COLMAR – Early on, it felt like this one might turn into a battle. Shawnee made the top-seeded Knights work early before North Penn pulled away, and by the third period the tension boiled over with multiple major penalties handed out in a heated finish.
The #1 seeded Knights (23-1-0; 16-0-0) welcomed New Jersey native #16 Shawnee (6-9-3; 6-7-3) for a first round Flyers cup matchup. North Penn, who came into the tournament as defending champs, were down some big names on the offensive side of the puck tonight, but it didn’t faze them as they found themselves running up the score to a 9-2 victory in the end.
Knights head coach Kevin Vaitis talked about how all season long the team has had the next man up mentality. Unfortunately he found out just minutes before the game that Declan Leahy wasn’t going to be able to go, as well as James Boyle being out due to sickness. Boyle tried his best to push through, but he just couldn’t get to 100% for the game.
The Knights came out of the gate looking like the better team from the drop of the puck. It was less than 2 minutes in that senior Gabriel Dunn would put North Penn on the board as he netted one off the assist from sophomore Declan Wilson and senior Danial Cabrales.
Even though the goal counted, Dunn found himself in the box on the same play due to an interference penalty which gave Shawnee an advantage early.
The Renegades couldn’t find a way to tie the game up on the power play, but 2 minutes later it was the Knights again extending their lead. This time junior assistant captain Sam Norton was able to score off the assist from sophomore Izzy Cabrales and senior assistant captain Nolan Shingle.
A few minutes would go by with no action until Renegades junior Bryce McCulloch would be tagged with a high sticking penalty and give the Knights the advantage.
North Penn would not score on their respective power play either, but just 2 minutes later they would score as Dunn picked up his second goal of the game off the assist from Danial Cabrales and Norton.
A mere 10 seconds later, Shawnee finally answered back when sophomore Julain Byrne put the Renegades on the board with a goal off the assist from freshman Nathan Schneid.
The pace slowed for a bit, but North Penn sophomore Derek Lugara would change that when he was sent to the penalty box due to a cross-checking penalty. Even though the Knights were down a man, they still were able to extend the lead when Shingle would pick up an unassisted goal to close out the period. The Knights led 4-1 at the end of 1.
North Penn players kept getting shaken up due to some cheap shots thrown by the Renegades. Sometimes it can be hard to keep focus when things get chippy, but not for the Knights.
Vaitis touched on how hockey is just a contact game and they boys always have to play their game. The more distracted they get by that stuff the worse they are going to play, so he feels they really just have to focus on what’s in front of them always and stick to their game.
The second period would open slowly for the first 2 minutes, but right around the 14 minute mark it was Shawnee cutting the deficit in half when senior Thomas Bowman would find the net off the assist from Byrne.
Just after letting up a goal, Knights junior Chris Silvotti would find his way to the penalty box due to an interference penalty. Shawnee with all the momentum on their side looked to cut the game to a 1 score game, but just couldn’t do so.
Instead, Silvotti, fresh out of the box, would extend the Knights lead to 3 when he scored off the assist from Danial Cabrales and senior Tyler Evans. On the same play as the goal, Shawnee junior Michael Celso would pick up a cross-checking penalty and take a trip to the box.
5 minutes went by with not much action besides the typical pushing and shoving. As both teams skated back and forth looking to bring the momentum to their side, finally it would be Lugara extending the Knights lead on a goal of his own off the assist from freshman Gavin Lombardi and senior Milo Little.
Another 5 minutes would go by and the game in the second period would come to a close. The 2 teams would take a trip to the locker room for intermission with the score being 6-2, Knights led.
Both Shawnee and North Penn came out hitting hard in the third. To open up the final period McCulloch for the Renegades would find himself in the penalty box almost immediately due to a roughing penalty.
Seven minutes of back-and-forth play followed before Knights senior Luke Haftel came flying down the ice, blowing up Shawnee’s goalie, senior Lyle Byrne, and knocking his helmet clean off. As Byrne and the net went flying, so did all of Byrne’s teammates straight to Haftel’s face. Multiple punches would be thrown and multiple players hit the floor.
As a result of the massive fight, both Haftel for the Knights and sophomore Daniel Lenza for the Renegades would essentially be ejected from the game, the 2 players serving given one minor and major which would be enough time to spend the rest of the game in the penalty box.
The dust finally settled and the game was back on. Just about a minute after resuming Silvotti would pick up his second goal of the night for the Knights, this time unassisted.
On the same play of the goal, Bowman for the Renegades would also essentially be ejected from the game as he was given an unsportsmanlike conduct major for all the fighting he was doing all night.
With the Knights at a 2 man advantage you would assume more goals would come, and they did. Less than a minute after Bowman was sent away, the Knights would add to the lead again, this time Shingle scoring for a second time off the assist from Lombardi.
With four and a half minutes to play, Silvotti was hit with his second penalty of the night, this time for cross checking.
The Knights, still holding the numbers over the Renegades, would score their 9th goal of the night. This time it would be Sam Norton being the 4th Knight to score multiple goals in the game, and extending the Knights lead to 7.
Vaitis opened up about how it makes it easier on the ice when there are so many guys contributing instead of just 1 or 2. It made him feel like he had more to rely on out there, even on a night when he felt like the boys didn’t play their best hockey. He also felt like Tyler Evans filled in for Declan Leahy phenomenally, and that when things like that happen everything usually goes a lot smoother.
As the clock winded down Shawnee showed some frustration towards the end, when for the third time tonight McCulloch would be handed a penalty.
In the final 5 minutes, no goals and no penalties happened and it was North Penn picking up the win, and advancing to the next round of the Flyers cup tournament.
Vaitis plans on watching film today to prepare even with only a 48 hour turnaround, but understands that during this time of year when there’s only 8 teams left, everyone’s going to play their best hockey. He noted that he and the rest of the team know the competition will only get better from here on out.
It’s a quick turn around for the Knights, quicker than usual, as they prepare for #8 Owen J. Roberts in a quarterfinal matchup this coming Thursday, March 5th with the puck dropping at 8:45 PM at Hatfield Ice. OJR took a 7-5 win over Avon Grove in the opening round.
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Final Score
Knights 9
Renegades 2
Shots on goal
Knights 45
Renegades 24
Saves
Quigley 22
Byrne 36
