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York Dispatch Staff Report

By RYAN VANDERSLOOT 854-1575 x455 / @YAIAAscores

Dallastown’s Grant Duvall, right, tries to block a shot by Central York’s Lucas Marchesani during Wednesday’s Central Penn Interscholastic Hockey League Tier 1 duel at York City Ice Arena. The Wildcats earned a 5-3 win over the Panthers. Nick Werner iced the victory with a power-play goal. (Bil Bowden photo)

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There were a few tense moments in the third-period on Wednesday night for Dallastown.

The Wildcats were taking on rival Central York in an early-season Central Penn Interscholastic Hockey League Tier 1 clash at York City Ice Arena.

The Panthers did their best to make things uncomfortable against their York County rivals over the final seconds, but Dallastown’s Nick Werner soothed things over with a big goal.

Central cut into the Wildcats’ 4-2 lead with a power-play goal with 2:39 left, but Werner’s power-play tally with 47 seconds left iced a 5-3 victory for the Wildcats.

“I was worried,” Dallastown coach Jed Winemiller said.

Winemiller’s worry was certainly justified, especially after his team was tagged with back-to-back penalties that gave the Panthers a two-man advantage. The Wildcats managed to kill off the first penalty, but just as their man from the penalty box hit the ice, Central’s Dylan Zavetsky beat goalie Wyatt Malone to cut the deficit in half.

West York s Tyler Gettel, right, moves past a Cedar Crest defender to score a goal in Wednesday night s Tier 2 game. The Bulldogs suffered a 12-6 loss. (Bil Bowden photo)

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“That was a lot of time on the penalty kill,” Winemiller said. “They had already scored two power-play goals against us, so I was definitely worried.”

Dallastown was still down a man after that goal, but got a little relief when a Central player was called for interference with 2:15 remaining. That call evened things up for a little under a minute, but gave the Wildcats a big break.

“That penalty really saved us,” Dallastown captain Grant Duvall said. “I don’t know how much longer we could have kept up with the penalty kill.”

Werner’s goal came on a breakaway after the Wildcats cleared the puck out of their zone. The Dallastown forward corralled the puck along the board and beat a Central defender on his way to the net before chipping the puck past Panther goalie Bryan Briggs.

“That was huge,” said Duvall, who played despite suffering from a cold.

The victory was a huge morale boost for a Dallastown side that has seen their York rivals ascend to prominence atop the CPIHL Tier 1 standings the past few years.

“It was pretty big for us,” said Duvall, who finished with two assists. “They’ve been pretty good the past few years and they’re still pretty good this year. They have a lot of lines of forwards that can really skate and handle the puck.”

Malone was solid in the net for Dallastown, recording 28 saves.

“He was really one of the main reasons that we won,” Duvall said.

Dallastown rallied from a 1-0 deficit by getting three goals in a three-plus minute stretch late in the first-period. Ben Kelkis, Joe Didusch and Jacob Mitchell found the net over the spurt to give the Wildcats and their fans something to cheer about.

“That was the game right there,” said Winemiller, a former Wildcat player and first-year head coach. “If we didn’t get that there was no way we would have won.”

Kelkis added a second goal in the second period, while both Didusch and Mitchell also recorded assists.

Central got power-play goals from Collin Potter and Adam Linker. The Panthers managed to score once in all three periods. Briggs finished the night with 16 saves.

Dallastown improved to 1-0-1 on the season, while Central fell to 1-1.

– Reach Ryan Vandersloot at sports@yorkdispatch.com.

By RYAN VANDERSLOOT For The York Dispatch

There were a number of reasons why the Central York ice hockey team finished on top of the Central Penn Interscholastic Hockey League Tier 1 regular-season standings this season.

Playing smart hockey was probably the biggest of them.

Monday night in the losers’ bracket finals of the Bears’ Cup playoffs, the Panthers failed to play smart when it counted after taking a 3-1 lead late in the second period at the York City Ice Rink.

The Panthers allowed their emotions to get the best of them and, as a result, saw their hopes of defending their 2011 Bears’ Cup victory disappear against visiting Cumberland Valley.

A scrum in front of the net resulted in a five-minute major penalty called against the Panthers for a punch thrown by a Central player. To make matters worse, another penalty just a minute later resulted in the Panthers playing two men down for a full two minutes.

The Eagles saw a golden opportunity and took full advantage. In the opening minutes of the third period, CV cashed in by scoring three power-play goals to retake the lead. The visitors then iced things off with 46.5 seconds left when Collin Bradley completed a hat trick with an empty-net tally, giving the Eagles a 5-3 victory.

“They took advantage of our dumb plays,” Central’s Kenny Gross said. “They deserved to win more than us. It’s that simple.”

