Flyers Cup Eligible Announced

The Flyers Cup Committee has released a list of 54 teams who are eligible for invitations to the 46^th annual Flyers Cup Tournament.

The 54 teams will skate in four divisions.

The list of eligible teams is as follows.

Girls (7)

Avon Grove

Conestoga

Downingtown West

Pennridge

Radnor

West Chester East

West Chester Henderson

Class A (19)

Council Rock North

Garnet Valley

Harriton

Hatboro-Horsham

Hershey

Kennett

Marple Newtown

Moorestown

Palmyra

Penncrest

Plymouth Whitemarsh

Radnor

Springfield-Delco

Springfield Montco

Strath Haven

Unionville

WC East

WC Henderson

Wisshickon

Class AA (18)

Abington

Avon Grove

Boyertown

Central Bucks East

Central Bucks South

Central Bucks West

Conestoga

Council Rock South

Downingtown East

Downingtown West

Haverford

Kingsway

Lower Merion

North Penn

Pennridge

Pennsbury

Souderton

Spring-Ford

Class AAA (10)

Devon Prep

Father Judge

Haverford School

Holy Ghost Prep

La Salle

Malvern Prep

Owen J. Roberts

Perkiomen Valley

Salesianum

St. Joseph’s Prep

The size of the Flyer Cup field will be at the committee’s discretion. There are no automatic bids.

Hockey Happenings is looking for interested individuals to assist with our coverage of scholastic ice hockey in the Greater Philadelphia area. Interested individuals should have writing experience, be knowledgeable about ice hockey, and be capable of meeting deadlines.

For further information contact Hockey Happenings at rwoelfel2013@gmail.com or at 215-260-9575.

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Father Judge 6 Haverford School 1

PHILADELPHIA—One team was embarking on a new journey. The other was continuing an existing one. So, it was when Father Judge and The Haverford School crossed paths Monday night at the Flyers Skate Zone Northeast.
It was the Crusaders who prevailed, scoring three goals in the third period to pull away to a 6-1 win as both teams opened their ICSHL/Prep-Catholic campaigns.

Owen Myers had a major impact on the evening’s events, scoring the game’s first goal and later assisting on three others to help Judge improve its record to 5-1-1 overall.

“I thought we played really good,” the senior said. “I thought we did all the little stuff right.”

Myers says it’s important for he and his teammates to maintain good playing habits regardless of the score or opponent.

“Last year, we had a little bit of a problem with that,” he said. “We would play some teams, and then we would go into games where we were facing good teams and it would translate. I think recently, with this team, we’ve been doing things pretty good and I think it’s going to translate well.”

Myers’s goal with 3:21 left in the opening period was the only goal of the first frame thanks the efforts of Ike Matoney in the Haverford School (0-2) net. Fifteen of the freshman’s 36 saves came in the first period.

Myers picked up the primary assist on Jaden Golden’s goal 5:07 into the second period but Harry Neilly answered for the Fords just 20 seconds later.

Judge got control of the game when Gold scored off a shorthanded breakaway 8:26 into the middle period while his teammate Joseph Mullen was serving a cross-checking penalty. Myers went in alone on Matoney, who denied him, but Gold scored off the ensuing rebound.

The Crusaders added three additional goals in the third period; one each from Mullen, Jake Pound, and Matt McFadyen.

Judge coach Steve Meade encouraged his team to stay patient.

“If you have a goalie that’s made a lot of big saves,” that means you have a lot of big chances,” he said. “[Matoney] had to make the saves. You can’t get frustrated. Just continue to do what you’re doing and they’ll fall. You’ve just got to get the goalie to move side to side and the puck will go in.”

Meade has been impressed with the way his team has started the season.

“We weren’t too sure how we were going to be looking this year,” he said. “We had a lot of young guys coming on the team. So, to start off the way did, I’m proud of them. I’m proud of the way they’ve done it.”

Haverford School, which is making its ICSHL debut this season, Monday’s game was a step in the maturation of a young hockey team. Ten of the 15 players who dressed for coach Thomas Lindberg were underclassmen.

