Chestnut Hill Adademy ice Devils edge Upper
Moreland
by TOM UTESCHER
Surviving a third-period rally by host Upper Moreland, Chestnut Hill Academy
captured its first victory of the ice hockey season last Sunday morning,
posting a 9-7 win at the Warwick Ice Arena outside of Warminster.
The home team, a club organization staffed by high school and middle
school players from the Upper Moreland school district, trailed 4-8 after
the second period, but then cut the lead to a single goal before CHA put
in an empty-netter in the final seconds.
CHA (1-1) had opened its season with a road loss to Upland Country Day,
a school that has its own rink and focuses on hockey to the point where
it doesn’t even field a basketball team. Chestnut Hill, which re-established
its ice hockey program in 2004-2005, finished with a 6-4 record last winter
but graduated seven seniors from that squad.
In last weekend’s win, the Blue Devils received two goals apiece
from senior wingers Anthony Giovinazzo and Brett Shandler, and from fellow
upperclassman Bruno Petrillo, who normally plays center but was moved
back to defense against the Upper Moreland Golden Bears.
Another CHA center, junior Kip Powell, started off the scoring with 6:45
elapsed in the first period. The Bears’ goalie went down trying
to trap Powell’s shot but couldn’t prevent the puck from crossing
the line. From near the left faceoff circle Giovinazzo fired his first
goal into the upper right corner, and with 3:32 left in the period, Mike
Marino put the Blue Devils up 3-0 off an assist from Powell.
Just over 20 seconds later CHA sophomore forward Mike Olix was hit with
the game’s first penalty, and Upper Moreland capitalized on the
power play. Pat McKay came from behind the net to tuck the puck inside
the right post, getting the Bears on the board with 1:31 on the clock.
With 1:02 left, Petrillo answered for CHA off a feed from Schuyler Rooke,
but Upper Moreland had the last say in the period as McKay assisted on
a goal by Karpinski with just one second on the clock.
As the second round got underway, the visitors solidified their lead
with two scores in less than four minutes. Powell got the puck to Giovinazzo
for the senior’s second of the day, and assists from Olix and Petrillo
helped Shandler make it 6-2.
Later in the period, the Bears recouped the two points thanks to strikes
by Brian Burman (with 7:08 remaining) and Anthony Moore (3:22). Upper
Moreland might have pulled even at 6-all during this stretch if not for
CHA’s freshman goaltender, Greg Quillian (seven saves), who stoned
the speedy McKay on a pair of breakaways.
With 1:37 to go in the second frame, Shandler shot his second goal (assists:
Olix and freshman John Harris), and exactly a minute later one of the
Bears went into the box on a boarding call. Petrillo cashed in on the
power play with ten seconds left, bringing the puck up-ice from the defensive
end and wristing in a shot that made it 8-4 at the second intermission.
Because another game was due to start shortly, the third period of CHA’s
contest was played with a running clock. Four goals behind, the Bears
knew they had to shift into a higher gear, and did.
First, Dan Bulock found the net on a slap shot from just inside the blue
line on the right, then McKay assisted a goal by Nick DeNardo to make
it 8-6 with 6:11 left to play. Just 56 seconds later, Upper Moreland’s
Karpinski closed the gap to a single point, and to make things even more
interesting, penalties were called simultaneously against CHA’s
Giovinazzo (slashing) and Marino (interference). They entered the penalty
box with 4:30 remaining, but CHA was able to survive the Bears’
two-up power play thanks in part to keep-away puck handling by Petrillo.
The next penalty call went against Upper Moreland, and with just 1:40
left at the time of the foul, the Bears had to play man-down hockey for
the remainder of the bout. They still pulled their goalie in an effort
to tie the game, and CHA’s Harris hit the empty net with just two
seconds remaining for a 9-7 final.
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