There has been no let up for the CB East Patriots. East, who grabbed District One’s last states berth last year, still has not lost an SOL National game since the pandemic. They are looking for their third straight 10-0 run in conference.
East’s first loss came in a battle of unbeatens – to Wissahickon and its Penn State-bound star Kyle Lehman – on April 3. But the Patriots rebounded to hand Council Rock North its first conference loss in a 7-6 win last Thursday. Thomas Williams and Luke Christmas both scored twice. The Patriots entered press time 6-2 (4-0 SOL) after Tuesday’s 8-6 loss to Boyertown. East, ranked sixth in the latest 3A power rankings, has lost to the district’s top two teams.
The last team other than East to win the SOL National was CB West, who ran the table in 2019. (The 2020 season was canceled.) The ’23 Bucks are harkening back to the ’19 team. West was 6-2 (2-0 SOL) after Tuesday’s 11-9 win over Souderton. Austin Hahn had a hat trick, Alex Greenspan tallied two goals and four assists, and Will Shandlay saved eight.
West opened its season by topping Great Valley 14-1 and Lower Merion 14-6. Hahn scored five goals and his 100th career point in the Great Valley rout while Greenspan had three goals. Hahn, Greenspan and Matt Jacobsen, who is a weapon for West as the faceoff specialist, also needed their hat sizes after the Lower Merion game. Senior Hahn (New Jersey Institute of Technology) and junior Jacobsen (Richmond) are Division I signees or commits.
West hosts East on April 20 in a pivotal game.
Pennridge (6-1, 3-0 SOL) carried a two-game win streak into spring break. The Rams snapped back after their first loss, against Owen J. Roberts, to beat Hatboro-Horsham 13-11 on April 3 and then topped Council Rock South 17-8 two days later. Matt Kriney’s four goals paced Pennridge against the Golden Hawks; Ben Souder’s winning 18 of 25 faceoffs set the tone in the victory over the Hatters as Pennridge overcame a 6-2 deficit.
Much of Pennridge’s success comes from a fruitfulness of Fanellis. Frank and Rocco Fanelli have teamed for 16 goals in the Rams’ last three wins. Drew Ferguson and Matt Seiler also have hat tricks for the Rams this season; while it was Ryan Carickhoff’s four-goal performance that paced Pennridge’s opening-day win over rival Quakertown.
After two straight uncharacteristic sub .500 seasons, the Rams look ready to return to the top half of the SOL National. Pennridge was back in action in Wednesday’s late game at Holy Ghost Prep.
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