Photo courtesy of Michael Rice Photography. To view a complete gallery, click on the following link: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/p814315378
By Ben Reese
HATFIELD — Plymouth Whitemarsh’s ice hockey team is working hard to keep up with league-leading Hatboro-Horsham in the American Division of the Suburban High School Hockey League.
The Colonials racked up another win on Wednesday night, beating Wissahickon 8-4 at Hatfield Ice. But for coach Vince Forti and his players, it was a case of getting out quickly and then backing off enough for the Trojans to get back in the game.
After taking a 1-0 lead after one period, the Colonials poured in four goals in the second to amass a 5-0 lead with slightly more than a minute left in the stanza. A slight lapse allowed Wissahickon to net its first goal of the game with 1:01 remaining in the second period.
Then, in the third, the teams traded goals, each scoring three times. What started out like a runaway for PW turned into a closer game than the Colonials imagined.
“We’re still trying to figure it out,” said PW coach Vince Forti. “I don’t want to say balance; just putting in three full periods of work.
“We kind of take a lead and then take our foot off the gas. We keep talking about that, not making it a bad habit.”
Brandon Wooldridge, who scored a pair of goals for PW, knows his team has to keep moving forward, especially when it gets a lead.
“We really just kept our foot on the gas,” he said, referring to the first period. “I thought we really played well in the first period, but we just couldn’t bury it (the puck).
“I think we had almost 20 shots but just couldn’t bury it. We should have had three or four but got a lot of posts.”
If anyone was focused in the third period, it was Wissahickon. The Trojans came barreling back with three goals on 13 shots and, at one point, trailed only 6-3 with what seemed like momentum on their side.
“We started shooting the puck,” said Wissahickon coach Jason Jaisle, “instead of dumping it in. We took the body a little bit.”
As well as Plymouth Whitemarsh played to get the win, the Trojans didn’t just roll over and play dead. And, when you consider that there were only 12 skaters on the bench for Wissahickon, it looks even better.
“We played the best team in the league with two lines, and the shots are about even,” Jaisle said. “We have 12 skaters and two goalies; that’s the entire roster.”
So how do you compete against a team like PW that can put three or four lines on the ice?
“Try and tell the goalie to cover everything and slow the game down,” explained Jaisle. “If you’re caught in the defensive zone, ice it. Basic 101 hockey from squirt level really.
“We have to take advantage of every power play chance we get. We’ve got to kill the penalties. I thought we did a good job.”
For Forti, it was a loss of focus.
“I think we only had one goal in the first, but I think we felt more comfortable in the first period as far as dominating the game than we did with a bigger lead in the second and third,” he said. “It’s easier to keep your foot on the gas and stay focused than to mentally check out and then try to check back in because it doesn’t work.
“Even if you do, it lets them gain momentum before you can check back in and then it’s too late. We were fortunate to figure it out tonight.”
As stated, PW took the lead in the first period. Wooldridge, with assists from Luke Wynne and his brother Carson Wooldridge, scored at the 5:35 mark of the first.
The second period opened with John Zawislak beating Trojan goalie Fletcher Lynch at the 1:33 mark. Five minutes later, Wooldridge netted his second goal to up the lead to 3-0.
Jack Condon at 10:27 and Cooper Kanze at 15:50 followed to increase the lead to 5-0. That spell was broken only nine seconds later when Mack Risnychok scored for the Trojans.
Wissahickon got things going again in the third. Joseph Gambino cut the lead to 5-2 with an unassisted goal at the 4:02 mark.
The Colonials got that one back on a goal by Connor Barclay, but the Trojans came right back with a marker from Logan Honeycutt and it was 6-3 but that was as close as Wissahickon could get.
Daniel Guller scored twice for PW to up it to 8-3 before Risnychok scored his second goal to out up the final 8-4 score.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 8, Wissahickon 4
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1 4 3 — 8
Wissahickon 0 1 3 — 4
First period: 1, Brandon Wooldridge PW (Luke Wynne, Carson Wooldridge) 5:35.
Second period: 2, John Zawislak PW (Cooper Kanze) 1:33; 3, B. Wooldridge PW (Daniel Guller) 6:33; 4, Jack Condon PW (Luke Smith, Connor Barclay) 10:27; 5, Kanze PW (Guller, Wynne) 15:50; 6, Mack Risnchok W (Chase McClintic, Dryden Jaisle) 15:59.
Third period: 7, Joseph Gambino W (unassisted) 4:02; 8, Barclay PW (Condon, Smith) 6:42; 9, Logan Honeycutt W (Link Matozzo, Gambino) 8:28; 10, Guller PW (Kanze) 11:46; 11, Guller PW (Kanze, Wynne) 14:16; 12, Risnychok W (McClintic) 16:13.
Shots: PW 49, W 37. Saves: Lucas Bennett (PW) 33, Fletcher Lynch (W) 41.
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