Category: Scholastic Hockey News

Flyers Cup Continues

The 41st Flyers Cup tournament continues Wednesday night with four Class A quarterfinal games. All four games will be played ar Ice Line in West Goshen Township

 West Chester East 5  Lower Dauphin 3

Hershey 4, Strath Haven 0  

 West Chester Bayard Rustin 4 Unionville 1

Palmyra 4 Springfield Delco 1

Semifinals on Monday at Ice Line

1 West Chester East vs 5 Hershey   6:15

2 Pamyra vs 3 Bayard Rustin           8:15

 

The Class AA quarterfinals are scheduled for Thursday

1 Central Bucks South vs 8 Boyertown 6:20 at Hatfield Ice

4 North Penn vs 5 Downingtown West 8:30 at Hatfield Ice

3 Perkionen Valley vs 6 Council Rock South 6:15 at ice Line

10 Pennridge vs 2 Haverford 6:30 at Skatium

Winners to semifinals on March 11 or 12

 

The Class AAA quarterfinals are scheduled for Thursday

1 Holy Ghost Prep vs 8 Bishop Shanahan  6:30 at Grundy Arena

4 Malvern Prep vs 5 Father Judge 8:15 at Ice Line

3 St. Joseph’s Prep vs 6 Cardinal O’Hara 8:45 at Skatium

2 La Salle vs 7 Roman Catholic   7:30 at Hatfield Ice

Winners to semifinals on March 11 or 12

 

Council Rock South 7, Parkland 5

BRISTOL— Six minutes into Tuesday’s second period, Council Rock South’s path to the second round of the Flyers Cup tournament seemed wide open. The Golden Hawks, who were coming off a SHSHL championship game win, held a 6-1 win over Parkland and seemed to be in command.

Instead, sixth-seeded South had to battle to the final buzzer to hold off the 11th-seeded Trojans 7-5 in a Class AA first-round game at Grundy Arena. The Golden Hawks indeed advanced, to Thursday’s quarterfinals against third seed Perkiomen Valley (6:15 at Ice Line) but there were some anxious moments along the way.

The evening got off to an explosive start with three goals in less than five minutes. Bill Harrelson and Jeremy Purcell scored for South before and after a tally from Parkland’s Eric Dennis to give their side a 2-1 lead after just 4 minutes, 47 seconds. Harrelson and Michael Roby added additional goals to give the Golden Hawks a 4-1 lead after one period.

David Mueller extended the Hawks’ lead 4:53 into the second period before Harrelson completed a hat trick at 10:07. Even after Joshua Bower scored for the Trojans with 3:11 left in the middle period, the Hawks were seemingly in control.

But then came the third period and the Trojans, who reached the Flyers Cup finals in 2013, didn’t roll over over. First, Alexander Doe scored a goal with 8:18 remaining in regulation. Then Dennis, the Trojans’ leading scorer, pocketed his second goal of the night during a power play with 6:30 left and then completed his own hat trick with 1:45 remaining.

After having a comfortable lead, the Golden Hawks found themselves hanging on.

“We made a lot of bad turnovers in the neutral zone,” Harrelson said, “and it ended up costing us, I think. We need to control the puck, get in deep, play our game really because (Parkland) knocked us off it a lot. We started losing our heads and taking bad penalties (four in the third period and five of the six in the game) and it was killing us. But we pulled out the win.”

The issue was settled with Michael Roby scored an empty net goal for South with 27 seconds remaining. But South coach Joe Houk remarked that his team will have to play better to have hopes of claiming a fourth Flyers Cup title.

“What we did last week (in the SHSHL final) we did not do this week,” he said. “We’ll have to regroup a little bit. It’s just the little things that make a difference and we didn’t do them tonight.”

Parkland coach Chad Loomis lamented his team’s slow start. “That was definitely our downfall,” he said. “I think we had a hard time just marching their intensity and adjusting to their game.
“We had an opportunity to take a little break (after the second period) and talk about it and make the necessary adjustments. We just kind of ran out of time.”

