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Tuesday, March 15
Class A Semifinals
West Chester East 6 Hershey 1
Springfield-Delco 6 Palmyra 1
Girls First Round
Unionville 3 Kingsway 0
5 Pennridge Conestoga 3
Wednesday, March 16
Class AAA Semifinals
St. Joseph’s Prep 2, La Salle 0
Malvern Prep 6 Holy Ghost Prep 2
Class AA Semifinals
Pennridge 8 vs Avon Grove 1
Council Rick South 4 Haverford 1
Thursday, March 17
Girls Quarterfinal
Downingtown West 8 Pennridge 1
NJ/Delaware
Friday, March 18
Salesianum 4 Moorsetown 1
Eastern 10 vs Shawnee 3
On Pennsylvania scholastic hockey’s biggest stage, and with the game in the balance Aidan Boyle came up big. The Pennridge senior delivered two assists and scored the winning goal, all in the third period as Pennridge scored four times in the final stanza to score a 7-5 win over Downingtown East Thursday night in a Flyers Cup Class AA quarterfinal at Hatfield Ice.
The top-seeded Rams (19-0-1) will face Avon Grove in a semifinal game next Wednesday at 8:40 at Hatfield Ice.
The fans that filled the rink Thursday night got their money’s worth. There was little to choose between the Cougars and Rams who went into the tied at 3-3.
Jack Wolf’s third goal of the game gave eighth-seeded Downingtown East a 4-3 lead at the 2:37 mark but goals from Colin Dachowski and Andrew Savona put Pennridge up 5-4 with 6:41 left in regulation. Boyle assisted on both goals.
Parker Nassour tied the game for the Cougars with 5:13 left on a shot from between the circles that Pennridge goaltender Ryan Pico couldn’t handle.
The deciding sequence was set up when the Cougars’ Sean Woods was called for tripping with 3:08 remaining, one of 16 penalties called in the game, all minors. During the subsequent power play, Boyle played the puck to Kevin Pico behind the net who in turn moved to the side of the net and tried to tuck the disk inside the right post before sliding the disk across to Boyle who put it behind Downingtown East goaltender Ian Warter with 1:36 remaining in regulation.
“We know the third period is our best period of hockey that we always play,” Boyle said. “We always come out hot in the third period and we knew we had it. We just had to work hard.”
Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna credited his team for stepping up when Ryan Pico, one of the area’s best goaltenders, was at less than peak form.
“Pico has been our rock for three years,” he said. “He wasn’t on top of his game, we picked him up.
“You watch the NCAA basketball tournament, the team that wins always has one game where they’re on the ropes. The words I like to use are facing their mortality. And they did that, and like they have all year they responded. They do that every game.”
The teams were never separated by more than a goal until Shane Dachowski scored into an empty net in the final minute. But Boyle was confident the Rams would prevail.
“We all knew that we weren’t losing this game,” he said. “We just went out there and said ‘We’re playing next week, we’re not going home tonight.’”
Downingtown East 2 1 2—5
Pennridge 2 1 4—7
First-period goals: Jacob McCallion (DE) from Matthew Sano and Carter Vela, 2:01; Kevin Pico (P) from Tyler Manto, 3:36; Jack Wolf (DE) from Vela and Aaron Harclerode, 7:38; Shane Dachowski (P) from Jack Lowery, 14:06 (pp)
Second-period goals: Aeryk Lehrhaupt (P) from Lowery and Colin Dachowski, 4:55; Wolf (DE) unassisted, 6:16 (sh)
Third-period goals: Wolf (DE) from Parker Nassour and Sean Woods, 2:37; Colin Dachowski (P) from Aidan Boyle, 6:17; Andrew Savona (P) from Boyle, 10:19; Nassour (DE) from Wolf and Brody Matthews, 11:47; Boyle (P) from Pico, 15:34 (pp); Shane Dachowski (P) from Lehrhaupt, 16:05 (en)
Shots: Downingtown East 32, Pennridge 46; Saves: Ian Warter (DE) 39, Ryan Pico (Pr) 27
Liam Mooney and Michael Ahearn each scored two goals as St, Joseph’s Prep downed Cardinal O’Hara 6-1 Thursday night in a Class AAA Flyers Cup first-round game at the PNY rink.
