North Penn 4 Downingtown East 3

It was a contest of championship final caliber. Over the course of 51 minutes at Hatfield Ice Arena Thursday night, North Penn and Downingtown East both proved themselves worthy of playing for a Flyers Cup championship.

But only the Knights will get that opportunity.

Nolan Shingle’s goal with 3:43 left in regulation, his second goal in a span of 88 seconds, got the Knight past the Cougars 4-3 in a Class AA semifinal. The goal was Shingle’s third of the game and put the second-seeded Knights (19-3) into net Wednesday’s final against top-seeded Council Rock South (8:45 at Hatfield Ice). The third-seeded Cougars close their season at 15-7.

In the parlance of pugilism, both team got off the canvas. North Penn took a 2-0 lead into the third period on the strength of a power-play goal from Cole Pluck 11:49 into the first-period, which was followed by Shingle’ first goal of the night 7:48 into the second frame

But the Cougars survived those heavy blows and counterpunched. Ryan Nichols got Downingtown East on the scoreboard 4:19 into the third period and Anderson Frain tied the game with 6:44 left in regulation.

When Nichols scored his second goal of the game with 4:36 left in regulation the Cougars appeared to have the upper hand.

Shingle however did not agree with that line of reasoning. He tied the game 3:43 left on the clock before delivering the game winner that started out as a breakaway. Downingtown East goaltender Lucas Fleuty made the initial save on Sam Norton before Shingle followed up.

“Downingtown East is a great hockey team,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “Hats off to them, they’re well coached. We knew, going into the third, up 2-0 that it probably wasn’t going to end 2-0. I didn’t necessarily want to get down 3-2 but I’m proud of the boys. They continued to work, continued to battle.”

Downingtown East coach Mark Bobko praised his team’s resilience.

“Our guy showed a lot of heart,” he said. “Being down 2-0 going into the third, fighting back, and getting a lead.

“What I was telling them in the locker room was in games of this magnitude the margin of error is so tight that if you don’t expend every ounce of energy and focus it can tip the other way just as easily and that’s kind of what we saw here tonight.”

Downingtown East 0 0 3—3

North Penn 1 1 2—4

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

Flyers Cup Dates Set

By Rick Woelfel

Dates have been set for the 2020 Flyer Cup tournament. The 41^st edition of the tournament will be contested from March 2 through March 19 and feature the top high school teams in Eastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey, and Delaware.

Champions will be crowned in five divisions, including Class AAA, Class AA and Class A in Pennsylvania, as well as a girls’ division plus a separate championship for teams from South Jersey and Delaware.

The size of the tournament field is expected to be slightly reduced in 2020. The Class AAA field will be include a maximum of eight teams and the girls’ division will once more feature four schools. The Class AA and Class A fields however are expected to be capped at a maximum of 16 teams each. The size of the NJ-Delaware field is undetermined.

First-round games are set to begin on Monday, March 2 with championship games tentatively set for March 17, 18, and 19. The three Pennsylvania boys’ champions will face their counterparts from Western Pennsylvania in state championship games on Saturday, March 21.

The defending champions are as follows:

Class AAA La Salle

Class AA Downingtown East

Class A West Chester Rustin

Girls Unionville

SJ/Delaware Eastern Regional

The Flyers Cup was first played in 1980 and featured a four-team field. In the years since, it has been recognized as the premier event on the scholastic hockey schedule.

State Championship Games

Check this link for streams of Saturday’s state championship games

tribhssn.triblive.com .

Game Times

11:00 Class A West Chester Rustin 11, Montour 3 —West Chester Rustin has now won six consecutive Class A Pennsylvania Cups. That is a record in any classification.

1:30 Class AA Pine Richland 3, Downingtown East 0—Third state title for Pine Richland. Its previous wins came in 2006 and ’07.

4:00 Class AAA LaSalle 6, Allegheny 3—San Lipkin and Michael Casey combined for five goals as the Explorers captured the Pennsylvania Cup for the sixth time. Details coming soon.

Downingtown East 7, Downingtown West 2

Ryan Prestayko scored four goals to lead Downingtown East to a 7-2 win over Downingtown West in Sunday’s Class AA Flyers Cup final at the Wells Fargo Center. Michael Bolger added three assists for the Cougars, who captured their third straight Cup, matching the record in Class AA. Bolger was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

Prestayko scored twice to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead with 4:13 left in the first period. David McQuiston scored the Whippets to make it a 2-1 game after the first frame.
Andrew Ceglia, Theo Velia, and Chris Boyd scored for the Cougars in the second period to break the game open.

