WEST CHESTER – Everything seemed lined up for another championship moment for North Penn, a packed arena, a title on the line, and a team chasing history after a dominant season. They had been in this spot before and always found a way through. But as the final buzzer sounded Saturday afternoon, something felt different. What changed this time, and why couldn’t they put it together when it mattered most?
The Flyers Cup champions North Penn Knights (26-2-0; 16-0-0) faced off against the Penguins Cup champions Penn-Trafford Warriors (20-7-0; 15-5-0) on Saturday, March 21, at Ice Line, a neutral-site venue in West Chester, PA for the 2026 AA ice hockey state championship. In a hard fought defensive battle, the Warriors would shock the arena and take down the defending champs in a 3-1 victory.
The Knights entered this game as back-to-back Flyers Cup champions and reigning state champions. For the Warriors, this was their first state championship appearance in program history.
During North Penn’s historic Flyers Cup victory Tuesday night, one of their top players, junior assistant captain Sam Norton, was ejected from the game for a boarding penalty. The call resulted in a game misconduct, forcing him to miss the following game, which unfortunately happened to be the state championship.
Kevin Vaitis, head coach of the Knights, went through a multi-day appeal process in an effort to overturn the suspension of his star player. However, after further review by USA Hockey, the appeal was denied, and Norton was officially out for the biggest game of the year.
Vaitis acknowledged how much the loss of Norton affected the team’s play on Saturday afternoon.
“Missing Sam was definitely a big loss for us. Sam is a very big part of our team. He plays on our top line, our power play and our penalty kill when we are shorthanded. We had to juggle our lines a little bit to fill in some gaps, however, it is impossible to replace Sam and the value he brings to us,” Vaitis noted.
After a long four-day wait, the atmosphere inside Ice Line was electric. The Knights student section was filled to the top, buzzing with anticipation as the puck finally dropped. From the opening faceoff, the tensions for both teams were very high, although there were no hard hits and very few shots on goal for the majority of the first period.
Despite little meaningful action through the first ten minutes, it felt like the Warriors were in control. They held a clear edge in time of possession, and when forced back on defense, it looked like they had the Knights unsettled and under pressure.
The Warriors finally broke through with six and a half minutes to play in the first. After junior Nico Castelli passed the puck up to sophomore Zack Grkman at center ice, Grkman then fired a bouncing shot at the goal that took a very unusual hop over Knights goalie Andy Norton’s shoulder and into the back of the net.
Norton and the rest of the Knights appeared caught off guard as the goal came suddenly and in very fluky fashion. It almost seemed as if Norton wasn’t even anticipating a shot in that moment. Now, much like in last year’s state championship game, North Penn found themselves playing from behind, a position they had rarely experienced all season.
The slow pace play continued for both sides after the goal, with neither team gaining much momentum. The only notable action before the end of the first period came when Warriors freshman Jordan Tucek was assessed a cross-checking penalty.
The second period saw the boys starting to hit harder and play with more tenacity. Each team split two penalties each. For North Penn it was senior Gabriel Dunn and junior Deaclan Leahy spending time in the box. For Penn-Trafford, it was senior Ben Zierski and senior Jake Lenart.
Neither team could take advantage of the power plays they were given, and the period came to an end with the score remaining 1-0 in favor of the Warriors. The Knights offensive struggles persisted heading into the intermission, a rare sight for a team that had been known for its offense all year long.
“I think Penn-Trafford was playing a very good hockey game against us and swarmed us in the defensive zone. We did not have much time and space to do things and their goalie played outstanding. We had a few bounces not go our way. Nolan (Shingle) had one in the first period and the second period that hit the post and a few other chances that we just did not capitalize on,” Vaitis stated.
Coming out of intermission, all pressure was on North Penn. The reigning champs were still playing from behind and needed to generate momentum quickly. Despite the reset, their offensive struggles continued, as the Knights remained scoreless to open the third period.
With just over nine minutes remaining in the game, the Warriors found a way to extend their lead to 2. Players swarmed Norton in front of the net as the puck bounced around. Despite the Knights effort to clear it out amid constant battling and shoving, Warriors freshman Liam Lehneke slipped a touch past Norton, setting up junior Brock Bienemann, who finished the play with a tap-in at the doorstep.