The third-seeded Hawks will face second-seeded La Salle in a semifinal game ay 6:00 next Wednesday at Hatfield Ice.
Mooney and Luca Palachick scored goals 2 minutes, 3 seconds apart to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead with 7:02 left in the opening period. Hammond added a goal 3:37 into the second session.
Luke Melito’s power-play goal got the sixth-seeded Lions on the board at the 9:16 mark but Mooney (on a power play) and Ahearn scored for the Hawks before the period ended.
Ahearn added his second goal 4:04 into the third period.
Rocco Bruno and Ajay White split the game in goal for the Hawks.
Cardinal O’Hara 0 1 0—1
St. Joseph’s Prep 2 3 1—6
First-period goals: Liam Mooney (SJP) from Jeffrey Hammond, 7:55; Luca Palachick (SJP) from Cathal Dowd and Michael Ahearn, 9:58
Second-period goals: Hammond (SJP) from Joey Samango and Christian Short, 3:37; Luke Melito (COH) from Nate Fox, 9:16 (pp); Mooney (SJP) from Short, 10:32 (pp) Ahearn (SJP) from Palachick and Short, 15:59
Third-period goal: Ahearn (SJP) from Dowd and Palachick, 12:56
Shots: Cardinal O’Hara 10, St. Joseph’s Prep 46 Saves: Christian Green (COH) 39, Rocco Bruno (SJP) 3 and Ajay White (SJP) 6
HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—Teams often look at a postseason tournament as an opportunity for a fresh start. Holy Ghost Prep embraced that mindset Thursday night. The Firebirds scored three times in a three-minute span in the first period and went on to a 7-2 win over Father Judge in Class AAA Flyers Cup first-round game at Hatfield Ice.
The fourth-seeded Firebirds (11-11) will face top-seeded and defending champion Malvern Prep in a semifinal game at 6:45 next Wednesday at Ice Line.
The Firebirds’ eruption began 6:38 into the first frame when Shaun Moore scored off a scramble in front of the Crusader net. Michael Holt made it a 2-0 game at the 9:13 mark and John Seravalli followed right behind him at 9:37, the Firebirds’ third goal in a span of 2:59.
Senior Dominick Lombardo assisted Seravalli’s goal. “Going in, we knew we were coming off a couple hard losses,” he said. “We had a good win (In the APAC playoffs) against Hun and then we ended up taking a hard loss against (Malvern Prep).
“Going into this game, we just came in all as a team. We knew we could beat Judge, we beat them before (9-2 during the regular season).”
Lombardo noted the importance of the Firebirds’ fast start.
“For me, I knew it (could be) my last game,” he said. “If we lost, I would have been done. “So, I’m playing for me, I’m playing for the seniors, I’m playing for the kids that are hurt. Everything we do is for all the seniors.”
The fifth-seeded Crusaders made it a one-goal game for time in the second period when Anthony Casper and Matthew Moser scored goals 15 seconds apart to make it a 3-2 game with 6:21 still to go in the period. But Logan Barnes, Brendan Schultz, and Kieran Mulholland scored in a span of 3:37 to send Holy Ghost Prep into the third period with a four-goal advantage.
Moore scored the only goal of the third period.
It was the sort of performance Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside had been waiting for a while.
“I knew we had it in us,” he said. “I really liked our start. Those three goals in the first period really helped us get our game in gear.
“I thought we let up a little bit. But I liked the way we responded.”
