ICE HOCKEY

Council Rock South Stumbles Past Redskins to Championship Berth

Golden Hawks and Redskins faceoff in SHSHL semi-final duel

By: CR South News
STAFF WRITER

Bristol, PA - Fresh off of receiving the top-ranked seeding in the Flyers Cup tournament, Council Rock South looked to take care of business in the SHSHL playoffs, facing the Neshaminy Redskins, the winner earning a spot in the championship game Thursday at Hatfield Ice. Based on the teams two previous meetings, both won easily by Council Rock, the Golden Hawks just needed a solid effort to come away a winner, but it’s not always as easy as it looks on paper. The Redskins came to play, with a game plan of hustle and irritation that seemed to take their opponent off their game. In a game that had everything, Neshaminy would stay in it until the third period when Rock would finally put Neshaminy to bed and punch their ticket to the finals.

The first period would start off with Council Rock getting the better of the offensive chances with the Redskins doing just enough to keep the opportunities to a minimum. Neshaminy caught a break when a flip out of their defensive zone to center ice was pounced on by a Neshaminy forward, hustling to split the Hawks defenders. He skated towards the net, but in an act of desperation was pulled down by Council Rocks Ilya Kudzinau, giving Neshaminy an early power play. It wouldn’t take long for the Redskins to convert as "puck luck" would go their way. A wrist shot from the point by deflected off of the Hawks Jake Maurer to goalie Carson Lopez’s left, just as he was moving to his right. He was unable to recover, and the puck slid just inside the post giving Neshaminy a power play goal and an early one to nothing lead, despite not having a serious scoring chance in the game. To their credit, the Golden Hawks came roaring right back and got some "puck luck" of their own when Jim DiIulio slung a puck from the half boards towards the Redskins goal, just looking to get something on net. He got one better as the puck found its way through Neshaminy goaltender Cory Hemberger’s legs, a goal Hemberger would surely like back, and the score was even at one. The frantic pace kept up at both ends as each team tried to swing the momentum their way. Hawks defenseman and captain Kevin Koles scored on a great shot from the point past a Redskins defender and over Hemberger’s outstretched glove. Council Rock scored again when Blaize Pepe chipped the puck out of his zone in the direction of a streaking Chase Tovsky. Tovsky got to the puck and fired it to Pepe parked at the top of the Neshaminy crease undefended. Pepe slammed the puck home to give the Hawks a two-goal lead, but this is when Council Rock started to crumble. A steady parade to the penalty box would begin, and continue into the second period, most penalties being the undisciplined type, giving Neshaminy life and a chance to get back into the game.

The second period began with the Redskins on a two-man advantage carried over from the first period. Though the Hawks would kill both penalties, Council Rock’s Jake Weiner put Neshaminy right back on the power play as he stepped out of the penalty box and played a puck while at the same time another South player jumped on the ice to replace Weiner. South would again kill the penalty, but Neshaminy scored shortly thereafter. Nolan Geria skated to the top of the right circle and took a seemingly innocent wrist shot along the ice on the Hawks Lopez, which he uncharacteristically misplayed, the puck finding its way five-hole, and we had a game again. Neshaminy was closing the gap in the shot department, and the next goal would be a big one. It would be a Council Rock goal by Chase Tovsky and, at the time seemed to be bigger than expected. Tovsky chased down a clearing pass at center ice and split two Redskins defenders. He drove to the net and got a shot off while being hounded by the Neshaminy defense. The puck rolled off of Hemberger and into the net as Tovsky crashed into Hemberger, helped by a push from Hemberger’s defense. Before a goal could be signaled, Hemberger began throwing several punches at the defenseless Tovsky lying in the net, which drew a crowd and the attention of the officials. After a lengthy discussion, the goal was awarded, Hemberger was ejected, and Council Rock went on a five-minute power play. Aidan Hullings entered the game for Neshaminy, and one would think things would be easy for South, having a two-goal lead, playing against a cold backup goalie and having a five-minute power play, right? Hullings was having none of that thought as the Hawks were unable to score on their lengthy advantage thanks mainly to the play of Hullings, who made some spectacular saves right out of the gate to frustrate Council Rock and keep the game within reach for his team. More bad Council Rock penalties gave Neshaminy the chances they were looking for, but the Redskins also were frustrated after coming away scoreless. With time winding down in the period, Blaize Pepe did what Blaize Pepe does, winding his way up the ice from his own zone, beating a defender and cutting to the net to score on a great individual effort with only six seconds left. Could this be the back breaker?

