Abington and Wissahickon were winners in Thursday’s SHSHL Class A Tournament and will square off in Monday’s title game.
#1 Abington 6, #4 Quakertown 2
Abington has enjoyed the proverbial embarrassment of riches between the pipes this year. While some teams have struggled to find one starting goalie to be a steadying force in the crease, the Ghosts have two.
As a result, senior Ben Panella and junior Sam Nemec have split time in net, and have helped the Ghosts to a 13-1-0 regular season record and the top seed in the SHSHL Class A playoffs with an undefeated 12-0-0 American Division record.
“Both our goalies have stepped up for every game we’ve had,” said Abington coach Ken Brzozowski. “We’ve literally alternated every game.”
In Thursday’s Class A semifinal against fourth seed Quakertown, it was Nemec who got the call. He made his postseason debut a memorable one, turning aside 18 of 20 shots he faced as the Ghosts cruised to a 6-2 victory at Hatfield Ice.
“I’m definitely grateful for the opportunity to start,” Nemec said. “I feel like I had a good season, and I was ready for this. I just wanted to keep the team in it as much as I could today.
“I know it’s Ben’s last year as a senior. I support him every single game he plays, and he supports me right back, and I appreciate that. It’s a great opportunity, I’ve played with Ben for 6 years, he’s definitely been my mentor the whole time.”
Panella might get his chance to shine next, as Abington advances to the Class A final. And while Nemec minded the cage on this night, the rest of the Ghosts more than played their parts as well.
Matt Kramer opened the scoring 10 minutes into the first period (Joe Stelacio assist) before Jordan Heydt netted an unassisted goal with 3:37 left in the opening frame to give the Ghosts a cushion. Heydt—who’d scored three goals in the regular season—added his second of the night midway through the second period to make it a 3-0 Abington lead.
“Jordan got us going,” Brzozowski said. “We needed a little jump start and he’s one of those X-variable players that we have. To see him have a great night and put two pucks in the net was huge for him.”
“I definitely surprised myself a little bit,” Heydt said with a laugh. “I was ready to play the system we normally play, take the opportunities that I saw, and I just did what I could with them.”
Abington would make it 4-0 in the final minute of the second period on a Ryan Portner marker (Joe Stelacio assist).
The Panthers opened the final period by climbing back into the game. Senior captain Anthony Pagliei found himself on a 2-on-1 off the opening draw and decided to take the shot himself, ripping a shot past Nemec to put Quakertown on the board just 16 seconds into the third.
Less than a minute later, a Will Shaw shot went wide, but bounced out to Lucas Cunnane on the other side of the net, and Cunnane fired it in to cut Abington’s lead to 4-2.
“They came out strong, but we put it behind us,” Brzozowski said. “We knew if we could put the puck in the net next we’d be OK.”
It took some time, but the Ghosts would eventually find and answer to Matt Krem (23 saves), as Heydt added an assist to his two-goal game when he picked up the puck in a goalmouth scramble and sent it across the crease to Kramer, who buried second of the game with 8:28 to go.
“We always talk about the dirty goals and working hard,” Brzozowski said. “I don’t like to have one guy go down the ice and skate through everybody, we try to get pucks on net, make the extra pass and hopefully get a rebound and put the dirty goal in. Sometimes that makes the difference.”
Abington tacked on one more with 70 seconds left in the game when Pat Stelacio made a fantastic play on a 2-on-1, holding the puck and sending a perfect pass by a sliding defender and right onto the stick of Sam Paulik, who fired it home.
Abington advances to the Class A final in what will be a rematch of last year’s final game. The Ghosts will take on third seed and defending Class A champion Wissahickon on March 3 at 8:30 pm at Hatfield Ice.
While the Ghosts will enjoy this victory, they’re already setting their sights on next week’s opponent.
“This game is over with,” Heydt said. “We’ve got to look forward to next week now.”
“As soon as we step into the locker room, our attention goes right to that next game,” Nemec said. “This was just the first step.”
Abington 6, Quakertown 2
Quakertown 0 0 2 – 2
Abington 2 2 2 – 6
First period: 1, Matt Kramer A (Joe Stelacio) 7:12; 2, Jordan Heydt A (unassisted) 3:27.
Second period: 3, Heydt A (Sean Doyle) 8:47; 4, Ryan Portner A (J Stelacio) 0:56.
Third period: 5, Anthony Pagliei Q (unassisted) 14:44; 6, Lucas Cunnane Q (Will Shaw) 13:59; 7, Kramer A (Heydt, Brian Murdoch) 8:28; 8.Sam Paulik A (Pat Stelacio) 1:10.
Shots: Quakertown 20, Abington 29.
Saves: Matthew Krem (Q) 23, Sam Nemec (A) 18.
#3 Wissahickon 6, #2 Plymouth Whitemarsh 4
There’s been a very noticeable change in the play and, as a result, the fortunes of the Wissahickon hockey team.