“I think the biggest piece of this group is they’re young,” Lindberg said. “This is our first year at this level and they’ve got to learn, night in and night out, what it takes to compete and be relevant. And, that’s all part of the learning process.”

Haverford School 0 1 0—1

Father Judge 1 2 3—6

First-period goal: Owen Myers (FJ) from Jake Ruppert, 13:39

Second-period goals: Jaiden Golden (FJ) from Myers and Joseph Mullen, 5:07; Harry Neilly (HS) from Henry Cagiusio, 5:25; Golden (FJ) from Myers, 8:26 (sh)

Third-period goals: Mullen (FJ) from Golden and Myers, 4:11; Jake Proud (FJ) from Chris Ferrero and Gavin Culver, 11:07; Matt McFadyen (FJ) from Nolan Rauch, 11:37

Shots: Hav. School 20, Father Judge 42; Saves: Ike Matoney (HS) 36, Jonathan Dilliplane (FJ) 19

For further information contact Hockey Happenings at rwoelfel2013@gmail.com or at 215-260-9575.

Crossover Countdown

Eleven of the 12 scheduled crossover games between SHSHL and ICSHL teams have been completed. Scores are listed below; the ICSHL leads the series six victiories to five.

Friday 11-8 Strath Haven 3 Wissahickon 1

Friday 11-8 Downingtown East 6 C.B. South 1

Wednesday 11-13 Pennridge 6 Boyertown 3

Thursday 11-14 Marple-Newtown 7 Hatboro-Horsham 4

Thursday 11-14 Neshaminy 2 Conestoga 0

Friday 11-15 North Penn 6 Downingtown West 2

Friday 11-15 Spring-Ford 8 Pennsbury 7

Friday 11-15 Avon Grove 7 C.B. East 0

Wednesday 11-20 Lower Merion 5 Souderton 4

Thursday 11-21 Plymouth Whitemarsh 4 Radnor 2

Thursday 11-21 C.R. South 2 Haverford 1 OT

Thursday 12-5 Abington at Harriton 8:00 at Skatium

For further information contact Hockey Happenings at rwoelfel2013@gmail.com or text at 215-260-9575.

C. R. South 2 Haverford 1 OT

BRISTOL—Haverford and Council Rock South both embrace strong hockey traditions. The Fords are one of the oldest scholastic hockey programs in the area and have won five Flyers Cup titles. The Golden Hawks have been in existence for a little over two decades and have claimed three Flyers Cup titles.

It seemed only fitting that the two schools meet in the ongoing SHSHL-ICHSL series. And so they did Thursday night at Grundy Arena with the host Golden Hawks prevailing 2-1.

Pete Pereborow scored the winning goal amidst a scramble in front of the net with 1:42 remaining in overtime to keep South unbeaten at 5-0.

Haverford’s Joseph Cianciarulo (left) and Council Rock South’s Brendan Rooney take a faceoff Thursday night. Sean Weisner photo

“[The puck] deflected off somebody,” he said. “I don’t know if it deflected off our own player or the underneath netting seam. I just know that I saw that puck going forward. I had to bat it home to secure it, that’s all I had to do.”

The first two periods were scoreless and the two goaltenders, South’s Evan Ayala and Haverford’s Dylan Vieira passed every test.

The Hawks spent a fair amount of time shorthanded. They killed off four penalties in the first period. In the end they were accessed seven of the game’s 12 penalties.

Jordan Sarne scored the evening’s first goal 7:13 into the final period, beating Vieira with a forehander from the right faceoff circle.

Five minutes later South drew its sixth penalty of the game; Jackson Mosley was sent to the box for roughing. It took just 12 seconds for Connor Lill to score the tying goal for Haverford (3-1).

South wound up having to kill one more penalty before regulation play ended. The number of penalties was a source of concern for Jake Houk who filled in for his father Joe behind the Hawks’ bench.

“My dad told me before the game ‘When the cat’s gone, the mice come out to play,’” the younger Houk said. “I think some of the kids on our team that lose their heads a little bit kind of showed it tonight. But, I was proud of them for staying composed after a few of them.”

Haverford coach John Povey took an abundance of positives out of the evening.

