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Monday, March 16
Class A Final
Tuesday, March 17
Class AAA Final
Class AA Final
Thursday, March 19
Girls Final
Special teams matter more than ever come the postseason. Special-team situations worked to North Penn’s advantage Thursday night. The Knights overcame an early 1-0 deficit and scored twice on second-period power plays to separate themselves from Downingtown West en route to a 4-1 win in a Flyers Cup Class AA a semifinal at Hatfield Ice.
The top-seeded Knights (25-1) will attempt to complete a successful title defense Tuesday night against Boyertown, a 4-3 winner over Council Rock South in Thursday’s other semifinal.
From North Penn’s perspective, it was a performance that was more workmanlike than flamboyant.
“{Downingtown West} is a very good hockey team,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “Their goalie (Justin Adams) is outstanding. We knew going in that it was going to be a tough game and it was.
“They got goal early, but we kept playing and kept working.”
The fifth-seeded Whippets (13-9-1) drew first blood when Brady Cusa opened the scoring 5:35 into the opening period. Joey Risa took a shot from the left wing. North Penn goaltender Andrew Norton made the save but lost track of the rebound and Cusa tucked the puck inside the left post.
Nolan Shingle responded for North Penn at the 9:52 mark however to send the teams into the second period on even terms.
The Whippets undermined themselves with penalties in the second frame. Colin Gordon was whistled for interference just 19 seconds into the period. It took Chris Silvotti just 44 additional seconds to respond with a power-play goal. Shingle’s second goal of the night, which came with 5:26 remaining in the period, was also a power-plays effort. James Boyle assisted on the goal to pick up the 100th point of his career.
“We always try to work on the power play,” Shingle said. “When you’re given a chance like that, you kind of have to capitalize, it can be a big momentum swinger.
“This whole season, we kind of have been on the other side of calls a lot, so I feel like every power play we get, we’ve got to make the most of it.”
Declan Leahy added the Knights’ fourth goal, with Boyle’s help, 4:56 into the third period.
Now, it’s on to the finals where the Knights will try to become the first Class AA team in seven years to defend a Cup title. Shingle says the Knights are taking it a step at a time.
“That’s been a big thing this whole season,” Shingle said. “Don’t get too ahead of ourselves and just keep focused. “We’ve got to go into every game with the mentality that this team can beat us if we don’t come to play.”
• Downingtown East in 2019 was the last Class AA team to mount a successful Flyers Cup defense. The Cougars won three straight titles from 2017-’19.
Downingtown West 1 0 0—1
North Penn 1 2 1—4
First-period goals: Brady Cusa (DW) from Joey Risa, 5:35; Nolan Shingle (NP) from Samuel Norton, 9:52
Second-period goals: Chris Silvotti (NP) from Ismael Cabrales, 1:03 (pp) Shingle (NP) from Norton and James Boyle, 11:34 (pp)
Third-period goals: Declan Leahy (NP) from Boyle, 4:56
Shots: Downingtown West 14, North Penn 40; Saves: Justin Adams (DW) 36, Andrew Norton (NP) 13
Thursday, March 12
Coach: John Ritchie
Record: 18-4
Key players: Matt Salita .956 save %; Chase Logue 27 goals, 6 assists, 33 points; Lucas Gonzalez 11-12-23; Anthony Valeriote 7-16-23
In this tournament: Had a bye in the quarterfinals
4. Malvern Prep
Coach: Bill Keenan
Record: 6-11-2
Key players: Ryan Corrado .908 save % Jake Weingartner 7 goals, 13 assists, 20 points, Pax Hoishik 7-10-17; Logan Love 4-3-7
In this tournament: Def. Devon Prep 6-4 in quarterfinals
2. St. Joseph’s Prep vs. 3. La Salle 6:30 at Ice Line
2. St. Joseph’s Prep
Coach: Charlie Van Kula
Record:17-7
Key players: Declan Geary .929 save %; Cole Gargon 16oals, 13 assists, 29 points; Bradan Fisher 11-14-25; Michael Washlick 9-11-20
In this tournament: Def. Salesianum 8-0 in quarterfinals
Coach: Wally Muehlbronner
Record: 7-13
Key players: Anthony Foster .918 save %; Thomas Leonards 13 goals, 2 assists, 15 points; Patrick Lunsford 6-8-14; Andrew Frantz 4-8-12
In this tournament; Def. Father Judge 6-2 in quarterfinals
Ice chips: The four APAC schools in this year’s semifinals have won 14 consecutive Class AAA Flyers Cup titles and 17 of the last 18. All told, La Salle has win 13 Flyers Cups (including one in Class AA), Malvern Prep 10, Holy Ghost Prep 5 (one in Class AA) and St. Joseph’s Prep 1.