Matt Flinn scored for Downingtown West early in the third period before Prestayko added two additional goals.
Downingtown East is the third Class AA team to win three consecutive Flyers Cups, joining Archbishop Carroll (2000-’02) and Haverford High (2005-’07)

Downingtown West 1 0 1—2
Downingtown East 2 3 2—7

Flyers Cup Superlatives

LaSalle which will face off against St. Joseph’s Prep in Sunday’s Class AAA final, holds the record for the most Flyers Cup titles with 10. Malvern Prep is next with 9. West Chester Rustin, which faces Hershey for the Class A title on Sunday, has won eight. The Unionville girls have also won eight. Unionville will face West Chester Rustin for the girls title Sunday.

LaSalle (10)— Class AAA in 1996, ’98, 2008, ’09, 2011-14, 2016

Class AA in 1999.

Malvern Prep (9)— Class AAA in1987, 1992, ’93, ’97, 2001-05

West Chester Bayard Ruston (8)—Class A in 2009, ’10, ’12, 14-18

Unionville Girls (8)— 2010-13, 20015-18

Malvern Prep (2001-05) and West Chester Rustin (2014-18) share the record of five consecutive Flyers Cup titles

Sunday Schedule:

9:45 Girls Final West Chester Rustin vs. Unionville

2:00 Boys Class A Final Unionville vs. Hershey

4:30 Boys Class AA Final Downingtown East vs. Downingtown West

7:00 Boys Class AAA Final LaSalle vs. St. Joseph’s Prep

The three boys’ games will be available for viewing HERE on Sunday

Downingtown East 3, Pennridge 2

Michael Bolger’s goal with 6:15 left in the third period proved to be decisive as Downingtown East held off Pennridge 3-2 Thursday night in a Class AA Flyers Cup semifinal at Ice Line.

The two-defending Flyers Cup and state champion Cougars Downingtown West in Sunday’s championship game (4:30 at the Wells Fargo Center).

Top-seeded Downingtown East took a 1-0 lead on Ryan Johnston’s power-play goal with 2:48 left in the first period but the fourth-seeded Rams answered back when Blake Stewart scored with 36 seconds remaining in the opening session.

Nick Rosati gave the Cougars the lead for good when he scored with 3:56 remaining in the second period and Bolger’s tally gave Downingtown East a two-goal lead.

Eric Slater scored for Pennridge with 4:24 left in regulation to cut the lead in half and the Rams kept up the pressure, generating several chances in the final minutes and hitting a post with 30 seconds to play.

The Cougars had a 34-26 edge in shots.

Pennridge 1 0 1—2

Downingtown East 1 1 1—3

Three Flyers Cup finals will be available Sunday HERE beginning with the Class A final between Hershey and West Chester Rustin at 2:00. The Class AA final between Downingtown East and Downingtown West will follow at 4:30, followed by the Class AAA matchup between LaSalle and Holy Ghost Prep at 7:00.

Flyers Cup Schedule for Wednesday, March 6

Class AA First Round

Downingtown East 4 Council Rock South 1

Parkland 6, Neshaminy 4——See story on this site

Pennridge 6, Garnet Valley 5—The fourth-seeded Rams trailed 5-4 going into the third period, but Eric Slater and Frankie Rota scored goals to secure the win over the 13th-seeeded Jaguars.

North Penn 9, Pennsbury 5—The fifth-seeded Knights scored five goals in the second period to dispatch the 12th-seeded Falcons at Hatfield Ice