“I’m extremely happy with my guys and how they played tonight,” he said. “We battled all the way to near the end there to get into overtime. It’s 50-50 at that point.

“We found a way to tie the game up. I told my guys to walk out of this building with their heads up high because they played a really good game tonight.”

Lill said the early-season test against a quality opponent taught him a lot about his own team.
“I learned we don’t give up,” he said.“

Ice Chips—Haverford claimed Flyers Cup titles in 1992 in Class A, and three consecutive Class AA Crowns from 2005-07, and a fourth Class AA Title in 2021. South’s Cup titles, all in Class AA, came in 2009, ’11, and ’12. They also won a state championship in 2012… The Golden Hawks unveiled a set of gold alternate jerseys Thursday night.

Haverford 0 0 1 0—1

C.R. South 0 0 1 1—2

Third-period goals: Jordan Sarne (CRS) from Jonah Weston and Jeremy Rahner, 7:13; Connor Lill (H) from Brendan McCormick and Shawn Yoder, 12:26 (pp)

Overtime goal: Pete Pereborow (CRS) unassisted, 3:18

Shots: Haverford 26, C.R. South 31; Saves: Dylan Vieira (H) 29 Evan Ayala (CRS) 25

Malvern Prep 4 Holy Ghost Prep 2

BRISTOL—There wasn’t a lot of slash and sizzle to what Malvern Prep was doing on Tuesday afternoon. But hockey games are not decided on style points.

Two third-period power-play goals in a span of 71 seconds allowed the Friars to overcome a 1-0 deficit and they went on from there to defeat Holy Ghost Prep 4-2 in an APAC game at Grundy Arena.

Teague Murray scored two goals and assisted on a third as Malvern Prep (2-1 overall) opened conference play with a win.

The host Firebirds (2-1, 1-1 in the APAC) took a 1-0 lead on Logan Barnes’ goal 1:37 into the second period on a play that started off a scramble for a loose puck the neutral one. Murray set up House Young for the game-tying goal which came with 3:58 remaining in the period and erased the deficit.

“I think that’s kind of our identity this year,” Murray said. “We went down, we’ve been down early in every game we’ve played but we keep battling. That’s just kind of our identity.”

The Firebirds were undone by self-inflicted wounds. With 33 seconds left in the second frame Brady Logue was flagged for interference, giving Malvern Prep a split power play.

Murray gave his team the lead 52 seconds into the third period when he topped home Matt Barbacane’s shot from the left point.

Just 19 seconds later Malvern Prep was awarded another power play when Holy Ghost Prep’s Anthony Valeriote was whistled for interference. Pax Hoishik delivered a power play goal just 52 seconds after that to give the Friars a two-goal lead.

Brian Kinniry gave the Firebirds a last-gasp opportunity when he beat Matt Crawford in the Malvern Prep net with 53 seconds to go but it took just 15 additional seconds for Murray to respond.

Afterward, he spoke of the importance of shepherding his younger teammates through the rigors what for some was their first APAC game.

“It’s super important,” the senior said. “They’ve got to know there’s not going to be any flashy goals when you’re playing good teams like Ghost and La Salle. You’ve got to get gritty goals.

Murray notes that Malvern Prep’s power play has improved since the season kicked off.

“The first two games were a little rusty,” he said, “but now we’re starting to pick it up and we were really clicking this game.”

Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan cited his team’s blur-collar approach.

“We had a lot of grit that game,” he said. “The first period was completely back and forth, up and down the ice, got some shots on net, got some power plays late in the second and early in the third and we capitalized on them.

“Right now, we’re feeling good with where we’re at.”

• Crawford finished with 22 saves. Matt Salita made 17 saves for Holy Ghost. Salita is the third goaltender the Firebirds have started in three game. each has played one full game.

