It’s no surprise that Garnet Valley and West Chester Henderson reached Class A Flyers Cup final (7:00 Monday) at Ice Line. The Jaguars and the Warriors were the top two seeds. Here’s a look at how they got there.
1 Garnet Valley (21-2)
Coach: Stephane Charbonneau
Players to watch: Kevon Walton 36 goals, 23 assists, 59 points, inc. 3 goals and 1 assist in the tournament; Jake Robinson 21-25-46; 2-1-3 in the tournament; Nolan Stott 24-18-42, 1-3-4 in the tournament; Garrett Stoops .909 save percentage, 1.59 GAA
How they got here: Defeated Plymouth Whitemarsh 10-0 in the quarterfinals and West Chester East 2-1 in the semifinals.
2 West Chester Henderson (16-6)
Coach: Tom Aughey
Players to watch: Blake Platz 31 goals, 18 assists 49 points inc. 3 goals and 2 assists in the tournament; Hunter Haas 26-43-49; 4-3 in the tournament; Andrew Dent 4-2-6 in the tournament; Matt Cieslukowski 2.81 GAA, .884 save percentage
How they got here: Defeated Marple-Newtown 7-6 in the quarterfinals and Hershey 7-4 in the semifinals.
Ice chips: The two teams met once during the regular season with Garnet Valley taking a 5-2 bwin on January 31. Nolan Stott paced the Jaguars with two goals and an assist …Garnet Valley won the Class A Flyers Cup in 1998. Henderson claimed the title in 2007. The Jaguars are taking a 12-game winning streak into the finals. The Warriors have won three of their last four.
It was a contest of championship final caliber. Over the course of 51 minutes at Hatfield Ice Arena Thursday night, North Penn and Downingtown East both proved themselves worthy of playing for a Flyers Cup championship.
But only the Knights will get that opportunity.
Nolan Shingle’s goal with 3:43 left in regulation, his second goal in a span of 88 seconds, got the Knight past the Cougars 4-3 in a Class AA semifinal. The goal was Shingle’s third of the game and put the second-seeded Knights (19-3) into net Wednesday’s final against top-seeded Council Rock South (8:45 at Hatfield Ice). The third-seeded Cougars close their season at 15-7.
In the parlance of pugilism, both team got off the canvas. North Penn took a 2-0 lead into the third period on the strength of a power-play goal from Cole Pluck 11:49 into the first-period, which was followed by Shingle’ first goal of the night 7:48 into the second frame
But the Cougars survived those heavy blows and counterpunched. Ryan Nichols got Downingtown East on the scoreboard 4:19 into the third period and Anderson Frain tied the game with 6:44 left in regulation.
When Nichols scored his second goal of the game with 4:36 left in regulation the Cougars appeared to have the upper hand.
Shingle however did not agree with that line of reasoning. He tied the game 3:43 left on the clock before delivering the game winner that started out as a breakaway. Downingtown East goaltender Lucas Fleuty made the initial save on Sam Norton before Shingle followed up.
“Downingtown East is a great hockey team,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “Hats off to them, they’re well coached. We knew, going into the third, up 2-0 that it probably wasn’t going to end 2-0. I didn’t necessarily want to get down 3-2 but I’m proud of the boys. They continued to work, continued to battle.”
Downingtown East coach Mark Bobko praised his team’s resilience.
“Our guy showed a lot of heart,” he said. “Being down 2-0 going into the third, fighting back, and getting a lead.
“What I was telling them in the locker room was in games of this magnitude the margin of error is so tight that if you don’t expend every ounce of energy and focus it can tip the other way just as easily and that’s kind of what we saw here tonight.”
La Salle’s success this season has been based on the concept of getting contributions from a variety of sources.
Such was the case Thursday night. Grant LaGreca and Noel Donohue each scored two goals and three other players scored on goal each as the Explorers downed Father Judge 7-2 in a Class AAA Flyers Cup semifinal at Hatfield Ice Arena.
Second-seeded La Salle (17-7) will face Holy Ghost Prep next Wednesday at this same venue in a bid to win its third consecutive Flyers Cup, a feat the Explorers last accomplished in 2014 when they claimed the Cup for a fourth consecutive year. Sixth-seeded Father Judge closed the season at 16-6.
