HATFIELD—Making the transition from the regular season to the Flyers Cup tournament requires stepping up. On Thursday night, Wissahickon was unable to make the climb.
Alex Holloway and Edward Jefferis each contributed two goals and two assists as West Chester Henderson prevailed over the Trojans 5-1 in a Class A quarterfinal game at Hatfield Ice.
The sixth-seeded Warriors (5-7-2) earned a place in Tuesday’s semifinals while third-seeded Wissahickon concluded its season at 12-2.
The Trojans came into the game averaging nine goals per game but never got into high gear against a Henderson team that kept them under pressure all evening long.
“They could keep up with (Henderson’s) speed,” said Wissahickon coach Ken Harrington,” but they would make decisions a little too quick because (opponents) were right on top of them. (But) a lot of times they weren’t and they would get in that mode ‘I’ve got to get rid of it.’”
And while the Trojans did generate some quality chances, they were unable to solve Warrior goaltender Dylan Krick until late in the third period.
“We had a lot of chances,” Harrington said, but they didn’t go in. We had enough, but their goalie was very good.”
Henderson jumped in from early on. Holloway corralled a loose puck just inside the Wissahickon blue line and went in alone on Trojan goaltender Michael Bonnani before putting the puck past him just 3:33 into the opening period. A second turnover on a similar play set up a goal from Jefferis and the Warriors had a 2-0 lead at the 12:38 mark.
Holloway set up Jefferis from behind the net and his teammate scored his second goal of the night to make it a 3-0 game 2:45 into the second period. Robbie Moses extended Henderson’s lead when he blasted a shot past Bonnani from the right faceoff circle at 14:19.By that point in the game, the Trojans, who had just 10 skaters available instead of their usual 12, were running low on energy.
Holloway scored his second goal of the game with 6:54 left in regulation on a shot from the left point, two long strides inside the blue line. Bonnani appeared to be screened on the play.
Wissahickon finally got on the scoreboard with 4:16 remaining when Ben Junker scored a power-play goal on a low shot from the high slot that found its way through traffic.
The Warriors outshot the Trojans 35-32.
Note from History: Henderson won a Class A Flyers Cup title in 2007,
WC Henderson 2 2 1—5
Wissahickon 0 0 1—1—1
First-period goals: Alex Holloway (WCH) unassisted, 3:33; Edward Jefferis (WCH) from Holloway, 12:38
Second-period goals: Jefferis (WCH) from Holloway, 2:45; Robbie Moses (P) from Christopher Lawrence, 14:19
Third-period goals: Holloway (WCH) from Jefferis and Tyler Krick, 9:06; Ben Junker (P) from Ty Schaffer’s and Bryan Garry, 11:44 (pp)
Shots: WCH 35, Wiss. 33 Saves: Dylan Krick (WCH) 32, Michael Bonnani 30