By Ben Reese
HATFIELD — This ice hockey game between North Penn and Council Rock South was everything it was expected to be.
It was hard fought; it was full of hard hits and shots on goal; it was full of strong skating and goal scoring.
But in the end, it really didn’t mean a whole lot in the scheme of things in the National Division of the Suburban High School Hockey League.
North Penn landed a 4-2 win over Rock South at Hatfield Ice to complete an undefeated league season. CR South held on to second place in the division for the time being, despite absorbing the loss.
How important was the undefeated league season to North Penn?
“It was important to the boys,” Knights’ coach Kevin Vaitis said. “But they’ve got bigger things on their minds.
“Once we clinched the regular season last week, we knew we had to wrap it up tonight. We celebrate tonight, but then we’ve got to get ready for the league playoffs next week.”
Well, they did wrap up the undefeated season, finishing 16-0-1in league play. But the Knights, who played a demanding non-league schedule, did drop one game, losing to Devon Prep of the Inter-County League while winning four others.
For senior Nolan Shingle, it was a big thing, however.
“I think it’s a big accomplishment,” he said. “It’s always good to come out with wins but playing those out-of-league games and losing, I think that makes us a better team. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter and I just want to keep the winning going.”
Shingle made sure that this one ended up in the win column. He scored three goals including the game-winner in the third period and an empty net insurance goal in the waning seconds of the game.
There is a lot of respect on both sides of the ledger. North Penn has great respect for the Golden Hawks and CR South returns the respect.
“Rock South is extremely talented,” said Vaitis. “We knew coming into the game that after they lost to CB South last week, they were going to be (mad) coming in.
“You can never count those guys out. (Jake) Weiner and (Jordan) Sarne are two of the top guys in the league.
“They played a great game. Even when they came back and tied it, we had to buckle down, and Shingle got that game-winner.”
Shingle couldn’t agree more.
“Whenever we play these guys, you’ve always got to expect a good game,” he said. “We can’t just expect them to fall over and let us win. You’ve got to keep fighting and go through the adversity. That’s why we came out with the win.”
CR South coach Joe Houk, despite the loss, felt good about his team.
“It was a good game,” he said. “You can’t go by the shots on goal. It was closer than 45-20.
“We stuck to the game plan right down to the end. You have to do everything right.
“You can’t let a team like that get loose. That last goal was a shame. We couldn’t get it out of the zone and that’s what happened.”
Houk was not a big fan of the officiating, however.
“The officiating was not very good,” he said. “It’s about the safety of the kids.”
Several penalties which could have been called weren’t. It is speculation, but they could have changed the game.
North Penn opened the scoring, netting the only goal of the first period. Shingle notched his first, beating Golden Hawk goalie Trey Porizzillo off a feed from Sam Norton with 6:01 gone in the period.
Rock South came roaring back in the second. Aiden Guinter beat NP goalie Andy Norton at the 3:07 mark.
However, Izzy Cabrales put the Knights back on top at 9:04. It pushed the game to 2-1 entering the third.
Allen Pronin evened the score for the Hawks with an unassisted goal at 12:36 in the third. But Shingle then took over, scoring the game-winner at 14:42 and the insurance marker into an empty net at 16:25.
Both teams now get ready for the playoffs beginning Monday, Feb. 23. North Penn will receive a bye into the second round while CR South must wait to see if it does finish second and receive a bye or third and have to play a game in the opening round.
North Penn 4, Council Rock South 2
Council Rock South 0 1 1 — 2
North Penn 1 1 2 — 4
First period: 1, Nolan Shingle NP (Sam Norton) 6:01.
Second period: 2, Aiden Guinter CRS (Jake Weiner) 3:07; 3, Izzy Cabrales NP (S. Norton, Chris Silvotti) 9:04.
Third period: 4, Allen Pronin CRS (unassisted) 12:36; 5, Shingle NP (I. Cabrales, Silvotti) 14:42; 6, Shingle NP (James Boyle) 16:25 EN.
Shots: CRS 20, NP 45. Saves: Trey Prozzillo (CRS) 41, Andy Norton (NP) 18.
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