The squad full of standout individuals has started to mesh in recent weeks. As such, the Trojans have won four of their last five regular season games, and a team that had defensive issues early on began to solidify the blue line, allowing more than three goals just once in their final five games.
When the third-seeded Trojans took to the ice Thursday for the SHSHL Class A semifinals against second seed Plymouth Whitemarsh, it was as a group of players who were truly playing as a unit.
“We’ve been turning it on lately and playing more as a team,” said Wissahickon coach Ken Harrington. “And they may not know it, but they know the feel of winning, and winning shifts, and it’s sinking in what we want them to do. ‘We’re doing what coach said and we’re winning, let’s keep doing it.’”
The Trojans opened Thursday’s game on a torrid pace, playing aggressive, tough hockey. Wissahickon doubled up PW in shots in the opening period, 20-10, scoring the game’s first three goals to give themselves a lead they would never relinquish en route to a 6-4 victory over the Colonials at Hatfield Ice.
“We played a defensive game, that’s how you beat teams,” said Nick Hussa, who also did his fair share on the other end of the ice with 2 goals and 1 assist. “We learned that throughout the season, we were getting scored on a lot so we had to switch it up and play better team defense.”
An aggressive, dominant Wissahickon start kept the puck off the sticks of PW’s Luke Weikel and Aidan Keogh, the league’s leading scorers. At one point in the first period, Wissahickon held a 14-4 advantage in shots.
The Trojans opened the scoring on the power play with 10:38 left in the first period. Hussa fed Ty Schiff, who drilled a shot from the point that found its way into the cage. Three minutes later, Schiff set up Will Hussa, who drove down the left side of the rink, pulled up near the offensive face-off circle, and ripped a low laser into the net.
Wissahickon made it 3-0 with 72 seconds left in the opening period on a remarkable solo effort from Nick Hussa, who took the puck from inside his own blue line, weaved and danced his way through the PW players, and beat Colonials’ keeper Kolton Galie (37 saves).
“You rush the puck and you hope that can happen every time,” Hussa said. “It doesn’t happen every time, but when it does, it’s a great feeling. I’m glad I could have it happen when it did.”
That three-goal cushion was short-lived, though. PW bounced right back and got on the scoreboard with 9 ticks left in the first when Weikel (Keogh assist) fired in a shot off an offensive zone face-off. Then, just over three minutes into the second period, Weikel scored off the rebound of a Dylan Novitski shot.
Griffin Lynch scored unassisted on the power play and Will Hussa scored his second (Hudson Honeycutt assist) to stretch the lead back to three goals before Tim Murphy (Weikel assist) made it 5-3 with 3 minutes left in the second.
Nick Hussa added his second of the game off an AJ Pounds assist early in the third period, and the Wissahickon defense and goalkeeper Michael Bonanni did the rest.
Bonanni recorded 32 saves on the night, none more impressive than a remarkable sequence with 5 minutes left in the game and the Colonials pressuring. A 2-on-2 race for the puck ensued that saw two Trojans lay out their bodies to try to clog the passing and shooting lanes, then Bonanni flashed the leather to make a nifty glove save on the ensuing shot.
“Michael—he was lights-out tonight,” Pounds said. “He made some huge saves, he was a huge factor in the win. This was an awesome performance for him.”
Isaac Mishkin scored with 14 seconds left in the game with his goalie pulled and an extra man on the ice for PW. Weikel capped off a 4-point night with an assist on the play.
With the victory, Wissahickon turns its attention toward the Class A final, to be played March 3 at 8:30 pm at Hatfield Ice. If the Trojans want to repeat as Class A champions, they’ll have to do what no one else in the American Division has been able to do this season—defeat top-seeded Abington.
Wissahickon is looking forward for the chance to take one more crack at the Ghosts.
“We’re excited. I’m excited,” Harrington said. “We played Abington a week-and-a-half ago under the moon at Spring Mountain. They won 4-3, so we’re excited to play Abington again.”
“The second the buzzer went off, we started looking to Abington,” Pounds said. “I’m excited. I think it’s going to be a tough game, but we’re confident with how we’re playing right now.”
Wissahickon 6, Plymouth Whitemarsh 4
Wissahickon 3 2 1 – 6
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1 2 1 – 4
First period: 1, Ty Schiff W (Nick Hussa) 10:38 PP; 2, Will Hussa W (Schiff) 7:23; 3, N Hussa W (unassisted) 1:12; 4, Luke Weikel PW (Aidan Keogh) 0:09.
Second period: 5, Weikel PW (Dylan Novitski) 13:59; 6, Griffin Lynch W (unassisted) 11:10 PP; 7, W Hussa W (Hudson Honeycutt) 4:51; 8, Tim Murphy PW (Weikel) 3:15.
Third period: 9, N Hussa W (AJ Pounds) 12:26; 10, Isaac Mishkin PW (Weikel) 0:14.
Shots: Wissahickon 43, PW 36.
Saves: Mike Bonanni (W) 32; Kolton Galie (PW) 37.
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