Parkland 1 1 3—5
Council Rick South 4 2 1—7
First-period goals: Billy Harrelson (CRS) from Brennen Wright and Antii Autere, 2:45 (pp); Eric Dennis (P) from Joshua Bower, 4:12; Jeremy Purcell (CRS) from David Mueller, 4:47; Harrelson (CRS) from Andrew Darling and Purcell, 9:40; Michael Roby (CRS) from Autere and Douglas Lopez, 12:01.
Second-period goals: Mueller (CRS) unassisted, 4:53; Harrelson (CRS) from Roby and Purcell, 10:07; Bower (P) from Alexander Doe and Dennis, 12:49 (pp)
Third-period goals: Doe (P) from Zachary Averill and Hunter Dolan, 7:42; Dennis (P) unassisted, 9:30 (pp); Dennis (P) from Luke Yocum, 14:15; Roby (CRS) from Autere, 15:33 (en).
Shots: Parkland 29, CRS 25; Saves: Vincent Bylick (P) 18, JImmy Sweeny (CRS) 24

 

Pennridge 4, Neshaminy 3

BRISTOL—Since the calendar turned to 2020 Pennridge has been a hockey team in the rise. On Tuesday night the Rams took another step forward, a big one, by coming from behind in the third period for a 4-3 win over Neshaminy in a Class AA Flyers Cup first-round game at Grundy Arena.

The 10th-seeded Rams trailed 2-0 and 3-2 before Aeryk Lehrhaupt scored on a shot from the right faceoff circle with 55 seconds left in regulation to send he and his mates into the quarterfinals on Thursday against second seed Haverford (7:00 at the Skatium).

Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna praised his team’s effort after being eliminated in the opening round of the SHSHL playoffs by Council Rick South. “It says so much about them,” he said. “I don’t have words of how proud I am of them. That young, they shouldn’t be making all the plays they did.”

The seventh-seeded ‘Skins used a methodical approach to build a 2-0 first-period lead. David McColgan got his team on the scoreboard 4:46 into the opening period, beating Pennridge goaltender Ryan Pico from close range. Thomas Gallagher gave his team a two-goal lead at 10:07.

The Rams responded in the second frame. Andrew Lizak beat Brian Nelson from the deep right circle off a right corner dump to get the Rams on the board 3:18 mark before Richie Shanks tied the game at 9:51.

Neshaminy retook the lead when Joey DeMatteo scored with 6:10 left in the middle session and stayed in front when Nelson denied Lehrhaupt on a two-on-one with 14 seconds left in the period.

The Rams got their second power play chance of the third period at the 8:31 mark when Neshaminy drew a bench minor for having too many men on the ice. Blake Stewart, the Rams’ captain, scored the tying goal with 5:40 left in regulation as the prelude to the finish.

Stewart noted that Pennridge opened its season back in October with a loss to Neshaminy but had natured since then. “We came to this game a much stronger team,” he said. “We just wanted it more, we came out hungry, and we just wanted to move on. No one really wanted us here and no one thought we would be here.”

It was a frustrating evening for Neshaminy coach Matt DeMattteo. “They were the hungrier team today,” he said of the Rams. “They skated harder. They did the things you need to do to win the game and we just did not play a good game as a team.”

Pennridge 0 2 2—4
Neshaminy 2 1—3
First-period goals: David McColgan (N) from Rob Seewagen and J.J. Hathaway, 4:46; Thomas Gallagher (N) from Matt Buchinski and Joey DeMatteo, 10:07;
Second-period goals: Andrew Lizak (P) unassisted, 3:18; Richie Shanks (P) from Blake Stewart and Andrew David; DeMatteo (N) from Nolan Geria and Seewagen, 11:50.
Third-period goals: Stewart (P) from Shanks, 10:20 (pp); Aeryk Lehrhaupt from Jack Lowery and Conrad Frisch, 15:05.
Shots: Pennridge 32, Neshaminy 30; Saves: Ryan Pico (P) 27, Brian Nelson (N) 28