Malvern Prep won a record five straight Cups from 2001-05.
Hershey 7 West Chester East 1
The top-seeded Trojans scored four goals in the first period and went on to a 7-1 win over the fourth-seeded Vikings in a Class A Flyers Cup semifinal Tuesday night at Ice Line. Blake Umberger and Callan Peterson scored twice each for Hershey. Bryce Erwin, Cameron Kertulis, and Brady Cox also scored for Hershey, which won this tournament two years ago.
Cole Pariseault scored the only goal for the fourth-seeded Vikings in the third period.
West Chester East 0 0 1—1
Hershey 4 1 2—7
Penncrest 5 Kennett 2
Trailing 1-0 in the first period, the second-seeded Lions reeled off five straight goals to post a Class A semifinal win at Ice Line Tuesday night.
Keane Naugle, Nash Grant, and Benett Sullivan scored goals before the first period ended. Christian Vernacchio and Sebouh Flett added goals in the second.
Luke Ganly and Lucas Mott scored goals for the third-seeded Blue Demons
Kennett 1 0 1—2
Penncrest 3 2 0—5
Here is the schedule for the remainder of the 47th Flyers Cup
Fifteen of the top 16 seeds (four in each classification) have reached the semifinals.
Tuesday March 10
Class A Semifinals
Hershey 7 West Chester East 1
Penncrest 5 Kennett 2
Wednesday, March 11
Girls Semifinals
Avon Grove 9 West Chester East 1
Lower Merion 3 Downingtown West 2
Thursday, March 12
Class AAA Semifinals
Class AA Semifinals
Monday, Match 16
Class A Final 6:30 at Ice Line
Tuesday, March 17
Class AA Final TBD at Hatfield
Class AAA Final TBD at Hatfield
Thursday, March 19
Girls Final 7:00 at PNY
Tuesday, March 3
Class AAA Quarterfinals
La Salle 6 Father Judge 2 see story for details
Malvern Prep 6 Devon Prep 4—Ryan Jacobs scored two goals as the fourth-seeded Frairs bested the fifth-seeded Tide at Ice Line to earn a spot in the semifinals against top-seeded Holy Ghost Prep. James Young, Cole Scarbinsky, Pax Hoishik, and William McCullough all scored for Malvern Prep. Ryan Caterino made 25 saves in goal.
St. Joseph’s Prep 8 Salesianum 0—Cole Gargon scored twice and six other players added one goal each as the second-seeded Hawks shut out the seventh-seeded Sallies at the Skatium. Aiden Quinn, Connor Martin, Frankie Ely, Cole Sullivan, Bradan Fisher, and Vincent Burnett all scored for the Prep, which will face La Salle in next Thursday’s semifinals. Declan Geary earned the shutout in goal.
“I thought we played with incredible speed and that really opened up our offense,” said St. Joseph’s Prep coach Charlie van Kula. We knew Salesianum was going to be a good test. In the past we may have let our foot off the gas a bit, but I am proud of how our guys stayed dialed in, stayed positive, and played for one another.”
Class AA First Round
Owen J, Roberts 7 Avon Grove 5
Central Bucks South 4 Downingtown East 3—Ryan Montagna’s goal with 11:03 left in regulation proved to be the game winner as the sixth-seeded Titans outlasted 11th seed Downingtown East at Hatfield Ice. It was Montagna’s third goal of the game. He also added three assists.
Pennsbury 8 Haverford 5—Jacob Sarver scored three goals an added an assist an Shane Gleisner provided two goals and three assists as the 10th-seeded Falcons bested seventh seed Haverford at the Skatium to advance to the quarterfinals.
Council Rock South 6 Spring-Ford 3—Jake Weiner scored five goals, two of them in the third period, a the third-seeded Golden Hawks held off the 14th-seeded Rams at Hatfield Ice.
Boyertown 12 Souderton 2—Maxwell Ryon and Matthew Ceoss scored for the 15th-seeded Indians in the loss to the second-seeded Bears at Ice Line.
North Penn 9 Shawnee 2—the top-seeded and defending champion Knights scored four goals in the first period and went on to the win over the 16th-seeded Renegades. Samuel Norton, Gabriel Dunn, Nolan Shingle, and Chris Silvotti each scored twice. Derek Lugara also scored for North Penn which will face Owen J. Roberts in the quarterfinals.