Malvern Prep 0 1 3—4

Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 1—2

Second-period goals: Logan Barnes (HGP) from Colin Bara, 1:37; House Young (MP) from Teague Murray, 13:02

Third-period goals: Murray (MP) from Matt Barbacane and Cole Scarbinsky, :52 (pp); Pax Hoishik (MP) unassisted, 2:03 (pp); Brian Kinniry (HGP)) from Bara, 16:07; Murray (MP) unassisted, 16:32

Shots: Malvern Prep 21, Holy Ghost Prep 23; saves: Matt Crawford (MP) 22, Matt Salita (HGP) 17

Henderson 8 Downingtown East 3

West Chester Henderson scored five unanswered goals in the third period on the way to an 8-3 win over Downingtown East Monday night in a battle of ICSHL Ches-Mont League unbeatens at Ice Line.

Blake Platz scored four goals for the Warriors, who improved to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the Ches-Mont. Nick Denadai, Cole Navazio, Anthony Barthol, and Andrew Denny all scored single goals for Henderson, which broke the game open after taking a 3-2 lead into the third period. Hunter Haas added four assists.

Brody Matthews scored a goal for Downingtown East (4-1, 1-1) and added two assists.

“Tonight game was a great win for the Henderson program,” said Warrior coach Tom Aughey. The group played hard and stuck to the game plan.”

Denny gave the Warriors a quick lead just 21 seconds into the opening period. Anderson Frain tied the game for the Cougars at the 7:04 mark.

Platz scored a pair of goals 22 seconds apart early in the second frame to give the Warriors a 3-1 lead. Christian McCuch scored for the Cougars to make it a one-goal game with 3:14 left in the period but Platz completed a hat trick 3:01 into the final period to spark a barrage of five goals in a span pf 11 minutes, 5 seconds. That spurt included Platz’s fourth goal of the night which came with 2:54 remaining.

Aughey said the key to the win was the play of goaltender Matthew Cieslukowski in the second period when the senior made seven of his 17 saves.

“The score was not indicative of the play within the game” Aughey said. “It was a big game from Matt. “He came up with plenty of big saves in the second to hold the lead for us.

“Platz and Haas took control in the third and we buried the opportunities we had.”

West Chester Henderson 1 2 5—8

Downingtown East 1 1 1—3

First-period goals: Andrew Denny (H) from Hunter Haas, :21; Anderson Frain (DE) from Christian McCuch and Brody Matthews, 7:04

Second-period goals: Blake Platz (H) from Declan Herr and Nicholas Denadai, 1:02; Platz (H) from Haas and Andrew Denny, 1:24; McCutch (DE) from Matthew Latch and Matthews, 13:46 (pp)

Third-period goal: Platz (H) from Haas and Denny, 3:01; Anthony Barthol (H) from Harrison Aller and Herr, 5:53; Colin Navazio (H) from Declan Dowd, 7:55; Denaldi (H) from Platz and Denny, 11:35 (pp); Platz (H) from Haas, 14:06; Matthews (DE) from Latch, 15:40

Shots: West Chester Henderson 28, Downingtown East 20; Saves: Matthew Cieslukowski (H) 17, Lucas Fleuty (DE) 20

North Penn 6 Downingtown West 2

EAST GOSHEN TOWNSHIP—It was the sort of game one would expect to see during the second week of March as opposed to the third week of November. North Penn and Downingtown West demonstrated why they expect to be taken seriously in the weeks and months to come.

For the record, the Knights prevailed 6-2 in the SHSHL-ICSHL crossover matchup Friday night at Ice Line but the affair was much more closely contested than the score would indicate; it was a one-goal game until the closing minutes of the third period.

It was an evening the Knights celebrated their fourth consecutive victory of the young season, but North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis was quick to point out it was most of all an occasion to celebrate high-school hockey.

“I’m so glad we started doing the crossover games this year,” he said. “Downingtown East and C.B. South played last week, Boyertown-Pennridge and us and Downingtown West tonight.

“Heretofore, you don’t see these teams until March. It gives you an opportunity to play them and build high-school hockey in this area.”

Downingtown West coach Brett Mackel, who saw his team drop to 2-2 on the season, echoed those sentiments.

“I like that they added the crossover games this year,” he said. “Especially teams that we usually wouldn’t see until the Flyers Cup. It’s great having different teams come in, especially teams we’re not used to seeing.”

