Tag: Ches-Mont League

W.C. East 5 Avon Grove 2

West Chester East is playing some of the best hockey in the area and the timing couldn’t be better. The Vikings scored three times in the third period Wednesday afternoon en route to a 5-2 Ches-Mont League win over Avon Grove at Ice Line.

With just 12 days remaining until the start of the ICSHL playoffs and just 11 until the field for the Flyers Cup tournament is announced, the Vikings have won three straight games and five of their last six to conclude their league schedule. With one crossover game remaining (against Springfield-Delco on February 21) East now stands at 9-8 overall and 5-7 in the Ches-Mont and is listed fifth in the Class A Flyers Cup rankings that were released on Monday.

Avon Grove, which had won three of its last four prior to Wednesday and is hoping to earn a place in the Class AA Flyers Cup, dropped to 8-9-1 overall and 5-6-1 in the Ches-Mont.

Tyler Stutzman opened the scoring for the Vikings 2:23 into the first period. Evan Finnicum responded for the Devils with a power-play goal at 12:19.               

Jackson Zwirzina’s goal with 1:45 left in the middle period gave the Vikings the lead for good. James                Hayes extended that lead 2:48 into the final period.

Mason Hitt’s power-play goal a minute later made it a one-goal game once more but first Finn and then Hayes added additional goals to solidify the Vikings’ grip.

West Chester East coach Eric Wolf said the Vikings, who have won three Flyers Cup titles in the past four years, has been playing with a sense of urgency of late.

“I think it’s a combination of things,” he said. “I was really stressing to the guys back in December ‘Hey, look at your record. You’re trending toward not getting in the Flyers Cup right now.

“That’s where we were trending. We had one win in the Ches-Mont at the turn of the calendar. That’s not satisfactory for our program. “We’re still very strong team and we were not playing up to our capabilities.”

The Devils were missing four regulars from their lineup.

“We were shorthanded,” said Avon Grove coach Sean Cannon, ‘But I liked our work effort and our energy.”

Avon Grove 1 0 1—2

West Chester East 1 1 3—5

First-period goals: Tyler Stutzman (WCE) from Konrad Finnin, 2:23; Evan Finnicum (AG) from Parker Thompson, 12:43 (pp)

Second-period goals: Jackson Zwirzina (WCE) from Noah Rosenthal, 15:15

Third-period goals: James Hayes (WCE) unassisted, 2:48; Mason Hitt (AG) from Finnicum, 3:48 (pp); Finn (WCE) unassisted, 4:31; Hayes (WCE) unassisted, 11:19 (sh)

Shots: Avon Grove 26, W.C. East 22; Saves: Jacob Calabretta (AG), 17 Cameron Chandler (WCE) 24

West Chester East 3 Kennett 1

West Chester East was in shutdown mode Monday night.

Three different Vikings scored goals en route to a 3-1 Ches-Mont League win at Ice Line.

Sean Farrell, Jaxon Swirzina, and Braedon McVeigh scored for East (7-8, 3-7 in the Ches-Mont) but the Vikings were arguably most impressive inside their own blue line; they limited the Blue Demons (9-4-1, 6-3-1) to just 18 shots on goal with 12 of the 18 coming in the final period.

West Chester East coach Eric Wolf said his team stepped up after a 5-1 loss to Downingtown East last Friday night. The Vikings now won three of their last four starts.

“We got it together tonight,” he said. “Kennett is a very top-heavy team. They have a very good line and a very good line.

“So, we were focusing on ‘We’re not going to let that line beat us. The goaltender might beat us; there’s nothing really we can do about that but we didn’t want to let that line beat us.”

Sean Farrell have East a 1-0 lead 5:26 into the first period when his shot from the right point deflected past Kennett goaltender Auden Mott. The goal came one second after a roughing penalty to the Blue Demons Ben Fisher expired.

The Vikings extended their lead in the second frame. Jaxon Swirzina made it a 2-0game at the 1:41 mark before Braedon McVeigh extended his team’s advantage with a sharp-angle shot from the deep left wing that eluded Kennett goaltender Aiden Mott.

After managing a total of just shots on goal in the first two periods combined, Kennett came out swarming in the third, energized in part by a power-play chance that materialized when East’s James Hayes was called for tripping just 34 seconds into the period.

It took just 12 additional seconds for Kennett to get on the scoreboard. Colin Kelly scored the goal from close range via a feed from Lucas Mott who started the play from behind the Viking net.

The Blue Demons kept the pressure on from there and had a 12-6 shot advantage in the third period but were unable to solve Chandler.

Kennett’s last chance came when East’s Ben Peruto was called for tripping with 2:09 left in regulation the Vikings’ penalty killing unit was in top form. It limited the Blue Demons to one shot during the power play and that shot was not on goal; Kennett spent a few brief spurts in the offensive zone.

  • Kennett won te first meeting of the season between the two teams 3-2 in overtime on November 7.

Kennett 0 0 1—0

West Chester East 1 2 0—3

First-period goal: Sean Farrell (WCE) unassisted, 5:26;

Second-period goal: Jaxon Swirzina (WCE) from Teagan Stutzman and Ben Peruto 1:41; Braedon McVeigh (WCE) from James Hayes, 5:26

Third-period goals: Colin Kelly (K) from Lucas Mott :47

Shots: Kennett 18, W.C. East 31; Saves: Aiden Mott (K) 28, Cameron Chandler (WCE) 17