North Penn defeated Pennridge 7-3 in SHSHL action Wednesday. Check out all the SOL SHSHL results.
By Ben Reese
HATFIELD -- There have been a few ice hockey players over the years in the Suburban High School Hockey League who could take over a game all by themselves.
Central Bucks South had one a few years ago in Connor Bechtel. North Penn had one also, Caleb Witzaney.
Well, the Knights have another one. This one is senior captain Alex Peterson, who played on a line with Witzaney earlier in his career.
Peterson had a hand in every North Penn goal as the Knights beat Pennridge 7-3 Wednesday night at Hatfield Ice. He scored three goals and handed out four assists.
"He's a very, very talented hockey player," said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. "(He's) probably the best player in the league.
"He's kind of stepped it up this year, being captain of the team, leading by example on the ice with some of the energy and jump that he has. Games like this, he kind of feeds on it even more and steps it up a little more, which is kind of surprising to see that there is another level to go to."
After some thought, Peterson agreed with his coach.
"I know I can take over a game," he said, "so when I don't come to play it really shows. I guess I make that a goal for myself to come and play every game."
Peterson also has a goal that he wants to reach, and it has nothing to do with scoring goals.
"To take the team to the state championships," he explained. "So far we're on track. We're going to have some tough games coming up so we'll see how it goes."
Pennridge coach Matt Stabile knew what his team would be facing not only in Peterson but in the entire North Penn team.
"They executed the way they needed to execute and, unfortunately, we fell short a couple of times,” Stabile said. "Peterson had an excellent game. He had seven points and that speaks for itself."
By the way, speaking of goals, Peterson now has scored 23 goals and added 10 assists for 33 points in seven league games. That averages out to more than three goals and nearly five points per game.
"I don't think I've coached anybody who has as good a shot as Peterson has," Vaitis said. "He's got such a quick release and such an accurate shot.
"If you give him just a little bit of room to shoot, that puck's going to end up in the back of the net. He's a player who can just take over a game."
The irony of the game was that Pennridge scored the first goal in all three periods. But the Rams couldn't follow those goals up.
"We came out strong, and that shift afterwards, trying to reinforce that first good shift to get into it - we just couldn't seem to put it all together," Stabile said. "We couldn't seem to get everyone on the same page at the same time."
Luke Slater got the Rams off to a quick start with only 16 seconds gone in the opening period with a goal. However, to be fair, the puck did go off a North Penn player's stick before going past goalie Jake Snyder.
Slightly more than two minutes later, the Knights tied the score. Spencer Silver, with an assist from Peterson.
Then, with a Pennridge player in the penalty box, Peterson notched his first goal of the night on the power play with an assist from goalie Snyder, who cleared the puck to Peterson deep in the neutral zone.
Despite North Penn holding a 2-1 lead at the end of the period, Pennridge dominated the action. The Rams outshot the Knights 19-4 in the period but could only get that first goal.
Once the second period began, Pennridge tied the game at 2-2. Michael Padgeon scored the tying goal on the power play at the 1:14 mark.
From there on out, North Penn took control. The Knights scored four unanswered goal for a 6-2 lead.
Peterson collected the first two Knight goals of the second period and then assisted on goals by Silver and Nathan Oh. His first goal in the period came on the power play.
Pennridge netted the first goal of the third period as Nathan Runk scored to open the stanza. But, once again, the Rams couldn't build on it.
The final goal of the game was scored by Oh off assists from Peterson and Silver.
Vaitis wasn't too upset by the disparity of the shots on goal. The Knights had 21 shots and the Rams 40, an advantage that was negated by the 37-save effort of Snyder.
"I think the guys did a real nice job capitalizing on the scoring chances they had," he said. "I know we gave up 40 shots but what we talk about is the quality shots that we want to try to eliminate.
"I think they did a good job of that tonight, keeping most of the shots to the outside. We had a fluke goal in the first where we put it in our own net. We kind of moved forward from that and played some solid hockey."
It helps to have someone like Peterson on your roster, though.
North Penn 7, Pennridge 3
North Penn 2 4 1 – 7
Pennridge 1 1 1 – 3
First period: 1. Luke Slater P (Eric Slater) 0:16; 2. Spencer Silver NP (Alex Peterson) 2:20; 3. Peterson NP (Jake Snyder) 7:50.
Second period: 4. Michael Padgeon P (Troy Crosson, L. Slater) 1:14 PP; 5. Peterson NP (George Boyle, Silver) 3:32 PP; 6. Peterson NP (unassisted) 9:52; 7. Silver NP (Peterson) 12:14; 8. Oh NP (Peterson) 13:19.
Third period: 9. Nathan Runk P (Michael Walker) 1:33; 10. Oh NP (Peterson, Silver) 9:28.
Shots: NP -- 21; P -- 40. Saves: Jake Snyder (NP) 37; Mike Weaver (P) 14.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 10, PENNSBURY 1
Damon DeLaurentis(three goals, two assists) had a five-point night, and teammates Thomas Liberta (one goal, three assists) and Jared Controy (four assists) both had four-point games to lead the Titans to the rout of the Falcons.