Sam Norton scored two goals for North Penn. Nolan Shingle was also credited with two goals while James Boyle produced a goal and an assist.

Goals from Bryce Schuler and Ryder Jones gave the Whippets a 2-1 lead 7:54 into the second period. Norton tied the game for North Penn with 2:18 left in the period and Boyle’s power-play goal 77 seconds later gave his team the lead for good at 3-2.

“I thought we came out a little flat,” Boyle said, “but then we picked it right back up. Then we got back on them.”

Shingle extended North Penn’s lead on a shot from the deep right wing with 6:29 left in regulation. His second goal was a power-play effort with 4:46 left after the Whippets were accessed a bench minor.

Norton added his second goal of the evening with two minutes to play when he lofted the puck from his own blue line into an empty net.

Aidan Quigley earned the win in goal with 26 saves, many of them achieved with heavy traffic in his field of view.

Mackel felt his team performed well in some areas but was lacking in others.

“We had a lot of penalty kills that we ended up killing off,” he said. We gave up two power-play goals, but other than that our kill was good.

Our goaltender [Justin Adams] gave up two power-play goals but he played pretty well.

“Negatives. We didn’t shoot the puck as much as we needed to tonight. Our defensive zone was pretty sloppy.”

North Penn 1 2 3—6

D-Town West 0 2 0—2

First-period goal: Gabriel Dunn (NP) from Aidan Quigley, 2:48

Second-period goals: Bryce Schuler (DW) from Ryder Jones, :44; Jones (DW) from Reed Surak, 7:54; Sam Norton (NP) from Chase Kelly Del Ricci, 14:42; James Boyle (NP) from Norton and Luke Haftel. 15:59

Third-period goals: Nolan Shingle (MP) from Cole Pluck, 10:31; Shingle (NP) from Boyle and Pluck, 12:16 (pp); Norton (NP) unassisted, 15:00 (en)

Shots: North Penn 35, Downingtown West 28; Saves: Aidan Quigley (NP) 26, Justin Adams (DW) 29

Neshaminy 2 Conestoga 0

BRISTOL—Shutouts are rare events in high-school hockey. But Neshaminy’s Colin Thurnau took center stage Thursday night, stopping all 36 shots he saw as the ‘Skins bested Conestoga 2-0 at Grundy Arena in the latest installment of the SHSHL-ICSHL interleague series.

It was the first win for Neshaminy in three starts this season. Conestoga, which was without several regulars, dropped to 1-3.

Anthony DiCrosta and Ryan DeMatteo scored the two goals but it was Colin Thurnau who shouldered the biggest share of the load.

“You’ve just got to stay focused the whole time,” the senior said. “I was tracking the puck very well.

“But, I also want to give a quick shout out to the D-line for shutting it down tonight, and to [assistant coach Aric Miller] for stepping in all alone, he coached a great game tonight.”

Miller was behind the Neshaminy bench Wednesday night, filling in for the absent Bill Mooney. He noted that the win was a total team effort.

“Everybody in the lineup did what they needed to do to get this win tonight,” he said.

Miller celebrated Thurnau’s performance.

“Colin had a solid fame tonight,” he said. He’s our backbone back there. We knew we could count on him, putting him in there, and he really stood up to the task tonight. It wasn’t easy, he faced 36 shots. But, he got the job done, and our boys stepped up for him in the end.”

DiCrosta gave the ‘Skins the lead 3:44 into the second period off a setup from Eli Kirsh. For most of the night that was all the hosts could do against Max Haimson, who turned in a solid performance himself in the Conestoga net.

DeMatteo extended the Neshaminy lead 5:59 into the third period when he concluded a sprint up the right wing by scoring the evening’s second and last goal.

Conestoga coach Mike Graves left the building looking for goals.

“It was good back and forth game,’ he said. “I think we’ve got to find a way to bury some rebounds and get to the hard areas.

“We had a lot of perimeter stuff tonight, but nothing real dangerous.”

Graves credited both goaltenders. “We have a luxury with {Haimson] in the back for us,” he said, “and they had a solid goaltender tonight too. He did a great on smothering all the rebounds and making the first save look real easy.”

