Central Bucks South notched a 5-1 win over Central Bucks East in Wednesday’s SHSHL contest at Bucks County Ice.
By Craig Ostroff
Central Bucks South 5, Central Bucks East 1
What a difference a week makes.
On Wednesday, Central Bucks South found itself holding a 3-1 lead late in the second period of a key Continental Conference clash against Central Bucks East. Just six days earlier, the Titans saw an identical late-second period 3-1 lead slip away as North Penn rallied to knot the score and force a tie.
This time, however, it was the Titans who netted the next two goals to finish strong and earn a 5-1 victory in a game that meant a lot more than just winning a neighborhood rivalry.
“This was a game the kids really needed for morale, for positivity,” said South coach Shaun McGinty. “A lot of these guys have been around a long time and they’re used to winning. We’ve traditionally had a very successful program and the kids who’ve been here for three and four years, they’ve done well for a long time.
“We started off slow this season with two losses—some of those guys never had two losses in a row. There was a lot of pressure on them to perform well tonight, they knew it, and they did perform well.”
The past week included a refocused attitude in practice, and a player-led meeting to discuss what the team needed to do to turn around their fortunes.
Wednesday night’s win was a big step toward doing just that.
“No disrespect to North Penn, but last week we gave a game away that we shouldn’t have,” McGinty said. “We packed it in and started playing soft, North Penn took advantage and kudos to them. This week was really focusing on playing good hockey, keeping the momentum going, and staying offensive-minded.”
The Titans responded. Rather than sitting back in the third period, South pushed forward and crashed the Patriots’ net early in the third period. Aggressive play of following the puck led to a netmouth scramble that Nathan Fievitz poked home (Brad Cannon and Matt Crouch assists) to extend the lead to 4-1. The Titans kept up the pressure—outshooting East in the third period by a 9-6 count—and DJ Lindenmuth capped it off with 38 seconds left in regulation (Dan Kvecher assist) for his second of the game.
Lindenmuth also scored the first goal of the game in a period that saw East fire eight shots on Mason Moyer while the Titans managed just three on Matt Mangiacapre (13 saves). But Lindenmuth made sure South’s first shot of the game counted, picking up a puck after Crouch saved it at the blue line and going five-hole to put the visitors on the board.
“Matt stepped up on the wall to save it,” Lindenmuth said. “Got it to me, I was able to chip it past the defenseman and saw the five-hole and just put it there.”
South upped its lead to 2-0 less than three minutes into the second period on a nifty shot from Aydin Thierolf (Owen Mendham assist) fading right and firing to the left side. The Patriots responded 36 seconds later when Stephen DiRugeris (Aiden Schmidt and Chris Mangiacapre assists) knocked in the second rebound in a scramble around the goal. A power play goal with 3:28 left in the second from Aidan Gaffney (Crouch assist) gave the Titans some breathing room.
“We got a slow start in the first period, got outshot 8-3, but Moyer does what Moyer does, he kept us in the game, allowed some of our younger players to get our feet settled and allowed us to get the lead,” McGinty said. “The second and third periods we played pretty strong. Their shots were up there, but we limited their quality chances and we have a staple in net with Moyer.”
The senior netminder turned aside 25 of 26 shots to help the Titans gain bragging rights for now … and to help the team secure what could be a season-changing win. The Titans now sit at 2-2-1 with 5 points in Continental Conference play and will look to build upon the momentum from this win when they visit conference frontrunner Pennridge at 7:10 pm Feb. 18 at Hatfield Gray.
Central Bucks East (2-2) will have little time to dwell on the loss, visiting Pennsbury tonight at 7:20 pm at Grundy Ice Arena.
They said:
CB South freshman forward DJ Lindenmuth
Is this the kind of tough game you expect when two Central Bucks teams play each other? This is my first year, so I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect, but I know these are always big, tough battles, and I’m happy we were
able to come away with the W.
What was the difference this week that let you build off the 3-1 lead that didn’t happen last week? We played more defensively structured, made the smarter plays, and didn’t give up a lot of the odd-man rushes we did against North Penn.
What was the defensive game plan for slowing down East’s potent offense? We more or less just tried forcing them to the outside, played them stick on stick, body on body, and tried to force them into bad shooting lanes.
How happy are you just to be able to have the season? I’m happy to be playing, we all are. With all that’s going on, it’s great just to be able to go out there and play and have fun with the team.
CB South senior goalkeeper Mason Moyer
Is this the kind of tough game you expect when two Central Bucks teams play each other? This was a hard-fought win, it got pretty physical. These are the kinds of games you’ve got to fight for and it’s what we did today.