The Titans got on the board 5:57 into the opening period when Thomas Liberta found the net for a power play goal, using assists from Connor Matsinger and Jared Conroy. Less than a minute later, Pennsbury’s Jack Kelly (Nathan Raccagno assist) evened the score. Another power play goal by DeLaurentis (Conroy/Liberta assists) gave the Titans a 2-1 lead after one period.
The rest of the game belonged to the Titans. In the second period, Alex Rubas, Jason Bechtel and DeLaurentis scored. The Titans closed it out with five unanswered goals in the third period.
Kevin Dorozinsky saved 10 of the 11 shots he faced to earn the win in goal.
Central Bucks South 2-3-5 10
Pennsbury 1-0-0 1
Friday, Dec. 11
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 4, HATBORO-HORSHAM 1
The Colonials and Hatters went into the third period with nothing but zeroes on the scoreboard. Chris Rinaldi scored 18 seconds into the period to give the Colonials a 1-0 lead, using assists from Christopher Ward and Skyler Goldstein, but Nathan Reilly scored the equalizer 4:03 into the period.
Ward (Daniel Isackman assist) found the net with the go-ahead goal 6:43 into the period, and Rinaldi and Matthew Werther tacking on insurance goals for the 4-1 final.
Cole Shula turned away 22 of 23 shots he faced to earn the win in goal for the Colonials. Hatters’ goalie Ryan Bell stopped 34 of 38 shots.
Hatboro-Horsham 0-0-1 1
Plymouth Whitemarsh 0-0-4 4
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 5, ABINGTON 1
Bryan McIntosh had a hand in all five of East’s goals, connecting for the hat trick and assisting on the other two. It was McIntosh scoring early in the opening period to spot the Patriots a 1-0 lead, but Hayden O’Hara found the net for the Ghosts. McIntosh gave the Patriots a 2-1 lead, scoring with three minutes remaining in the period with an assist from Richard Keiser.
In the second period, Alex Wasserman and McIntosh each scored a goal, and Colin Quinn’s power play goal in the third period closed out the scoring.
Abington 1-0-0 1
Central Bucks East 2-2-1 5
NORTH PENN 10, ARCHBISHOP WOOD 6
Alex Peterson had another huge game for the Knights, scoring six goals and assisting on another. Nathan Oh had a four-point night, contributing one goal and three assists.
The Knights all but took the suspense out of this one early, scoring four straight goals after Patrick Sheehan gave the Vikings an early 1-0 lead. Peterson scored a pair and Oh and Jared Barkley both added single goals.
North Penn extended its lead to 6-1 after second period goals by Andrew Galetta and Peterson before Wood’s Timothy Cordero scored to make it a 6-2 game after two periods. Wood pulled to within two (6-4), but the Knights closed out the game with four straight goals.
Jake Snyder earned the win in goal, turning away 28 shots.
North Penn 4-2-4 10
Archbishop Wood 1-1-4 6
Thursday, Dec. 10
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 7, NESHAMINY 0
The Redskins kept the Titans off the scoreboard in the first period, but they weren’t as fortunate the rest of the way. Matt Stoll (Joshua Sklar/Jake Anastasia assists) put the Titans on the scoreboard 8:24 into the second period. Stoll’s second goal (Jason Bechtel/Joseph DeLaurentis assists) made it a 2-0 game, and the Titans led by three after a goal by Alex Rubas (Matt Stoll/Jared Conroy assists). The Titans tacked on four unanswered goals in the final period.
Joseph DeLaurentis led the Titans with four points on four assists. Bechtel had three assists, and Damon DeLaurentis finished with two goals and one assist.
Neshaminy 0-0-0 0
Central Bucks South 0-3-4 7
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 8, HATBORO-HORSHAM 4
Mark Tosti (one goal, two assists), Daniel Guest (three goals) and John Vanni (two goals, one assist) each had three-point games to lead a balanced Rock North attack.
Vanni (Tosti assist) scored five minutes into the game to spot the Indians a 1-0 lead, but Adam Sheerr (Eric Sharp assist) answered with the equalizer for the Hatters. Matthew Havicon scored with assists from Dante Rienzi and Jacob Borden to give the Indians a 2-1 lead after one period.
The Hatters knotted the score on an unassisted goal by Jordan Brenner early in the second period only to watch the Indians reel off three straight goals – two by Guest sandwiched around a Borden score – to go on top 5-2. Sheerr scored his second goal of the night to make it a two-goal game, but the Hatters would get no closer.
Chase D’Arcangelo turned away 31 shots in a winning effort in goal for the Indians.
Council Rock North2-4-2 8
Hatboro-Horsham 1-2-1 4
NORTH PENN 7, SOUDERTON 1
Alex Peterson scored five goals and assisted on another to lead the Knights to the no-doubt-about-it win over the Indians. The senior captain’s back-to-back goals in the first period spotted the Knights a 2-0 lead. His third goal on a power play early in the second period was followed by a Jamie Green goal less than a minute later, giving the Knights a 4-0 lead.
Austin Moyer put the Indians on the scoreboard midway through the second period, using a Tyler Johnson assist, but the Knights closed it out with three unanswered goals.
North Penn 2-3-2 7
Souderton 0-1-0 1
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