Conestoga 0 0 0—0

Neshaminy 0 1 1—2

Second-period goal: Anthony DiCrosta (N) from Eli Kirsh, 3:44

Third-period goal: Ryan DeMatteo (N) from Liam Mooney, 5:59

Shots: Conestoga 36, Neshaminy 24; Saves: Max Haimson (C) 22, Colin Thurnau (N) 36

Pennridge 6 Boyertown 3

HATFIELD—A fast start paid big dividends for Pennridge Wednesday night. The Rams jumped in front with two early goals and went on to a 6-3 win over Boyertown at Hatfield Ice Arena as a part of the SHSHL-ICSHL series.

James Rush scored twice for the defending Class AA Flyers Cup and state champions. Shane Dachowski added two goals and two assists as Pennridge improved to 2-1 on the season.

The Rams got off to a fast start. Rush scored off a turnover at center ice, beating Boyertown netminder Tyler Griffith to give his team a 1-0 lead 3:01 into the first frame. He made it a 2-0 game just 18 seconds later.

Logan Brown answered for the Bears (3-2) 8:59 into the period but Dachowski made it a 3-1 game with 1:53 remaining.

“It’s always great to get those early goals,” Rush said. “It gives your team the momentum for the rest of the game and you just try to maintain the lead from that point on.”

The Rams had just 12 skaters a available because of injuries and their coach Jeff Montagna was pleased with how his team stepped up in one of the most anticipated matchups of the interconference challenge series, against an opponent that reached the Flyers Cup semifinals last spring. The Bears were limited to just six shots in the opening period

“I thought we played a tremendous game,” Montagna said. I thought we did a great job in the slot area.

“I told [his team] Thais is a a blueprint for us. The starters scored, everyone else keep the puck out of our net and do the dirty work, the dirty things that not every team wants to do.”

Dachowski and Rush scored goals not quite six minutes apart to increase the Pennridge lead to 5-1 with 7:45 left in the middle period. Joseph Bilotta scored for Boyertown with 5:24 left in the second session and added his second goal of the night with exactly two minutes remaining in the game, Ladan Bishop brought down the curtain when he added a goal with 56 seconds remaining,

Boyertown coach Joe Slowik praised the way his team competed.

“I thought our team competed very well,” he said. “They’re the defending state champs so you’ve got to give them some credit.

“But I thought we competed really well and I thought we had a lot of self-inflicted wounds. We turned a lot of pucks over, we didn’t get exits when we should have and definitely weren’t very good in front of either net.”

Rush said the win against a top-tier opponent told the Rams a lot about themselves.

“You get to see what our team is going to look like this year,” he said, “what kind of opponents you can really handle. I think we got a good understanding of how good we will be this year.”

• The win was the first for the SHSHL in the three games that were played through Wednesday night; ICSHL teams won the first two.

Slowik commented on what the crossover games do to promote high-school hockey.

“I love it,” he said. “I think it’s great. When they put this on our schedule, the crossover game, I thought it was great because the only time we play each other is in the Flyers Cup and that’s in March.

“I would like to see maybe even a little more of these crossover games. I think it’s great for high-school hockey here in Pennsylvania.”

Boyertown 1 1 1—3

Pennridge 3 3 1—6

First-period goals: James Rush (P) unassisted, 3:01; Rush (P) Shane Dachowski and Ladan Bishop, 3:19; Logan Brown (B) from Lucas Remick, 8:01; Dachowski (P) from Jared Garber, 15:07

Second-period goals: Dachowski (P) unassisted, 3:28; Ruah (P) from Garber and Dachowski, 9:15; Joseph Bilotta (B) from Evan Kurtas and Riley Berger, 11:36

Third-period goals: Bilotta (B) from Weston Bieber and Jax Drost,15:00 Logan Biahop (P) from Dachowski, 16:06 (pp)

Shots: Boyertown 29, Pennridge 32; Saves: Tyler Griffith (B) 26, Jacob Winston (P) 26

SHSHL and ICSHL to Stage Interleague Series

Tonight marks the start of a new partnership between the Suburban High Hockey League and the Inter County Scholastic Hockey League; the first two in a series of 12 interleague games between the two leagues as part of the regular-season schedule that will be played between tonight and December 5.