C.B. South 4, Downingtown East 3—See story for details
Wednesday March 4
Girls Quarterfinals
4. Conestoga vs 5. West Chester East 5:00 at PNY
2. Downingtown West vs. 7 Pennridge 8:45 at PNY
3. Lower Merion Maroon v. 6 Radnor 6:45 at PNY
Monday, March 2
Class AA First Round
Central Bucks East 6 Conestoga 3—Trailing 3-2 after two periods, the 13th-seeded Patriots scored four goals in the third and stunned the fourth-seeded Pioneers Monday night at Ice Line. Evan Asimmakopoulos scored what proved to be the winning goal with 13:44 left in regulation. Ethan Cenci extended the lead with a power-play goal with 12:18 left and added an empty-net goal with 21 seconds remaining.
Cole Kleindienst, Morris Ostrobrod and Samuel Gottesman also scored for East whih will face North Penn or Shawnee in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
Downingtown West 6 vs. Pennridge 2—Fifth-seed Downingtown West broke the game open Monday night with three second-period goals and built a 5-0 third-period lead before Ryan Burke and Lanndon Bishop scored for the 12th-seeded Rams, who closed the season at 6-12-1.
Class A First Round
Garnet Valley 2 Palmyra 1
West Chester Henderson 6 Plymouth Whitemarsh 3 see story for details
Marple Newtown 5 West Chester Rustin 1
Hatboro-Horsham 10, Radnor 0 see story for details
By Karen Sangillo
It was fast paced and action packed.
And when it was over, sixth seed Central Bucks South was a 4-3 winner over No. 11 Downingtown East in Tuesday’s opening round of the Flyers Cup Class AA tournament at Hatfield Ice Arena.
The Titans will take on third seed Council Rock South, a 6-3 winner over No. 14 Spring-Ford, in Thursday’s quarterfinals at Hatfield.
CB South got a pair of late goals in the first period. The Titans were on what had been a rather lackluster power play when Nolan Senigo netted the first goal of the evening. Ryan Montagna followed with a second goal less than 30 seconds later to send CB South into the first intermission with a 2-0 lead.
That lead was cut in half early in the second period when Downingtown East’s Chase McKeown scored. Montagna answered with his second goal of the evening to give CB South some breathing room, but the Cougars found the net in the final minutes of the period to again cut the CB South lead to one goal.
Montagna completed a natural hat trick six minutes into the third period. That goal went from an insurance goal to the game winner when Franciscus scored for Downingtown East with less than five minutes to go.
“It was definitely not a given,” said Montagna, a senior left wing. “Every single shift we had to work hard. They definitely could have come back on us.”
The Titans are very familiar with their next foe, CR South.
“I think we’ve had a great couple of games,” Montagna said. “We beat CR South twice, and we had a good game against North Penn for the championship of our league. We didn’t play our best tonight. We need to change our defense a bit and get pucks deep. We were playing around with the puck too much we need to be simple with it.”
Nathan Napolitano was in goal for the Titans and he withstood a late charge by the Cougars as the final seconds ticked down. In the first period, Napolitano came up big with a save on a Downingtown East breakaway.
“Nathan bailed us out,” said Slobodrian, a senior right winger. “It’s been the same story. He’s been bailing us out. we need to fix some things on D.
“We did a good job of drawing penalties, but we need to capitalize on them more. We only scored on one of them. We had a good amount of shots and at times we had quality shots but I think some of those could have been better.
“We need to step up our game and fix things on defense, tweak a few things on offense and also on the power play.
“When we scored those first two goals we let off the gas. I guess we thought the goals were going to be handed to us, then they scored and we realized ‘OK, were actually in a hockey game’ and we knew we had to pick it up. We had some lapses, but we did it.”
Downingtown East 0 2 1—3
CB South 2 1 1—4
First-period goals: Nolan Senigo (CBS) from Joseph Slobodrian and Ryan Frey, 14:24; Ryan Montagna (CBS) from Owen Frey, 14:50; Second period goals: Chase McKeown (DE) unassisted, 2:31; Montagna (CBS) from Slobodrian and John Lord, 6:50; Thomas Wolf (DE) from Colin Franciscus and Leonardo Nino, 15:17; Third period goals: Montagna (CBS) from Slobodrian and Ryan Frey, 5:57; Franciscus (DE) from Wolf, 12:23
Shots: Downingtown East 27, CB South 47; Saves: Lucas Fleuty (DE) 32, Nathan Napolitano (CBS) 20
The idea that {insert a postseason tournament here} is a new season is, in most instances, an overused cliché. But it’s a concept that the La Salle Explorers can embrace, particularly after Tuesday night. After a season that featured an abundance of frustration and disappointment, the Explorers put all the pieces together on the biggest stage in local scholastic hockey.
