Truman 2, Council Rock North 2

WARWICK—Truman and Council Rock South had the distinction of opening the Suburban High School Hockey League National Division season against each other Wednesday night.

The result may end being a window into the future, a 2-2 standoff at Revolution Ice Gardens that saw Steven Avellino (Truman) and Logan Hurwitz (South) score two goals each.

For most of the evening the teams battled on even terms.

Avellino scored got the scoring started for the Tigers after just 91 seconds. The goal was a sign that a Truman team that has spent a lot of time skating uphill in recent seasons, particularly late in games, was looking for something more on this occasion.

“I thought that was going to give us a lot of momentum,” Avellino said. “I thought we were going to take the game after that.”

Logan Hurwitz got on the board for South at the 4:35 mark and the game remained deadlocked until the 4:35 mark of the second period when Avellinio beat South goaltender Brett Magloff on a rebound of Robert Dicrostra’s original shot. Hurwitz retied the game just 12 seconds later off a feed from Billy Harrelson and the game ended without further scoring.
Both coaches had things to feel good about after the game. Colin Murphy was behind the South bench in place of Joe Houk who was tending to family related Halloween matters.

“As of right now, our first line all played varsity last year,” Murphy said. “I love seeing them step up into those leadership positions and taking command.

“Tonight, I actually didn’t have to say much. They brought things up to the younger players and led by example.

Truman coach Bill Keyser lauded the work of Jeremy Wedul, his senior goaltender, who finished with 19 saves.

“Jeremy is a come-out-of-the-net-and-and-challenge-the-shooter goalie,” Keyser said. “He is sound in net, we have a lot of confidence in him, and with the confidence he beings to us in the net, they’re able to bring it out on the ice and play better, knowing they’ve got a good goalie behind them.”

Magloff stopped 22 of 24 shots at the other end.

By Rick Woelfel

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Truman 1 1 0—2

C.R. South 1 1 0—2

First-period goals: Steven Avellino (T) from Zackary Keyser, 1:31; Logan Hurwitz (CRS) from Billy Harrelson, 4:35.

Second-period goals: Avellino (T) from Robert Dicrosta (T) and Decklyn Dailey, 4:12; Hurwitz (CRS) from Harrelson and John Hearn, 4:24.

Shots: Truman 24, CRS 21; Saves: Jeremy Wedul (T) 19, Brett Magloff (CRS) 22.

Records: Truman (0-0-1); Council Rock South (0-0-1)

Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference Previews

The Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference is set to kick off it’s inaugural season this week.

Here is a look at all four teams.

 

St. Joseph’s Prep

Head coach: David Giacomin (sixth season)

Last year: 26-4-1; Flyers Cup and Pennsylvania state Class 3A champions

Key players: Sr. Troy Stefano (GK); Sr. Dan McGill (GK); Sr. Nick Ciampitti (D); Sr. Nick Corrado (D); Jr. Mike Urbani (D); Sr. Evan Cassidy (F); Sr. Owen Kelly (F); Sr. Austin Amato (F)

Outlook: The Hawks lost their top two lines from last year to graduation so some retooling will likely be necessary. But this should still be a formidable group.

“We hope to be a speed driven team that will play hard in all three zones,” Giacomin says. “It probably will take time to see who we truly will be. Depth will play a big role this year.”

 

Holy Ghost Prep

Coach: Gump Whiteside (10th season)

Last year: 19-6

Key players: Jr. Sean Joyce (GK); Sr. Tom McNulty (D); Sr. Andrew Serafin (D); Sr. Alex D’Angelo (F); So. E.J. Pohl (F); So. Evan Murdick (F)

Outlook: The Firebirds feature a blend of senior leadership and young talent after reaching the Flyers Cup finals a year ago. Joyce, a first-year starter in goal, will be a key to this team’s success.

 

LaSalle

Coach: Wally Muehlbronner (21st season)

Last year: 14-10

Key players: Jr. Aidan McCabe (GK); Sr. Zach Baker (D)

Outlook: The Explorers will likely field the most experienced team in the league; 15 players return from what was a young team a year ago. Muehlbronner likes the balance in his lineup. Goaltender McCabe will be a lynchpin.

