North Penn came up short in its big to defend its PA Cup state title. Photos provided courtesy of Gregg Powell. Check back for a gallery of photos. CLICK HERE to go directly to Suburban One Sports' ICE HOCKEY GALLERIES.
By Ben Reese
WEST CHESTER — Missed opportunities can cause a lot of problems in life.
Missed opportunities in high school ice hockey can also cause a lot of problems.
Just ask North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis.
His Knights, champion of the Flyers Cup, traveled to Ice Line to take on Penn-Trafford, the Penguins Cup champion. Missed opportunities caused North Penn to drop a 3-1 game to the Warriors in the Pennsylvania State Ice Hockey Championship on Saturday.
Missed opportunities like three or so pucks which hit the goal post behind Penn-Trafford goalie Tyler Funk. Missed opportunities like five man-advantages with a Warrior in the penalty box but no power plays goals.
“That’s the game of hockey,” said Vaitis. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have some pucks bounce our way; some pucks bounced their way.
“We weren’t able to capitalize. The last couple of games we were able to capitalize.”
One difficulty the Knights faced was the absence of Sam Norton, one of the best if not the best players in the Suburban High School Hockey League. Norton was suspended for one game after being called for four penalties against Boyertown on Tuesday, taking a big scoring threat away.
“It hurts and it stings not having Sam out there,” Vaitis said. “He’s such a big part of our team. We could all play the ‘what-if’ scenarios.”
The absence of Norton forced Vaitis to shift some lines. He moved Chris Silvotti up to take Norton’s place on the first line and moved Gabe Dunn up to Silvotti’s old spot.
The fact that these players were moved in the lineup takes nothing away from their abilities. But they weren’t in their usual positions and playing in their usual rotation.
As for the game itself, it was a very evenly matched contest. Penn-Trafford came in off its Penguins Cup victory and demonstrated why it was the winner.
The first period was a very close-checking affair. Neither team could stage a dominant attack.
However, the Warriors did score the first and only goal of the first period. And it was an odd one.
Zach Grkman picked up a loose puck in his own end of the ice and started down the middle. Crossing the red line, he lobbed the puck toward the North Penn goal.
Knights’ goalie Andy Norton appeared to have the puck in his sights, waiting for it to land on the ice and slide toward him. But it didn’t do that.
Instead, it hit something on the ice or perhaps a gouge from someone’s skate and bounced high in the air and right over the left shoulder of the goalie. Suddenly, Penn-Trafford was on the board 1-0.
Nothing changed on the scoreboard in the second period. That isn’t to say that nothing happened on the ice.
Each team had two power play opportunities. And neither one scored.
The Warriors added to their lead in the third period. Brock Bienemann gave them a 2-0 lead with 7:51 elapsed in the stanza.
And the way North Penn had been struggling to score, it appeared that the two-goal lead would be enough to stand up. Then again . . .
With slightly less than two minutes remaining in the game, Vaitis pulled Andy Norton from goal to pick up an extra skater.
It worked. Nolan Shingle beat Funk at the 15:59 mark to cut the margin to one goal at 2-1.
But the Knights couldn’t muster another goal. An empty-net goal by Penn-Trafford’s Ben Zierski with six seconds left put the capper on the game.
Despite the loss, Vaitis heaped praise on his players.
“I’m proud of our guys,” he said. “What we accomplished this year and, for most of them, last year as well, they accomplished so much.
“When you look at North Penn and the history we’ve had, nobody can (take away) what these guys have accomplished. I’m proud of them (but) it hurts, it stings.
“Time will allow us to heal together, but we won’t forget the ride we had these last two years. For the guys coming back, we’re going to have a real good hockey team next year. The future’s bright.”
However, that is the outlook for next year. It was the missed opportunities which ended this one.
“In the game of hockey, sometimes pucks go your way and sometimes they don’t,” said Vaitis. “Unfortunately for us today, they didn’t go our way.”
Penn-Trafford 3, North Penn 1
Penn-Trafford 1 0 2 — 3
North Penn 0 0 1 — 1
First period: 1, Zach Grkman PT (Nico Castelli) 10:28.
Second period: No scoring.
Third period: 2, Brock Bienemann PT (Liam Lehneke) 7:51; 3, Nolan Shingle NP (Gabe Dunn, Chris Silvotti) 15:59; 4, Ben Zierski PT (unassisted) 16:54.
Shots: PT 39, NP 33. Saves: Tyler Funk (PT) 32, Andy Norton (NP) 35.
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