North Penn now found themselves in a situation they had faced only one other time in a whole calendar year, against Devon Prep, a non-conference matchup in early January. With a multi-goal deficit and just nine minutes remaining, the pressure was mounting. These Knights needed to find a way to steady themselves, refocus, and get back to playing their game.
“I’m not sure if the 1-0 down was a big deal for us as we were in this same position last year in the state championship and rallied back to win. The first goal was a fluke goal on a crazy bounce,” Vaitis said. “I think the second goal they scored to put us down 2-0 created a little more anxiousness for us, but the boys continued to battle all the way to the end.”
North Penn brought out their best group after the goal, as they had no choice but to go all-in for the remainder of the game. The attempt was short-lived though, as 20 seconds later they lost junior Deaclan Leahy for the game.
Eerily similar to last year’s state championship game, Leahy took a massive hit into the glass and stayed down for an extended period of time. The hard hit resulted in a head contact penalty for Warriors senior Sean Goodman.
Vaitis’s favorite message all season long has been “next player up”, and with Leahy going down, that mindset was being put to the test. The Knights had to figure it out quickly, and it was Dunn who stepped in, looking to spark something and help turn the tide.
“I thought Gabe Dunn did a nice job there at the end for us creating a little traffic in front of the net and causing their goalie to be a little uncomfortable. When Leahy went down that obviously forced us to juggle the lines a little more but we have always had the ‘next player up’ mentality,” Vaitis noted.
The game pressed on, but the Knights struggled to find their rhythm and were forced to start trying new approaches. As the clock dipped under two minutes, North Penn pulled Norton from the net to gain the offensive advantage. The strategy paid off, as less than a minute later, senior assistant captain Nolan Shingle buried a goal off the assists from Dunn and junior Chris Silvotti, giving the Knights faithful a flicker of hope as the clock continued to wind down.
The Knights kept Norton off and the pressure on, but Penn-Trafford held firm for the next minute. With just six seconds to play, Zierski broke free toward the Knights empty net and sealed the game – and the North Penn season – with a dagger goal.
The clock ran out, and North Penn’s historic bid to go back-to-back fell just short in a 3-1 loss. While the season ended in defeat, the past two years have been defined by more than the final score, as this group of players left a lasting legacy.
“This has been a remarkable two years for this group of players. Over the last two years, they have gone 46-4, meaning we won 92% of the time. That is a remarkable statistic because it is not easy to win when you have some very competitive league games but then you also have some very tough state playoff games,” Vaitis shared.
“Over the last two years, we have gone 8-1 in the state playoffs being state champions last year and runner up this year. I am not sure there will ever be a period of time in the future that you will see a team have back-to-back years being that successful. There is a lot to be proud of.”
Unlike last year, the Knights will graduate a large senior class, many of whom were key contributors to their recent success.
“I wish the best to our seniors Chase Kelly Del Ricci, James Boyle, Danial Cabrales, Nolan Shingle, Gabe Dunn, Luke Haftel, Tyler Evans, and Milo Little. Our leadership of Chase, Luke, Nolan and Sam were great all year keeping the boys focused on the job at hand. We went undefeated in league play, won the regular season title, the league championship, and the Flyers Cup.”
This season was a historic one for the Knights, marked by many milestones along the way. Although many seniors are departing, the Knights won’t be going anywhere, as a strong core of returning players will come back next season with a chip on their shoulder.
“It was a remarkable season. We still have a great group coming back next year who have a lot of experience at this level. We have guys returning like Sam Norton, Chris Silvotti, Izzy Cabrales, Derek Lugara, Declan Leahy, Declan Willison, Landon Hostetter, Gavin Lombardi, and our goalies Aidan Quigley and Andy Norton. And we have some up and coming players from JV and Middle School that will look to contribute next year,” Vaitis said.
“The future remains bright and I look forward to seeing what this team is able to accomplish next year,” Vaitis concluded. “A big thank you to all our students and family members that supported us throughout the season, it meant the world to this group of players.”
Final Score:
Knights 1
Warriors 3
Shots on Goal:
Knights 33
Warriors 39
Saves:
Norton 36
Funk 32
Goals by period:
1st Period:
PT Z. Grkman 6:32
3rd Period:
PT B. Bienemann 9:09
NP N. Shingle 1:01
PT B. Zierski 0:06