Class AA Flyers Cup Bracket Opens Up on Tuesday

Tuesday, March 3 Class AA

Central Bucks South 4, Conestoga 1

Boyertown 4 Central Bucks East 1

North Penn 4, Ridley 1

Downingtown West 7, Pennsbury 3

Perkiomen Valley 8, Dowingtown East 5

Council Rock South 7, Parkland 5

Pennridge 4, Neshaminy 3

Haverford 8   Central Bucks West 0

 

We’ll have recaps of the two games at Grundy Arena later this evening at www.hockeyhappenings.wordpress.com

 

 

The Grundy Skate Shop is a full-service hockey pro shop inside the Grundy Arena, offering a great selection of equipment, brands and various services.  We do a full range of repairs as well as offer custom hockey jerseys. Owner Bill Keyser, has over 25 years experience in the industry and specializes in skate sharpening, including profiling. Please visit our Facebook page or stop in and check us out!

If you’re a fam of women’s golf or have a daughter who plays golf or would like to, we encourage you to check out our Women’s Golf Report podcast  at www.buzzsprout.com/64464. Our guest is LPGA professional Tori Fitzgerald.

Lower Dauphin 6, Plymouth Whitemarsh 4

Noah Leach and Cole McCully scored three goals each as Lower Dauphin edged Plymouth Whitemarsh 6-4 Monday night in a Class A Flyers Cup first-round game at Ice Line.

The result sends the ninth-seeded Falcons into Wednesday’s quarterfinals; they’ll face top-seed West Chester East at Ice Line in a scheduled 6:15 start. Eighth-seeded Plymouth Whitemarsh closes its season at 18-2. Monday marked its only loss of the season to a Class A team.

McCurley scored a shorthanded goal with 2:19 left in regulation to give ninth-seeded Lower Dauphin a 5-4 lead.  Leach scored into an empty net 16 seconds later.

Lower Dauphin built a 3-0 lead in the second period on a goal from Leach and two from McCulley in a span of just 1:23 but Jake Weikel, Dean Keller, and Thomas Corcoran scored for the Colonials in a span of 2:40 to tie the game before Leach scored his second goal of the game to put Lower Dauphin up 4-3 with 2:29 left in the period.

Logan Westerfer tied the game for the Colonials 3:34 into the third period.

The game included 17 penalties, including four against the Colonials following the final buzzer. Westerfer received a major penalty and a game misconduct for his tole  in that altercation while Colin Franzoni received a major and a match penalty.

The Colonials’ Dean Keller and Lower Dauphin’s Ezra Oyler had received game misconducts earlier in the game, Keller for boarding just past the midway point of the second period and Oyler for a check from behind late in the third.

A complete box score is available HERE

 

First Round Results (Monday)

Unionville 11, Wissahickon 2—Steve Cicchino scored three times in the second period as sixth-seeded Unionville pulled away to a win over the 11th-seeded Trojans at Hatfield Ice. The game was tied 1-1 after the first period before the Indians broke the game open.

Springfield Delco 10, Hatboro-Horsham 0—Zach Crain scored two goals and eight other players scored on goal each as the seventh-seeded Cougars eliminated the 10th-seeded Hatters at Ice Line.  Ryan Krtyos had a goal and assists, while Aidan Zappo added three assists. The contest was halted early in the third period via the 10-goal rule. The Hatters closed their season 11-7-0-1.

West Chester East 8, Lower Merion 5

Strath Haven 4, Sun Valley 0

Hershey 10 West Chester Henderson 0

 West Chester Bayard Rustin 12, Garnet Valley 2

Palmyra 6, Radnor 1

Here are the Class A quarterfinal pairings for Wednesday, March 4

All four games at Ice Line

1 West Chester East vs 9 Lower Dauphin 6:15

4 Strath Haven vs 5 Hershey

3 Bayard Rustin vs 6 Unionville 6:30

7 Springfield Delco vs 2 Palmyra 8:30

 

 

 

Plymouth Whitemarsh 8, Wissahickon 3

HATFIELD— The celebration resembled ine that traditionally follows the presentation of the Stanley Cup. The Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials completed their climb to the summit Thursday night with an 8-3 win over Wissahickon in the Suburban High School Hockey League Class A championship game.

