Wissahickon Middle School Ice Hockey Team Wins the A-Division Championship In Overtime

The puck was dropped at 6 p.m. at the Grundy Arena in Bristol on Monday night, March 5, for the Suburban High School Hockey League (S.H.S.H.L.) Middle School A-Division Championship game. Wissahickon Middle School and Neshaminy were facing off for the championship. The first period went scoreless as Wissahickon’s goalie Jackson Sternberg turned aside shot after shot from Neshaminy’s offense. Sternberg was assisted by strong defensive play by Kyle Wolf, Eddie Burkart, Andrew Cade, Kevin Schaeffer and Nolan Piatkowski.

In the second period, Sternberg continued to play outstanding in the net shutting out Neshaminy’s high power offense. Wissahickon’s offense took control by putting the first goal on the board. #99 Brandon Rosoff made a great pass to #24 Matt Wilson who blasted a slapshot from the slot to open the scoring for Wissahickon.  Wissahickon’s offense continued to move the puck up the ice with contributions from Ryen Haney, Greg McLaughlin, Christian Rudolph, Jake Flancer, Matthew Cade, Kalle Kuffner, Bryce Miles, Nicholas Valentine and Christian Sweeney.

With 6:24 left in the 3^rd period, Neshaminy scored to tie up the game 1 – 1. The remainder of the third period remained scoreless and the buzzer sounded. It was the end of regulation with a tie of 1-1 still up on the boards. There were a number of successful penalty kills on both sides with blocked shots and tough play in front of the net. This hard-played game between two skilled teams sent the game into overtime.

As overtime begins, all four Wissahickon captains, Rosoff, Wolf, Burkart and Cade, led their team by carrying the puck up the ice to create scoring opportunities. At 4:04 into overtime #44 (Kyle Wolf) scored the championship winning goal. The Wissahickon Middle School team became the Champions of the S.H.S.H.L. Middle School A-Division. Wissahickon goalie Jackson Sternberg turned away 12 shots on goal, one on a spectacular save from point blank range. The four eighth grade captains (Wolf, Rosoff, Burkart and Cade) have led this middle school team to the championship game for the past three seasons. In their final middle school game, along with fellow eighth graders Haney, Rudolph and Valentine, they bring home the hardware. 

Wissahickon Middle School A Division team ends their season with 13 wins – 4 losses – 1 tie and now a Championship title. The team and coaching staff of Mike Wolf, Rich Cade and Mark Schaeffer, along with president of the hockey club Dave Wilson, will present the trophy to Wissahickon Middle School for display.