 

Malvern Prep

Coach: Dave Dorman (fifth season)

Last year: 13-7-1

Key players: Sr. Dan Dougherty (GK); So. Chris Blango (D); So. Jack Constabile (D); Sr. Charlie Andress (F); Sr. Nick Martino (F); So. Kenny Connors (F); Sr. Kyle Washkalavitch (F); So. Ryan Sambuco (F)

Outlook: A young Friars squad reached the Flyers Cup semifinals a year ago; nine freshmen saw varsity time last year; a number of those returnees are expected to fill key roles this season. Dougherty offers a veteran presence in goal.

 

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Counting Down to the Debut of the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference

A new era is dawning in Philadelphia-area scholastic hockey as the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference prepares to open its 20-18-19 season.

The new league features four schools, St. Joseph’s Prep, Holy Ghost Prep, LaSalle, and Malvern Prep, all with rich hockey traditions. Collectively, they have won 23 Flyers Cups, 21 of them in Class 3A, including the last eight, 11 of the last 12, and 16 of the last 18.

The caliber of hockey in the new league promises to be superb.  David Giacomin, the head coach at St. Joseph’s Prep, the defending Flyers Cup champion, says the four schools were looking to go against good competition on a regular basis.

“I think the big thing for all four of the schools was, we wanted to play in league where it was very competitive for everybody,” he said. “We wanted to compete against a stronger schedule. We’ll play each other three times apiece plus the (non-league game), we formed an agreement with the schools in South Jersey to play them so we’re playing the same type of teams to make this a very even playing field, but it’s giving the best competition that we could possibly find in the area on a consistent basis.”

The foundation the APAC runs much deeper however. Hockey at each of the member schools is a full-fledged varsity sport and the administrations at all four institutions are committed to fitting their respective hockey programs into their school’s educational philosophy.

“it’s run through the school,’ Giacomin said. “Everything goes through them, we have the full support of the Prep community and the full backing of the entire school. So, it’s super important. It doesn’t really mean that much for hockey itself, but it means more for the kids, to be able to turn around and say ‘I play for my school’ and it is a sponsored school sport where you’re getting the full backing of your community. That means the most to them.”

The majority of the league schedule will be played in the afternoon, which Giacomin believes will stimulate student attendance at the games.

“Looking at the way we’re doing it now, if we’re able to bring kids right from the school, immediately after school and starting the game at four o’ clock, that frees them up to do all their studies in the evening,” he said. “So, we’re hoping this format is going to work to our advantage and to be able to bring a lot of the student body in.”
Holy Ghost Prep and LaSalle will play the first APAC league game in history, Friday, November 2 at 7:30 at Grundy Arena.

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AHA Showcase Concludes Friday

The fifth annual AHA Hockey Showcase concludes Friday evening at Revolution Ice Gardens.

Here is the game schedule.

 

5:45pm – Souderton vs AB Wood.  for seventh and eighth place

7:25pm – Central Bucks East vs North Penn for third and fourth place

7:35pm – Father Judge vs Central Buck South – Championship Game

9:10pm – Hatboro Horsham vs William Tennent for fifth and sixth place

Opening Night

Results from Wednesday

LaSalle 10, Pennridge 0

 

AHA Showcase

William Tennent 13, Archbishop Wood 6

Hatboro-Horsham 9, Souderton 7

 

Thursday

C.B. South 7, North Penn 4

 

Current AHA Showcase Standings

Father Judge              3-0

C.B. East.                     2-1

C.B. South                   2-1

Hatboro-Horsham   2-1

North Penn               1-2

Souderton                1-2

William Tennent 1-2

Archbishop Wood   0-3

 

Suburban High School Hockey League Counting Down to Opening Night

Besides being a night for trick or treaters, Halloween Night will also serve as Opening Night for the 2018-19 Suburban High School Hockey League season. A total of 17 teams will skate under the SHSHL banner in this, the league’s 45th season, 12 in Class 2A and five more in Class A.

The 12 Class 2A teams will, as usual, be divided into two groups of six. The Continental Division will include Flyers Cup finalist Central Bucks South along with Central Bucks East, Central Bucks West, North Penn, Souderton, and Pennridge.

The National Division will feature Council Rock South, Neshaminy, Pennsbury, William Tennent, Truman, and Abington.

The Class AA league schedule will feature 11 league games with each team playing the others once. Teams may play each other a second time to fill out a 16-game schedule; in that instance the second meeting is the one that will count in the league standings.

