This week’s notebook features the goalkeepers from Pennsbury and Pennridge as well as underdog Truman team that never quits.
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
Jorgenson a rock in net for Falcons - Marek Jorgenson bided his time. He waited and he watched. He learned from those in front of him and he worked to improve his game.
After three years as backup, the senior finally has his chance to shine as Pennsbury’s starting goalkeeper. And he’s making the rest of the league take notice.
“It obviously means a lot to me to get my chance to start,” Jorgenson said. “I’ve been working pretty hard to get better, I got a bit lucky as well. Luck and hard work have gotten to me to this point, now it’s up to me to perform, and I think I’ve been performing well. I’m happy about that.”
He’s not the only one.
“We’re thrilled with how Marek’s been playing,” said Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley. “Marek’s been waiting since his freshman year for this. He’s kept working, he’s improved every year, he’s earned this.
“He’s not the biggest kid, but he’s gotten a little bigger, grew into the net, and he’s so much more comfortable in there now, he comes to the top of crease to challenges plays, he positions himself better. You can tell he’s been putting in the work and it’s paying off.”
Jorgenson has allowed two or fewer goals in four of the Falcons’ seven games this season. Coupled with a veteran defense and dynamic offense, Pennsbury is atop the National Conference, riding a five-game winning streak and sitting at 6-1 overall.
But whether the Falcons are winning one-goal battles or are blowing out an opponent, Jorgenson is enjoying every minute of his opportunity. Even after waiting to take his place between the pipes, there remained a very good chance that he wouldn’t get the chance to play a senior season due to the pandemic forcing a delay and potential shutdown of the hockey season.
“There was definitely a lot of concern around November when the league would have started, and no one knew what was going on,” he said. “Now that it’s underway, I’m relieved, and I’m happy I have the chance to play my senior season. Staying focused while we were waiting to hear about the season, a lot is the mental preparation, a mental visualization technique. And my club team was still playing, so I was staying on the ice, still getting games and practices in.
“I don’t know if I’d say I have a chip on my shoulder, but I definitely want to prove to my coaches and my teammates that I deserve my chance here. And there’s also the added bonus that it’s my last year, so I need to prove something to college scouts, junior scouts. I want to continue playing, so this is a very important year for me.”
Now that Jorgenson finds himself as the starter, next year’s probable starter Aaron McDaniel finds himself in Jorgenson’s former spot, watching from the bench during games, working hard during practice, learning and improving. For Jorgenson, it’s important to pass down what he’s learned over the years, just as Gus Dous and Topher Seiler did for him.
“As a senior, it’s really important to help the guys who are coming back after you’re gone,” Jorgenson said. “During my freshman year, I had Gus to look to. I hope I’m able to do the same for Aaron. I’ll watch him in practice, and if I notice things, I can go talk to him and show him things he might be able to work on or to look for. It was a big deal to have someone to help me out as a freshman. I’m hoping I’m able to do the same.”
Daley believes that simply by learning from Jorgenson’s ascension to the starting spot will help the freshman goalie.
“Marek is a pretty quiet kid who leads by the example he sets out there. He shows up, does his work, and I haven’t heard him complain once,” Daley said. “They support each other in practice and games, talk about the situations, and Marek is showing him how the job is done and what we expect from a goaltender. You work hard even if you’re not getting the start, keep working and keep trying to improve, and you can get to where Marek is now.”
Jorgenson will lead the Falcons into action on Thursday at 7:20 pm at Grundy Ice Arena, where they host Central Bucks West and look to extend their winning ways with an eye on upcoming rematch with Neshaminy in mid-March and a run in the postseason.
“I think this team is 100 percent where we want to be at this point,” Jorgenson said. “We have a really positive attitude, we’re confident, we’re on a hot streak, and we’re looking to do big things in the playoffs and Flyers Cup.
“Our goal is always to make the playoffs and get a decent seed in the Flyers Cup. We haven’t always had the best of luck in the Flyers Cup, but as the season has progressed, we’re starting to feel like we can really be a contender. Our goal is to do some damage.”
