WEST GOSHEN—For two seasons now, Seneca Valley has set the standard when it comes to Class AAA scholastic hockey. On Saturday evening, the Raiders demonstrated why.
The defending state champions scored four straight goals in the third period and pulled away from Holy Ghost Prep to post a 7-2 win at Ice Line to claim their second consecutive Pennsylvania Cup title.
The result was identical to last year’s Class AAA state final that featured the same two teams but rematch was much more competitive until the third period when Seneca Valley (23-0-1) found another gear.
“They’re a phenomenal team,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach John Ritchie. “I think they have {12} seniors. Nothing that happened during the game wasn’t something that we didn’t expect.
“I thought our game plan was pretty spot on. I thought we played a pretty good game for two periods.”
Cooper Hoehn gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead at the midway point of the first period when he scored from close range from directly in front of the Firebirds’ net after collecting a backhand pass from Carson Lindberg, who was stationed behind the goal.
Mason Thomas answered with a power-play goal for Holy Ghost Prep (20-5) when he put in a rebound of Jack Gavaghan’s shot from the low slot with 3:36 left in the period. The goal came while the Firebirds were holding a two-man advantage.
Seneca Valley extended its lead in the second period when Braden Morin and Hoehn scored goals no quite four minutes apart.
The Firebirds trailed 3-1 going into the third period, but the door was still open. The Raiders promptly slammed it shut. John Sroka III, Hoehn, and Morin all scored in a span of 4:08 to make it a 6-1 game 7:41 into the period. Hoehn’ goal was his third of the evening.
Morin completed a hat trick of his own at the 11:24 mark from the deep right wing before Chase Logue added the Firebirds’ second goal on a power-play effort with 90 seconds remaining.
Ritchie noted his players have everything they had against an elite opponent.
“I don’t think last year maybe I had our group as prepared as we should have been,” he said. “I thought our game plan this year was spot on.
‘I said to our coaches ‘I don’t know how we play a better game but yield the same result.’ It just goes to show you how good that team is.”
Ritchie, who played for Holy Ghost himself for Gump Whiteside, has now completed three seasons as his alma mater’s head coach.
“The legacy of Holy Ghost is the most important thing to me,” he said. “And it’s that every group that graduates leaves that jersey in a bit of a better spot every time. And, if you start stacking those types of years you’ve got a standard that’s set and an expectation that’s set.
“From where we were three years ago with 11 wins, to have 41 wins in two years, you can’t ask for more from a group. And, it’s because of the core guys that we have.”
• In Saturday’s other two state championship games, Quaker Valley defeated Hershey 6-2 for the Class A title while Penn-Trafford was victorious over North Penn 3-1 in the Class AA final.
Seneca. Valley 1 2 4—7
Holy Ghost Prep 1 0 1—2
First-period goals: Cooper Hoehn (SV) from Carson Lindberg and Jason Gilbert, 8:30; Mason Thomas (HGP) from Jack Gavaghan 12:24 (pp)
Second-period goals: Braden Morin (SV) unassisted, 1:19; Hohen (SV) from Morin and Ethan Rife, 5:13
Third-period goals: John Sroka III (SV) from Hoehn, 3:33 (pp); Hoehn (SV) from Lindberg and Gilbert, 4:46; Morin (SV) from Sroka III, 7:41 (sh); Morin (SV) from Hoehn and Layton Moreau, 11:24; Chase Logue (HGP) from Nate Romer and Ryan Carey, 15:30 (pp)
Shots: Seneca Valley 32, Holy Ghost Prep 29; Saves: Chris Nichols (SV) 27, Matt Salita (HGP) 25
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