Tonight, Wissahickon from the SHSHL will face Strath-Haven from the ICSHL at Ice Works in Aston and Downingtown West from the ICSHL will host Central Bucks South from the SHSHL at Ice Line (the full schedule is listed below).

The two leagues square off against each other annually in the Flyers Cup tournament and regular-season interleague games are not new. This year’s series of games however, have more significance because the results will be considered by the Flyers Cup Committee when evaluating potential invitees.

Beyond the Flyers Cup tournament however, the series shines a spotlight on high-school hockey. Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna is looking forward to the crossover games.

“We go into the Flyers Cup every year blind [against the Inter County League teams] and how we match up,” he said. I know they’ve talked about it for a couple years and the coaches were all on board. It’s something I think is long overdue.

“I think for both leagues, to get a chance to see teams from the other league and it breaks up the monotony of the season and it gives you a different look altogether. It’s really cool thing they’re doing.”

Montagna likes playing interleague games as a change of pace,

“We maybe go down to Ice Line and whoever we’re playing brings a lot of fans in for a regular-season game,” he said. “It’s a playoff atmosphere you don’t always get when we’re playing teams two or three times a year.”

Haverford High coach John Povey says the series will be a boost for the high-school version of the sport.

“It’s something we’ve been trying to do for some time now,” he said. We just think it’s great for high-school hockey. When you get teams from each league, you’re going to get good hockey games and all that does promote the league promote the sport.

“It’s something we’ve been trying to do for a while and being able to make it happen this year is really good and it’s good for high-school hockey.”

Povey is no stranger to interleague games.
“We’ve been doing preseason games with each other for the last 10-plus years,” he says. “This is just a little bit different because it’s going to have a lot more meaning to it.”

When Shaun McGinty was playing high-school hockey at Council Rock High in the mid-1990s under legendary coach Paul Gilligan the Indians competed regularly against teams from throughout the area, including Delaware and Chester Counties.

McGinty notes that Gilligan wanted his teams to face the strongest opposition available.

“His mindset was to compete with the best to be the best.” McGinty said. “He always pushed his program and us as players.”

As a head coach himself, McGinty has regularly sought out top-flight non-league opposition.

“I’ve done it here from the time I was here with [former coach Tom Coyne},” said, “and since Tom’s left I’ve kept it going with Haverford and Father Judge. I’ve played Ghost and La Salle and those teams are great.

We’ve played Haverford and we’ve played Conestoga. It’s good that the leagues are doing it again. It’s great for the kids and good for the coaches to see what others leagues have.”

McGinty notes that games like the one his team will play Friday night against Downingtown East are tutorials of sorts for younger players who aspire to compete at the school varsity level.

“We try to sell our middle school here,” he said. When we’re in playoffs, we try to get the middle school kids come out to see the big boys play and promote the idea that ‘This is where I’ve got to get too, this is where I have to work to to get to this level of play. You’re going to see some talent. It’s a great way to promote the game and I think it’s huge.”

Crossover Schedule

Friday 11-8 Strath Haven 3 Wissahickon 1 at Ice Works

Friday 11-8 Downingtown East 6 C.B. South 1 at Ice Line

Wednesday 11-13 Prnnridge 6 Boyertown 3 at Hatfield

Thursday 11-14 Marple-Newtown at Hatboro-Horsham 7:10 at Hatfield

Thursday 11-14 Conestoga at Neshaminy 7:20 at Grundy

Friday 11-15 North Penn at Downingtown West 7:50 at Ice Line

Friday 11-15 Pennsbury at Spring-Ford 7:15 at Oaks

Friday 11-15 Central Bucks East at Avon Grove 8:00 at Ice Line

Wednesday 11-20 Lower Merion at Souderton 7:20 at Hatfield

Thursday 11-21 Radnor at Plymouth Whitemarsh 7:10 at Hatfield

Thursday 11-21 Haverford at Council Rock South 7:20 at Grundy

Thursday 12-5 Abington at Harriton 8:00 at Skatium