Lower Moreland defeated Wissahickon in an SOL American Conference showdown. Ben Reese recaps all the action. Pennsbury and Neshaminy battled to a tie.
By Ben Reese
HATFIELD -- On paper, the match-up of American Division-leading Wissahickon against No. 2 Lower Moreland looked like it was going to be a very competitive game.
They are the two leading scoring teams in the division. They also have four of the top scorers in the entire Suburban High School Hockey League in Bryan and Sean Garry for the Trojans and Coleman Peppelman and Vincenzo DeMaio for the Lions.
However, games are not played on paper. In this case, they are played on ice.
And on the ice, the Lions churned out a 5-2 victory over the Trojans.
One reason was the outstanding play of Adam Bostock for Lower Moreland. Another reason was that the Garry brothers didn't play, suspended for one game for receiving game misconduct penalties in their previous game.
Bostock scored twice and added an assist, all in the second period when the Lions blew open a close game. They scored four goals to offset one by the Trojans in the period.
"He's gotten so much better since he began playing with (Peppelman)," said Lions coach Gus Salfiti of Bostock. "Him and Peppelman, as far as their abilities, are very similar.
"Adam does a better job of passing. He sees the ice a lot better. And he's only a sophomore."
As for the absence of the Garry brothers and its effect on the game, well, the fact that Wissahickon could only score twice should tell you something. The Trojans were averaging 7.9 goals per game coming into Wednesday's contest at Hatfield Ice.
"We didn't have much of an option," Wissahickon coach Ken Harrington said about his team's choice of how to play without its two top scorers. "We planned to cover their two big guys. We did a half-decent job in the first period. In the second period, they just took over.
"We weren't moving our feet, weren't sharing the puck much. I think we were chasing too much."
Did the Lions prepare differently for the game, knowing Wissahickon would be without the Garrys?
"I only have seven guys," said Salfiti. "There's not a lot to prepare. There's only so much you can do."
Bostock was prepared for the game in advance.
"I have a friend on (Wissahickon)," he said, "and he told me about it. We had that in our mind so it helped us out.
"They are two of the best players in the league and we had to prepare for them anyway. But we got it done."
Wissahickon did get a bit of assistance during the game. But it didn't know about it.
"Coleman was not feeling well today," explained Salfiti. "He was skating at 50-60 percent. He's still dangerous at that, but you could see that the effort wasn't there due to the fact that he wasn't feeling well."
Illness and all, Peppelman scored twice and had an assist.
After a scoreless first period, Wissahickon got on the scoreboard first in the second stanza. Daniel Glazer converted passes from Alex Carrozza and Nicholas Hussa to beat Lion goalie Jacob Lungin on the power play at the 2:12 mark.
Bostock notched his first goal of the game at 7:37, an unassisted tally, also on the power play. It was the first of four unanswered goals for Lower Moreland.
Tyler Scolnick followed that up at 9:12 off an assist from Bostock, and Bostock got his second goal of the period with an assist from Peppelman at 12:12. Peppelman scored his first of the night with 33 seconds remaining in the period.
In the third period, the teams traded goals. Wissahickon scored first with Ty Schiff hitting the nets and Peppelman finished off the scoring at the 8:48 mark.
It gave the Lions a chance to rest some players and get some others additional work.
"Once we have a lead, we get some of the other players out there," said Bostock. "We were worried because they started to come back and we got scared."
It was a fear that proved unfounded.
Lower Moreland 5, Wissahickon 2
Lower Moreland 0 4 1 – 5
Wissahickon 0 1 1 – 2
First period: No scoring.
Second period: 1, Daniel Glazer W (Alex Carrozza, Nicholas Hussa) 2:12 PP; 2, Adam Bostock LM (unassisted) 7:37 PP; 3, Tyler Scolnick LM (Bostock) 9:12; 4, Bostock LM (Coleman Peppelman) 12:12; 5, Peppelman (unassisted) 15:27.
Third period: 6, Ty Schiff W (Hussa) 2:32; 7, Peppelman (Noah Gazzara) 8:48.
Shots: LM 40, W 26. Saves: Jacob Lungin (LM) 24, Michael Henderson (W) 35.
NESHAMINY 5, PENNSBURY 5
The Redskins took a 5-2 lead into the final period and appeared to have the game well in hand. The Falcons had other ideas, scoring three unanswered goals in the final period. Beau Yedman scored the equalizer 13 minutes into the final period, using assists from Shane Siegmund and Erik Eisler.
Games don’t get much more even than this one. The Redskins and Falcons were not only deadlocked on the scoreboard – just two shots separated the neighboring rivals.
The Redskins opened up a 3-1 lead after one period. Robert Seewagen (Brett Nelson/Josh Haines assists) put the ‘Skins on the scoreboard just 16 seconds into the contest. Five minutes later, Thomas Gallagher scored with assists from Joey DeMatteo and Ryan McColgan. Colin Michalak’s goal with an Erik Eisler assist cut the Redskins’ lead in half, but Matthew Duke (Gallagher/DeMatteo assists) got that goal back to give Neshaminy a 3-1 lead after one period.
Shane Siegmund scored with an assist from Griffin Foll to make it a 3-2 game, but Nelson (Matthew Duke/Robert Seewagen assists) and Brian McGrody (Seewagen assist) each scored a goal to put the Redskins on top 5-2.
That lead turned out to be anything but secure. Back-to-back goals by Siegmund – the first with a Foll assist and the second with an assist from Machlovitz – set the stage for Yedman’s equalizer.
Siegmund’s four-point game (three goals, one assist) led the Falcons.
In goal, Pennsbury’s Topher Seiler recorded 30 saves, and Neshaminy’s Steve Glik had 28.
Neshaminy 3-2-0 5
Pennsbury 1-1-3 5
Shots: Neshaminy 35, Pennsbury 33. Saves: Steve Glik (N) 28, Topher Seiler (P) 30.
First period: 1, Robert Seewagen N (Brett Nelson/Josh Haines) 0:16; 2, Thomas Gallagher N (Joey DeMatteo/Ryan McColgan) 5:16; 3, Colin Michalak P (Erik Eisler) 12:28; 4, Matthew Duke N (Thomas Gallagher/Joey DeMatteo) 12:59.
Second period: 5, Shane Siegmund P (Griffin Foll) 4:25; 6, Brett Nelson N (Matthew Duke/Robert Seewagen) 4:55; 7, Brian McGrody N (Robert Seewagen) 7:14.
Third period: 8, Shane Siegmund P (Griffin Foll) 3:06; 9, Shane Siegmund P (Jake Machlovitz) 9:57; 10, Beau Yedman P (Shane Siegmund/Erik Eisler) 13:00.
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