Father Judge 0 2 0—2
Holy Ghost Prep 3 3 1—7
First-period goals: Shaun Moore (HGP) from Landon Stout, 6:38; Michael Holt (HGP) from John Seavalli, 9:13; Seravalli (HGP) from Sean Marshall and Dominic Lombardo, 9:37
Second-period goals: Anthony Casper (FJ) from Michael Fontaine and Matthew Moser, 10:24; Moser (FJ) unassisted, 10:39; Logan Barnes (HGP) from Ryan Lippy, 11:25; Brendan Schutzenhofer (HGP) from Marshall, 13:02; Kieran Mulholland (HGP) from Zach Pers, 15:02
Third-period goal: Shaun Moore (HGP) from Mulholland and Pers, 14:37
Shots: Father Judge 21, Holy Ghost Prep 46; Saves: Coin McKee (FJ) 39, Jason Soule (HGP) 20
A query from SHSHL President Kenny Haas
Hopefully most of you saw our Varsity Championship trophy during the playoffs. It lists all the past champions since the formation of our league. However, we are missing a few years.
I am asking for a favor that will require some work. Please dig into your Club archives, check past trophies, articles, banquet programs, call past Presidents and coaches. We need to determine the Playoff Champion for the following dates. We will only place a team’s name on the trophy if the championship can be confirmed by a trophy, news article, program, etc.
2006-2007
Varsity A division from 2003-2004 back to 1973-1974 (I don’t think we had a VarA division much before this)
1995-1996 both AA & A
Anyone with information should contact Kenny Haas or contact us here at Hockey Happenings. Thank you for helping us to document the history of the SHSHL.
Class A Quarterfinals
West Chester East 11 Radnor 1
Hershey 3 vs 5 Council Rock North 0
Palmyra 3 West Chester Bayard Rustin 1
Springfield Delco 4 West Chester Henderson 1
Class AAA First Round
4 Holy Ghost Prep 7 Father Judge 2
3 St. Joseph’s Prep 6 Cardinal O’Hara 1
Class AA Quarterfinals
Pennridge 7 Downingtown East 5
Avon Grove 6 Pennsbury 2
Council Rock South 4 Downingtown West 1
Haverford 6 Neshaminy 5
HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—Council Rock South had reason to be a bit frustrated Tuesday night. The Golden Hawks spent two periods firing shots at the Abington net and had nothing to show for it.
Ben Panella made 32 saves and he and his teammates took a 1-0 lead into the post-second period ice cut, on the strength of Griffin Carpenter’s goal in the first period.
But when Chase Tovsky scored for South 3:20 into the third frame it seemingly energized his teammates. The Golden Hawks went on to score five goals in the final period and record a 5-1 win in a Class AA Flyers Cup first-round encounter at Hatfield Ice.
The third-seeded Golden Hawks (14-1-2-1) will see action in Thursday’s quarterfinals against sixth-seeded Downingtown West (site and time TBD). Abington, the 14th seed, closes the season at 15-2.
South’s goals came in a span 9 minutes, 29 seconds. Tovsky’s initial effort was followed by goals from Sam Chekassky, David Vergules, Tovsky again, and Julian Wagenmann.
“I thought we were the better team,” said South coach Joe Houk, “but they played well. They played really well, but they were running out of gas.
“I said ‘All it’s going to take is one goal guys and that’s going to open the floodgates.’”
Vergules said he and his teammates were a bit miffed after Panella stymied them for the game’s first 34 minutes (Panella finished with 50 saves).
“The guys were definitely frustrated,” he said. We knew we were the better team, that we would come out on top. It just took a little more effort and moe guts and grit.”
Carpenter’s goal came 10:47 into the first frame during an Abington power play. But Carson Lopez in the South net was impregnable after that; he finished with 13 saves. He did his best work when he denied Abington;s Matt Cholaj twice from close range midway through the second period.”
Abington coach Ken Brzozowski praised his team’s effort. “They came out (In the third period) and just played at a little bit of a different level we had a hard time matching,” he said. “They got a couple lucky bounces in the defensive end and found the back of the net.”
Even after Tovsky’s first goal, Brzozowski’s felt his team was still in the game. “We still kind of felt okay,” he said. “It was really when I’d say the third one went in, that’s kind of when we felt ‘We’re definitely back on our heels a little bit.”
