CB West uses fast start to roll past Tennent

HATFIELD>>Just two days ago it was William Tennent’s outstanding team defense that helped them advance past North Penn in the first round of the Suburban High School Hockey League (SHSHL) AA playoffs.
Wednesday, in their semi-final matchup against Central Bucks West, that defense that helped them stymie the North Penn attack was nowhere to be found, as the Panthers fell 5-1 to the Bucks and were eliminated from the SHSHL playoffs.
“They (CB West) brought a playoff intensity and we didn’,” said Tennent head coach Nick D’aurizio. “All three of their lines were working hard and we just didn’t get the depth that we’re used to. The other night against North Penn, we had everybody rolling, playing great hockey, and we just didn’t get that tonight.”
The scoring started early for the Bucks. Just 45 seconds into the game, a Tennent defender slipped in his own zone and turned over the puck. Eric Schwass picked it up for West, found a streaking teammate in Joe Anton, and Anton found the back of the net to give them the quick lead.
“That was a real big goal I think for us,” said Anton. “My winger (Eric) Schwass just made a play, got a good pass right out in front to me, I came through the D and put it through the five hole.”
For the rest of the game Tennent would be trying to play catchup, but they weren’t doing themselves any favors.
The Panthers racked up 18 PIM as a team, compared to CB West’s 8, and even when they started to make some progress chipping away at the lead, they would shoot themselves in the foot with a bad penalty.
“The penalties pretty much doomed us,” said D’aurizio. “Whether or not we think it’s a good call or a bad call we have to adjust to the officiating and adjust to the way the game is being called. We’ve got to be smarter, we’ve got to be more mature, and we have to be better, the penalties are absolutely what prevented us from getting back into the game.”
Tennent’s best chance to get back into it came with 7:54 remaining in the 2nd. Down 3-0, it was able to get a nice goal from Liam Ovington on the power play as he cleaned up in front of the net and put the Panthers on the board.
Almost immediately after Ovington’s goal, the Bucks took another 2-minute minor, giving the Tennent a prime opportunity to make another step towards a comeback.
However, West’s PK unit came up big and shut them down, squashing the momentum gained by the Panthers with their earlier goal and setting the tone as the game closed out.
“We work really hard on our penalty kill and try and keep everything to the outside and guard that middle lane,” said West’s head coach Dave Baun. “That was a big spot and our penalty kill unit really came through for us in that moment of the game.”
Even with the loss, Tennent’s season will continue next week. The Panthers are the No. 5 seed in the upcoming Flyers Cup, and will play Pennsbury in the opening round.
West will also be headed to the Flyers Cup, but the Bucks have some unfinished business to attend to first in the SHSHL championship game against rival CB South.
“We played them twice and lost both,” said Anton. “The last one was 3-1 but I think we should take them this time.”