A large and enthusiastic audience at Hatfield Ice looked on as the top-seedbed Colonials won for the 18th time in 19th starts. Dean Keller and Luke Weikel each scored twice to help their teammates capture the second SHSHL title in school history; the first came in 2009.

“It feels fantastic,” said Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Josh Aiello. “This has been not just a long season coming (but) a lot of years coming.

“These guys have trained day in and day out … I’m just so proud of our players.”
Wissahickon (10-9) built a 3-1 lead by the 2:19 mark of the second period on goals from Ty Schiff, Alex Carrozza, and Nicholas Hussa, but the Trojans never scored again.

Jack Mishkin, Keller, and Ben Lubas scored goals in a span of 2:59 to give the Colonials a 4-3 lead and additional goals from Aidan Keogh sand Jake Weikel made it a 6-3 game before the period ended. Luke Weikel added both his goals in the third period.

The Colonials were just as effective inside their own zone, keeping Bryan Garry, Wissahickon’s top offensive threat, off the scoresheet.

“They did a good job of that,” said Wissahickon coach Ken Harrington. “We made some mistakes like (allowing breakaway opportunities).”

Harrington said penalties took his team out of its rhythm. “When you’re killing or on the power play, it distrusts everything,” he said. “They kind of messes up your flow, We weren’t able to play our third line that much.”

Keller, the Plymouth Whitemarsh captain, reflected on winning a championship.”It means everything,” he said. “The last four years we’ve really been working hard. We’ve been starting in August, just getting ready for games like these and its great that it finally paid off.”

Wissahickon goaltender Chris Shea became was involved in an altercation after they final buzzer and received a major penalty and a game misconduct. That brings with it an automatic one-game suspension.
Ice chips—Both teams will begin Flyers Cup play on Monday night. The Colonials,, who are seeded eighth, will face Lower Dauphin in an 8:45 game at Ice Line. Wissahickon, the 11th seed, will take on Unionville at 6:45 at the same rink.
Wissahickon 2 1 0—3
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1 5 2—8
First-period goals: Ty Schiff (W) from Nicholas Hussa, 3:25 (pp); Dean Keller (PW) from Conlan Carpenter, 6:06; Alex Carrozza (W) unassisted, 6:46.
Second-period goals: Nicholas Hussa (W) from Schiff and A.J. Pounds. 2:19 (pp); Jack Mishkin (PW) from Zach Spera, 6:16 (pp); Keller (PW) from Mishkin, 8:21; Ben Lukas (PW) from Aidan Keogh and Jake Weikel, 9:15; Keogh (Pw) from Keller, 13:53; Jake Weikel (Pe) from Keller, 15:26.
Third-period goals: Luke Weikel (PW) from Matt Flynn, 4:48; Luke Weikel from Jake Weikel, 13:56.

A Bit of Hockey History

Hockey Happenings has received some new verified historical information. Consequently, this article has been revised.

Central Bucks South, which will face Council Rock South for the SHSHL Class AA title tonight at Hatfield Ice (6:30) is trying to win a league title for the eighth time.

The Titans previously won titles in 2005 ’12, ’13, and four straight form 2015-18. That Germantown Academy also claimed four straight titles from 1998-2001, the last four of the 11 recorded SHSHL championships in their history. That is an all-time record

Council Rock South’s only SHSHL title as a distinctly separate entity came in 2010. Before the Council Rock School District opened its second high school, Council Rock won SHSHL titles in 1984, ’87, ’88, ’89, 90′ ’91 and ’97. The Indians’ five consecutive titles from 1987-91 is a record.

Most Championships

Germantown Academy 11

Central Bucks South       7

Council Rock                    7

Abington                         6

 

 

Wissahickon and Plymouth Whitemarsh will meet Thursday night for the SHSHSL Class A title. The Trojans, who are the defending champions, also won SHSHL Class A titles in 2006, 2010, and 20015 and possibly 2003 (the historical record is unclear).

