ICE HOCKEY

Redskins Senior Night Not A Memorable One As CR South Dominates

Council Rock South and Neshaminy Redskins square off at final game of the season

By: CR South News
STAFF WRITER

BRISTOL, PA - A parking spot was not to be had at Grundy arena in Bristol Borough Wednesday night, as the Neshaminy Redskins Hockey Club hosted their senior night in front of a crowd comparable only by the Thanksgiving rivalry games. For the Neshaminy faithful though, there wasn’t much to cheer about as they watched their opponent, the Council Rock South Golden Hawks dominate for much of the game and walk away the spoiler, with a seven to two victory.

The Hawks started the scoring early after opening with a barrage of shots on Redskins goalie Cory Hemberger. Jake Weiner took a pass from the Jeremy Rayher in the corner, and, from his position in the slot, buried a wrister to open the scoring. Neshaminy evened the score a short time later, taking advantage of a tired South line which had overstayed its shift. After a scramble in front of Council Rock netminder Carson Lopez, a South player tried a desperate attempt to ice the puck, but it was picked off by Neshaminy’s J.J. Hathaway at the point. Hathaway threw the puck at the net, and it made its way through a maze of traffic and past Lopez who didn’t it until it was laying behind him. Outshot seven to two at that point, Neshaminy had pulled even, but that would pretty much do it for the Redskins hopes, the Golden Hawks ramping up their play and taking control of the game. A beauty of a passing play got Council Rock back on the board, Evan Mostoller moving the puck low to Weiner who quickly moved it to a waiting Jeremy Rayher camped out in front. The quick passing and Rayher’s one-timer happened before the Neshaminy defense could even react. The Golden Hawks then got a power play on a hotly contested penalty call against the Redskins, as Jimmy Diiulio cashed in on the rebound of a Kevin Koles shot from the slot, the puck bouncing right to Diiulio in the lower left circle. The period ended with the Hawks up three to one, dominating in the shot count 16-3.

Chase Tovsky scores after a Redskins turnover early in the second period

Council Rock picked up right where they left off to start the second period when Chase Tovsky would make Neshaminy pay for a poor defensive zone turnover, taking a pass from Blaize Pepe and beating Hemberger stick side. The Redskins played like a deflated bunch after that goal, Council Rock making it look easy at times. If not for some great saves by Hemberger this could’ve been a ten-goal embarrassment for Neshaminy, his team having all but stopped moving. Another Hawks power play goal by Diiulio from the high slot, and South had a five to one lead. Things got a bit interesting at this point as the hitting picked up as did the Neshaminy coaches ire toward the officials. Go figure, but the chastising worked as Council Rock took three straight penalties, one of them negating a goal by Pepe. However, the Redskins weren’t able to convert on any of their chances, including a short two-man advantage. Ice conditions had something to do with their frustration, the surface having become sloppy by this point, the puck bouncing over each teams sticks negating great setups and open looks. The ice conditions would plague each team the rest of the way, but Gavin Nisenzon was able to corral the puck off of an offensive zone draw and walked right into the slot, beating Hemberger with a wrister, top cheese. I don’t think a single Neshaminy player had moved from the face off before the puck was in the net for a six to one lead, shot totals for the game up to 32-12 in favor of the Golden Hawks.

With the lead broadening, things did get a bit chippy to end the second period and it looked like we could have a real crowd pleaser for the third, but, with each team in playoff position and not wanting to chance suspensions or injury, the boys minimized the rough stuff for the remainder, despite inconsistent, at best, officiating. Each team lit the lamp in the period, Neshaminy scoring first, on the power play, with a beauty of a tip by Benjamin Odendahl who lofted his stick perfectly to direct a low point shot from A.J. Dougherty right over Lopez’s right shoulder and under the crossbar. The Golden Hawks would get their only penalty shot attempt of the season when Illia Muhkin was hauled down by the Redskins Stephen York while on a breakaway. Muhkin skated in alone on the freebie and deked to his backhand, but Hemberger was equal, sliding along with Muhkins deke and smothering the puck. Neshaminy had nine additional shots in the period due to Souths contented play and willingness to retreat and play defense and not press or forecheck. Max Gallagher threw a nice shot off the crossbar and out of play, probably the Redskins best chance of the period. Chase Tovsky rounded out the scoring with his second of the night after a nice drop pass from Pepe with about seven minutes to go. Each team would pretty much mail it in from that point, the contest pretty much having been decided and each team focused on the playoff run. Seven to two was be the final with Council Rock outshooting Neshaminy 41-21 for the game.

If this were a game early in the season, things could’ve gotten really out of hand as each team was frustrated with the officiating, and of course there is no love lost between these two combatants, but each team seems focused on their playoff performance, with Council Rock having clinched the first seed and opening round bye. Neshaminy will have to wait for results of Thursday night's games to discover their opponent. The Redskins will need to play with more intensity if they are to have any chance of advancing. Council Rock on the other hand, looks primed and ready to go. Hopefully the two-week layoff between games does not affect them and they continue to roll as they did last night. Sorry, not sorry, senior Skins.

3 Stars of the Game

• 1- Chase Tovsky - 2 goals - maybe it’s because he’s fully recovered from a lengthy injury, but he’s right back to being the spark plug that makes his line go. The kid just works and was rewarded last night
• 2- Evan Mostoller - Don’t know why, but he seemed more visible, more involved last night. He was noticeable at both ends of the ice with an assist and some nice defensive stops
• 3- Jim Diiulio - 2 PPGs - If the Golden Hawks are to be successful when it counts this year, they need the power play, and Diiulio to be clicking. Last night they got both

GAME RECAP

1ST PERIOD
0:00 CR SOUTH #18 Jake Weiner (even strength) (#10 Jeremy Rayher, #16 Daniel Filippov)
12:41 NESHAMINY #17 JJ Hathaway (even strength) (#47 Michael Knipple, #72 Benjamin Odendahl)
13:12 CR SOUTH #10 Jeremy Rayher (even strength) (#12 Illia Mukhin, #66 Evan Mostoller)
14:01 CR SOUTH #17 Gavin Nisenzon (power play) (#17 Gavin Nisenzon, #76 Blaize Pepe)
2ND PERIOD
2:29 CR SOUTH #28 Chase Tovsky (even strength) (#17 Gavin Nisenzon, #76 Blaize Pepe)
6:36 CR SOUTH #14 James Diiulio (power play) (#8 Kevin Koles, #76 Blaize Pepe)
16:40 CR SOUTH #17 Gavin Nisenzon (even strength) (#76 Blaize Pepe)
3RD PERIOD
1:59 NESHAMINY #72 Benjamin Odendahl (power play) (#33 AJ Dougherty, #92 Noah Seewagen)
9:46 CR SOUTH #28 Chase Tovsky (even strength) (#76 Blaize Pepe, #72 Ilya Kudzinau)