ICE HOCKEY

North Penn Knights Win First Regular Season Game in Two Years

The Knights congratulate goalie Ian McAteer after Friday night's regular season win against Bensalem

By: North Penn News
STAFF WRITER

COLMAR, PA - LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, ELVIS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!

It's been almost 20 regular season games, and just over two years since the Knights won a meaningful game which counted in the standings. It was Monday March 1, 2021 when North Penn beat the Pennridge Rams in regular season play and collected two points for a win, coincidentally that was also the last time the Knights had beaten the Rams. Last night it happened, the Knights played the Bensalem Owls in their second to last game before the 2023 SHSHL regular season comes to a close and won, the stars weren't aligned but a win is a win. It wasn't what would be considered a piano off of their back moment, as they've had their chances often throughout their no-win stretch but couldn't find the ways to complete them. Whatever the case the "schneid" is over and they can move forward knowing they got at least one before their season officially ends next Thursday, as the Knights will not be competing in the post season, and in all likelihood the Flyers Cup Tournament as well.

The Knights faced off against the Bensalem Owls in their second and last meeting of the season, this time the Owls were skating with only eight players and their starting goalie, Ricky Gonzalez, was unavailable for action. Team utility player Matthew Rowan got the call to backstop the shorthanded Owls icers and he did an incredible job between the pipes. In the end Rowan saw a total of forty-six shots, stopping all but twelve, doing everything he could to keep his team in the game. The Owls who are commonly playing with a short bench competed hard with every player keeping it respectable and clean and making the best of their opportunity to play.

Bazylevich goes between the legs before dishing to Ridgway in the 2nd period

The Knights got onto the board first when Tyler Porubski corralled a missed shot by Owl's captain, Alex Hood. Porubski skated out from behind the North Penn net feeding Matt Yothers along the wing. Yothers skated up along the left side boards and fired a snapshot through a screen which seemed to knuckle on Owl's goalie Rowan making the puck difficult to play, crossing him up before ending up in the back of the net, putting NP up 1-0. North Penn scored again two minutes later after Derek DeLong stripped a Bensalem defenseman on the forecheck and passed to Matt Yothers below the offensive zone left circle. Yothers swept the puck over to John Stinson for a one-timer on a precision tic-tac-toe play to put the Knights up by two. Joey Silvotti, Cole Pluck, and Matt Yothers scored three more unanswered goals before completion of the first frame to give the Knights a commanding 5-0 lead heading into the second period.

John Stinson scored two minutes into the second period on a dump out of the North Penn defensive zone by Matt Yothers which sprung Stinson on a clean break. Stinson went short side high putting the Knights up 6-0. The Owl's got onto the board two minutes later after Danny Mackley dug the puck out of a tie up in front of the Bensalem bench. Mackley broke away from the pack and firing top shelf, bar down, on the short side beating NP goalie, McAteer to make the score 6-1. Bensalem went right back to work a minute later when Alex Bazylevich found himself on a two on one break into the Knights zone. Bazylevich faked a shot and passed to himself on a pretty between his own legs highlight reel move before shuffling the puck over to Shane Ridgway who stuffed the puck past the Knights goalie to put the Owl's within four. The Owl's with an adrenaline boost appeared to be making a comeback bid. But the Knights buckled down defensively and held the Owl's offensive off for the remainder of the period. Nolan Shingle added another goal for the Knights with under a minute to play in the second after Tyler Porubski held off a clearing attempt inside the Owl's blueline and fired a rocket from the point. Shingle skated in front of the shot tipping the puck which changed directions on Bensalem goalie Rowan and ended up top shelf to end the period, 7-2 Knights lead.

The third period began with Danny Mackley scoring his second goal of the game when he found himself all alone in front of the Knights goal. The Knights unable to clear the puck were caught out of position and turned the puck over to the Owl's Colin Spear. Spear swept the puck over to Lucas Gonzalez, Gonzalez in turn bumped over to Mackley who easily tapped the puck into a wide-open North Penn net to put Bensalem within four again. That was the end of the Owl's scoring for the evening. The Knights added five more to close out the game 12-3, thus ending their regular season losing streak.

The Owl's deserve all of the credit in this game. They come out every game to play and put up a valiant effort, often shorthanded and they never concede, always putting up a fight to the end. They make the best of their situation, they skate hard, they play smart, they play team first and you can see they are having fun with their opportunity to play regardless of the outcome. They leave it ALL out on the ice every game. Kudos to the Bensalem Owls players, and their coaching staff.

GAME RECAP

1ST PERIOD
1:11 NORTH PENN #10 Matthew Yothers (even strength) (#28 Tyler Porubski)
3:40 NORTH PENN #53 John Stinson (even strength) (#10 Matthew Yothers, #23 Derek Delong)
8:04 NORTH PENN #20 Joseph Silvotti (short handed) (#53 John Stinson)
12:48 NORTH PENN #48 Cole Pluck (even strength) (#87 Nolan Shingle)
16:28 NORTH PENN #10 Matthew Yothers (even strength) (#53 John Stinson)
2ND PERIOD
1:48 NORTH PENN #53 John Stinson (even strength) (#10 Matthew Yothers)
4:07 BENSALEM #95 Danny Mackley (even strength)
5:25 BENSALEM #16 Shane Maeir-Ridgway (even strength) (#25 Alex Bazylevich)
16:07 NORTH PENN #87 Nolan Shingle (even strength) (#28 Tyler Porubski)
3RD PERIOD
1:34 BENSALEM #95 Danny Mackley (power play) (#3 Lucas Gonzalez, #5 Colin Spear)
2:00 NORTH PENN #48 Cole Pluck (even strength) (#87 Nolan Shingle, #23 Derek Delong)
8:56 NORTH PENN #20 Joseph Silvotti (even strength)
11:02 NORTH PENN #87 Nolan Shingle (even strength)
12:34 NORTH PENN #87 Nolan Shingle (even strength) (#8 James Boyle)
16:06 NORTH PENN #53 John Stinson (even strength)