C.R. South 3 Boyertown 1

One of the unique elements of the Flyers Cup tournament is the finality of it. All season long there is another game or another round of playoffs to nurse the pain of defeat.

The stakes are starkly different come March. Win or go home. And on Thursday night, Boyertown and Council Rock South made it clear they didn’t want to go home.

It was the Golden Hawks who prevailed, 3-1 in a Class AA Flyers Cup semifinal at Hatfield Ice. Second-seeded South (24-1) will face top-seeded Pennridge next Wednesday at 8:45 at this same venue in what is expected to be a scintillating final.

Third-seeded Boyertown closes the season at 20-3.

Thursday’s game wasn’t bad as an appetizer.

The Hawks had the better of the play offensively but encountered a hot goaltender in Tyler Griffith who recorded 41 saves, few of which were of the routine variety.

“That’s kid’s probably the best goaltender we’ve seen all year,” said South coach Joe Houk. “We got [44] shots today, they were quality shots. He was phenomenal.

“And people warned me about him ‘If he’s hot, he’s going to steal a game from you.’ But, we persevered, we dug deep, and we survived to play next week.”

Largely due to Griffin’s efforts (16 saves) the first period was scoreless, and it was the Bears who grabbed the evening’s first lead when Noah Cutillo beat Trevor Rakszawski 1:19 in to the second frame. Jake Weiner answered for South at the 6:31 mark.

The score remained deadlock to period’s end. By that point, the Hawks had a 32-13 shot advantage.

As the teams took the ice for the third period following an ice cut, the enormity of the moment hung in the air.

“Their goaltender had a solid game,” said South’s Evan Mostoller. “I’ll give him that. But we just had to find that back of the net.”

Mostoller did just that from outer edge of the right circle 4:31 into the final period.

“It’s may last year here and I kind of want to make a run to states and everything,” he said. I’ve been in the Flyers Cup three times now …. This the year I think we’re going to make it.

As the clock counted down the Bears found themselves stymied by not only Rakszawski but the defense in front of him; Boyertown managed but our shots in the third period.
South’s final goal, which came with 38 seconds remaining, was credited to Gavin Nisenzon when he was pulled down from behind in the Boyertown defensive while skating toward an empty net; the referee on the play awarded goal.

Boyertown 0 1 0—1

C.R. South 0 1 2—3

Second-period goals: Noah Cutillo (B) from Luke Hennessy, 1:44; Jake Weiner (CRS) from Nikita Volobuiev, 6:31

Third-period goals: Evan Mostoller (CRS) from

Peter Pereborow and Blaise Pepe, 4:31; Gaven Nisenzon (CRS) unassisted, 16:22

Shots: Boyertown 20, Council Rock South 44; Saves: Tyler Griffith (B) 41, Trevor Rakszawski, 19

La Salle 5 Holy Ghost Prep 2

It wasn’t a stylish effort. But La Salle got the job done, nonetheless.

Five different players scored goals as the Explorers recorded a 5-2 decision over Holy Ghost Prep Thursday night in a Class AAA Flyers Cup semifinal at Hatfield Ice.

Top-seeded La Salle (22-3) will attempt to successfully defend its title next Wednesday when it faces second-seeded Malvern Prep at this same venue (6:00 start).

Fourth-seeded Holy Ghost Prep closed its season at 12-14.

It was not a smooth trip for the Explorers, who spent a good amount of time killing penalties, they were whistled for 10.

Ryan Wiley put La Salle in front with a goal at the 12:18 mark of the opening period. He spoke to the importance of avoiding penalties.

“We’ve got to keep our minds mentally and stay out of the box,” he said. “We’ve got to stay away from the stupid stuff and just work our tails off to get to this point.”

James Carpenter extended La Salle’s lead with a shorthanded goal 1:36 into the second frame. A.J. Prete answered for the Firebirds three minutes after that, but Patrick Brace and Will Gregorio scored goals before the period ended to seemingly put the Explorer in command.

Holy Ghost Prep coach John Ritchie blamed himself for his team’s sluggish start.

“Ultimately it falls on me,” he said. “I’m the head coach and I felt they were not prepared and the other team was. That’s on my shoulders.

