Boyertown beats North Penn in Flyers Cup
Boyertown jumps out to 3-goal lead before holding off Knights
UPPER PROVIDENCE >> Sean Mc-Giny had a goal and assist in the second period as the Boyertown ice hockey team built a threegoal advantage before holding off North Penn for a 3-2 victory in the Flyers Cup AA first round Wednesday night at Center Ice.
“We knew going in they have a very, very good goaltender and we knew we have to have consistent pressure throughout the game,” Bears coach Bryan Roth said. “That was our game plan and we pretty much executed. As expected, their goalie played very well and we were able to get enough past him to secure the win.”
Bransen Mackey and Chris Moccia also scored for Boyertown, which advances to face either Central Bucks West or Truman in the quarterfinals 7:25 p.m. Friday at Hatfield Ice.
“We got to focus on defense a little bit more, other than that we should be good,” McGinley said. “We got the offensive (play) there.”
North Penn goalkeeper Jake Snyder frustrated the Bears all night and kept the shorthanded Knights in the game. NP got within a goal at 11:24 in the third when John Roberts poked in a loose puck, but could not find the equalizer as last season’s AA finalists were both in their opening game.
“We were shorthanded missing a number of guys, so I was actually very pleased with the effort that I had from a lot of the guys that were out there,” Knights coach Kevin Vaitis said. “We only had three lines of forwards up front and we had four (defensemen). The guys, they continued to battle hard the whole way.”
Boyertown couldn’t seal the victory with North Penn pulling Snyder and with three seconds left an icing created a faceoff in the Bears’ zone. NP got possession but a shot was blocked and time ran out.
Mackey gave Boyertown a 1-0 lead late in the first period on a shorthanded goal. Casey Sottanella forced a turnover right in front of the North Penn goal and was denied by Snyder, but found Mackey for the tally at 1:37.
The Bears controlled play in the first half of the second period and were reward with a pair of goals. McGinley doubled the advantage at 12:02, working around a sprawled Snyder to get the puck into the net.
McGinley collected an assist on Boyertown’s third goal, as Moccia one-time in his centering pass at 10:33.
North Penn broke through on the power play as Andrew Galetta put one past Bears keeper Troy Viola with 8:06 left in the second period. The Knights made it a one-goal game when Roberts, who is usually NP’s backup goalie, put in a loose puck at the left post.