Plymouth Whitemarsh, which was part of the SHSHL in 1973-74, claimed its only title in Class A in 2008-09

 

 

The documentation of the history of the SHSHL is an ongoing effort. Anyone with information on the history of the league is urged to contact us HERE or contact Commissioner Kenny Haas.

We are still seeking definitive answers to the following questions.

 

* The teams that won the Class AA championships in 1996 and 2007.

* The team that won the Class A titles in 2003 and 2004.

 

Please feel free to contact is if you have information that would help us resolve these questions (clippings, game programs, notes, etc).

 

Wissahickon 10, Hatboro-Horsham 6

WARWICK—After spotting their opponent a significant head start, Wissahickon took control of its Suburban High School Hockey League Class A semifinal against Hatboro-Horsham Wednesday night.

Trailing 3-0 in the first period, the Trojan scored nine goals in the equivalent of one period of hockey and went on to a 10-6 win at Revolution Ice Gardens. The third-seeded Trojans (10-8 overall) will face top-seeded Plymouth Whitemarsh in Thursday’s final (8:30) at Hatfield Ice.

Prior to the opening faceoff, Wissahickon figured to be playing uphill. Leading scorer Nicholas Hussa and Daniel Glazier were serving suspensions while Ben Junker was sidelined with an injury. With next week’s Flyers Cup opener against Unionville already set, it would have been understandable had the Trojans struggled.

Alex Carrozza, their captain, admitted that focusing was a bit difficult. “A little bit,” he said. “Especially since we played them the last game of the regular season (a 9-1 win for the Hatters last Friday). They kind of put a couple goals in on us. It was tough for us to play. We were able to come back and actually put a good team together.”

The second-seeded Hatters (11-6-0-1) were in command at the start, thanks to a goal from Nick Long and two from Aidan Esack, which gave them a 3-0 lead just 6:07 into the first period.

The flow of the game changed however when Carrozza scored for the Trojans with 54 seconds left in the opening session.

“I thought it was important to score that goal.” said Wissahickon coach Ken Harrington.”

It wasn’t apparent immediately, but Carrozza’s effort was a preview of what was to come.  Wissahickon’s Bryan Garry and the Hatters’ Seth Lerner traded girls early in the second period before the Trojans scored seven times in a span if 5 minutes, 49 seconds to take a 9-5 lead with 48 seconds left in the 17-minute period.

Garry scored three times in that span. A.J. Pounds added two goals during the spurt, while Carrozza and Nolan Ryan also scored.

Hatter coach Gianni Lafratta felt his team got away from what it defensively in the opening period. “We had guys in the slot, we kept everything outside,” he said.” Gary, I think, had three shots on net.

“We had that three-goal lead and the little things started to fall apart, the passing, the presence in the defensive zone.”

Garry added a fifth goal in the third period. He also had an assist.

 

Ice Chips—Plymouth Whitemarsh defeated Truman 12-2 in the evening’s other semifinal. Aidan Keogh scored four goals for the Colonials before the game was called with 10:54 left in the third period. Luke Weikel, Colin Franzoni, and Dean Keller added two goals each.

Wissahickon 1 8 1—10

Hatboro-Horsham 3 2 1—6

First-period goals: Nick Long (HH) unassisted, 1:28; Aiden Esack (HH) from Alex Howieson and Jack Steinberg, 3:31; Esack (HH) from Marcus Soucy, 6:07; Alex Carrozza (W) from Nolan Ryan, 16:06.