At this point in the season, we’ve played then four times (La Salle has won all four meetings). I know what I’ve got in that locker room and we know what they’ve got in their locker room.

“It’s on me. I’m the one that’s got to stand up and shoulder the blame.

With seven minutes left in regulation, the Firebirds made their last stand when Caine Bickel tucked a shot inside the right post behind La Salle netminder Jake Rossi.

Holy Ghost Prep had one more opportunity with two-and-a-half minutes left and its own net empty when Jake McCaw caught iron with shot from the left wing.

Carpenter added an empty-netter for the Explorers with 55 seconds left.

“We did a lot of little things right,” said La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner, “We did a great job killing a lot of penalties.”

Muehlbronner praised the work his team did while shorthanded.

“Our penalty kills have been strong,” he said. “We did a good job with that. And I think we did a good job getting back to our game plan when we weren’t in the box. Keeping it simple, and we had some good opportunities that we scored on.

Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 1—2

La Salle 1 3 1—5

First-period goal: Ryan Wiley (L) unassisted, 12:18

Second-period goals: James Carpenter (L) from Grant LaGreca, 1:36 (sh); A.J. Prete (HGP) from Art Myers and Caine Bickel, 4:39; Patrick Brace (L) from Thomas Doucet and Cameron Ross, 8:54; Will Gregorio (L) unassisted, 14:08

Third-period goals: Bickel (HGP) from Anthony Valeriote, 9:56; Carpenter (L) unassisted, 15:05

Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 19, La Salle 37; Saves: Jack Unger (HGP) 32, Jake Rossi (L) 17

Flyers Cup Schedule Thursday 3-14

Thursday, March 14

Class AAA Semifinals

La Salle 5 Holy Ghost Prep 2

Malvern Prep 3 St. Joseph’s Prep 1—Teague Murray and James Young scored first-period goals and the second-seeded Friars went on to beat the third-seeded Hawks Thursday night in a Class AAA Flyers Cup semifinal at Ice Line.

Henry Tesoriero also scored for Malvern Prep (11-8) which will meet La Salle in the final.

Tristan Winata scored for St. Joseph’ Prep (16-7)

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 0 1—1

Malvern Prep 2 0 1—3

First-period goals: Teague Murray (MP) from Jeremy Jacobs and Jonathan Holt, 12:11 (pp); James Young (MP) from Logan Love, 13:47

Third-period goals: Henry Tesoriero (MP) unassisted, 15:25 (en); Tristan Winata (SJP) unassisted. 16:09

Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 36, Malvern Prep 35; Saves: Jacob Aranda (SJP) 32; Matt Crawford (MP) 35

Class AA Semifinals

Penneidge 10, Downingtown West 1—

The top-seeded Rams scored six goals in the first period and rolled to the win over the fourth-seeded Whippets in a Class AA semifinal Thursday night at Hatfield Ice.

Shane Dachowswki scored four goals for Pennridge (21-2-2) and added an assist. Nolan Shaw provided two goals. Kevin Pico, Josh Kelly, Tyler Manto, and Andrew Savona all scored goals.

Joseph Butter scored for Downingtown West (18-5)

Downingtown West 0 1 0

Pennridge 6 2 2

Council Rock South 3 Boyertown 1

Championship games will be played Tuesday, and Wednesday, March 19, and 20.

Flyers Cup Girls Semifinals

Downingtown West 6 West Chester Henderson 5

Ava Thomas scored two goals and four other players added one goal each as the defending-champion Whippets bested the Warriors Wednesday night at PNY Arena.

Sarah Goodman, Lila Zelesnick, Chloe Bogusch, and Brianna Hinkle all scored for Downingtown West.

Charlotte Perrin, Paige Meutterties, Eva Doyle, Vanenessa Gill, and Megan Wackerman all scored for the Warriors.

Hendersron 1 2 2—5

Downingtown West 3 2 1—6

Avon Grove 10 Conestoga 0

Lily Schindler scored three goals and added four assists for the top-seeded Red Devils Wednesday night at PNY Arena. Skyler Campanile added two goals and four assists.