CONTINENTAL CONFERENCE
Pico a brick wall in goal for Rams - Junior goalkeeper Ryan Pico has been so steady and so solid for Pennridge since he began patrolling the Rams’ net last season that coach Jeff Montagna admits he sometimes takes Pico’s consistency for granted.
When that happens, Pico is more than happy to remind everyone just how good he can be.
Case in point, Pennridge’s 5-3 victory over Neshaminy on Feb. 17. Despite a subpar team effort, Pico stood tall and helped the Rams steal a huge interleague victory.
“I probably do take it for granted that Ryan is going to be there and going to give you a strong effort,” Montagna said. “You need games like that to remind yourself that how important he is.
“This was a game where we had to kill two 5-minute majors in the first 17 minutes, we were outshot 24-7, playing terribly for two periods, and we’re tied going into the third period and we were able to win the game late. Without Ryan standing on his head, it could very easily be 5-1 or 6-1 at that point. That sums him up, how much he means to us that we can get away with a performance like that. We had no business winning that game, but Ryan kept us in it and he was the reason we were able to get a gigantic win over one of top 3 teams in the league.”
As a result, Pico—who has played just about every minute of every game since his sophomore year—and the Rams are riding a 6-game winning streak heading into this week’s action.
High-pressure situations such as the Neshaminy game are nothing new to Pico. After all, the then-sophomore was asked to take over goaltending duties on a team that had lost a whopping 13 players to graduation. As the backstop of last year’s squad, Pico helped lead the team to a league playoff and Flyers Cup run.
“You never know how a goalie is going to react when things get tough,” Montagna said. “I’m not sure he’s had a bad game in two years. I couldn’t even remember a game he didn’t play well or give us a chance to win. I just put him in net and forget about it and I honestly don’t even think twice about it.”
“My freshman year we had a great team that won the league championship,” Pico said. “I learned a lot from those guys. It helped get me ready when it was my turn.”
The deep and talented Rams are looking to build off, and improve on, last year’s successes. They’re well on their way, sitting atop the Continental Conference at 4-0 (6-1 overall) and will host Central Bucks South at 7:10 pm Thursday at Hatfield Gray. While this season looks different from all previous seasons, Pico remained focused and ready, and he and his teammates are seeing the benefits.
“You go to camps and practices in the offseason to get ready,” he said of his preparation for the high school season. “I just tried to stay ready mentally, get on the ice when I could. I’m usually able to get where I need to be right away, I’m ready whenever, and I was ready to start right away when we needed to.”
Pico also added a new wrinkle to his game this season.
“Over the last year, I’ve grown about 3 inches,” he said. “I was never the tallest guy back there. Now I’m starting to catch up. I tried to rely on my quickness to cover for that, but now I can cover more of the net.”
Carrying a 2.28 GAA though seven games this season, Pico has managed to remain alert and ready even in games where he sees long periods of inactivity. That mental toughness is a key part of his preparation and of his efforts on the ice.
“It’s easy to be focused when you’re seeing a lot of pucks,” Montagna said. “It’s not as easy when you’re not seeing pucks for 5, 10 minutes at a time. Ryan hasn’t had any stretches where he’s struggled or hasn’t played well, and that really speaks to mental preparation. He has that mental toughness you need as a goalie. Nothing changes with him, that’s important.”
“I just try to get as focused as I can when I’m on the ice,” Pico said. “But I do like to have a lot of fun out there as well. I do want to laugh and have fun with my teammates when the time is right.”
Add that steady, brick wall goalkeeper to an experienced team that is also getting significant contributions from its freshman class, and this Pennridge squad is poised to be a dangerous opponent for regular season opponent as well as postseason foes.
“I knew coming in that I had two very good, experienced lines, experienced guys back there on D,” Montagna said. “What I think has really helped us and made a difference is the contributions we’ve gotten from freshmen this year. They can go out there and not just compete, but contribute, and they make this team that much better.
