Oaks, Pa. — A pair of goals from Cam Bergeman and a 27-save outing from Aiden Kikut propelled Salesianum (6-3-2) to their fifth consecutive victory, a 6-2 decision over Spring-Ford on Monday night (Jan. 6) at Center Ice.
Before Bergeman’s offensive firepower began — he recorded two assists in addition to netting his 20th and 21st seasonal goals — Vincenzo Varriale opened the Sals’ scoring at 10:08 with a short-handed goal. The sophomore right winger forced a turnover before firing a 15-foot wrist shot past Rams goalie Tyler Temoyan. Bergeman’s first goal, at 13:11, also came directly off a Spring-Ford turnover.
Spring-Ford got one back five minutes into the second period, when Zack Neild buried the rebound of a chance from Rams’ leading scorer Saxon Vargo, but the Sals responded with two more second-period goals. Logan Downs set up a two-on-two attack at 5:43 and fired a hard wrist-shot in from the right circle, and a top-shelf wrist shot from James Bell at the top of the left circle lifted Salesianum to a 4-1 advantage with 2-1/2 minutes remaining in the middle frame.
Much like Neild’s second-period goal for Spring-Ford, Jack Kisela punched a rebound past Salesianum goalie Aiden Kikut just three minutes into the third period. Again, the Sals responded with a pair: Bergeman scored his second at 6:19 after stickhandling through traffic in the high slot, and Johnny Lee connected with 2:31 remaining.
A late-game misconduct for unsportsmanlike conduct pushed Bergeman over the 50 penalty minute plateau, rendering him ineligible for Friday’s (Jan. 10) game against Perkiomen Valley, also at Center Ice.
Kikut saved 27 of 29 shots faced to improve to 6-3-2, while Temoyan registered 23 saves in defeat.
In other Monday action:
Appoquinimink 6 (ENG), Great Valley-Phoenixville 2
Defenceman Paul Army led the Appoquinimink charge with a hat trick and an assist as the Jaguars (9-0-2) defeated Great Valley-Phoenixville, 6-2, at the Patriot Ice Center in Newark, Del.
Down 4-2 with 2-1/2 minutes to go, Great Valley-Phoenixville elected to pull goalie Aiden Rogacki in favour of a sixth attacker. During that time, the Jaguars proved able to pad their lead further thanks to a pair of empty-net tallies from leading scorer Jonny Schwarz.
Vincent Paloni was victorious in net for Appoquinimink with 27 saves.
The Liberty Division-leading Jaguars, who have yet to suffer a regulation loss this season, travel to the Havertown (Pa.) Skatium to face Harriton on Thursday (Jan. 9); video and radio coverage from Delaware Hockey Night will commence at 7:50 p.m.
Downingtown West 4, Avon Grove 3 (OT)
Avon Grove (3-6-2) squandered a 2-0 second intermission lead and ultimately fell in overtime to Downingtown West, 4-3, at the Patriot ice Center.
J.T. McDonald provided both early goals for the Devils, one in the first period and another in the second, both off Nate Crossan assists. The Whippets tied the game early in the third period, with both Zakari Spero and Thomas Fetterman finding the back of the Avon Grove net. With 9:02 remaining in regulation, Nolan Zotter notched a short-handed goal to put the Devils up 3-2, but a short-handed tally from West’s Anthony Florkowski with 4:20 remaining forced overtime.
Spero connected on the only shot of the three-on-three extra frame, beating Avon Grove goalie J.D. D’Ambrosio at 1:03 to secure victory for West.
D’Ambrosio saved 17 of 21 shots faced in defeat for Avon Grove, while Anthony Cuba recorded 25 saves in victory for the Whippets.
The Devils host Downingtown East on Monday (Jan. 13) at the Patriot Ice Center; coverage on DHN Radio begins at 8:15 p.m.
West Chester Bayard Rustin 5, DMA 4
Strong early play from the Delaware Military Academy Seahawks was negated by four unanswered West Chester Bayard Rustin goals in the final 25 minutes of their penalty-laden Monday meeting, which saw the Knights prevail, 5-4, despite only registering 19 shots on goal.
Aaron Catron and Aidan Danese both doubled up for the Seahawks, with Danese’s second tally putting them up 4-1 with 3:27 elapsed in the second period. From there, the Knights dominated, reeling off four unanswered goals — two from Justin Owens and one each from Domenic Romeo and Justin Rhein — before a melee marred the game’s conclusion. DMA’s Braedon Dougherty and Rustin’s Robert Alex Crook were issued matching major penalties and game misconducts for their roles in the altercation, while Andrew Henry and Danese received roughing minors.
Gavin Bobst earned the win in net for Rustin with 28 saves on 32 shots, while Thomas Marzulli managed 14 saves in defeat.