Second-period goals: Bryan Garry (W) from Michael Bonanni, 3:23; Howieson (HH) from Tarek Eisabbagh, 4:38; A.J. Pounds (W) from Ty Schiff, 10:23; Garry (W) unassisted, 10:32; Carrozza (W) unassisted, 11:27 (pp); Seth Lerner (HH) from James McCoy and Howieson, 12:19; Pounds (W) from Garry, 13:17; Nolan Tyan (W) uunassisted. 15:40; Garry (W) from Pounds and Schiff 15:49; Garry (W) from Pounds, 16:12

Third-period goals: McCoy (HH) unassisted, 4:13; Garry (W) unassisted, 15:36

Shots: Wissahickon 47, Hatboro-Horsham 27; Saves: Chris Shea (W) 20, Joe Gambino (HH) 37

 

Class AA Semifinals

Central Bucks South 5, Neshaminy 2

Council Rock South 4, North Penn 2

Thursday Schedule

6:30 Central Bucks South vs. Council Rock South

8:30 Plymouth Whitemarsh vs. Wissahickon

Both games at Hatfield Ice

 

 

 

La Salle 4, Holy Ghost Prep 1

BRISTOL—Few things are more impressive or imposing than a goaltender standing tall. Aidan McCabe did just that for La Salle Wednesday afternoon to help the Explorers successfully defend its Founders Cup title. The senior netminder stopped 30 of the 31 shots he saw as La Salle bested Holy Ghost Prep 4-1 at Grundy Arena to retain the championship of the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference.

The Explorers (15-13), who have won six of their last seven games will carry an abundance of momentum with then into next Thursday’s opening round of the Class AAA Flyers Cup where they are seeded second behind the Firebirds (15-5-1).

lasalle_holyghost-1.jpg

LaSalle captains Nathan Benner (L) and Ryan Ferry accept the Founders Cup from APAC Commissioner Jim Britt (photo by Liz Diretto)

Holy Ghost Prep, the top seed in the APAC playoffs, had the better of the play in the early going; at one time they had an 8-1 edge in shots, but McCabe kept them at bay and the second-seeded Explorers broke through at the 5:15 mark when David Kimmel took a shot from the left point, a single stride inside the blue line that beat Firebird netminder Sean Joyce. Keenan Schneider made it 2-0 with 56 seconds left in a period that saw McCabe make 13 saves.

“We had a good warmup,” McCabe said, “and we were doing a good job of keeping the shots to the outside so I could see the puck and track it in.”

Senior forward Ryan Ferry, one of La Salle’s captains, said McCabe’s early efforts energized his teammates. “McCabe has been good all year,” he said. “I expect nothing less.”

The Firebirds took advantage of an extended power play to score the only goal of the second period after the Explorers’ Chris Wnek and Kimmel drew back-back-penalties. Byron Hartley took a shot from the right circle that Dan Behr tipped past McCabe at the 11:15 mark.

But that was all the offense the hosts could generate. No one was more impressed with McCabe’s performance than Holy Ghost Prep assistant coach John Seravalli, who took charge behind the bench in the absence of Gump Whiteside, who missed the game because of illness.

“He made every good save,” Seravalli said. “He kept his rebounds intact. They blocked shots when we got shots off and he made great saves.”

David Brunner extended LaSalle’s lead with a goal at the 8:28 mark of the third period. Schneider scored his second goal of the game into an empty net with 25 seconds remaining.

Ferry noted that it took time for this year’s team to meld. “We just got closer as a team,” he said. “We had a lot of young kids on our team this year, a loot of seniors that were on JV last year so we didn’t know each other that well. We got a lot closer, started understanding how to play with reach other, and got s lot more chemistry.”

Ice Chips—La Salle will face Roman Catholic next Thursday in its Flyers Cup opener while the Firebirds will go against Bishop Shanahan. The Firebirds had a 31-25 edge in shots.

La Salle 2 0 2—4
Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 0—1
First-period goals: Collin Keiser (L) unassisted, 5:15 (sh); Keenan Schneider (L) from David Kimmel, 15:04.
Second-period goal: Dan Behr (HGP) from Byron Hartley and Evan Mudrick, 11;15 (pp)
Third-period goals: David Bruner (L) from Collin Keiser, 8:28; Schneider (L) unassisted, 15:35 (en).
Shots: La Salle 25, Holy Ghost Prep 31; Saves: Aidan McCabe (L) 30, Sean Joyce (HGP)) 21