The result was a 6-3 win over Father Judge in the opening round of the Class AAA Flyers Cup tournament in front of a full house at Hatfield Ice. The win sends the third-seeded Explorers (7-13) into the semifinals next Thursday, March 12 against St. Joseph’s Prep. Sixth-seeded Father Judge ends its season at 13-10-1.
Junior forward Patrick Lunsford scored two of La Salle’s goals. He noted that the underclassmen in the lineup needed some time to adjust to the Flyers Cup environment.
“I think some of the guys at the beginning had a little bit of the jitters,” he said. “But as the game went on I think we really adapted and it worked out well for us.”
It was the Crusaders who scored first. Nolan Rauch launched a shot from the left point that found its way through a sea of legs all the way to the back of the net, giving Judge the lead with 1:34 remaining in the first period.
It took Lunsford just 13 seconds to answer and the opening period ended deadlocked, in no small measure because of the work La Salle goaltender Anthony Foster who made some quality saves in the opening session.
Thomas Leonards and John Greenwalt added goals in the second period to extends La Salle’s lead. The Explorers seemed to grow more comfortable with each shift.
“I think they definitely settled in a little bit,” said La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner. “They started to make some better decisions with the puck and we started to get a little rhythm going.
Mathew Jones and Luke Bauman extended. the Explorers’ lead with goals early in the third period. Jake Proud added a power-play goal for Judge with 4:42 left to remind the Explorers they had to keep concentrating, but Nolan Hirska answered with a power-play goal of his own to complete the scoring.
The only negative on the La Salle side of the scoresheet was the eight minor penalties the Explorers took.
“We were in the box way too much,” Muehlbronner said.
But there will be another game to play, and the Flyers Cup title is still within reach.
Lunsford, despite whatever doubts he may have had, has always had faith in his teammates and coaches.
“I had belief in the team,” that we would get here,” he said, “and we’ve gotten to this point. We’ve just got to keep going.”
• St. Joseph’s Prep, the second seed in the tournament, bested seenth-seeded Salesianum 8-0 in another quarterfinal game on Tuesday
Father Judge 1 0 1—2
La Salle 1 2 3—6
First-period goals: Nolan Rauch (FJ) from Jake Proud. 15:26; Patrick Lunsford (L) from Bill Podulka, 15:39
Second-period goals: Thomas Leonards (L) from Andrew Frantz and John Greennwalt, 3:00; Greenwalt (L) unassisted, 14:27 (pp)
Third-period goals: Matthew Jones (L)from Luke Bauman and Matt Martin, 2:08; Lunsford (L) from Padilla, 9:11; Proud (FJ) from Rauch and Gavin Culver, 12:18 (pp); Nolan. Hirshka (L) from Thomas Leonards, 14:36 (pp)
Shots: Father Judge 34, La Salle 36; Saves: Jonathan Dilliplane (FJ) 30, Anthony Foster (L) 32
Some would call it a dominant performance. Others would use the term overwhelming. Whatever the phraseology, Hatboro-Horsham’s offensive firepower was on full display Monday night in the opening round of the Class A Flyers Cup.
The sixth-seeded Hatters were too much for 11th-seeded Radnor and rolled to a 10-0 win at Hatfield Ice.
Nate Nemchinov scored four goals and added four assists for Hatboro-Horsham, which will face third-seeded Kennett in Thursday’s quarterfinals. Vince Graziani produced three goals and two assists before the game was terminated via the 10-goal rule with 10:45 remaining in the third period.
Prior to the stoppage, the Hatter (17-3) were in complete command and applying unrelenting pressure.
“We try to wear out our opponents with our stamina,” said Hatboro-Horsham coach Shane Smith. “We were able to do that here, we were able to keep the pressure on them, and keep it deep in their zone.”
Nemchinov and Graziani spend much of their time on the ice simultaneously. The chemistry between Nemchinov, a senior, and Graziani, a sophomore, is unique.
“We’ve played with each other for two years,” Nemchinov said. “We know where each other are on the ice at all times. We talk; it’s all about communication and chemistry.”
It took the Hatters some time to get started. The game was nearly nine-and-a-half minutes old before Luke Staffieri scored his team’s first goal. But once they started, the goals kept coming. Graziani and Cole Meyer added goals before the first period ended.
Nemchinov scored three times in the second frame and Graziani and Bill Moffa scored additional goals to propel Hatboro-Horsham to an 8-0 lead. Nemchinov an Graziani each scored in the final period.
The Hatters’ up-tempo approach theoretically leaves them vulnerable at the other end of the ice. But Graziani points out he and his teammates are confident in the defense behind them.
“There are very good players in this tournament, and it’s hard to get back,” he said. But we’ve got good goaltending and good ‘D’ back there, so it helps us out.”
