McNally, Morris), 1:08.
Overtime
R – Cullen McNally (Morris), 9:14.
Shots on goal
Radnor 13 14 9 2 – 38
Upper Moreland 8 11 5 0 – 24
Saves: Lewis Brotman (R) 24; Jared Burch (UM) 35.
Upcoming Flyers Cup second-round games
Thursday
Hempfield (17) vs. Central Bucks South (1), 7 p.m., Warwick Ice Arena.
Pennsbury (14) vs. Council Rock South (3), 7 p.m., Bucks County Ice Sports Center.
Avon Grove (15) vs. North Penn (2), 7:20 p.m., Hatfield Ice.
Boyertown (11) vs. Pennridge (6), 9 p.m., Hatfield Ice.
Archbishop Carroll (13) vs. Archbishop Wood (4), 8:40 p.m., Bucks County Ice Sports Center.
Wissahickon (19) vs. Springfield (3), 7:30 p.m., Aston.
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