Pennsbury edged Pennridge in SHSHL action Thursday. Ben Reese recaps the action. Photos courtesy of Michael Rice Photography. Check back for a gallery. CLICK HERE to go directly to Suburban One Sports' ICE HOCKEY GALLERIES.
By Ben Reese
HATFIELD — Shane Gleisner is a goal-scorer.
No ifs, ands or buts about it.
The Pennsbury senior upped his league-leading goal total with a hat trick as the Falcons beat Pennridge 4-3 at Hatfield Ice on Thursday night.
His first goal tied the game early in the second period. His second gave Pennsbury a 3-1 lead at the end of the second period.
His third sealed the deal after Pennridge had staged a comeback to draw within one goal in the final period.
“He’s a senior, a four-year varsity player,” said Falcon coach Ryan Daley. “He was a role player freshman year when we won the Flyers Cup.
“The best was yet to come with him. (He) just filled into that body, got big, got fast.
“He just has a knack for finding the back of the net. It seems like almost every game he’s got a hat trick.
“He’s such a pleasure to have. Rarely does he miss.”
Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna is cognizant of what Gleisner brings to the ice.
“We lost to the best goal-scorer in the league this year,” he said. “I believe Gleisner is leading the league in goals. If not, he’s right there.
“He did a great job. He took advantage of the chances he had.”
Gleisner knows what he is and also knows that it didn’t come automatically.
“When I was a freshman, sophomore, junior, I was working my way up to be the guy,” Gleisner said. “It feels good to be relied on.
“I’m a senior and I think I’ve worked out all the mistakes I used to make. I’m finally ready to be the goal-scoring guy.”
He has also benefitted from the type of offense Daley has installed with the Falcons. It is an up-tempo style which suits the players on the team.
“That’s kind of what we’ve had as our calling card for the last few years,” Daley said. “This year, we’ve got the right pieces to have an explosive offense.
“The boys were on it tonight. We had a lot of really great chances.
“Their goalie had a really great game. He stopped us on a lot of grade A chances. We buried enough to get the win.”
Gleisner appreciates his team’s offense.
“The guys can play, and when we’re dialed in, we’re a good team,” he said. “We play hard, we play good defense, and we play good offense. We play an overall good game.”
Actually, Pennridge got out of the gate quickly. Landan Bishop put the Rams up one goal with only 3:32 gone in the first period.
That held up until the 2:04 mark of the second when Gleisner banged home his first goal of the game to tie the score at 1-1. Shane Hicks followed that up for the Falcons at 9:18 with a marker to put them up 2-1 and Gleisner added his second goal at 11:57 for a 3-1 margin.
But the Rams weren’t finished. James Rush cut the lead to one goal at 2:42 of the final stanza before Gleisner completed his hat trick just 25 seconds later. Justin Dinsmore’s tally 17 seconds after that once again cut the lead to one goal, but that was as close as Pennridge could get.
“We kept fighting back and we came up a little short tonight,” said Montagna. “We made some mistakes, but I thought overall we played a decent game.
“Right now, we’re 12 points ahead of Souderton with two games in hand (in the chase for the playoffs). I’m not even worried about that.
“These guys now, they’ve done all they can to prove themselves to me. If they make the playoffs, it’s a bonus for them.
“It’ll be a reward for them. It’ll be something that’s well earned.”
Pennsbury 4, Pennridge 3
Pennsbury 0 3 1 — 4
Pennridge 1 0 2 — 3
First period: 1, Landan Bishop P (Justin Dinsmore) 3:32.
Second period: 2, Shane Gleisner Pb (Francis DeLucia) 2:04; 3, Shane Hicks Pb (Jacob Sarver) 9:18; 4, Gleisner Pb (Connor Gray) 11:57.
Third period: 5, James Rush P (Ryan Burke) 2:42; 6, Gleisner Pb (unassisted) 3:07; 7, Dinsmore P (Rush) 3:24.
Shots: Pb 25, P 27. Saves: Brandan Milliken (Pb) 24, Andrew Slutsky (P) 21.
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