Pennridge rallies, stands firm late to top Souderton

EAST ROCKHILL >> Ryan Carickhoff and the rest of his teammates had done the work to put Pennridge in front, so Kieran Banks wanted to bring it home for them.

A game-changing fourth quarter rally had taken the Rams from trailing visiting Souderton to ahead by a single goal off Carickhoff’s tally with a minute left, but it would all come down to the defense. Banks had done plenty already, but he had a few more saves to make.

Banks stood tall in the end, preserving a 10-9 win for Pennridge on Tuesday night.

“I just think about my team, I know I’m there because I’m playing for them,” Banks, the Rams’ junior goalie, said. “When I’m running out of steam or think the tank’s empty, I dig down deep and think of these boys because we’ve been practicing for this the past year.”

Pennridge (5-4, 3-2 SOL National) needed that type of finish because of the start Souderton (5-4, 2-4 SOL National) got off to. From senior Justin Wawrzynek setting the tone on the faceoff X to the defense and goalie Matthew Malanga coming up with early stops and Jamison McDivitt facilitating the attack, Souderton had it going early.

McDivitt had a hand in all four of his team’s first quarter goals, scoring two and assisting on the others, as Souderton built a 4-1 lead after 12 minutes. The junior attacker was giving the Rams defense fits, with Pennridge trying a couple different looks, including a zone and a man face-guarding McDivitt in the second quarter, but the hosts still trailed 6-2 at the half.

“It’s all about communication and playing team defense, no one man is going to win it on defense,” Banks said. “We had to make sure everyone was on the same page.”

The Rams opened the second half strong, with Chris Fanelli’s goal and two from Carickhoff cutting the lead to one with 9:32 left in the period. In the first half, Pennridge’s offense hurt itself by trying to power through Souderton’s defense and often turning the ball over.

Carickhoff, who led all scorers with five goals, pointed to sharper passing as the difference after halftime. Chris Fanelli and his younger brother Frank were the catalysts, combining for four assists and four goals.

“It was just us being inspired,” Carickhoff said. “Our coaches hyped us up, Kieran made some huge stops, it was a great game all around from everybody. We had such good ball movement; it was a really good job by the Fanelli brothers. It was just a good time playing out there.”

A flag on the Rams helped Souderton regain momentum, with a man-up goal from Tyson Bui kicking off a three-goal run by the visitors to close the quarter while rebuilding their four-goal advantage.

McDivitt picked up his last point of the night on the final goal of the quarter, making a pass from behind the net that set up Justin Wawrzynick for a nice goal and a 9-5 edge. McDivitt finished with two goals and four assists, with John Martin Vince adding two goals and a helper and Kobi Bui bagging two scores.

For the Rams, it was a tough way to end the quarter, but they knew there were still 12 minutes left to make something happen.

“This team, I think more than any other Pennridge team, is one that fights hard,” Banks said. “We fight hard until the end of every play. We work hard until the whistle blows so having that type of mentality, we’re the underdogs but it’s time for us to fight back and time to make a big splash, so that’s what drives us.”

Tom Hart was the only Pennridge player outside the Carickhoff-Fanelli trio to score and his rip a minute into the fourth quarter ignited the home side’s rally. Frank Fanelli, the smallest player on the field for Pennridge, played extra-large in the final quarter with a goal and two assists, including the one that set up Carickhoff’s winner.

Carickhoff said the slow starts have been a season-long issue but credited the coaching staff for making changes and finding ways the Rams could move the ball against Souderton’s tough defense led by long-stick mid Manny Puente, Lance Pelych, Nick Curotto and short-stick mid Dylan Reinford in front of Malanga, who made eight saves.

“We started reading how the defense was playing,” Carickhoff said. “I think our-ball movement was huge from a lot of different players finding the open seams. That was one of, if not the biggest difference, for us.”

Banks and Carickhoff also cited the little plays, things like ground balls from Hart and Jake Stranix, a late ride by Connor Frisch that led to a turnover and Ben Souder’s effort on the faceoff X.

“That absolute swung momentum for us and bought us possessions to put the ball in the back of the net,” Carickhoff said.

“Small plays changed the game,” Banks said.

Banks made a huge save with 1:58 on the clock and his defense, including poles William Howley, Jake Stranix and Nate McMahon and mids like Hart and Tyler Richardson, got the ground ball. Malanga made a big stop on Carickhoff on the other end, but a penalty flag gave Pennridge another chance.

A second flag gave the Rams two seconds of double-man up and that was enough to get Carickhoff the winner off Fanelli’s feed.

“Chris drew a slide and Frankie drew another slide and I was just right there at the back post to finish it, but it was all off their movement,” Carickhoff said. “We preach that in practice and it definitely showed out tonight.”

From there, it was up to Banks. Kobi Bui, who had scored two goals with his powerful shot, launched one on goal with about 30 seconds left that Banks got in front of and turned away off his stick.

The ground ball went back to Souderton and after a timeout, Banks pushed another shot off the frame of goal and made a final stop just before the final horn to seal the victory.

“To not put it all out there until that final whistle, you have to show out for the team,” Banks said. “That’s really what motivates me.”

The SOL National has been full of close contests, something the Rams know all too well but Carickhoff felt Tuesday night could be a turning point. With a quality North Penn team coming to Helman Field on Thursday, they’ll have to get right back to it.

“It’s definitely a momentum-swinger, there’s a big difference between 5-4 and 4-5,” Carickhoff said. “This was a key point in our season but now we have to keep it rolling.”

PENNRIDGE 10, SOUDERTON 9
PENNRIDGE 1 1 3 5 – 10
SOUDERTON 4 2 3 0 – 9
Goals-Assists: P – Ryan Carickhoff 5-0, Chris Fanelli 3-1, Frank Fanelli 1-3, Tom Hart 1-0; S – Jamison McDivitt 2-4, Kobi Bui 2-0, John Martin Vince 2-1, Tyson Bui 1-0, Ty Quintos 1-0, Jason Wawrzynek 1-0.
Shots: P – 18, S – 21. Saves: P – Kieran Banks 12, S – Matthew Malanga 8