Boyertown shores up Pioneer with win over Spring-Ford
OAKS >> He knew they were up against a tall task.
Yet Spring-Ford head coach Joe Palmer stressed to his team before Thursday’s showdown the importance of playing physical and matching undefeated Boyertown’s size.
“They’re a bigger team,” he said before the game. “We need to match their physicality and see where it takes us.”
That physicality pushed Boyertown to the limit, but the Bears managed to hang on en route to earning a 5-2 win that was much closer than the final score indicates.
The win kept Boyertown’s unscathed at 7-0 in the Pioneer Conference (15-2 overall) of the Inter County Scholastic Hockey League and secures the Bears the top spot in the conference. With the loss, Spring-Ford drops to 6-2 in the conference, 11-5-1 overall.
Chris Moccia scored twice while Hunter Canestra registered a goal and a pair of assists for Boyertown.
On the Spring-Ford side, Shayne Egleston and Aidan Cooley each registered a goal and an assist.
Coming in, nothing in this one was guaranteed.
“It’s one of the toughest things in sports,” said Boyertown head coach Bryan Roth, “to beat a team three times in one season.
“Spring-Ford is a strong team, and they’ve been chasing us in the standings all season. We’ve been playing a lot better than we were in the beginning of the year, and it’s starting to show.”
Moccia led the Bears’ charge over Spring-Ford.
With just two goals on the season coming into the night, Moccia doubled his scoring total including the eventual game-winner to open the third period. He then added some insurance in the final minutes to secure the win.
“This was a huge win for us,” he said afterward. “Beating them a third time to lock up the top spot in the conference means everything. They fought us hard the whole way, but we got our composure back in the third (period).”
With the score tied at 2-all entering the third, Moccia scored on the first possession after the puck dropped. It was one of those ‘right place, right time goals,’ he says.
“I was in front of the net and I saw the puck go to the corner,” he said. “So I called out to Hunter (Canestra) — he threw it in front and I tipped it in. After that, we just kept it going.”
The Bears controlled the possession the majority of the third. Leo Richards found Casey Sottenella who took it on a breakaway and sent the score to 4-2.
For Roth and the Bears, a player stepping up and making things the way Moccia did Thursday is nothing new.
“Our best strength is definitely our top tier talent,” he said, “but we have guys all over the ice who can make plays at any given point. We have forwards who can score, defensemen who can set the tone and goalies who do an awesome job.
“I think that’s why we’re where we are. We have a strong, balanced attack and a lot of guys who can beat you in a lot of ways.”
Spring-Ford is now 1-5-1 in its last six games after a strong 9-1 start.
Despite the tough stretch, Palmer knows his team will be battle-tested come playoffs.
“We played some weaker teams early on,” he said. “Now we’re in the brunt of our schedule. We’ve got to make the adjustments and stay focused. Things will fall into place.”
NOTES >> Spring-Ford celebrated its Senior Night honoring Ryan Chesler, Tyler Hachadorian, Jeff DiGuiseppe, Brad Heininger, Casey Falcone, Adam Panzarella, Ben Geremski, Justin Solorio and Christian Graff. … Boyertown committed 10 penalites on the game while Spring-Ford had five.