Maggie Sullivan, Ellie Crawford, Brianna Register, Emmy Sullivan, and Skylar Greene all scored single goals.

Ella Hyduysky earned the shutout on goal.

The game was called with 5:29 remaiing on the third period.

Conestoga 0 0 0—0

Avon Grove 5 2 3—10

The championship game is set for Monday night at PNY Arena with a 6:00 start.

Flyers Cup Class A Semifinals 3-12-24

Unionville 5 Marple Newtown 4

Cole Blackburn scored three goals and assisted on a fourth as Unionville stunned Marple Newtown 5-4 Tuesday night in a Class A semifinal game at Ice Line.

The ninth-seeded Longhorns will move on to next week’s final. Michael Ta and Sam Burke also scored for Unionville, which built a 4-1 lead after two periods.

Ethan McKay scored three goals for the fourth-seeded Tigers.

McKay’s second goal of the game came on a power play and cut Unionville’s lead to 4-2 with 10:38 left in the third period.

Blackburn countered with his third goal 44 seconds later; a shorthanded effort.

Tyler Newby’s goal made it a 5-3 game 13 seconds after that; McKay’s third goal came with 15 second remaining.

Zach Tomaszewicz got the win in goal; he finished with 18 saves.

Unionville 2 2 1—5

Marple Newtown 1 0 3—4

Hershey 5 Garnet Valley 1

Blake Umberger and Kyle Kloss scored two goals as third-seeded Hershey downed second-seeded Garnet Valley 5-1 Tuesday night in a Class A semifinal at Ice Line. David Miash also scored for the Trojans, who lost to West Chester East in last year’s title game.

Jake Robinson scored for the Jaguars.

Hershey 1 3 1—5

Garnet Valley 0 01—1

Hershey will face Unionville in next week’s title game with site and time to be determined.

Flyers Cup Update 3-8-24

41 teams began play in the Flyers Cup tournament four days ago. 33 have been eliminated. Here’s what’s ahead.

Tuesday, March 12

Class AA Semifinals

Marple Newtown vs. Unionville 6:15 at Ice Line

Garnet Valley vs. Hershey 8:30 at Ice Line

Wednesday, March 13

Girls Semifinals

Avon Grove vs. Conestoga 6:45 at PNY

Downingtown West vs. West Chester Henderson 5:00 atPNY

Thursday, March 14

Class AAA Semifinals

Holy Ghost Prep vs. La Salle 6:00 at Hatfield Gray

St. Joseph’s Prep vs. Malvern Prep 7:45 Ice Line 1

Class AA Semifinals

Downingtown West vs. Pennridge 8:45 at Hatfield Gray

Boyertown vs. Council Rock Smith 8:30 at Hatfield Blue

Championship games will be played Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, March 18, 19, and 20.

Upcoming Flyers Cup Schedule

Flyers Cup Schedule for Thursday, March 7

Class AA Quarterfinals

Pennridge 5 Downingtown East 2—Five different players scored goals Thursday night as the top-seeded Rams advanced to the semifinals at Hatfield Ice.

Shane Dachowki. Colin Dachowski, Kevin Pico, Trey Mikulich, and Andrew Savona all scored goals.

Parker Nassour and Brody Matthews scored for the ninth-seeded Cougars.

Downingtown East 1 0 1—2

Pennridge 1 2 2—5

Downingtown West 8 Haverford 2

Council Rock South 7 Cherokee 1—Jake Weiner scored three goals and Phil Pepe added two as the second-seeded Golden Hawks advanced to the Class AA semifinals with a 7-1 won over the 10^th-seeed Chiefs Thursday night at Hatfield Ice.

Illia Muhkin and Kevin Koles also scored for South, which built a 5-1 lead after two periods.

Luke Resto scored Cherokees’s only goal, which came in the first period.

Trevor Rakszawski got the win in goal, making 19 saves.

The game was terminated with 7:03 remaining in the third period after the two teams were accessed a total of 118 minutes in penalties, 98 of them to the Chiefs.

