ICE HOCKEY

Indians get much needed win against listless Knights

Grainey scores second goal of the night for the Council Rock Indians.

By: North Penn News
STAFF WRITER

BRISTOL, PA - The winds of change have not been kind to the North Penn Knights over the last month of the SHSHL season. Things have transformed drastically for this crew and they're not welcome changes.

The Knights preseason was kicked off almost two full months ago and their prospects for success looked very bright. They were playing with chemistry, cohesion, and empathy for one another while piling up goals to the tune of seventeen for and only nine against over five combined preseason and regular season games. There was a concerted effort to do the little things right which commonly allows the game plan to fall into place and give a team the opportunity to win. But things have changed drastically over the last month, the Knights have lost four of their last five with thirteen goals for and an eye-popping thirty-two goals against. It's quite easy to see, sticks aren't on the ice, simple passes aren't being caught, feet aren't moving, and overall, on-ice discipline has wavered significantly with an unconscionable number of turnovers taking place with regularity. Whatever it is that has been lost must be found, and quickly as the second half of the season has begun and the points now count toward postseason eligibility

The Indians scored the first goal roughly thirty-five seconds into the game when Karson Grainey picked up the puck from Jackson Accardi in his defensive zone. Grainey skated the entire length of the ice unimpeded end to end through, and around four Knights players unattended and flipped the puck past the stunned North Penn goalie. This wasn't the start the Knights had in mind but was a sign of things to come. The Knights responded about a minute and a half later when Joey Silvotti won the right-side offensive zone draw back to Tyler Porubski. Porubski ripped the puck from the right side point and Nolan Shingle redirected glove side high, top shelf over Indian goalie Ian Goldberg's glove. Ringing the puck off of the crossbar, the Knights tied the game at one apiece.

Karson Grainey scores his first goal of two and a four-point night

Michael Booth scored for the Indians with little more than two left to play in the first when he picked up a Knights turnover generated by Nick Hahn in the slot. Booth fired blocker side depositing the puck into the NP net to put the Indians ahead and the period ended 2-1 with shots even at eleven each.

It was all downhill from here for North Penn as turnovers and insistence on trying to skate through double and triple coverage instead of dumping the puck would prove costly at both ends of the ice. The Knights got hemmed into their own defensive zone unable to find an outlet to relieve pressure. Turning the puck over to Karson Grainey, he again skated away from and around four Knights players in close quarters and put a wrist shot behind Nick Crist, extending the Indian lead to 3-1. The Indians tacked on 2 more goals to end the second period up by a score of 5-1 and ahead in shots with a 22-19 advantage. The Knights had ample opportunities from the midpoint of the game until the end with the Indians taking several undisciplined penalties but to no avail, they couldn't cash in on the power play chances. The Knights were able to muster another even strength goal in the third period but also gave up another shorty to the Indians, making that 3 shorthanded goals in the last two games. The final score was 6-2 Indians, and the shot count was also in their favor at 29-28.

GAME RECAP

1ST PERIOD
16:23 CR INDIANS #94 Karson Grainey (even strength) (unassisted)
14:56 NORTH PENN #87 Nolan Shingle (even strength) (Tyler Porubski, Joey Silvotti)
2:11 CR INDIANS #54 Michael Booth (even strength) (unassisted)
2ND PERIOD
9:06 CR INDIANS #94 Karson Grainey (even strength) (unassisted)
5:45 CR INDIANS #34 Zach Weissman (even strength) (#94 Karson Grainey)
5:45 CR INDIANS #3 Jackson Accardi (even strength) (#94 Karson Grainey, #8 Nick Hahn)
3RD PERIOD
16:11 NORTH PENN #53 John Stinson (even strength) (unassisted)
:10 CR INDIANS #20 Lucas Siomos (shorthanded) (#54 Michael Booth)