Ben Reese recaps Souderton’s 4-3 win over William Tennent that came down to the wire. Check out all the recaps. Souderton/Tennent photos provided by Keith Clemens Photography. CLICK HERE to go directly to the ICE HOCKEY GALLERY.
By Ben Reese
HATFIELD -- Tyler Apple isn’t the most likely player to score the game-winning goal in a Souderton ice hockey game.
But he also isn't the least likely player.
Either way, he did score the game-winner with slightly more than three minutes remaining to lead Souderton to a 4-3 victory over William Tennent in a Suburban High School Hockey League game at Ice World.
"(It's) not my first game-winning goal, but it was pretty special," said Apple. “Out here, a senior night, it was pretty nice."
Souderton coach Matt Montagna would agree with that.
"You don't expect on a team like ours for a defenseman to pop one in the top of the net with three minutes left in the game," he said. "It was nice to see it."
Was it unexpected?
"He hits the net," Montagna said. "He's good at hitting the net from back there. He scored a couple nights ago."
Entering the third period, Souderton held a slim 3-2 lead on Tennent. But, with 7:38 gone in the final period, the Panthers' Bobby Markus scored on a power play to tie the game at 3-3.
It stayed that way for another five minutes before Apple got his game-winner. He took a pass at the point and put one over the shoulder of Tennent goalie Eric Lineman to break the tie.
The win is only the third of the season for the Indians. Tennent has only one league victory.
It has been a tough season for both teams. Last year, Tennent finished with a 13-3-1 record in SHSHL play and earned a spot in the Flyers Cup. Souderton, in the 2016-17 season, finished with an 8-6-2 record.
Both teams suffered heavily from graduation. And that has caused this season to be less than sterling.
However, both coaches are optimistic about what is to come. They both know that things can change quickly.
"It's been a learning curve for a lot of these guys," Montagna said. "I've told them that I enjoy them and I enjoy coaching them.
"There are some mistakes that happen that can be frustrating. That's tough. I just want them to get better.
Tennent coach Nick D'Aurizio can see some light at the end of the tunnel.
"I think we're starting to play like a hockey team," he said, "which in the middle of the season I don't know what we were. We weren't a hockey team.
"This is a young team. We don't graduate any skaters and they're still learning how to play at the varsity level. They're getting more confident and we're still having fun.
"If you look at last season and then this one, it's real easy to say the season is a tough one but we're having fun coming to the rink every week. We're learning and we're getting better every week."
Apple has seen the improvement in Souderton.
"It's been a very long season," he said. "We've grown as a team. We've improved as a team definitely."
Souderton broke out of the gate first, scoring at the 2:32 mark on a shot by Austin Mower off a pass from John Gray. Less than four minutes later, at 6:27, Tennent tied things up on a Chad Cartwright goal.
At the 13:44 mark, Souderton scored a goal. But it was nullified by the officials on a high-stick call.
The Panthers took a 2-1 lead early in the second period. Zach Devor converted a pass from Markus with 2:44 elapsed.
The Indians came back later in the period to tie the score on a power-play goal from Tyler MacPhee. They grabbed the lead near the end of the stanza on Gray's goal.
Then came the third period. First Markus scored on the power play. Then Apple finished up the scoring to gain the win.
Souderton 4, William Tennent 3
William Tennent 1 1 1 – 3
Souderton 1 2 1 – 4
First period: 1, Austin Mower S (John Gray) 2:32; 2, Chad Cartwright WT (Jared George) 6:27.
Second period: 3, Zach Devor WT (Bobby Markus) 2:44; 4, Tyler MacPhee S (Mower, Gray) 7:26 PP; 5, Gray S (Mower) 18:45.
Third period: 6, Markus WT (Brendan Volpe, Stephen Skiba) 7:38 PP; 7, Tyler Apple S (Dylan Anderson) 12:46.
Shots: WT 38, S 40. Saves: Eric Lineman (WT) 36; Jon Pritchard (S) 35.
PENNRIDGE 11, HARRY S TRUMAN 1
The Rams led 3-0 after one period and then blew the game wide open with eight goals in the second period. Patrick McGinley led the Rams with three goals and two assists for five points. Contributing three-point nights were Michael Ferello (three assists), Nick Eissler (one goal, two assists), Eric Slater (three goals), Matthew Guinette (three assists) and Michael Walker (one goal, two assists).
Scoring first-period goals for the Rams were Jake Weisbecker (Nick Eissler and Blake Stewart assists), Conrad Frisch (Michael Walker assist) and Walker (Eissler assist).
The Rams took 38 shots to just 11 for the Tigers. Luke Stranick turned away 10 of 11 shots he faced to earn the win in goal for the Rams.
Harry S. Truman 0-1-0 1
Pennridge 3-8-0 11
Shots: Truman 11, Pennridge 38.
Saves: Luke Stranick (P) 10, Kyle Huth (HST) 25.