CV took the lead in the first period on Bradley’s first tally of the night — one of four power-play goals for the Eagles.

The Panthers appeared to turn things around with a big second period. Dylan Zavetsky knotted the game with a score with 7:42 left in the second before Central scored a pair of power-play goals by Jared Williamson and Stehl Taylor to make it a 3-1 contest with 1:37 left in the stanza.

But just when it looked like the Panthers were in command, the wheels started to fall off.

Seconds later, Central found itself down a man for five minutes after a Panther player was caught throwing a punch. That infraction resulted in a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct.

Just 60 seconds later, they went down another man when a Central player was penalized for a high stick with just nine seconds left in the period.

That set up an epic third period for the visiting Eagles. John Gandolfo scored just nine seconds into the period to cut the deficit to one. And then 45 seconds after that, CV tied the contest on Bradley’s second power-play goal of the night.

With the five-minute major winding down, the Eagles took the lead when Shane Sellar beat Central goalie Tallen Stroman with just more than 12 minutes left.

“It was our fault,” said Gross, whose team managed just three shots in the final period. “We can’t blame anyone else but ourselves.”

The Panthers had a chance when they earned a power play midway through the third, but failed to capitalize.

Then, with the game winding down, Central pulled Stroman in an all-out effort to find the equalizer, but the Eagles cleared the puck out of the zone and Bradley corralled it and buried it into the empty net.

Drought over for CV coach: The victory set off a wild celebration on the CV side and was particularly satisfying for Head Coach Mike Lombardi. The longtime Eagles coach has never made it to the Bears’ Cup finals at Hersheypark Arena during his tenure and was overjoyed to finally break his drought.

“I’ve been coaching here for 14 years in the league,” he said. “And I’ve been wanting to get to that final Bears’ Cup game so bad. Just to be there makes me so happy.”

The Eagles, who finished fifth in the regular-season standings, will face third-seeded Hershey at 9 p.m. Friday night. Hershey sent CV to the losers’ bracket last week, 4-3.

Flyers’ Cup up next: While the Panthers’ quest to win back-to-back Bears’ Cup titles has now ended, Gross and company will have little time to lament their loss. Central is back on the ice Tuesday night at 8:15 to face Downingtown East at IceLine Arena for the Flyers’ Cup playoffs. The Panthers enter the single-elimination tournament as the No. 10 seed.

“It might be tough (to recover from this), but I think it might be a good thing that we’re playing again tomorrow,” Gross said.

– Reach Ryan Vandersloot at sports@yorkdispatch.com.

York Dispatch Staff Report

The Central York Panthers are still alive in their attempt to defend their Bears Cup championship.

The Panthers downed Wilson 4-3 on Wednesday night at the York City Ice Arena in a Central Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League Tier 1 losers’ bracket playoff battle.

Top-seeded Central will now wait for the result of Friday’s winners’ bracket game between third-seeded Hershey and fifth-seeded Cumberland Valley. The Panthers will face the loser of that game on either Sunday or Monday.

On Wednesday, the Panthers dominated the action, outshooting fourth-seeded Wilson, 40-23, but could never put away Wilson.

Kenny Gross had two goals and an assist to lead the winners, while Nathaniel Troupe added a goal and an assist and Jared Williamson had two assists. Dylan Zavetsky had Central’s other score. Tallen Stroman made 20 saves to get the win in goal.

York Dispatch Staff Report

West York suffered its first Central Penn Interscholastic Hockey League Tier 2 loss of the season on Monday night.

The Bulldogs fell to Annville-Cleona, 3-2, at Klick-Lewis Arena.

Alex Doyle scored both goals for West York, off assists from Klayton Garman. Jordan Lombardo made 15 saves in a losing cause.

West York had already clinched the CPIHL Tier 2 title. The Bulldogs finished regular-season Tier 2 action at 17-1-0. Annville-Cleona improved to 11-6-1.

OTHER ICE HOCKEY

YORK SUBURBAN/YORK IRISH 4, KENNARD-DALE/ SUSQUEHANNOCK 2: In a CPIHL Tier 3 game at York City Ice Arena, Connor McCormick had two goals and an assist to lead Suburban/Irish. Evan Maher and Alex Smith also scored for the winners. Smith also had an assist. Grahame Slonaker and Kiah Wood scored for K-D/Susquehannock. Nathan Gladfelter got the win in goal, making 33 saves. Alex Prego had 42 saves in a losing effort. Suburban/Irish improved to 10-7-1, while K-D/Susquehannock fell to 7-10-1.

MIFFLIN 5, CENTRAL YORK 1: In a non-league contest, Central York, the CPIHL Tier 1 champions at 16-0-2, couldn’t get the best of Mifflin. No other details were available.