Lopez shuts down a Redskins player on the stuff attempt

Neshaminy still had life in them to start the third, but play had slowed considerably by this point for both teams, each unable to get some consistent pressure, with lots of stoppages halting play. The Golden Hawks drove the final nail in after some good hustle and corner work by Ilya Muhkin who quietly had his best game of the season. Muhkin got the puck to Weiner behind the Neshaminy goal and Weiner found a breaking Koles in the slot. Koles’ one-time shot beat Hullings and gave South a six to two lead. The Redskins would continue to irritate the Hawks causing Council Rock head coach Joe Houk to use a time out to settle his team and get them to refocus their efforts. Whatever he said seemed to work wonders because on the ensuing face off DiIulio took a stretch pass and broke in alone on Hullings to convert, followed just over a minute later by a goal from Gavin Nisenzon after a bad Neshaminy turnover. This prompted Redskins coach Matthew DeMatteo to call his time out as his team was now against the ropes with seemingly no hope of getting back in the game, a Herculean task that Neshaminy would not overcome. DeMatteo’s team didn’t give much effort the rest of the way except when trying to make big hits, which Council Rock was happy to bounce back from and continue to press the offense. The Hawks stayed disciplined and came away with the eight to two victory and a spot in the finals against Pennsbury, winner of their semi-final match against Pennridge by a score of 8-4.

This game was closer than the score appeared, and against a team as talented as Pennsbury, this effort just won’t do. The Hawks need to have a short memory and come out Thursday and execute, be disciplined and let the final score do all the talking. Pennsbury will be hungry, and Council Rock will have to match their effort and intensity while remembering that putting their team shorthanded greatly diminishes their chances of wearing the SHSHL crown. They have the talent to be champions, but, as was stated at the start of this writing, things aren’t always as easy as they look on paper.

3 Stars of the Game

• 1- Blaize pep - 2 goals - It was obvious that part of Neshaminy’s game plan was to get under Pepe’s skin. He kept his head just enough to make a difference for his team at both ends of the ice
• 2- Ilya Muhkin - assist - Had a motor going that we haven’t seen from him this season. Pair that with his usual smart, disciplined play and he had what the rest of his team was lacking
• 3- Aidan Hullins - Tough spot for a goalie to enter a game, but he did everything he could to keep Neshaminy in the game until Council Rock pulled away late

GAME RECAP

1ST PERIOD
3:46 NESHAMINY #27 Nolan Geria (power play) (#17 JJ Hathaway)
5:08 CR SOUTH #14 James Diiulio (even strength)
7:47 CR SOUTH #8 Kevin Koles (even strength) (#76 Blaize Pepe)
12:11 CR SOUTH #76 Blaize Pepe (even strength) (#28 Chase Tovsky)
2ND PERIOD
3:26 NESHAMINY #27 Nolan Geria (power play) (#92 Noah Seewagen)
4:45 CR SOUTH #28 Chase Tovsky (even strength)
16:54 CR SOUTH #76 Blaize Pepe (even strength) (#8 Kevin Koles)
3RD PERIOD
1:37 CR SOUTH #8 Kevin Koles (even strength) (#18 Jake Weiner)
6:20 CR SOUTH #14 James Diiulio (even strength) (#8 Kevin Koles)
7:03 CR SOUTH (even strength)