William Tennent and CR South earned wins in the Tuesday’s opening round of the 2016 Flyers Cup. To view photos by Keith Clemens of the Pennsbury/Tennent game, please visit the Photo Gallery...CLICK HERE.
#5 WILLIAM TENNENT 5, #12 PENNSBURY 2
Trevor Schadler had just delivered a glove save on yet another one-on-one to preserve a 2-1 Falcon lead late in the second period of Tuesday night’s Flyers Cup opener when – during a stoppage – the ‘Rocky Theme’ played over the intercom at Bucks County Ice.
For a while, it looked like Schadler (36 saves) and the underdog Falcons might play the role of giant killer against the SHSHL National Conference champions.
“I thought their goaltender played terrifically,” Tennent coach Nick D’Aurizio said. “He was great, and he was making a lot of tough saves.
“He stopped (Alec) Dugan on a couple of breakaways. He’s one of the top scorers in the league, and he shut him down two or three times on breakaways. He was really good. He kept them in the hockey game in the beginning when we started to turn it around.”
The Panthers – not ready to end their season just yet – scored a power play goal late in the second period to knot the score and closed out the game with three unanswered goals in the third period.
While there was genuine concern about their team’s slow start, the Panthers had to be pleased with their remarkable efficiency on the power play, converting four of seven power play opportunities into goals.
"The power play goals were key," Dugan said. "We got one at (early in) the second period - I passed it to Charlie (Feeney) and he buried it, and that was a big one.
"It really got the fire started, and (Brett) Goldstein's third goal - that took all the wind out of Pennsbury. Sean Ovington's pass to me for the fourth one - we've been working all season to get our power play going. (Four) power play goals tonight - we can't complain, so hopefully, it carries over to Ridley."
Although the game had a happy ending for the Panthers, the Falcons had the better of play early, stunning Tennent when – after Jack Kelly carried the puck out of his team’s defensive end – Jake Sieger (Kelly/Nathan Raccagno assists) scored 1:08 into the game.
Eight minutes later, Ryan Michael (Anthony Bench assist) made it a 2-0 game, and with the Falcons holding a lead on the scoreboard and in shots (6-1), A’Aurizio called a hasty timeout and made a bold move.
"Going down 2-0 in a Flyers Cup game, I've said it a million times this year - we've been haunted by bad starts all year long,” the Panthers’ coach said. “Unfortunately, I had to pull our starting goaltender, Bryan Davis because I needed a wake-up call.
“It was not Bryan Davis' fault. It was every other guy on the ice. As a coach, you can only say so much to get a team to wake up, but pulling one of their friends, one of their teammates, one of their brothers - it's a wake-up call. It's something coaches have always done, and we obviously got a good result out of it.
“Unfortunately, it took that to wake our team up. We have been haunted by bad starts all year, and they continued here. If they continue on Friday, we are in a whole lot of trouble.”
The Panthers responded by putting immediate pressure on the Falcons and Schadler, and although they still trailed 2-0 at the end of one period, they held an 11-6 advantage in shots.
"I'll take blame for our first goal - I screened Bryan and they shot it right through my legs, so that hurt us," Dugan said. "Right off the bat the first goal - that takes the wind out of our sails, so we knew we had to bounce back.
"We just couldn't get any pressure. They were dominating us. Once they got that second goal - Nick called a timeout and we pulled our goalie. We knew we had to get serious. This could be our last game. We have six seniors that don't want to stop playing. We want a shot at Ridley, and we knew we had to come out and establish ourselves."
The Panthers received a huge lift when Feeney found the net with a power play goal 47 seconds into the second period, using assists from Dugan and Liam Ovington. With just over a minute remaining in the period, the Panthers knotted the score when Bobby Markus scored with Jack McKeever/Anthony Anzideo assists.
"We had one shot through the first 10 minutes of the game,” D’Aurizio said. “It all starts in our back end. We were just very flat footed, and they wanted it way more than we did to start off that hockey game.
"I thought our senior line - Mark Pantalone and Gavin George - they're our third liners and they're not guys that get power play time, but they put together an excellent shift where we were in their zone. We got four or five shots in their shift, and they really turned it around. The rest of our team followed suit after that. Those guys were the catalysts. Our seniors were the catalysts. They really led the way."
The third period belonged to the Panthers. Goldstein’s go-ahead goal – also on the power play - was set up Feeney, and the Panthers added insurance goals from Dugan (Sean Ovington/Anzideo assists) and Tim McMonagle (John Dern assist). Both came on power plays with the final in the closing minute of the game.
“We want to create offense around the net and I think Pennsbuy knew that,” D’Aurizio said. “Joe Deery is an excellent coach, and I think he knew our game plan, and he stymied us for a good chunk of the game.”
Eric Lineman turned away all 13 shots he faced in relief of Davis in goal on a night that saw the Panthers hold a 41-19 advantage in shots.
The Panthers will face the winner of Wednesday’s contest between 13th-seeded Haverford and fourth-seeded Ridley on Friday at Ice Works (8:45 p.m.). Both players and coaches are anticipating a matchup against Ridley.
