W.C. East 5 Avon Grove 2

Hockey History, Hockey News, Inter County Scholastic Hockey League, Scholastic Hockey News 2 Minutes

West Chester East is playing some of the best hockey in the area and the timing couldn’t be better. The Vikings scored three times in the third period Wednesday afternoon en route to a 5-2 Ches-Mont League win over Avon Grove at Ice Line.

With just 12 days remaining until the start of the ICSHL playoffs and just 11 until the field for the Flyers Cup tournament is announced, the Vikings have won three straight games and five of their last six to conclude their league schedule. With one crossover game remaining (against Springfield-Delco on February 21) East now stands at 9-8 overall and 5-7 in the Ches-Mont and is listed fifth in the Class A Flyers Cup rankings that were released on Monday.

Avon Grove, which had won three of its last four prior to Wednesday and is hoping to earn a place in the Class AA Flyers Cup, dropped to 8-9-1 overall and 5-6-1 in the Ches-Mont.

Tyler Stutzman opened the scoring for the Vikings 2:23 into the first period. Evan Finnicum responded for the Devils with a power-play goal at 12:19.               

Jackson Zwirzina’s goal with 1:45 left in the middle period gave the Vikings the lead for good. James                Hayes extended that lead 2:48 into the final period.

Mason Hitt’s power-play goal a minute later made it a one-goal game once more but first Finn and then Hayes added additional goals to solidify the Vikings’ grip.

West Chester East coach Eric Wolf said the Vikings, who have won three Flyers Cup titles in the past four years, has been playing with a sense of urgency of late.

“I think it’s a combination of things,” he said. “I was really stressing to the guys back in December ‘Hey, look at your record. You’re trending toward not getting in the Flyers Cup right now.

“That’s where we were trending. We had one win in the Ches-Mont at the turn of the calendar. That’s not satisfactory for our program. “We’re still very strong team and we were not playing up to our capabilities.”

The Devils were missing four regulars from their lineup.

“We were shorthanded,” said Avon Grove coach Sean Cannon, ‘But I liked our work effort and our energy.”

Avon Grove 1 0 1—2

West Chester East 1 1 3—5

First-period goals: Tyler Stutzman (WCE) from Konrad Finnin, 2:23; Evan Finnicum (AG) from Parker Thompson, 12:43 (pp)

Second-period goals: Jackson Zwirzina (WCE) from Noah Rosenthal, 15:15

Third-period goals: James Hayes (WCE) unassisted, 2:48; Mason Hitt (AG) from Finnicum, 3:48 (pp); Finn (WCE) unassisted, 4:31; Hayes (WCE) unassisted, 11:19 (sh)

Shots: Avon Grove 26, W.C. East 22; Saves: Jacob Calabretta (AG), 17 Cameron Chandler (WCE) 24

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Published by Rick Woelfel

Rick has worked in print and broadcast journalism for more than 35 years. He's covered golf in one medium or another for more than 30. He is the co-author of the book So You Want to Play Golf with PGA professional Kim Verrecchio and the host of the Women's Golf Report podcast. Most recently, Rick served as an associate editor for The Mulligan Magazine. He also served as an associate editor for Philadelphia Golf Magazine and New Jersey State Golf from 2004-07. Rick covered his first LPGA Tour event in 1986 and continues to cover women's golf for various media outlets. High on his bucket list is having the opportunity to one day play in an LPGA Tour pro am. Rick is also a longtime correspondent for two suburban Philadelphia daily newspapers, the Intelligencer and the Bucks County Courier Times in Doylestown, PA. Over the course of his career he has coverzed a wide variety of sporting events. He is also a veteran play by play and public address announcer, and handles the PA mic for the nationally ranked Delaware Valley University football program. Rick is also a longtime contributor to Referee, a magazine devoted to sports officiating. He called his first baseball game at age 13 and continues to umpire softball and baseball today.

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