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Who's Number One? 'Rock South Leaves Little Doubt
A great game by Council Rock North goalie Jessie Goldberg
turned a potential double-digit blowout into a thriller.
(Photo: CouncilRockNorthHockey.org.)
January 23, 2010
Last night's varsity match at the Face-Off Circle in Warminster was preceded by a long build-up.
The Council Rock South Golden Hawks, last year's Flyers Cup AA champions, have not lost a game in the 2009-10 campaign. They have a 15-0-2 record in the National Division on the strength of an overwhelming 98-28 advantage in goals.
The race for the division scoring crown is strictly a team affair. Patrick Grilli and Peter Malamud are tied for the lead with 51 points each, while teammate Tyler Deitrick is not exactly slacking with 50 (32 goals).
Far behind 'Rock South's top three offensive players, we find another trio of National Division scorers, tied with 39 points each. Two of them - Kyle Weitz and Scott Titus - happen to play for the defending champs' local rival, Council Rock North.
Until last night, the Indians were also undefeated on the year, and their first head-to-head meeting with the Golden Hawks (Nov 25) ended in a 2-2 tie.
Since then 'Rock North have continued their winning ways, matching 'Rock South defensively with almost as impressive a goal differential (85-28), and possibly featuring the more balanced attack with a strong second line.
It's no wonder these two elite teams rank first and second in the Breakaway! Top 10 AA, and until last night 'Rock North partisans had reason to believe they had the better team.
But then the puck dropped.
Officially North were the hosts, although the crowd was evenly split among the two area favorites. But 'Rock South was dominant from the first minutes. As 'Rock North's coach Eric Tye ruefully told SuburbanOneSports.com, the opposing team won the races to the puck, they hit more, "they moved their feet the whole time," and, apparently: "They wanted it more."
The final score of 3-1 barely reflected the true margin of difference.
Shots on goal told the real story:
CR South 40, CR North 15
North stayed in the game thanks to a heroic performance by goaltender Jessie Goldberg, who would stop a total of 37 out of 39 shots he saw, while making numerous highlight real glove saves. Thanks to his efforts, the first period was scoreless although most of the play was on the North's side (they managed just four shots on South's goal).
Both coaches heaped praise on Goldberg. "If I don't have the best goalie in high school hockey, I don't know who the hell is," Tye told SuburbanOneSports.com.
The Indians almost escaped the second period as well. But with three minutes left and with Titus in the box for hooking, the Hawks' Steve Junod converted during the power play, netting his ninth goal of the season on an assist from Colin Craige.
It was the South's 19th shot at Goldberg and came just after the Indians killed off about a minute's worth of a two-man advantage.
Hope stayed alive for the Indians, who tied it up early in the third on a bullet from Weitz (assist from Mark McDonald). But the South retained its territorial dominance throughout. Deitrick scored the tie-breaker two minutes later on a shot from the bottom of the left circle.
With the clock ticking down and the puck predominantly in their defensive end, the Indians finally resorted to taking Goldberg out with a minute left. The Hawks' Malamud made them pay for that with an empty-net goal (assist from Jonathan Houk), sealing victory with 13 seconds to go.
At the quiet net, Sean Boyd also played well, with 14 saves on the North's 15 shots.
Game photo gallery at SuburbanOneSports.com.
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