The game was closer than the final score seemingly indicted. Judge trailed 2-1 after one period was close enough to be a threat, trailing 4-2 early in the third before the Explorers put the game away.
Michael Zarzycki got thing started for La Salle when he beat Crusader goaltender Christian McDonald 3:32 into the first period. But Chris Ferrero responded for Judge with a power-play goal at the 8:49 before Donohue’s effort with 1:14 remaining put La Salle in front for good.
The Explorers extended their lead in the second period on goal from Declan Kelly and Alex Gibson.
Jake Pound made thing more interesting when he scored for Judge just 14 seconds into the final period but LaGreca answered at the 2:21 mark.
Donohue and LaGreca once more added additional goals.
“We started slow,” LaGreca said, “but we stuck to our system, listened to what our coaches had for the game plan, but we played the right way in the end.”
LaGreca said the Explorers stayed patient when it counted.
“We know we can’t look past anyone.” he said. “We’ve got to stay patient and keep shooting pucks on net.”
Council Rock South got off to a fast start Thursday night and never really slowed down.
Jeremy Rayher scored twice in the first period and the Golden Hawks went on to a 7-2 win over Spring-Ford Thursday night at Hatfield Ice Arena. Top-seeded South (22-2) will try to win its fourth Flyers Cup next Wednesday night when it faces North Penn (8:45 at Hatfield Ice).
Spring-Ford, the 12th and last seed in the tournament, closed its season at 12-10-1 after winning two games to reach the semifinal round.
Rayher got his team on the scoreboard with 3:23 left in the opening and added a second goal with 57 second left. Those goals, his third and fourth of the tournament, set tone for the evening.
Rayher, a senior, spoke to the importance of the fast start.
“We all knew what my sophomore year with Pennsbury,” he said (the Hawks lost to the Falcons in the Flyers Cup semifinals).
“I just want that ring, everyone on the team wants that ring, so we all just came out hard, we came out with a mindset to win this game.
“We all just took it to them. We hit hard, we got a lot of shots on net. The goalie gave up lots of rebounds and we capitalized on them.”
Koen Gregg scored for the Rams 3:25 into the middle period to make it a 2-1 game but Daniel Filippov answered of South at the 6:34 mark.
The Hawks broke the game open when Jonah Weston, Rayher, and Jackson Mosley all scored goals in a span of 2 minutes, 39 seconds early in the third period. The balance of the period saw Spring-Ford’s Nathan Riley and the Hawks’ Peter Pereborow trade goals.
“We got a little rocky in the second period,” said South coach Joe Houk. “We let them get a real crappy goal, but o thought all in all our puck pursuit was there.
“Maybe a little too much individual play. We got away from our game plan a little bit there.”
But Houk was able to get his troops refocused during the break for the post-second period ice cut.
“I thought we outplayed them from start to finish,” hGoukouk Houk said. “We really didn’t give them much room to breathe.”
Spring-Ford coach Tom Kisela reflected on his first season behind the Rams’ bench.
“For me, this whole season begins and ends with the players,” he said. As a first-year head coach, sometimes ir can take time to establish a culture, but not with these guys. Right from the start, I knew these wanted someone to come in and push them to get better every day.
“For us, having the incredibly successful season we had is a combination of diversity and the lessons learned throughout the year.”
The final numbers on the scoreboard were misleading. True enough, Holy Ghost Prep prevailed over Salesianum 5-2 Thursday night in a Class AAA Flyers Cup semifinal at Hatfield Ice Arena.
The top-seeded Firebirds (20-4-1) earned a place in next Wednesday’s final (6:00 puck drop at Hatfield Ice) against La Salle.
Thursday’s matchup was the second meeting of the season between the two schools. The Firebirds won the first 5-1 on January 9th.
But on this night, for two periods, the fifth-seeded Sallies gave Holy Ghost Prep all it could handle and going into the third frame the teams were deadlocked at 2-2. The Firebirds put the way by scoring three goals in the third period.
Brady Logue, who paced the Firebirds with a three-goal effort, started the scoring 7:27 into the first period. It was the only goal of the opening frame.
Salesianum (18-4) tied the game on a goal from Jerry DiStefano 8:34 into the middle period Logue answered with his second goal of the game with 4:19 left in the period but when Sean Albert found the back of the net 80 seconds later, the two team were deadlocked once more.