First period: 1, Jake Weisbecker P (Nick Eissler, Blake Stewart) 0:23; 2, Conrad Frisch P (Michael Walker) 11:29; 3, Michael Walker P (Nick Eissler) 11:35.
Second Period: 4, Eric Slater P (Michael Ferello) 2:03; 5, Patrick McGinley P (Michael Ferello) 3:25; 6, Eric Slater P (Conrad Frisch, Patrick McGinley) 8:54; 7, Nick Eissler P (Michael Walker, Matthew Guinette) 10:26; 8, Patrick McGinley P (Michael Ferello, Matthew Guinete) 11:35; 9, Patrick McGinley P, 14:17; 10, Eric Slater P (Patrick McGinley) 14:46; 11, Michael Eissler P (Jake Weisbecker, Matthew Guinette) 15:07; 12; James Gallagher HST (Donald Strohm) 16:00.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 8, PENNSBURY 1
Thursday, Feb. 1
ABINGTON 10, UPPER MORELAND 1
Elijah Coston (three goals, two assists) and Ryan Gosselin (two goals, three assists) both turned in five-point nights to lead the Ghosts. Nikolai Portner added two goals and two assists for four points.
The Ghosts took care of business in a hurry, scoring six goals in the first period. Gosselin scored 53 seconds into the game – his first of two goals in the period. Nikolai Portner also had a pair of goals in the period, and Gavin O’Donnell converted a power play with assists from Gosselin and Perry Carpenter to put the Ghosts on top 6-0.
Abington held a 40-9 advantage in shots over the Golden Bears. Jacob Snellenburg earned the shutout win in goal.
Abington 6-3-1 10
Upper Moreland 0-0-0 0
Shots: Abington 40, UM 9. Saves: Jacob Snellenburg (A) 9, Michael Denardo (UM) 30.
First period: 1, Ryan Gosselin A, 0:53; 2, Nikolai Portner A (Elijah, Coston, Daniel Staley) 2:58; 3, Elijah Coston A (Nikolai Portner) 6:28; 4, Ryan Gosselin A, 7:25; 5, Nikolai Portner A (Elijah Coston) 10:27; 6, Gavin O’Donnell A (Ryan Gosselin, Perry Carpenter) 15:38.
Second period 7, Perry Carpenter A (Ryan Gosselin) 2:31; 8, Shawn Lombardo A, 7:10; 9, Elijah Coston A (Nikolai Portner) 8:24.
Third Period: 10, Elijah Coston A (Ryan Gosselin) 8:24.
NORTH PENN 11, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 4
Jack Nelson’s six-point night (three goals, three assists) led North Penn to the convincing win. Nathan Oh assisted on five goals, Jared Albano had four goals, and Andrew Galetta had a hand in four goals, scoring two and assisting on two others.
The Knights wasted little time before seizing control, outscoring the Patriots 5-1 in the opening period. Nelson scored on a power play with assists from Galetta and Tyler Greenstein 2:54 into the game. They led 2-0 when Nelson scored an unassisted goal. Owen Connor (Rob Kern/Michael Foley assists) found the net for the Patriots, but Galetta, Nelson and Thomas Boyle answered with back-to-back-to-back goals.
Albano’s goal early in the second period gave the Knights a 6-1 lead, but Rob Kern and Colin Quinn answered with goals for the Patriots, trimming the Knights’ lead to 6-3. Again the Knights had an answer, closing out the period with goals by Albano, Galetta and Will Hughes to go on top 9-3.
North Penn held a 42-19 advantage in shots. Andrew Zanoni earned the win in goal for the Knights, turning away 15 shots.
North Penn 5-4-2 11
Central Bucks East 1-2-1 4
Shots: North Penn 42, CBE 19. Saves: Andrew Zanoni (NP) 15, Matt Ogonowski (CBE) 31.
First period: 1, Jake Nelson NP (Andrew Galetta, Tyler Greenstein) 2:54; 2, Jake Nelson NP, 4:15; 3, Owen Connor CBE (Rob Kern, Michael Foley) 7:22; 4, Andrew Galetta NP (Nathan Oh) 13:19; 5, Jake Nelson NP (Nathan Oh) 13:19; 6, Thomas Boyle NP (Jake Nelson) 15:26.
Second period: 7, Jared Albano NP (Nathan Oh, George Boyle) 3:37; 8, Rob Kern CBE (Owen Connor, Nick LoCastro) 5:41; 9, Colin Quinn CBE (Owen Connor, Nick LoCastro) 5:41; 10, Jared Albano NP (Nathan Oh, Alex Stevens) 9:45; 11, Andrew Galetta NP (Nathan Oh) 13:07; 12, Will Hughes NP (Andrew Galetta, Eric Sarbacker) 13:20.
Third period: 13, Jarad Albano NP (Joshua Kaufhold, Jake Nelson) 1:08 14, Matt Cipriano CBE (Owen Long) 2:01; 15, Jared Albano NP (Jake Nelson, Ryan Cunningham) 4:04.
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