It’s always a rivalry game when we play East and it’s always intense.
What was the difference this week that let you build off the 3-1 lead that didn’t happen last week? We focused more on being smarter on defense and staying aggressive on offense this time. Keeping a team like this off the scoreboard is huge for us and puts a statement out there to the rest of the league that we’re not done. We’re still Central Bucks South, and we’re still fighting.
What was the defensive game plan for slowing down East’s potent offense? We wanted to keep them to the outside, keep them out of the middle so they’re not getting great scoring chances or a lot of rebounds, limit them to shots from farther out and the shots I can see, that’s what we did tonight.
How happy are you just to be able to have the season? It’s great. It’s fun to play hockey, I love playing hockey, so getting the opportunity to go out and play and see the boys every day is fun.
Central Bucks South 1-2-2 5
Central Bucks East 0-1-0 1
First period: 1. DJ Lindenmuth CBS 12:47.
Second period: 2. Aydin Thierolf CBS (Owen Mendham) 13:12; 3. Stephen DiRugeris CBE (Aiden Schmidt/Chris Mangiacapre) 12:36; 4. Aidan Gaffney CBS (Matt Crouch) 3:28, PP.
Third period: 5. Nathan Fievitz CBS (Brad Cannon/Matt Crouch) 10:13; 6. DJ Lindenmuth CBS (Daniel Kvecher) :38.
Shots: Central Bucks South 18, Central Bucks East 26. Saves: Mason Moyer (CBS) 25, Matt Mangiacapre (CBE) 13.
ABINGTON 7, WISSAHICKON 6
There are comebacks, and then there are comebacks.
Five minutes into Wednesday night’s contest, the Ghosts found themselves staring at a 5-0 hole after Nicholas Hussa turned a Daniel Glazer pass into a power play goal. That, however, would be the last trace of momentum for the Trojans as the Ghosts closed out the game with a 7-1 tear.
With three-and-a-half minutes remaining in regulation, Joe Stelacio scored the game-winner, but nine different players contributed to the scoring for the Ghosts, and the defense – anchored by goalie Sam Nemec (33 saves) – was all but impenetrable the rest of the way.
Early on, it was all Wissahickon. Bryan Garry put the Trojans on the scoreboard just over a minute into the contest, using a Nicholas Hussa assist. It was the beginning of a productive night for the duo as both had five-point games. A short-handed goal by Hussa (Garry assist) gave the Trojans a 2-0 lead after one period.
The Trojans reeled off three straight goals in the opening five minutes of the second period – two in the first minute. Goals by Hussa (Garry assist) and Garry (Hussa assist) were followed by Hussa’s power play goal that put the Trojans on top 5-0.
Matthew Kramer gave the Ghosts life when he found the net with an assist from Colin Bruton nine minutes into the period. Three minutes later, Jordan Keydt scored with a Justin Kravets assist, and it was a 5-3 game when Ian Heydt (Kramer assist) scored 13:21 into the period. Garry’s unassisted goal in the closing minute sent the Trojans into the final period with a 6-3 lead.
In the first two periods, the Trojans held a 24-11 advantage in shots, and they had a 15-10 edge in the third, an advantage that Nemac helped to negate. Griffin Carpenter’s unassisted goal five minutes into the third period pulled the Ghosts to within two, and 17 seconds later, Stelacio scored with an assist from Sam Paulik. Kramer connected on the equalizer 11:26 into the period, using assists from Paulik and Ryan Portner). The stage was set for Stelacio’s game-winner, which came just seconds later.
Wissahickon 2-4-0 6
Abington 0-3-4 7
First period: 1. Bryan Garry W (Nicholas Hussa) 1:07; 2. Nicholas Hussa W (Bryan Garry) 13:00.
Second period: 3. Nicholas Hussa W (Bryan Garry) 0:07; 4. Bryan Garry W (Nicholas Hussa) 0:55; 5. Nicholas Hussa W (Daniel Glazer) 4:58; 6. Matthew Kramer A (Colin Bruton) 9:08; 7. Jordan Heydt A (Justin Kravets) 12:26; 8. Ian Heydt A (Matthew Kramer) 13:21; 9. Bryan Garry W, 15:42.
Third period: 10. Griffin Carpenter A, 5:16; 11. Joe Stelacio A (Sam Paulik) 5:33; 12. Matthew Kramer A (Sam Paulik/Ryan Portner) 11:26; 13. Joe Stelacio A, 11:35.
