Harry S Truman edged Council Rock North to capture the program’s first ever SHSHL Class A championship.
By Bill McFarland, Correspondent
(BRISTOL) — Harry S Truman captured its first ever SHSHL Class A championship on Thursday night at Grundy Arena, putting its name in the history books with a thrilling 6-5 win over Council Rock North.
“It’s everybody’s goal to win a championship,” coach Bill Keyser said. “It’s just getting the right kids at the right time to buy into your program and to work with each other.
“This year we had that. We had the right kids. They had great camaraderie with each other. There was never a problem in the locker room. The kids were always upbeat, they were always helping each other at practice. It was one of those years, I’m going to sit back and say, ‘Wow, I had these kids. This is great.’”
For Rock North, Mark Tosti scored four goals and added an assist, but it wasn’t enough, although the Indians made the most of a few opportunities to take a 2-0 lead after the first period. They took just five shots but found the net on two of them.
“We had the lead after the first period, but then the momentum went their way,” said CR North coach Eric Tye. “Our guys kept coming back, so I’m very proud of them.”
Midway through the first period, one of the Tigers intercepted a pass from the blue line, but Tosti got the puck back, approached the goal from the left side and slipped a shot between Truman goalie Kyle Huth and the right upright for a 1-0 lead.
Two minutes later, Cavan Tully scored a power play goal – with assists from John Vanni and Tosti - to give the Indians a 2-0 advantage.
Truman scored four unanswered goals in the second period to take a 4-2 lead as the Tigers – who had a 17-5 advantage in shots in the first period – outshot the Indians 21-5 in the second.
“Yeah, they outshot us, but that’s a credit to our goalie,” said Tye. “He was awesome. They kept coming (at him), and he kept stopping (the shots). It seemed like a lot of shots that they took went through.”
Council Rock North goalkeeper Chase D’Arcangelo made 42 saves on 48 shots on goal.
“Our defense was holding up, but sometimes you have to try to block (the shots),” Tye continued. “Their defense blocked shots, but our forwards and defenders (also) have to block shots.”
Steven Avellino, Kyle Bennett (twice) and William Findlay scored in the second period for Harry S. Truman. The Indians, however, put up enough of a fight in the final frame to make this one a nail-biter to the buzzer.
Also of note in the second period was the loss of the Indians’ John Vanni after a defender sent him crashing to the boards four minutes into the period.
Trainers tended to Vanni for nearly five minutes, but he left the ice under his own power. No penalty was called, but Vanni was finished for the night.
“It was a clean hit,” said Truman coach Bill Keyser, “but our concern was with the kid. (Vanni) is an awesome hockey player, and he would have made a difference in the game. We wish him well.”
“I don’t know what his status is,” said Tye after the game. “He’s en route to the hospital. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. I just know that he wasn’t right.”
Avellino scored an unassisted goal early in the third period to give the Tiger a 5-2 advantage, but the Indians weren’t giving up any ground without a fight, and they began a comeback with a power-play goal.
With 11:46 left in the game, Truman’s Codey Gordon went to the penalty box for cross checking, and 39 seconds later Tosti scored his second goal to make it 5-3.
With eight minutes left, Ross Koenig scored to give the Tigers a 6-3 lead, but it still wasn’t over. Tosti scored less than a minute later to close the gap to 6-4, and with 3:49 left, Tosti found the net for his fourth goal to make it a 6-5 game, putting fans from both sides on the edge of their seats.
All that remained was another Truman goal that was disputed. Both referees conferred for a few minutes before ruling that there was no goal.
“(The referee) didn’t call offside, but when we scored, the other coach started freaking out,” said Truman’s Avellino. “I saw the offside (foul), but (the referee) never whistled. That (goal) would have ended the game right there.”
When questioned, one referee said that he didn’t whistle for an offside penalty because he didn’t see it, so he allowed the goal to stand. However, after conferring, the other ref confirmed that Truman was offside and that the first ref simply missed the call, so they both ruled that the goal should be nullified.
“We thought that (the goal) was a done deal,” said Keyser. “(The referee) went to the score box to report it, and then he said that it wasn’t a goal.”
It turned out to be a moot point because the Indians didn’t score in the last minute, ending the league season for Tye, who is stepping down when the season ends.
“It’s my last game in the Suburban League, but we still have the Flyers Cup,” Tye said. “I don’t like to lose, but these guys deserved to win more than I did. It’s not about me.”
The night belonged to the Tigers, who won a title that was – in some ways – unexpected.
“I knew the kids that were coming back to play,” Keyser said. “I didn’t know if we’d play AA or A because we are a AA team, but since we were rebuilding program, they had us in the A group.
“We played the first team and we do well, we played the second team and we do well, we played the third team and we do well, and then it’s like ‘Do we really belong here?’ But then we had Wissahickon and they played us hard, and then we played Council Rock, and it was competitive, so it was like, ‘This is where we should be.’ It worked out for us this year.
“It’s like a Cinderella story. We came together at the right time. The game tonight was a phenomenal game. It was a roller coaster ride the whole game.”
Both teams will compete in the Flyers Cup, which begins on Monday, but Tye said that the team might have lost more than just Vanni for the upcoming tournament.
“”We got banged up tonight, so we’ll have to see how many guys that we can take down to the Flyers Cup,” he said.
EXTRA SHOTS: Interestingly, Keyser came close to stepping down at the end of last season. “I was in Florida in March, and I’m walking in Disney, and I say to my wife, ‘Listen, I’m done. I’m not coaching anymore. I’m out,’” the Tigers’ coach recalled. “She’s like, ‘Are you sure,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, we just have too much going on because I took over a business and everything. I’m out.’” Keyser had a change of heart when he returned to Pennsylvania. “We came back, and she said, ‘What are you doing?’ and I said, ‘I’ve got to coach,’” Keyser said. “It did go through my mind I didn’t want to coach, and I actually said it. It came out of my mouth, but things happen for a reason. I ended up coaching, and we took this glorious road.”
Scoring
First Period
CRN — Mark Tosti (unassisted) 7:58;
CRN — Cavan Tully (John Vanni, Tosti) 9:48.
Second Period
HST — Steven Avellino (Koenig, Michael Roarty) 3:15;
HST — Kyle Bennett (Avellino, Roarty) 4:58;
HST — William Findlay (Roarty, Avellino) 5:24;
HST — Bennett (Avellino) 14:09.
Third Period
HST — Avellino (unassisted) 3:09;
CRN — Tosti (Tully) 4:53;
HST — Ross Koenig (Avellino, Findlay) 7:46;
CRN — Tosti (Tully, Brandon Simmonds) 8:39;
CRN — Tosti (Kameron Bontempo, Andrew Speeney) 12:11.
Score by Period
Council Rock North 2-0-3 = 5
Harry S. Truman 0-4-2 = 6
Shots on Goal
Council Rock North 5-5-8 = 18
Harry S. Truman 17-21-10 = 48
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