DeLaurentis’ hat trick leads CB South past Pennridge in SHSHL AA final

HATFIELD TWP. >> Joseph DeLaurentis and Central Bucks South broke away early Thursday night, earning an 8-3 victory over Pennridge in the Suburban High School Hockey League AA final at packed Hatfield Ice.

DeLaurentis’ hat trick led the way for the Titans, who kept up the pressure all throughout and had five different players contribute to the scoring.

“It’s kind of been surreal. Every year, we’ve had such a good team,” said DeLaurentis, who led his squad to its fourth straight league title. “I’ve been blessed to be on such a great team, such a great program.
“And I’m just excited for Flyers Cup now.”

DeLaurentis scored on a breakaway a little over seven minutes in, sneaking a puck into the corner and just under the reach of Rams keeper Luke Stranick. It was a pass from Dominic Patrone that sent DeLaurentis on his way.

That got the Titans going.

Less than two minutes later, Matt Stoll raced up the middle and scored unassisted, boosting the South lead to 2-0 midway through the first period.

South wasn’t done.

The Titans continued to connect, and though outshot 9-6 early on, South stretched its lead to 3-0 when Colin Abbonizio set up Reis Braccio.

Pennridge cut into the deficit early in the second.

Patrick McGinley scored for the Rams, set up by Mikael Mastropaolo.

But South came back just minutes later, time and again.

DeLaurentis broke free again, scoring his second of the contest, and Nick Morelli lifted the South lead to 5-1 as South pressure began to dominate the contest.

DeLaurentis completed his hat trick with six minutes to go in the second period, pushing the Titan advantage to 6-1.

McGinley scored his second of the contest, off a pass from Michael Walker, slicing it to 6-2 after two.

The two teams traded goals in the third: Colin Abbonizio for South, Nick Eissler for the Rams, before Abbonizio scored his second of the evening and final goal of the contest for the Titans.

“(CB South) went the 200 feet. We only skated 170 feet tonight,” Rams coach Tom Coyne said. “I’m proud of the boys. I came in and took over the team at Christmas time. So it took me a few weeks to realize and evaluate the talent in that room and the big factor is calling out that talent and making sure it shows up every night.
“We’re going into the Flyers Cup, where it’s ‘you snooze, you lose.’”