HATFIELD- The puck hasn’t gone the Knights way as much as they’d like this season. But when Central Bucks South (12-2) faced off against North Penn (6-8) last night, in a game that was significantly closer than the Titans had imagined possible, things looked better at least for a while.  But after the Knights took an early and unexpected lead, the Titans refocused and found the net 3 times in the third period for a 5-2 victory.

“I think a lot of our guys underestimated North Penn, and the fact is, North Penn has been in every game all season because they play smart,” said CB South Assistant Coach Tyler Skroski.

In the first period, the Titans did not encounter the North Penn team that they were expecting. North Penn hung in with the Titans as their defense, led by goalkeeper Catherine Winstanley, kept CB South from getting on the scoreboard. Titan goalkeeper Tim White also protected his net, so the majority of the first period saw no scores. It wasn’t until the last few seconds that North Penn’s Corey Stouffer shot and scored to give the Knights a 1-0 lead going into the second period ( 0:29; assist G. Boyle, A. Galetta).

“We started off the game pretty slow, but once we realized how close the game was, we picked up our momentum,” said CB South’s Matt Stoll.

The Titans began to increase their energy in the second period by focusing on their connection passes and speedy transitions. To tie up the game, Colin Abbonizio scored off of a Reis Braccio assist, and after that, the Titans were on a roll (8:54). While the Knights answered by intensifying their offense, it was the Titans who scored next, taking the lead 2-1 ( 0:21; J. DeLauretntis, assist E. King).

“I was expecting a lot of shots coming into the game, and I knew there were a few guys I had to stay focused on the entire time,” said Winstanley.

In the last second of the second period, North Penn’s Nathan Oh earned a goal to make the score 2-2 going into the final period ( 0:01; assist A. Galetta).

“Nate made a nice move on that shot, and it was a great way to tie up the game,” said Galetta.

However, the energy from the end of the period never translated into the third.

“We let up in the third period a little bit, so I think we need to work on that especially,” said North Penn’s Alexander Ebbinghaus.

The Titans dominated the last period scoring three goals; two of which were back to back shots from Matt Stoll (8:14, 7:37).

“Those two shots from Stoll were incredible; there aren’t too many goalies in our league that are going to make those saves,” said Stumpo.

In the final moments of the game, Nick Morelli scored on an empty net to secure the Titans’ victory ( 0:14; assist Colin Abbonizio). While the Titans’ offense was a major component in their win, they also recognize the importance of their defense as well.

“Our goalie, Tim White, played exceptionally tonight. He’s been our backup goalie all year and he made a lot of good saves at the end of the game. He really kept us in the game tonight, so we have to give him of credit,” said Tyler Skroski.

As for North Penn, they look at the game as a symbol of how well they can play with other challenging opponents.

“I think we played well; obviously we are disappointed with the outcome, but we hung with [CB South] the whole game,” said Stumpo.

CB South will likely use the game as a wakeup call for how seriously they will need to take playoff games, no matter which team they face.

“The game tonight was a lesson that you can’t take any team lightly; especially as we look to playoffs, we need to keep on playing hard,” said Stoll.

SCORING

NP 1 1 0

Stouffer, 1; Oh, 1

CBS 0 2 3

Abbonizio, 1; DeLauretntis, 1; Stoll, 2, Morelli, 1

SHOTS ON GOAL

NP    8 9 7        24

CBS    13 10 11    34