“They did a good job of taking us out of our game,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach John Ritchie. “So, we made some adjustments. I think we got back to what’s worked for us in the third period.”
Once the final period commenced, the Firebirds did their best to make up for lost time. Chase Logue extended his team’ lead 5:17 into the period. Lucas Gonzalez made it a 4-1 at the 7:05 mark before Brady Logue completed his hat trick with 53 seconds remaining.
“Once {Salesianum} scored {their first goal} the momentum kind of changed” said Holy Ghost Prep captain Ryan Lippy. “The kind of stopped our momentum.
“And then we kind of realized that we needed to pick it up but we didn’t start picking it up until the third.”
Holy Ghost Prep enjoyed a 34-20 edge in shots.
Lippy said he and his teammates entered the third period refocused.
“We decided to put the emotion aside,” he said. “And just play our game, play how we should play.”
Salesianum coach Brian LeBlanc celebrated what his team accomplished this season.
“The team executed on every aspect of our game,” he said. “It was a special group of players who played for each other; our family. I’m very proud of what they accomplished this year. Unfortunately injuries during the last two weeks took down some firepower.
“Thank you to the Flyers Cup committee who worked hard to organize a great tournament for these young men.”
• Holy Ghost Prep last won a Flyers Cup in 2017. Salesianum won three Cups in the now-defunct New Jersey/Delaware Division, most recently in 2023, the last year that division existed.
Second-period goals: Jerry DiStefano (S) unassisted, 8:34; Brady Logue (HGP) from Joe Spadaccino and Santino Tibero, 12:41; Sean Albert (S) from MIchael Cellucci and Braeden Graham, 14:01
Third-period goals: Chase Logue (HGP) from William Harmr, 5:17; Lucas Gonzalez (HGP) from Colin Bara and Brian Kinniry, 7:05; Brady Logue (HGP) unassisted, 16:07
Shots: Salesianum 20, Holy Ghost Prep 34: Saves: Gavin Needs (S) 29, Jack Unger (HGP) 18
When it mattered most, West Chester East found another gear. Leading 4-3 going into their third period of their Class A Flyers Cup semifinal against Hershey, the Warriors scored twice in a seven-minute span and went on to post a 7-4 win at Ice Line.
Second-seeded Henderson (16-6) will face top-seeded Garnet Valley in the Cup final Monday at Ice Line (time TBD). The Warriors previously won the Cup in 2007.
Andrew Denny led the scoring blitz for the Warriors scoring four goals. Three other players scored one goal each, among them Declan Herr, who also contributed a pair of assists. Hunter Haas and Nick DeNardi also chipped in two assists apiece. Haas wound up leaving the game early in the second period with an apparent lower-body injury.
Fans who favor an abundance of scoring got their wish early on; there were five goals scored in the first period. Denny staked his team to a 2-0 lead, his first goal coming 4:53 into the opening frame and his second not quite seven minutes later during a power play.
But the sixth-seeded Trojans (14-8-1), who took the ice as the defending Class A Flyers Cup and state champions, were quick to respond. Bryce Erwin and Lucas scored goals 90 seconds apart to tie the game, albeit briefly.
The Warriors retook the lead on Declan Herr’s goal with 48 seconds remaining in the opening period only to see Brady Cox tie the game for the second time with 8:09 left in the second frame. Blake Platz, the Warriors’ senior captain, put his team ahead for the third time with just 14 seconds left in the middle period. As it turned out, his goal put his team in front for good.
Going into the third period, the game was still up for grabs but Denny altered that equation when he scored his third goal 31 seconds into the period. Anthony Barthol followed with a goal of his own at the 6:59 mark
“Coming out in the third period we pretty much put two up quick,” Platz said, “and then shut them down.”
Platz said he and his teammates stuck to fundamentals down the stretch after regaining the lead.
“The biggest thing in high-school hockey that I see is playing defensively sound, getting the puck out, and taking care of your D-zone,” he said. “Once that happens, if you’ve got pretty good forward lines, you can take care of the game.”
Henderson coach Tom Aughey felt the game was being played on even terms until the decisive third period.
“Coming out of the ice cut you could tell our boys really wanted it more,” he said. “They really wanted it more than anything else they could have right now.”