"We really have to come out jumping because we know how good they are," Dugan said. "We know they're going to be ready for us, and we have to be ready for them. If we're not ready, they're going to dominate."
Pennsbury 2-0-0 2
William Tennent 0-2-3 5
#7 COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 4, #10 SPRING-FORD 3
With time winding down and his team clinging to a 4-3 lead, Mason Procz found himself facing Ryne Moore – who already had three goals on the night - in a crucial one-on-one. The sophomore goalie had a singular thought.
“I don’t try to take numbers,” Procz said. “I just try to look for the puck – see it all the time, no matter who it is. I just try to stay square, no matter who it is.”
Procz made all the right moves, delivering a glove save of Moore’s shot that all but sealed the Rams’ fate.
“It feels great,” Procz said. “This is deemed ‘our season’ so we’re trying to go all the way here.”
The Golden Hawks are coming off a strong showing in the SHSHL Tournament, extending eventual champion Central Bucks South to overtime in the semifinals before falling 2-1.
“In the beginning (of the season), I don’t think we had the right motive,” Procz said. “At the end, we realized that half of our team is seniors, and this is our last season, so we really wanted to come out strong the rest of the season.”
For his part, coach Joe Houk breathed a sigh of relief when Tuesday’s Flyers Cup opener was over.
“A win’s a win,” the Golden Hawks’ coach said.
Houck didn’t just have to contend with the Rams – he had to figure out a way to make up for the fact that five of his players were battling the flu. Two weren’t at the game, and the three that were saw limited playing time.
“That’s not an excuse,” Houk said. “Three guys were nice enough to try and play. Hopefully, we’ll give a better effort on Friday.”
There was nothing to suggest this one would come down to the wire after the Golden Hawks opened up a 2-0 lead in a first period that saw them hold a 10-4 advantage in shots. Jake Houk (Parker Defelice) put the Hawks on the board midway through the period on a power play goal, and Dylan Varian’s unassisted goal 13:19 into the period gave the Hawks their early two-goal lead.
Moore put the Rams on the board in the opening minute of the second period, but Jay Jenkins (Houk/Karl Martin assists) gave the Hawks a two-goal cushion when he scored 5:33 into the period. A goal by Max Bergman (Austin Price assist) made it a 4-1 game heading into the final period when the Rams – thanks to a pair of Moore goals – made things interesting.
“I thought it was pretty solid,” coach Houck said. “I thought we controlled the flow of the game.
“We were up by three goals and you kind of lay back a little bit. Next thing you know we start getting penalties, and you don’t win games in the penalty box.”
Moore scored the goal that pulled the Rams to within one with three minutes remaining, creating some tense moments down the stretch that culminated with Procz’s clutch save of a Moore shot.
“Mason was probably our best player on the ice tonight,” coach Houck said. “He played solid.
“We had almost 40 shots on goal – we have to do a better job on Friday because Downingtown East is more like CB South. We had a great game against South, and that’s going to get the kids fired up for it.”
Procz turned away 20 shots in a winning effort in goal, and he acknowledged that perhaps the Hawks took the Rams too lightly.
“I think we used all of our energy in the (SHSHL) playoffs, and then we were coming here not really expecting anything big from this team, but they came out pretty strong in the last couple of periods,” Procz said. “We just weren’t expecting that.”
Council Rock South will face the winner of Wednesday’s game pitting Downingtown East against Downingtown West at Ice Line on Friday (7 p.m.)
Spring-Ford 0-1-2 3
Council Rock South 2-2-0 4
#9 PARKLAND 6, #8 PENNRIDGE 5 (OT)
A goal by Parkland’s Koby Staivecki two minutes and four seconds into overtime brought the Rams’ season to a heartbreaking end in Tuesday’s opening round of the Flyers Cup at Hatfield Ice.
The loss overshadowed a heroic comeback by the Rams, who trailed 5-3 after Parkland scored back-to-back goals within a 16-second span in the opening minute of the third quarter. Down but not out, the Rams – who had been outshot by Parkland 30-14 in the opening two periods – came roaring back.
Troy Crosson connected on his third goal of the night 6:48 into the period, using a Michael Padgeon assist, to make it a 5-4 game, and Nathan Runk delivered the equalizer with just over a minute remaining in regulation, also using a Padgeon assist. The Rams couldn’t carry that momentum into overtime as Parkland scored on the first shot of OT for either team.
Early on, Parkland opened up a 2-0 lead, but Crosson (Joe Finlayson/John Bird assists) trimmed that in half with a goal late in the period. Another Crosson goal (Connor Lordi/Padgeon assists) 22 seconds into the second period knotted the score, and the Rams had their first lead when Finlayson connected, using assists from Crosson and Lordi. Parkland knotted the score 5-5 at the end of three, setting the stage for the dramatic finish.
Parkland held a 41-24 advantage in shots, but the 35-save effort of Pennridge goalie Mike Weaver negated that edge.
Parkland 2-1-2-1 6
Pennridge 1-2-2-0 5
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