Cherokee 1 0 0—1

C.R. South 3 2 2—7

Boyertown 4, Central Bucks South 1—Joey Slobodrian’s goal in the third period was all the sixth-seeded Titans could manage Thursday night against the third-seeded Bears at Ice Line.

Tyan McGuffin scored twice for Boyertown.

Class A Quarterfinals

Unionville 4 West Chester East 3 OT

Marple Newtown 9 Lower Dauphin 4

Garnet Valley 7 Penncrest 6 OT

Hershey 5, Springfield 0

Flyers Cup Schedule for Thursday, March 14

Class AAA Semifinals

Holy Ghost Prep vs. La Salle TBD Hatfield Ice

St. Joseph’s Prep vs. Malvern Prep TBD Ice Line

Class AA Semifinals

Sites, times dependent on results of quarterfinal games

Wednesday, March 6

Girls Play In

Conestoga 2 Lower Merion 1 OT

Holy Ghost Prep 5 Father Judge 1

In the brightest of spotlights, a troupe of young hockey players blossomed into maturity and did so with dramatic suddenness.

Holy Ghost Prep erupted for four goals in the first period Tuesday night and went on to post a 5-1 win over Father Judge in a Class AAA Flyers Cup quarterfinal in front of a full house at Grundy Arena.

The fourth-seeded Firebirds (12-13) will face top seed and defending champion La Salle in a semifinal that is scheduled for March 14. Fifth-seeded Judge, which won the Catholic League title, closes with a 15-4-2.

A.J. Prete scored twice for the Firebirds. Fittingly enough, his goals were the first and last of the evening. Prete reflected on how things came together Tuesday night after a regular season that was filled with ups and downs, including a loss to the Crusaders.

“We came into this game with a chip on our shoulder,” he said. “We got on them early, that was out plan and we got the job done. Couldn’t be happier.”

Prete’s first goal came just 65 seconds after the opening faceoff; he beat Judge goaltender Aidan Childs from just inside the right circle.

The Firebirds really got control of the game in the closing minutes of the first frame when Jake McCaw’s power-play goal was followed by Joseph Kaufmann’s even-strength goal two-and a-half minutes later and Joe Spadaccino’s shorthanded effort just 33 seconds after that.

With 2:49 left in the opening session, Holy Ghost Prep had a four-goal advantage.

Prete said he and his teammates were determined to get off to a fast start.

“We knew what they were going to come with,” he said. “We knew they were going to try to bully us around a little bit with physicality. We just kind of reversed it on them.”

The second period saw the Crusaders do their best to assert themselves physically. But they managed just one goal, Owen Myers’ power-play effort at the 7:55 mark.

Neither team shied away from them physical side of the game. Referees Terrence Johnson and Laura White called 12 minor penalties and found a balance that allowed for physical play while still maintaining order.

“All the credit in the world to Father Judge,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach John Ritchie. “They’re a very, very tough team with a lot of seniors. They play a very heavy game but I was how our guys, giving up a little bit of size and a little bit of strength, I was happy how they executed. It seemed to come together tonight”

Prete added an insurance goal for the Firebirds with 2:20 left in the game.

Ice chips—The other Class AAA Flyers Cup semifinal will match second seed Malvern Prep and third seed St. Joseph’s Prep.

WE STAND CORRECTED—In our original post, we stated that no APAC team in the conference’s six-year history had ever lost. Flyers Cup game to a non-conference foe. In fact, Father Judge defeated Malvern Prep in the quarterfinals in 2020.

Father Judge won a Class AA Flyers Cup and a state championship in 1993 and a Class AAA Flyers Cup in 2000 as a member of the Lower Bucks County League.

We regret the error.