The Class A American Division will feature five teams; Wissahickon, Lower Moreland, Hatboro-Horsham, Upper Dublin, and Plymouth Whitemarsh. The five teams will play each other three times each for a total of 12 league games plus four additional non-league games.

Several teams will be absent from the league schedule this year. Upper Moreland and Archbishop Wood, both of which skated in Class A last year, have combined to form a single team that will not be part of the SHSHL structure this season.

Council Rock North has added players from New Hope-Solebury this year; both schools had numbers issues a season ago. This year’s combined team will skate independently.

The SHSHL umbrella will not include a Class AAA division this season. Holy Ghost Prep and LaSalle have joined St. Joseph’s Prep and Malvern Prep to form the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference.

 

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ISHL Opens Season This Week

The Intercounty Scholastic Hockey League will is kickoff its new season. A total of 36 boys teams and 14 girls teams will skate under the Intercounty League umbrella this season.

The boys’ alignment will include the Ches-Mont, Central, and Philadelphia Catholic Leagues. Some teams, including several from the aforementioned leagues, will compete in the Liberty North and Liberty South divisions, which will include teams from an assortment of existing leagues as well the state of Delaware.

The boys’ season officially begins on Thursday. Defending Class 2A Flyers Cup champion Downingtown East will open its season against Unionville on Friday, November 2 at Ice Line.

The girls’ teams, which in some cases have already begun their seasons, are divided into two seven-team divisions.

The Intercounty League is the oldest scholastic hockey league in the area. It is celebrating its 50th anniversary this season. The league was launched in 1969 as a six-team organization that included Cardinal O’Hara, Conestoga, Haverford High, Marple Newtown, St. Joseph’s Prep, and Swarthmore

 

The league alignments will be as follows

Boys

Ches-Mont League

Avon Grove

Downingtown East

Downingtown West

Unionville

West Chester Bayard Rustin

West Chester East

West Chester Henderson

Central League

Conestoga

Garnet valley

Haverford

Lower Merion

Penncrest

Radnor

Ridley

Springfield (Delco)

Strath Haven

Catholic League

Archbishop Ryan

Cardinal O’Hara

Delaware Military Academy

Father Judge

Roman Catholic

Salesianum

Liberty North

Boyertown

Owen J. Roberts

Perkiomen Valley

Spring Ford

Archbishop Carroll

Monsignor Bonner

Bishop Shanahan

Liberty South

Harriton

Interboro

Marple Newtown

Appoquinmink

Kennett

St. Mark’s

Girls

National Division

OJR/Boyertown

Unionville

West Chester Bayard Rustin

Garnet Valley

Downingtown West

Lower Merion

West Chester East

 

American Division

Avon Grove

Bishop Shanahan

Lansdale Catholic

Conestoga

Penncrest-Strath Haven

Radnor

West Chester East 2

 

Two of the girls’ teams will be co-op teams

 

 

Tennent’s D’Aurizio Sees the Big Picture of the AHA Showcase

William Tennent has dropped its first two games in the Athletes Helping Athletes hockey showcase.

The Panthers fell to Central Bucks East 7-4 Wednesday night at Revolution Ice Gardens after falling to Souderton 9-6 in their opener on October 5.

But for Tennent coach Nick D’Aurizio and his players, there is a lot more to the AHA event than what’s on the scoreboard.

Now in his ninth season behind the Tennent bench, D’Aurizio has been involved with the five-year old AHA showcase since its inception.

“We’re happy to be a part of it,” he said. “We were happy to be part of this in Year One and we were lucky enough to have some good teams early on; we won it two years in a row.”

D’Aurizio credits tournament organizer Eric Tye for helping the event reach its current level of prominence. “Eric does a great job,” he said. “The impact that (the showcase) has on the AHA and the Bucks County Admirals, it makes it all worth it. And it really gets the season off on a really good note. Everybody’s upbeat, everybody enjoys themselves, it’s a great month.”

D’Aurizio says the showcase has allowed his program and the players in it to connect with the special-needs athletes who benefit from AHA’s efforts. “Year after year, they love working with the AHA kids,” he said, “the Admirals kids.

“They always embrace the (honorary) captains that we have. It’s just awesome to see. Every year they ask me ‘Hey, when is the Admirals skate?’ It’s something they really look forward to and that makes you feel good as a coach because it means your kids are good people. They’re not only good players but they’re good people. And that’s what we try to breed here at Tennent and again, we’re thrilled to be a part of it.”

 

 

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