Shots: Wissahickon 39, Abington 21. Saves: Michael Bonanni (W) 14, Sam nemec (A) 33.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 10, SOUDERTON 2
Julian Sarne spent the night handing out assists – four all told to go along with a goal for a five-pint game that led the Golden Hawks. Sam Cherkassky had a hat trick and also assisted on a goal for four points.
The Golden Hawks led 2-0 after on period, thanks to goals from Cherkassky (unassisted) and Kevin Koles (Brennen Wright assist). The Indians responded with back-to-back goals of their own. Seth Grossman put the Indians on the scoreboard four minutes into the second period, using a Liam O’Neill assist. Jacob Chow’s goal with a Kyle Anderson assist knotted the score 2-2 at the 11:33 mark, a tie that held for two minutes before Douglas Lopez (Wright assist) scored the go-ahead goal that turned out to be the game-winner.
Before the period was over, Cherkassky (Sarne assist) and Julian Wagenmann (Sarne/Koles assists) also found the back of the net to send the Golden Hawks into the final period with a 5-2 advantage.
The Hawks added five unanswered goals in the third period – four in the opening three minutes by Wagenmann (Sarne assist), Jeremy Purcell (Wagenmann assist), Koles (Lopez assist) and Cherkassky (Sarne assist). With just over six minutes remaining, Sarne closed out the scoring with a Cherkassy assist.
Jimmy Sweeney earned the win in goal for the Hawks, turning away 24 of 26 shots. Souderton’s Noah Connor was credited with 34 saves.
Council Rock South 2-3-5 10
Souderton 0-2-0 2
First period: 1. Sam Cherkassky CRS, 2:59; 2. Kevin Koles CRS (Brennen Wright) 13:56.
Second period: 3. Seth Grossman (S) Liam O’Neill) 3:43; 4. Jacob Chow S (Kyle Anderson) 11:33; 5. Douglas Lopez CRS (Brennen Wright) 13:22; 6. Sam Cherkassy CRS (Julian Same) 13:29; 7. Julian Wagenmann CRS (Julian Sarne/Kevin Koles) 14:14.
Third period: 8. Julian Wagenmann CRS (Julian Sarne) 0:54 9. Jeremy Purcell CRS (Julian Wagenmann) 1:29; 10. Kevin Koles CRS (Douglas Lopez) 2:03; 11. Sam Cherkassky CRS (Julian Sarne); 12. Julian Sarne CRS (Sam Cherkassky) 9:46.
Shots: CRS 44, Souderton 26. Saves: Jimmy Sweeney (CRS) 24; Noah Connor (S) 34.
PENNRIDGE 10, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 0
Fourteen different players contributed to the scoring for the Rams, who led by just a 1-0 score late in the second period against a young West squad, but they blew the game wide open with a 9-0 tear to close out the contest.
Aeryk Lehrhaupt scored the lone goal of the first period with assists from Aidan Boyle and Cooper White, and that didn’t come until just one minute remained in the period.
It was still a 1-0 game until Andrew Savona (Andrew Lizak assist) scored 9:30 into the second period. Short-handed goals in the closing minutes by Lehrhaupt (Colin Dachowski assist) and Blake Stewart (Cooper White assist) sent the Rams into the third period with a 3-0 lead.
In the final period, the Rams received goals from White (Jacob Lizak/Schuler assists), Tyler Manto (Jeff Manto assist), Richie Shanks (Andrew David assist) and Dachowski (Jack Lowery assist). Shanks was the third short-handed goal of the night for the Rams. Schuler closed it out with back-to-back goals, the first with a Manto assist.
Pennridge goalie Ryan Pico was credited with 21 saves in the shutout win. West’s Liam Rogers recorded 37 saves.
Central Bucks West 0-0-0 0
Pennridge 1-3-6 10
First period: 1. Aeryk Lehrhaupt P (Aidan Boyle/Cooper White) 14:59.
Second period: 2. Andrew Savona P (Andrew Lizak) 9:30; 3. Aeryk Lehrhaupt P (Colin Dachowski) 12:35; 4. Blake Stewart P (Cooper White) 13:35.
Third period: 5. Cooper White P (Jacob Lizak/Ryan Schuler) 1:46; 6. Tyler Manto P (Jeff Manto) 4:25; 7. Richhie Shanks P (Andrew David) 6:07; 8. Colin Dachowski P (Jack Lowery) 8:53; 9. Ryan Schuler P (Jeff Manto) 9:06; 10. Ryan Schuler P, 9:34.
Shots: CB West 21, Pennridge 47. Saves: Liam Rogers (CBW) 37, Ryan Pico (P) 21.
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