Hershey 2 1 1—4
WC Henderson 3 1 3—7
First-period goals: Andrew Denny (WCH) from Hunter Haas, 4:53; Denny from Haas, 11:47 (pp); Bryce Erwin (H) unassisted, 13:42; Tyler Lucas (H) from Cole Umberger, 15:12; Declan Herr (WCH) from Nick DeNardi, 16:12
Second-period goals: Brady Cox (H) from Umberger, 8:51; Blake Platz (WCH) from Miles Donnelly, 16:46
Third-Period goals: Andrew Denny (WCH) from Platz and DeNardi, :31; Anthony Barthol (WCH) from Herr, 6:59; Owen Hulays (H) from Erwin, 9:05; Denny (WCH) unassisted, 15:46 (sh), (en)
Shots: Hershey 24, WC Henderson 45; Saves: Alex Placeros ((H) 38, Matt Cieslukowski 20
For two seasons now, Jake Rossi has been a fixture in the La Salle net. Last season, he was named the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference’s first-team All-Conference goaltender and helped the Explorers win their second consecutive Class AAA Flyers Cup. As a sophomore, he was part of a team that won a state championship.
But sometime in the next two weeks, Rossi’s high-school career will come to an end. That moment could come in Thursday’s Flyers Cup semifinal against Father Judge, perhaps in next week’ final, or the state-championship game on March 22.
The passage of time however, makes the conclusion of Rossi’s journey inevitable.
“It’s definitely been a fun journey,” he said. “I had a lot of ups. Obviously, some downs, that’s what comes with the sport and just kind of looking back on it, I don’t think I’d have it any other way.”
The numbers Rossi has complied this season have been impressive; a 1.98 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage.
“Jake is the quiet, steady backbone of our team,” said La Salle head coach Wally Muehlbronner. He has been the startong goalie in 99 percent of our games the past to years and always gives us a chance to win.”
But Rossi is the first to admit he’s just one element in in this season’s success. With the Explorers perhaps lacking some of the offensive firepower they’ve had in recent seasons, getting contributions from all hands has been essential.
Jake Rossi
“I think this year it’s been definitely different from years in the past,” Rossi said. “I think, especially last year, our depth with the seniors was incredibly strong. Especially early {this season, you saw some of the dropoff.
“But I think some of the younger guys, the freshmen, the sophomores, and even some of the seniors who are on the varsity for their first year, they really stepped up and helped to fill that role. And I feel like some of the guys definitely embraced their roles even if they’re not playing top-line minutes.
“Especially me, I noticed an impact where it’s just wearing guys down on the forecheck. I’m really appreciative of that.”
Rossi says the contributions of the younger players on the roster helps keep the veterans focused.
“We know our spots are not guaranteed,” he said. “You might be playing on the first line or the first D-pair but that could change game to game, especially if you’re not playing well.
“That pressure from the younger guys, for the older guys, it gives us motivation and kind of pushes us to be our best which I think this year we really have compared to years past.”
Rossi says he and his teammates are a closely knit group, linked by their shared experiences.
“I think for us hockey guys, especially for us seniors it’s kind of knowing all we’ve been through. We’ve battled together, most of us, all together, for four years.
“So, we know each other’s aspirations and we know we need to give it our all for each other. Especially this year, with us being seniors. At the end of the day our goal is to win a state championship. That’s what we push ourselves to hopefully achieve.”
Rossi started skating at age 4 and was playing hockey at age 6. By the time he turned 8, he was a goaltender. For the past six years, he works with goaltending coach Chris Economou.
“My first year or two I wasn’t {a goaltender} Rossi recalls, “but I think eventually our team needed a goalie and I don’t know why but I said ‘I’ll do it.’ and started learning how to play. I’ve loved it ever since.
“I think for me it was kind of knowing that I was the last guy. If everyone else got beat, I was the only one left from keeping the puck out of the net. I didn’t think about it when I was young, but looking at it now I embraced the challenge of that and it think it made me work harder.”
Rossi is considering the next steps in his hockey career. He’s exploring playing junior hockey next season and want to play in college.
Wherever his future takes him however, he will take his memories of La Salle with him.
“Just being in the room with the boys,” he said. “Like some of our practices, even the ones where we {skated hard}, there was kind of a sense of ‘It’s going to make us better and prepare us for the more important stuff coming down the road.’
