GA 4, Springside-Chestnut Hill 0
By Rick Woelfel

OAKS—Germantown Academy’s approach on the ice might best be described as workmanlike rather than stylish. It’s an approach that has paid off all season, most notably on Tuesday afternoon.

The Patriots kept up the pressure all afternoon in the course of a 4-0 win over Springside-Chestnut Hill in an Independence Interscholastic Hockey League playoff semifinal at Oaks Center Ice. The win puts top-seeded GA (12-1) in Thursday’s championship game against Pennington (3:50 start) at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 Arena.

Tim Landmesser scored two goals and assisted on another as the Patriots won their 11th straight game, recorded their fourth straight shutout, and pressured their opponents for a full 45 minutes.

“That’s what we’ve been talking about,” said GA coach John Fields. “Just bring relentless on the puck. Just keep pressuring and pressuring.”

Fields’ team did just that in the opening period although it took the Patriots some time to find the back of the net. The fourth-seeded Blue Devils (3-5-3) got a stellar effort from sophomore goaltender Liam Peterson kept his team in the game by making 16 saves in the first frame. “Their goaltender was outstanding,” Fields said. “He’s amazing. Getting the puck past him is just so difficult.

It took GA 12 minutes, 44 seconds to score its first goal. Moseley Schwartz scored a power-play goal on a slapshot from the left point while the Blue Devils’ Matt Kestenbaum was in the box serving a tripping penalty.

Landmesser, who assisted on Schwartz’s goal, scored one of his own just 41 seconds later to give his team a 2-0 advantage. “I think we had good pressure on them,” he said. “We were pretty much all over them, we were moving the puck well.”

The Patriots extended their lead in the third period Parker Chisholm added a goal at the 4:59 mark before Landmesser scored into an empty net at the 6:09 mark during a Springside-Chestnut Hill power play. GA outshot the Blue Devils 37-26.

Landmesser, a junior, says that the experience the Patriots have playing together is a major component of their success. “I think it’s great,” he said. “The ability to build chemistry with another player, especially if you’ve been playing on the same line, really helps.”

* Fittingly enough, on a day when the U.S. Women’s Olympic team bested Olympic Athletes from Russia, there were five females on the ice, four Blue Devils and one Patriot.

Springside-Chestnut Hill 0 0 0—0
Germantown Academy 2 0 2
First-0period goals: Moseley Schwartz (GA) from Tyler Dolan and Tim Landmesser, 12:44 (pp); Landmesser (GA) from Andrew Miao and Tyler Dolan, 13:25.
Third-period goals: Parker Chisholm (GA) from Miao, 4:59; Landmesser (GA) unassisted, 6:09 (en).
Shots; Springside-CHA 26, Germantown Academy 37; Saves: Liam Peterson (SCHA) 32, William Gross (GA) 26.
Records: Springside-Chestnut Hill Academy (3-5-3) Germantown Academy (12-1)