Abington 1 0 0—1
C.R. South 0 0 5—5
First-period goals: Griffin Carpenter (A) from Joe Stelacio, 10:47 (pp)
Third-period goals: Chase Tovsky (CRS) from Blaise Pepe and Kevin Koles, 3:20; Sam Cherkassky (CRS) from Julian Sarne and Kyle Boss, 4:56; David Vergules (CRS) fron Koles and Matt Constantino, 6:56; Tovsky (CRS) from Daniel Filippov, 11:15; Julian Wagenmann (CRS) from Vergules and Boss, 12:49
Shots: Abington 14, C.R. South 55; Saves: Ben Panella (A) 50, Carson Lopez (CRS) 13
HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—The Pennsbury Falcons typically don’t wait for things to happen. Their up-tempo style on ice is one of the keys to their success; they are capable of putting a string of goals together in a hurry.
That trend continued Tuesday night. The Falcons scored five goals in the second period en route to a 7-3 win over Owen J. Roberts in a Class A first-round Flyers Cup encounter at Hatfield Ice.
Senior defenseman Reece Millman says the Falcons’ fast-paced stole is a good fit. “Hockey is all about momentum,” he said. “If you can score goals and build upon it, then you’re just going to score more goals. So, it’s nice to know that we have the ability to do it. It’s not something that happens out of the blue.
So, when we are down, it’s nice to know. Everybody knows that we can bury goals quickly.”
The 14th-seeded Wildcats (10-10-0-1) took a 2-1 lead in a goal from Brady Callahan 3:32 into the second period but the third-seeded Falcons (12-4-1) responded in a big way. Logan Doyle, Brendan Macainsh, Reece Picker and Andrew Falkenstein scored goals in a span of 4 minutes, 16 seconds to give Pennsbury a 5-2 lead.
Riley Vitullo scored for the Wildcats with 1:46 left in the middle period but Macainsh answered for Pennsbury just 16 seconds later. The teams traded goals in the third period.
“I’m never too worried about our offense,” said Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley. “Which is nice right? You’re not too worried about half of your game.
“I’m always a little worried about our defense, but I’m veery happy with out offensive ability.”
Whatever concerns Daley might have had about his team’s play inside its own blue line were alleviated by the work of Aaron McDaniel in goal. The sophomore has done some of his best late in the season. On Tuesday night he stopped 17 of the 20 shots he saw.
“This is his first year starting,” Daley said. “He got to be the backup last year (on a SHSHL championship team). I think he learned a lot from our senior goaltender last year; how to put together a playoff run. This second half of the season, he’s been stellar.”
Pennsbury will face fifth-seeded Avon Grove in a Thursday quarterfinal. The site and time of that game will be announced on Wednesday.
O.J. Roberts 1 2 0—3
Pennsbury 1 5 1—7
First-period goals: Shane Siegmund (P) from Reece Millman, 14:29; Sean Kavanagh (OJR) from Charlie Davis and Ethan Bochanski, 16:18
Second-period goals: Brady Callahan (OJR) from Davis and Andrew Watson, 3:32; Logan Doyle (pp) from Siegmund and Brendan Macainsh, 8:14; Macainsh (P) from Doyle and Justin Marlin, 10:53; Reece Picker (P) from Macainsh, 11:59; Andrew Falkenstein (P) from Millman,14:59; Riley Vitullo (OJR) unassisted, 15:14; Macainsh (P) from Evan Eissler and Millman, 15:30;
Third-period goals: Millman (P) from Eissler, 4:25
Shots: O.J. Roberts 20, Pennsbury 40; Saves: Shane Towler (OJR) 33, Aaron McDaniel (P) 17
Class AA First Round
Pennridge 5 Ridley 2
Downingtown East 5 Cumberland Valley 4
Pennsbury 7 Owen J. Roberts 3
Avon Grove 2 Central Bucks East 1
Council Rock South 5 Abington 1
Downingtown West 6 C.B. South 2
Neshaminy 6, Conestoga 5 2OT
Haverford 9 Souderton 0
Results for Monday, March 7
