Souderton won by a mercy rule against a shorthanded William Tennent squad Thursday. To view photos of the Souderton/Tennent and North Penn/Pennridge games, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Ben Reese
COLMAR – It's not often that you see a mercy rule invoked at an ice hockey game.
But, when Souderton's Clay Anders deposited the puck behind William Tennent goalie Zach Dorsey to make the score 11-1, it came into play. The win, which actually came when the game was halted with 1:42 left in the third period at Hatfield Ice, upped the Indians record to 6-2 while dropping the Panthers to 3-4.
That's a lot of goals to put on the board, even in a high school hockey game. And add to that the fact that Souderton took 65 shots on goal.
“We played well,” Souderton coach Mike Montagna said. “We did what we were supposed to do.
“We've averaged over 45 shots per game, give or take. We've had a good run of shots but they have to be good shots.”
Well, let's put it this way. Souderton took 21 shots in the second period and five of them found the back of the net.
And it was that second period that blew the game open. In the space of six minutes and twenty seconds, the Indians scored all five goals, including the second and third of Dan Rock's hat trick.
“He sets himself up,” Montagna said of Rock. “He's a pretty talented hockey player.
“You watch him and (Alex) Politsky and they move in circles and the defense doesn't always account for one of them. One of them is always open.”
Rock added an assist and Politsky had a goal and four assists. Clay Anders, Brannon Evans and Connor McCausland each scored twice and Dylan Manto tallied once.
Rock wasn't really impressed with his hat trick.
“I'm just playing hard and shooting a lot,” he said with a smile.
He went on to defend his teammates and his team, saying, “I think we're better than people think we are. If we just keep working - we might not have as much skill as everyone else, but if we keep working, we'll be fine.”
Tennent was a bit undermanned after having several of its players suspended after last week's brawl with North Penn. In fact, the Panthers didn't have enough players to make a complete five-man substitution.
“They were undermanned but so were we but not to the level they were,” Montagna said. “I had 12 and he had 10 but they didn't have the right 10. They were just younger kids (playing for Tennent).”
The Indians also got a stellar performance out of goalie Bryce McMichael. He only faced 11 shots and stopped all but one of them.
“This (year) is his first time ever playing goalie,” explained Montagna. “He's a defenseman; he's a senior.
“We didn't have a goaltender this year. We're 6-2 so we've done all right with him.
“That's hard standing in there with only 11 shots. It's cold in here.”
William Tennent should have realized it was going to be a long night when Rock scored his first goal with only 1:45 gone in the opening period. He scored off an assist from Evans.
Nearly nine minutes later, the Indians got back on the board. McCausland notched his first goal of the night off passes from Manto and Kyle LeSage.
However, Tennent wasn't totally overmatched. The Panthers cut the Souderton lead to one when Andrew Bean batted the puck past McMichael on the power play with four minutes remaining in the period with assists going to Dalton Shields and Alec Dugan.
The game stayed at 2-1 for nearly seven and a half minutes before the floodgates opened. In rapid succession, Evans, Rock (two), Anders and Manto scored, and suddenly it was 7-1 with the entire third period still to be played.
McCausland started the scoring off in the third period. He was followed by Politsky, Evans and Anders with the game-ender.
One thing must be emphasized. Tennent, while being short several players and after losing Brian Goldstein early in the first period to an injury, didn't give up. The Panthers were battling the Indians right up until the final goal.
“It's my alma mater,” said Montagna. “We didn't want to make it into a mess. It was what it was.”
Souderton 11, William Tennent 1
William Tennent 1 0 0 – 1
Souderton 2 5 4 – 11
First Period
Goals: Rock (S) 13:15, Evans assist; McCausland (S) 4:36, Manto and LeSage assists; Bean (WT) 4:00, Shields and Dugan assists. Penalties: Malanga (S) head contact 11:45; Manto (S) tripping 8:37; Ware (S) 4:02 boarding; McMichael (S) 3:45 unsportsmanlike conduct; Evans (S) interference 0:1.2.
Second Period
Goals: Evans (S) 8:45, Anders and George assists; Rock (S) 7:12, Politsky and McCausland assists; Rock (S) 5:30, Ware and Politsky assists; Anders (S) 3:59, Rock and LeSage assists; Manto (S) 2:20, Milosec assist;.Penalties: Ware (S) 9:30 interference; Ketler (WT) 9:30 slashing.
Third Period
Goals:McCausland (S) unassisted; Politsky (S) 9:37, Evans and Walsh assists; Evans (S) 3:54, Politsky assist; Anders (S) 1:42, Politsky assist. Penalties: Milosec (S) 13:13 misconduct and game misconduct; Dorsey (WT) 13:13 roughing; Rock (S) 4:41 slashing.
North Penn 7, Pennridge 1
The Knights opened up a 4-0 lead after one period and never looked back in Thursday’s late game at Hatfield Ice. The Knights held a 43-17 advantage in shots. Matt Barkley (one assist) and Alex Peterson both contributed a pair of goals while Caleb Witzaney, Michael Raimo and Derek Heckler (one assist) each added a single goal. Witzaney also had an assist. Jeremy Snyder and Nick Capasso both had a pair of assists while Christian Ahn also had an assist.
Jake Wexler accounted for the Rams only goal, which came in the game’s closing minutes and broke up the Knights’ shutout bid.
Pennridge goalie Steven Wilms was credited with 36 saves while North Penn’s Jake Wolff turned away 16 of 17 shots.
North Penn 4 1 2-7
Pennridge 0 0 1-1
SCORING SUMMARY
Period 1
North Penn – Matt Barkley (unassisted) 1:48
North Penn – Alex Peterson (Jeremy Snyder) 5:19
North Penn – Michael Raimo (Caleb Witzaney) 6:09
North Penn – Caleb Witzaney (Matt Barkley, Christian Ahn) 10:42
Period 2
North Penn – Matt Barkley (Jeremy Snyder) 1:06
Period 3
North Penn – Derek Heckler (Nick Capasso) 8:07
North Penn – Alex Peterson (Nick Capasso, Derek Heckler) 11:29
Pennridge – Jake Wexler (unassisted) 15:24
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