Emotions were running high by the late stages of the second frame. The Raptors lost defenseman Charles Peterson with 1:51 left in the period when he drew a major penalty for head contact plus a match penalty for a hit on Staffieri. Staffieri himself was banished 3:30 into the third period after fisticuffs with Radnor’s Hayden Goldenberg. The Raptors’ Stephen Sucher also received a game misconduct for being the third man in the altercation. The fighting penalty means Staffieri will not be in uniform when the Hatters face Kennett on Thursday.
• Patrick Murphy and Eric Miller split the shutout in goal for the Hatters. Murphy played the first two periods, Miller the third.
Radnor 0 0 0—0
Hatboro-Horsham 3 5 2—10
First-period goals: Luca Staffieri (HH) from Nate Nemchinov, 9:26; Vince Graziani I(HH) from Staffieri and Giovani Bucci, 14:31; Cole Meyer (HH) from Joey Magnin, 16:28
Second-period goals: Nemchinov (HH) unassisted, 4:31; Graziani (HH) from Nemchinov and Bill Moffa, 10:22; Nemchinov (HH) from Graziani and Moffa 14:03; Moffa (HH) from Nemchinov, 14:35; Nemchinov (HH) from Graziani, 15:43;
Third-period goals: Nemchinov (HH) from Staffieri and Moffa, 2:54; Graziani (HH) from Nemchinov. 6:15
Shots: Radnor 11, Hatboro-Horsham 38; Saves: James Danner (Ra) 28, Patrick Murphy (HH) 8 and Eric Miller (HH) 3
Contested terminated with 10:45 remaining in third period
They sent up camp in the offensive zone early on and never really left. West Chester Henderson applied pressure from the opening faceoff and kept it up for a full 51 minutes. The result was a 6-2 win over Plymouth Whitemarsh Monday night in the opening round of the Class A Flyers Cup at Hatfield Ice.
The ninth-seeded Warriors (6-12-1) will face top-seeded Hershey in Thursday’s quarterfinals. The eighth-seeded Colonials closed the season at 14-4.
Henderson set the tone from the start. Harrison Eller got the Warriors in on the scoreboard 2:34 into the opening period when he beat Lucas Bennett from close range. That goal established a pattern for the balance of the period. Cooper Kanze tied the game for the Colonials with 2:55 left in the period on a shot that Warrior goaltender Ian Stefanovski probably wished he could have another look at, but Aller put his team back in front just eight seconds later.
By the time the period ended, the Warriors had launched 16 shots. It was Bennett’s work in goal that kept the Colonials close.
“Breakout is something we talk about a lot,” said Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Vince Forti. “Obviously, we struggled a little bit. Getting the puck out of the zones quick is a priority for the defense. You don’t want to give good teams extra zone time. It leads to extra chances and that’s how goals go in.”
Forti acknowledged that Henderson scoring first put his team in a hole they never could escape.
“There was some stat that said s scoring the first goal gives you a 70 percent chance of winning,” he said. “We usually want to get the first one. Unfortunately, they did. And we were just kind of chasing the game ever since then.”
Anthony Barthol extended Henderson’s lead 2:46 into the second period. Kanze scored his second goal of the night exactly 10 minutes later to send the teams into the post-second period ice cut just one goal apart on the scoreboard.
But Henderson separated itself once more when Declan Herr scored from the left wing that found space inside the near post, a shot Bennett appeared not to see. Miles Donnelly essentially shut the door with a power-play goal with 2:47 remaining.
Barthol added an empty net goal with 1:17 left.
The Warriors finished with a 49-20 advantage in shots.
It was a disappointing end to an impressive season.
“I think the guys played well all season,” Forti said. “It’s tough way to end a good season, so it doesn’t feel like it in the moment but overall, I think they did a lot of good things.”
West Chester Henderson 2 1 3
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1 1 0—6
First-period goals: Harrison Aller (WCH) from Miles Donnelly, 2:36; Cooper Kanze (PW) from Dan Moloney, 14:05; Aller (WCH) from Anthony Barthol and Decal Dowd, 14:13
Second-period goals: Barthol (WCH) from Dowd and Aller, 2:46; Kanze (PW) from Dan Guller and Brandon Wooldridge, 12:46 (sh)
Third-period goals: Declan Herr (WCH) from Donnelly and Dowd, :49; Donnelly (WCH) from Dowd, 13:13 (pp); Barthol (WCH) unassisted, 15:43 (en):
Shots: West Chester Henderson 49, Plymouth Whitemarsh 20 Saves: Ian Stefanovski (WCH) 18, Lucas Bennett (PW) 43
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