And I think classes, nor even just about the hockey team. The camaraderie, showing appreciation when the sports teams did well Our swimming team won a state championship my freshman year and the all the guys in class congratulated them.”
“Jake is a model student-athlete at La Salle,” Muelronner said, “well respected by his peers, teachers, and administrators.”
Rossi reflected on how his experience at La Salle has impacted him, as a student approaching adulthood, and as an athlete.
“I think it’s helped me tremendously,” he said. “The social aspect has been everything I could have asked for. I’ve made so many lifelong friends, not just through hockey but through classes and other stuff like that. And I think it’s just kind of instilled a good work ethic in me, in the classroom and life in general. I think that’s something that I’ll always keep from La Salle.”
Salesianum had a bit too much for Malvern Prep Thursday night. Too much in terms of physicality and firepower. Liam Bell scored two goals set the pace as the Sallies downed the Friars 4-2 Thursday night in a Class AAA Flyers Cup quarterfinal at Ice Line.
Fifth-seeded Salesianum (18-3) will move to the semifinals next Thursday against top-seeded Holy Ghost Prep. Fourth-seeded Malvern Prep closes the season at 5-11.
Salesianum coach Brian LeBlanc said his team took care of the small details.
“Our game is forecheck hard and backcheck hard,” he said. “Every shift we have 110 percent in that 45-second shift and every person on all three lines did that. That’s what gets you success.”
Senior Braeden Graham, the Sallies’ captain, said he and his teammates were comfortable with the game’s physics tone.
“We knew they were going to come out hitting,” he said. “We knew they were a team that hit. we knew from watching film on them that we had to match that so playing the body tonight was really important to us to keep their skill payers contained.”
Bell have his team a 1-0 lead 10:33 into the first period off a setup from Jerry DiStefano who played the puck across the goal mouth from the right wing. Bell was perfectly positioned to tuck the disk inside the left post.
The Friars suffered a huge loss with 10:54 left in the second period when they lost senior forward Teague Murray, one of their primary offensive threats. Murray checked the Sallies’ Connor Davis into the boards near the Salesianum bench and was assessed a five-minute major penalty for a check from behind plus a game misconduct.
“You don’t want to see a kid get kicked out of the game,” said Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan. “I think the call was a little borderline but you can’t control the {referees}.
“Obviously, we needed somebody to put the puck in the net for us and that was a back breaker but you have got to find a way to step up and fill the void.”
Sean Melican extended Salesianum’s lead with 49 seconds left in the second period when he found his target from between the faceoff circles. Bell scored his second goal of the night 2:49 into the third period. From that moment on Malvern Prep was playing against the clock as much as the Sallies.
James Young got the Friars on the scoreboard 7:31 into the final session with a shot from just inside the blue line during a power play.
Salesianum’s Sean Albert and Malvern Prep’s Luke Johnson traded goals down the stretch.
Keenan credited the Sallies for their effort
“They’re a really good team,” he said. “They’re well coached. I’ve known {LeBlanc} for a few seasons now. They play fast, they play physical. Our boys I think matched the intensity, we just couldn’t find the back of the net.”
Graham says he and his Salesianum teammates aren’t finished yet. “We’re very proud of ourselves,” he said, “but we know this isn’t the end.
“A lot of the teams in the APAC have disrespected us. They don’t think we’re on the same level as they are because we play in a different league (the Prep/Catholic Division of the ICSHL).”
Ice chips—Salesianum won three Flyers Cup titles in the now-defunct New Jersey/Delaware Division, including the last one two years ago.
Salesianum 1 1 2—4
Malvern Prep 0 0 2—2
First-period goal: Liam Bell (MP) from Jerry DiStefano and Connor Davis, 10:33
Second period goal: Sean Melican (S) from Davis and Justin Celestino, 16:11
Third-period goals: Bell (S) unassisted, 2:49; James Young (MP) unassisted, 7:31 (pp); Sean Albert (S) from Braedon Graham, 9:53; Luke Johnson (MP) from Gabe Bedwell and Matt Barbacane, 13:56 (pp)
Shots: Salesianum 33, Malvern Prep 23; Saves: Gavin Needs. (S) 21; Matt Crawford (MP) 29
Hockey Happenings 