Boyertown claims ICSHL Liberty Division title over rival Owen J. Roberts

Trailing Owen J. Roberts by two goals early in the first period of Thursday’s Inter County Scholastic Hockey League’s Liberty division championship was nothing new for Boyertown.

The Bears had come from three goals down in their semifinal win over Appoquinimink in order to get into the championship. They knew they could to do the same again. All that was needed was one puck to find a way into the net.

After senior captain Ryan Harman put the Bears on the board, they felt it was their game to lose. Boyertown scored four unanswered goals on its way to a 6-3 victory over Owen J. Roberts in Thursday’s ICSHL Liberty division title game.

“It kind of seems like every time something just happens on the ice, we look at each other,” junior captain Jackson Novak said. “We’re a really close team. Everybody contributes, so everybody just really buckled down and got down to work. That’s really one of the best things about the team. We’re all just really close, and we know what we have to do in every situation.”

Sam Diehl and Phillip Shiffler gave Owen J. Roberts (9-3 Liberty North, 10-6) a 2-0 lead in the first period. Harman got Boyertown (12-0 Liberty North, 15-2-1) on the board, and Novak and Ryan Kuhar added goals for the Bears to put Boyertown up, 3-2, after one period. Harman scored his second goal on a power play in the second period as Boyertown went ahead, 4-2, after four unanswered scores.

“We weren’t playing our greatest the first 10 minutes of the game,” senior captain Owen Sheppard said. “We got ourselves together, got ourselves collected. Once we scored one, we just kept on going.”

Owen J. Roberts’ Gunner Winget pulled the Wildcats within one, scoring a goal with 56 seconds left in the second period. However, Boyertowns’ Sean Sutterby scored 30 seconds later to send the Bears into the final period with a 5-3 advantage. Sheppard finished up the game’s scoring with a goal in the third period. Boyertown goalie Owen Yancey saved 23 of the 26 shots he faced in goal to preserve the victory.

Sheppard and Novak said the Bears don’t have a star player, and instead attribute the team’s success to a collective chemistry. Sheppard, Novak, Sutterby, Harman, Kuhar and sophomore Adam Hennessey, who had an assist in Thursday’s game, all have 29 or more points this season.

Others like freshman goalie Derek Baradgie, who made 43 combined saves in the playoff wins over Interboro and Appoquinimink, have risen to the occasion when called upon.

“The team just really decided to put our foot down and just play hard,” Novak said. “We did, and we came out with the win. Everybody really came together that game, and really the whole season. We had everybody contribute.”

Owen J. Roberts knocked Boyertown out of the playoffs in the first round last season. The Bears and Wildcats faced off twice in November with Boyertown coming out on top both times.

Sheppard and Novak said the two teams are very familiar with each other, and both said they have friends on the other side. Playing against a neighboring rival amped up the game’s implications even more.

“I’d like to think that Owen J. is one of our bigger rivals,” Novak said. “It’s a good game every time we play because they’re pretty close to us, and they always put together a good team.”

“It kind of just brought a great atmosphere to the rink,” he added. “It was really fun game to be a part of.”

This was the Bears’ second division title in four years. Harman and Sheppard were freshman on the Boyertown team that last won the title in 2016.

“We had a really good team my freshman year, and we did really well,” Sheppard said. “It’s nice to finish on the same note.”

Boyertown and Owen J. Roberts will now play in the Flyers Cup, a tournament featuring the best teams in the Eastern part of Pennsylvania. Owen J. Roberts is the No. 9 seed in the A bracket, facing No. 8 Lower Merion on Tuesday (8 p.m.) at Ice Line Quad Rinks in West Chester. Boyertown is the No. 7 seed in the AA bracket and will face No. 10 Central Bucks West in the first round Wednesday (7:10 p.m.) at Ice Line.

The Bears lost to top seed Central Bucks South, 10-0, in the first round of last year’s tournament. The goal this season is to build off their championship run and see how far they can go.

“That was kind of a downer,” Sheppard said. “This year, we’re looking forward to going further than we did last year.”