Souderton Area earns sweet victory over rival North Penn
COLMAR — Souderton Area escaped the dentist chair, saw its injury list get healthier, and displayed multiple strengths in a 6-3 victory over rival North Penn Thursday night at Hatfield Ice.
“Super pumped,” said Souderton coach Ryan Uchniat, who saw his team explode for four second-period goals. “We’re starting to get guys back healthy – Jacob Chow was out of the lineup the past two months with a broken wrist. He was back tonight. Seth Grossman got his wisdom teeth out yesterday and he was playing tonight. So it’s good to see some of these players get back. It was a whole team effort.”
Souderton raised its record to 3-6 (1-2 in the National) and goes skating into the break with back-to-back wins. Big Red is off until Friday, Jan. 6, against Council Rock South at Hatfield Ice at 7:20 p.m.
North Penn (3-6, 0-3 in the National) is off until Wednesday, Jan. 4, when it faces Pennsbury at Hatfield Ice at 7:20 p.m.
“The past two years, it’s been back and forth. I know the team gets up for it,” Uchniat said of the rivalry with North Penn, which again packed the house. “They’re super excited when we play North Penn and I know they feel the same way. They have a couple guys that I coached club hockey with and they have the same feelings.
“The thing about North Penn is they don’t give up. They don’t stop. You have to play a full three periods against these guys and maybe even more.”
Souderton scored three goals in a span of about six minutes in the second period to catapult into the lead at 3-1.
Maxwell Ryon, Nicholas Smith and Liam O’Neill all put pucks in for Big Red.
“Everyone was working hard, everyone was rolling,” said Ryon, a freshman who provides a spark for Souderton. “We were doing all the right things and I think we just came together as a team and did what we needed to do.
“Our offense was buzzing. We had good shots, good pressure, we were fore-checking well, and we just came together.”
The Knights, who led 1-0 in the first on a goal by Tyler Porubski, got within 3-2 on a tally by Sam Mostochuk. Each squad scored in the final minute of the second – Grossman for Big Red and Derek Delong did the honors for the Knights.
It stayed 4-3 Souderton until five minutes remained in the third period, when Jaime Avaria O’Keefe provided some breathing room for Big Red.
Ryon added an empty-net goal in the final minute.
“It’s a great win. After coming off a win over Bensalem, it’s great to get this one,” Ryon said. “Especially after last time we played North Penn, giving up a three-goal lead (and losing in OT). It was great to get back and play a great team game.
“It’s a great win and I hope we can carry this forward.”
Said Uchniat: “We’ve had our share of bad luck, but the guys put in the work and got rewarded. (North Penn) beat us in overtime last time and we squeaked out this one – by the skin our teeth.”
Souderton Area 6, North Penn 3
Souderton 0 4 2 – 6
North Penn 1 2 0 – 3
First Period
NP-Tyler Porubski, :53.
Second Period
S-Maxwell Ryon (Patrick Callahan), 14:08; S-Nicholas Smith (Timothy Alexander), 13:32; S-Liam O’Neill, 7:50; NP-Sam Mostochuk (Gabriel Dunn, Cole Pluck), 7:02; S-Seth Grossman (Smith, Owen Watters), :54; NP-Derek Delong (Dunn), :34.
Third Period
S-Jaime Avaria O’Keefe (Grossman, Callahan), 5:25; S-Ryon (Smith, Grossman), :31.
Shots
Souderton 6 6 18 – 30
North Penn 7 18 7 – 32
Saves: Noah Connor (S) 29; Nich Crist (NP) 24.