Father Judge 0 1 0—1

Holy Ghost Prep 4 0 1—5

First-period goals: A.J. Prete (HGP) from Caine Bickel and Anthony Valeriote, 1:05; Jake McCaw (HGP) from Matthew Cholaj and Brian Kinniry, 11:00 (pp); Joseph Kaufmann (HGP) unassisted, 13:33; Joe Spadaccino (HGP) from Mike Holt, 14:11 (sh)

Second-period goal: Owen Myers (FJ) unassisted, 7:55 (pp)

Third-period goal: Prete (HGP) from Bickel, 13:50

Shots: Father Judge 24, Holy Ghost Prep 30; Saves: Aidan Childs (FJ) 25, Jack Unger (HGP) 23

C.R. South 12 Spring-Ford 0

It didn’t take long for Council Rock South to assert its superiority Tuesday night. The Golden Hawks scored goals on their first three shots and five of their first seven en route to a 12-0 rout of Spring Ford in a Class AA Flyers Cup first-round game at Grundy Arena that was called after the second period.

South (22-1), the second seed in the tournament, advances to a quarterfinal game on Thursday against Cherokee at a site and time to be determined

Tuesday’s 12-goal output produced a plethora of impressive numbers. Kevin Koles scored the first goal of the night just 31 seconds after the opening faceoff. He went on to score an additional goal and add five assists for seven points.

“We’ve got to take every game,” the senior defenseman said, “so we know what we’re up against. We can’t take any game lightly because we know we’re going to have tougher competition later down the road, so we’ve got to play every game the same.”

Koles assisted on Nikita Volobuiev’s scoring effort and added a second goal himself to put South up 3-0 just 2:54 into the opening period. Blaise Pepe and Jeremy Rayher added additional goals before the period ended.

The 15th-seeded Rams did not record their first shot on goal until less than 90 seconds remained in the opening period.

Evan Mostoller assisted on Koles’s first goal and Pepe’s. The senior defenseman noted that postseason success requires that everyone on the roster pitch in.

“You just have to know what your role is on the team,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if the [opponent] is not the best team, you’ve just got to play your hardest.”

Mostoller says that one element of a player learning his role and fitting in involves not worrying about making a mistake.

“Play your game,” he said. “Play the way you play. If you make a mistake, someone will tell you what you did wrong.”

Volobuiev scored two goals to complete a hat trick. Rayher, Jordan Sarne (twice), Jonah Weston, and Jake Weiner all scored goals.

Volobuiev’ second goal made it am 8-0 game with 6:17 left in the period.

Spring-Ford coach Todd Lambart lifted starting goaltender Grant Olson at that point; the junior received a round of applause from the spectators and the South bench as he left the ice after facing 27 shots.

For the Hawks however, the postseason journey continues. Koles and his teammates are aware they’re being targeted by the rest of the tournament field.

“We know everybody’s trying to beat us,” he said. “It’s been like that for the last four years I’ve been in the league.

“We’ve got to stay focused and do what we can.”

Spring Ford 0 0—0

C.R. South 5 7—12

First-period goals: Kevin Koles (CRS) from Evan Mostoller, :31; Nikita Volobuiev (CRS) from Koles, 1:37; Koles (CRS) unassisted, 2:54; Blaise Pepe (CRS) from Mostoller and Koles, 6:14; Jeremy Rayher (CRS) from Pepe and Koles, 6:45

Second period goals: Jake Weiner (CRS) from Volobuiev, 2:56; Jonah Weston (CRS) from Chase Tovsky and Blaise Pepe, 5:09; Volobuiev (CRS) from Jake Weiner, 10:43; Volobuiev (CRS) from Koles, 10:48; Rayher (CRS) from Pepe and Tovsky, 11:15; Jordan Sarne (CRS) from Koles and Jackson Mosley, 11:53; Sarne (CRS) from Rayher and Weston, 16:17

Shots: Spring Ford 3, Council Rock South 33; Saves; Grant Olson (SF) 19 and Casey Dunleavy (SF) 2; Trevor Rakszawski 3

Flyers Cup Schedule Tuesday 3-5

Nine games are on this evening’s card

Class AA First Round

Tuesday, March 5

Pennridge 10 Bensalem 2

Downingtown East 3 Central Bucks East 2

Downingtown West 9 Souderton 4

Haverford High 6 North Penn 2

Council Rock South 12 Spring Ford 0

.Cherokee 6 Lower Merion 3

Boyertown 7 Pennsbury 2

Central Bucks South 5 Avon Grove 2

Class AAA Quarterfinal

Holy Ghost Prep 5 Father Judge 1