“Colin Dachowski, it’s not a matter of if, but when he’s going to be the best defenseman in the league, and he’s still a freshman. He’s that good. And we’ve got other veteran guys who might not get a lot of publicity, but they do a ton for us. A guy like Aeryk Lehrhaupt, he’s got 27 goals in 25 games over the last two seasons. He’s not a big guy, he’s not the flashiest, but you look at those numbers and, ‘Wow - he was put on this earth to score goals.’”
Of course, it makes it that much easier for the freshmen to develop and the forwards to rack up the goals when they know their net is well-protected.
“The difference between winning the league and not winning can come down to putting a guy in net you can trust,” Montagna said. “With Ryan, I definitely do take it for granted. I don’t tell him enough how important he is to us. I like to think he knows how important he is. We’re not going to do anything without him.”
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
Tigers play hard, for each other and never quit - Harry S Truman may not have the largest roster in the league—it’s typical to see the Truman bench only go about 8 or 9 deep during a game.
But when it comes to determination, guts, and grittiness, there may be no team that compares to the Tigers.
“This is a team that never quits,” said Truman coach Bill Keyser. “They keep going, they never give up on each other. They’re always very positive and uplifting on the bench.
“I have a great core group this year. They play for the school, they play for me, they play for each other. That’s what I like about these guys.”
That “never quit” attitude isn’t just a motto, either. The Tigers have lived it time and again this year. This month alone, Truman trailed Hatboro-Horsham 3-0 in the first period before rallying to pull out a 4-3 victory, and trailed William Tennent 3-0 in the first before battling back and dropping a 5-4 decision. Earlier in the season, the Tigers spotted Abington a 3-0 lead before netting the next four goals to pull out a 4-3 win.
“We get off to slow starts sometimes,” Keyser said. “But these guys look for the third period. They pick it up as the game goes on and when we get there, ‘Yo guys, third period’s our period.’
“The Hatboro game was a great example of how they turned it up. And we had plenty of opportunities in Tennent game. I’m proud of them, they’re doing great.”
Juniors Jeremy McCartney (9G, 11A) and Eric Stofan (4G, 4A) and senior defenseman Franky Gallagher (6G, 6A) power an attack that is averaging a respectable 3.7 goals per game through 7 games.
“Jeremy is a terrific player, but he’s not a guy who just takes the puck and does it all himself,” Keyser said. “Franky (Gallagher), Justin Reid - they open up Jeremy. They’re out there creating plays and opening up Jeremy to give him space and time.”
On the other end of the ice, Truman has sophomore goalkeeper Connor Pilla is improving his play between the pipes in his second year as starter (it’s also only his third year playing goalie). Gallagher, Brent McGoldrick (3G, 5A), and Sean Dougherty form a solid core of defenders.
The Tigers also have a stellar two-way weapon in Stofan, a 6-4 defenseman who can play forward when needed.
“Eric is a kid that can read plays well and he doesn’t look like he’s the fastest, but he knows how to get the angle on kids and does a great job out there controlling the puck,” Keyser said. “We keep telling the kids, ‘Control the puck, you control the game. Control the game, you win the game.’ We’re working on controlling the game. We’re looking to tighten up that first period in the second half of the season.”
Coming into this week, the Tigers sit at 3-4 for 6 points and fifth overall in the American Conference. They’ll visit division-leading Wissahickon tonight at 9 pm at Hatfield Gray.
Win or lose, Keyser doesn’t expect anything in the second half of the season that the Tigers haven’t established in the first half—play hard, for each other, and never quit.
“I think my boys like being the underdog,” Keyser said. “They love coming in as the underdog, people think they’re going to walk all over us. But my guys believe in each other. When we lose, they take the onus on what they should have done better, and the attitude is ‘We’ll get the next one.’ They keep feeding off each other.
“You look at our season from last year, we had pretty much the same group, and out of 12 games, we probably didn’t make it to the third period in eight of them. Now we’re hanging in, we’re coming back, we’re fighting. If teams are going to give us a chance to win, we’re going to take every opportunity we can.”
All SuburbanOneSports.com articles (or portion of articles) can be turned into keepsakes. For information, please click on the following link https://www.suburbanonesports.com/article/content/turn-online-features-keepsake-posters-0086874
- Log in to post comments