Conestoga 5 Perkiomen Valley 1

Haverford 7 Central Bucks East 1

Boyertown 4 Central Bucks West 0

Downingtown West 5 Central Bucks South 2

Quarterfinals will be Monday, 3/11

Class AAA Quarterfinals

Holy Ghost Prep 9 Father Judge 5

St. Joseph’s Prep 4, Cardinal O’Hara 0

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2019 Flyers Cup Schedule

Here is the complete Flyers Cup 2019 game schedule

Game times and sites are subject to change

Class AAA

Quarterfinals

# 1 1 LaSalle has a bye

Wednesday, March 6

#2 4 Holy Ghost Prep vs. 5 Father Judge 8:40 at Grundy

#3 3 Cardinal O’Hara vs 6 St. Joseph’s Prep 6:15 at Skatium

Thursday, March 7

#4 2 Malvern Prep vs 7 Roman Catholic 8:00 at Ice Line

Semifinals

Thursday, March 14

LaSalle vs Winner of Game 2 7:00 at Hatfield

Winners of Games 3 and 4 6:30 at Ice Line

Championship Game

Sunday, March 17 7:00 at Wells Fargo Center. 7:00

Class AA

First Round: All Games Wednesday, March 6

# 1 1 Downingtown East vs Council Rock South 5:30 at Ice Line

# 2 8 Neshaminy vs. 9 Parkland 7:00 at Grundy

# 3 4 Pennridge vs. 13 Garnet Valley 8:40 at Hatfied

# 4 5 North Penn vs. 12 Pennsbury 7:00 at Hatfield

# 5 3 Conestoga vs. 14 Perkiomen Valley 8:50 at Ice Line

#6 6 Haverford vs. Central Bucks East 8:00 at Skatium

# 7 7 Boyertown vs. 10 Central Bucks West 7:10 at Ice Line

# 8 2 Central Bucks South vs. 15 Downingtown West 7:15 at Rev. Ice Gardens

Quarterfinals: All Games March 11

Winners of Games 1 and 2 6:15 at Ice Line

Winners of Games 3 and 4 7:00 at Hatfield

Winners of Games 5 and 6 8:00 at Ice Line

Winners of Games 7 and 8 7:15 at Rev. Ice Gardens

Semifinals

Thursday, March 14

Upper Bracket 6:15 at Ice Line

Wednesday, March 13

Lower Bracket 7:00 at Hatfield

Championship Game

Sunday, March 17 at Wells Fargo Center 4:30 P.M.

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Class A

First Round

# 1 1 Bayard Rustin vs. 16 Sun Valley 3-5 at Ice Line, 6:30

#2 8 Lower Merion vs. 9 O.J. Roberts 3-4 at Skatium, 8:00

#3 4 West Chester East vs. 13 Wissahckon 3-4 at Ice Line, 5:30

#4 5 Palmyra vs. 12 Springfield Delco 3-5 at Ice Line, 8:15

#5 3 WC Henderson vs 14 Kennett 3-4 at Ice Line, 7:10

#6 6 Hershey vs. 11 Plymouth Whitemarsh 3-4 at Ice Line, 8:50

#7 7 Lower Moreland vs 10 Unionville 3-4 7:45 at Rev. Ice Gardens

#8 2 Strath Haven vs. Hatboro-Horsham 3-5 at Aston, 7:30

Quarterfinals: All Games March 7

Winners of Games 1 and 2 5:30 at Ice Line

Winners of Games 3 and 4 6:45 at Ice Line

Winners of Games 5 and 6 7:10 at Ice Line

Winners of Games 7 and 8 7:30 at Aston

Semifinals

Tuesday, March 12

Upper Bracket 7:00 at Ice Line

Wednesday, March 13

Lower Bracket 6:30 at Ice Line

Championship Game

Sunday, March 17 at Wells Fargo Center 2:00

Girls

Semifinals

1 Unionville has a bye

2 West Chester East vs West Chester Rustin 8:45 at Ice Line

Championship Game

Sunday, March 17 at Wells Fargo Center 9:45 A.M.

Unionville vs. Semifinal winner

Flyers Cup Seedings 2019

A total of 42 high school hockey teams have been selected and seeded for the 40th annual Flyers Cup tournament.

Sixteen teams each will comprise the boys’ Class A and Class AA brackets while seven more will compete in Class AAA and three others will meet in a girls’ competition.

First-round games will be played March 4-6 and the tournament will continue from there before the champions are crowned at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday, March 17

Two-time defending Flyers Cup and state champion Downingtown East has drawn the top seed in Class 2A. Central Bucks South, which lost to the Cougars in overtime in last year’s championship game, is seeded second, followed by Conestoga, Pennridge, and North Penn.

Haverford is seeded sixth, followed by Boyertown, Neshaminy, Parkland, and Central Bucks West. Central Bucks East is seeded 11th, followed by Pennsbury, Garnet Valley, Perkiomen Valley, Downingtown West, and Council Rock South.

The field includes eight teams from the Suburban High School Hockey League, seven from the Intercounty Scholastic Hockey League and one from the Lehigh Valley Scholastic Hockey League.

Five-time defending Flyers Cup and State Class A champion Bayard Rustin is once again the top seed in its bracket, followed by Strath Haven, West Chester Henderson, West Chester East, Palmyra, Hershey, Lower Moreland, and Lower Merion.

Owen J. Roberts is seeded ninth, followed by Unionville, Plymouth Whitemarsh, Springfield-Delco, Wissahickon, Kennett, Hatboro-Horsham, and Sun Valley.

LaSalle, which captured the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference regular-season title, is the top seed in Class AAA. The Explorers will be trying to win the Flyers Cup for the 11th time and will be the only boys’ team in any division with an opening-round bye.

Malvern Prep is seeded second followed by Cardinal O’Hara, Holy Ghost Prep, Father Judge, St. Joseph’s Prep, and Roman Catholic.

Unionville will have the bye in the girls’ bracket. West Chester East and West Chester Rustin will meet on March 13 for a place in the championship game.