York Dispatch Staff Report

Central York completed its Central Penn Interscholastic Hockey League Tier 1 regular season unbeaten on Wednesday night.

The champion Panthers downed York County rival Dallastown, 4-2, at the York City Ice Arena to finish the regular season at 16-0-2.

Collin Potter, Nathaniel Troupe, Adam Linker and Kenny Gross had Central’s goals. Troupe also had an assist.

Joseph Didusch and Jacob Mitchell scored for Dallastown.

Tallen Stroman got the win in goal, making 12 saves. Wyatt Malone had 20 saves for Dallastown.

Dallastown fell to 4-9-4.

OTHER ICE HOCKEY

WEST YORK 12, RED LAND 8: The Bulldogs improved to 17-0-0 in CPIHL Tier 2 action.

West York has already clinched the Tier 2 regular-season title.

Klayton Garman led the Bulldogs with five goals and five assists, while Matt Doyle added three goals and four assists and Alex Doyle had two goals and two assists. Tyler Gettel added three assists for the winners. Kim Holbert and Bradley Randt also had West York goals.

Jordan Lombardo make 22 saves to get the win.

York Dispatch Staff Report

West York improved to 16-0-0 in Central Penn Interscholastic Hockey League Tier 2 action on Monday night with a 7-4 victory over Palmyra at the York City Ice Rink.

The Bulldogs have already clinched the Tier 2 regular-season title.

Klayton Garman (three goals, one assist), Alex Doyle (two goals, one assist) and Matt Doyle (three assists) led West York. Zach Smith and Darren Lint had the Bulldogs’ other scores.

Jordan Lombardo made 19 saves to get the win in goal.

Palmyra fell to 0-16-1.

OTHER ICE HOCKEY

YORK SUBURBAN/YORK IRISH 8, CONESTOGA VALLEY/LANCASTER CATHOLIC 0: At York, Connor McCormick (four goals, three assists) and Alex Smith (two goals, four assists) powered Suburban/Irish to the CPIHL Tier 3 win.

Alex Murter (one goal, one assist), Stephen Leonardi (one assist) and Evan Maher (one goal) also had points for the winners. Nathan Glatfelter got the shutout in goal, making 23 saves.

Suburban/Irish improved to 9-7-1, while CV/Lancaster Catholic fell to 0-17-0.

York Dispatch Staff Report

Central York got four goals from four different players to earn a 4-2 victory over Wilson on Monday night at the Body Zone Center in Wyomissing.

The victory helped the Panthers improve to 14-0-2 in Central Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League Tier 1 action. Wilson fell to 6-6-1.

Steven Gross, Stehl Taylor, Kenny Gross and Nathaniel Troupe scored Central’s goals. Kenny Gross also added two assists, while Troupe and Taylor collected one assist apiece.

Stuart Perry got the win in goal, making 16 saves.

Central outshot Wilson, 37-18.

The first-place Panthers have one of their biggest matches of the season coming up at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday against second-place Hempfield (10-2-2) at the York City Ice Arena. With a win, Central will clinch the outright Tier 1 regular-season title.

OTHER ICE HOCKEY

WEST YORK 11, LAMPE TER-STRASBURG 4: At Lancaster Ice Rink, West York improved to 14-0-0 in CPIHL Tier 2 action.

Lampeter-Strasburg fell to 3-10-2. No other details were available.

YORK SUBURBAN/YORK IRISH 8, SUSQUEHANNA TWP./BISHOP McDEVITT 3: At Twin Ponds East, Suburban/Irish moved over .500, improving to 8-7-1 in CPIHL Tier 3 play.

Susquehanna/McDevitt fell to 6-8-1. No other details were available.

MIDDLETOWN/CENTRAL DAUPHIN EAST 7, KEN NARD-DALE/ SUSQUEHANNOCK 2: At York City Ice Rink, K-D/Susquehannock fell to 7-9-1 in CPIHL Tier 3 competition.

Middletown/C.D. East moved to 10-6-0.

Nate Slonnecker and Adam Myers scored for the York County team, while Jeremy Beckley and Kiah Wood had assists. Alex Prego made 35 saves in the loss.

York Dispatch Staff Report

Alex Smith had a hand in every York Suburban/York Irish goal help his team to a 9-7 victory over Middletown/Central Dauphin East on Sunday night at the York City Ice Arena.

Smith had five goals and four assists in the Central Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League Tier 3 contest.

Connor McCormick had three goals and three assists for the winners, who improved to 7-7-1. Suburban/Irish rallied from a 3-0 hole to earn the victory. Middletown/C.D. East fell to 8-6-0.

Nathan Glatfelter made 33 saves to get the win in goal.