Class A First Round
Radnor 10 Plymouth Whitemarsh 8
Council Rock North 7 Penncrest 3
Palmyra 9 Strath Haven 4
West Chester Henderson 6 Wissahickon 0
Partial Schedule for Thursday, March 10
Thursday, Match 10
Class A Quarterfinals
1 West Chester East vs 9 Radnor 6:45 at Ice Line 1
4 Hershey vs 5 Council Rock North 8:30 at Ice Line 3
3 West Chester Bayard Rustin vs 6 Palmyra 8:45 at PNY
2 Springfield Delco vs 7 West Chester Henderson 6:30 at Ice Line 3
Class AAA First Round
4 Holy Ghost Prep vs 5 Father Judge 6:00 at Hatfield Gray
3 St. Joseph’s Prep vs 6 Cardinal O’Hara 6:45 at PNY
Pennridge vs Downingtown East
Pennsbury vs Avon Grove
Council Rock South vs Downingtown West
Neshaminy vs Haverford
Sites, times to be announced
Council Rock North 7 Penncrest 3
HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—A fast start is advantageous for any hockey team, particularly in the crucible that is the Flyers Cup tournament.
Council Rock North got off to as fast start Monday night and never looked back. The Indians scored three times in the first period and went on to a 7-3 win over Penncrest in a Class A Flyers Cup first-round game at Hatfield Ice.
Eighth-seeded North (10-7) will face fourth-seeded Hershey Thursday at Ice Line in a quarterfinal game. The 12th-seeeded Lions closed at 5-10.
The Indians have been a potent offensive force all season and that didn’t change on Wednesday.
Karson Grainey gave his team a 1-0 lead with 4:08 left in the opening period. Wilton Pasch, the only senior in the North lineup, made it a 2-0 game at the 2:54 mark and Noah Epstein added a power play goal with 2.9 seconds left in the first frame.
North coach Greg McDonald spoke to the importance of the fast start.
“You don’t know who is on the other side,” he pointed out. “If the boys are excited, and they’re jumping, and they get some goals, it kind of lets you settle some things down early.”
Kain Walker scored a power-play goal for Penncrest 7:22 onto the second session but Lucas Siomos answered for the Indians with exactly five minutes left in the period.
There were five goals scored in the third period, among them Pasch’s second of the night. North was never in jeopardy of losing the lead.
Goaltender Ian Goldberg saw to that, making 33 saves. The freshman credited the defense in front of him.
“We moved the puck good out of the one,” he said, “and covered the net good.”
McDonald was please that his troops maintained their composure to the final horn. “What (the coaching staff) keeps talking about is it’s not about this game,” he said. It’s not about Game One, it’s not about Penncrest. It’s part of the ride and I think when you can bring that concept to the guys on the bench, it doesn’t make it feel like it’s so urgent. It’s not all here and I think it allows them to get a little bit more perspective and get back to just playing hockey.”
Penncrest 0 1 2—3
C.R. North 3 1 3—7
First-period goals: Karson Grainey (CRN) unassisted, 12:52; Wilton Pasch (CRN) from Jackson Mosley, 14:06; Noah Epstein (CRN) from Ryan Keil and Nick Hahn, 16:59 (pp).
Second-period goals: Kain Walker (P) from Tyler Conn and Quentin Baker, 7:22 (pp); Lucas Siomos (CRN) from Hahn, 12:00.
Third-period goals: Van Evans (P) from Walker, 3:10; Pasch (CRN) from Mosley and Grainey (pp), 5:25; Jackson Accardi (CRN) from Jesse Schaff, 6:00; Eddie Morroni (P) from Colin Curran, 15:17; Hahn (CRN) from Mosley and Grainey,16:59.
Shots: Penncrest 36, C.R. North 45; Saved: Fiona Walker (P) 38, Ian Goldberg (CRN) 33
Jeff Mauro has written a book on the history of the Pennsylvania state high school hockey championship. To find out more and order a copy CLICK HERE
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