HATFIELD- A goalie can only do so much. 

This was the story of the game, as North Penn (1-1) fell to Central Bucks East (2-0) by a margin of 6-1 on their home ice Wednesday night. After a strong first period  and a 30 save performance by senior goaltender Jon Boyles, the Knights could not get anything going offensively or defensively. 

The Patriots opened the game by scoring 2 goals in under a minute. After this opening onslaught of shots, it was all North Penn. After staying in the offensive zone and keeping pressure on the Patriots, sophomore Nolan O’Toole finally got the breakthrough for North Penn, making it 2-1. The offense kept putting pressure on, but could not find the equalizer. 

The penalty kill seemed to be an issue in the second period. On 3 PK opportunities, CB East netted 2 goals, extending their lead to 4-1. The Knights could not keep up with East’s offense, as Jon Boyles was the only person keeping the scoreline from being much worse. North Penn’s offense also struggled, as the opposing defense seemed to have their number. 

“We’re still working on that one. We still need to figure out where to be, how to come together as a team, and be able to kill these penalties effectively,” senior captain Jeromy Porubski stated. 

After another 2 goals in the third period the game was out of reach. It was more of the same from the second period, just simply getting outplayed. Despite the final score, Boyles was easily the man of the match, with 30 saves on 36 shots and some breathtaking saves. 

“We’re missing a couple of our top guys, some of our lines are shifted around. But that is no excuse. They are a good hockey team,” head coach Kevin Vaitis remarked. “Boyles had an outstanding night in net, and kept the scoreline at 6 when it could’ve been a lot worse.”

After the loss, North Penn looks to bounce back against Pennsbury next Thursday, January 28th at 7:10pm.