WARWICK—The Independence Hockey League playoffs got off to a scintillating start on Monday.
Ben Pulley’s goal with 10:14 left in the third period gave Chestnut Hill Academy a 2-1 win over Pennington School in a play-in game at The Rink at Warwick.
The Blue Devils will move on to face top-seeded Germantown Academy Wednesday afternoon at 3:30 in a semifinal game at Wissahickon Skating Club, just a slapshot away from the Chestnut Hill Academy campus.
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Monday’s contest featured the two lowest seeds in the IHL’s five-team playoff bracket, but no one in the small crowd that was on hand probably realized it. The players on both sides were in top form from the start, particularly the two goaltenders.
The Blue Devils fired 18 shots at Tom Littwin in the Raiders’ net, who turned aside every one of them.
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At the other end Crosby Harris saw just two shots, but the first of them produced the only goal of the opening stanza.
Jon Pionati won a battle for a loose puck in the neutral zone to the CHA side of the red line. The puck deflected off the hand of a Blue Devil but Pionati controlled it and went in alone on Harris to give his team a 1-0 lead at the 9:57 mark.
The Blue Devils answered back at the 9:18 mark of the second period when Zack Baron beat Littwin low on the stick (right) side.
Less than two minutes later, however, Baron found himself serving a long sentence in the penalty box after drawing a two-minute minor for checking from behind and the automatic 10-minute misconduct penalty that went with nut.
Chestnut Hill coach Phil Pulley was forced to do some line juggling as a result.
“We were juggling lines all the way through to try some different things,” he said. “The shot differential was something like 25-7 at one point. We threw everything we could at them, we battled.”
Ben Pulley’s game-winning goal came off a play that originated on the right wing. He got position in front of the net and let the puck go, beating Littwin on the blocker side.
“I saw a lane and [worked around] one guy,” the younger Pulley said. “I saw a hole in the net and just shot it.”
There was still a lot of time left after Pulley’s goal, and Harris, who had denied Bad Widenmeyer on a one-timer in the second period, came up big down the stretch, making a glove save on Dan Speeney with 1:44 left.
Harris finished with 19 saves.
“He’s really helped our team this year,” the younger Pulley said. “He steps up big in huge games for us. He’s a huge contributor. The team jumps on his back.”
Leah Wrazidlo refereed the first few minutes of the opening period alone until Rick Gallagher joined her. It is doubtful that Wrazidlo was fazed by the situation; she worked the women’s tournament at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Chestnut Hill Academy 0 1 1—2
Pennington 1 0 0—1
First-period goal: Jon Pionati (P) unassisted, 9:57.
Second-period goal: Zack Baron (CHA) from Ben Pulley, 9:18.
Third-period goal: Pulley (CHA) from Carl Delacato, 4:46.
Shots: Chestnut Hill Academy 36, Pennington 20. Saves: Crosby Harris (CHA) 19, Tom Littwin (P) 34.
