Tag: Flyers Cup

Upcoming Flyers Cup Schedule 3-8-25

Tuesday March 10

Class A Semifinals at Ice Line

6:30 1 Garnet Valley vs 4 Wet Chester East

8:30 2 West Chester Henderson vs 6 Hershey

Wednesday March 11

Girls Semifinals at PNY

6:00 1 Avon Grove vs 4 West Chester Henderson

7:45 2 Downingtown West vs 3 Conestoga

Thursday, March 12

Class AAA Semifinals at Hatfield Ice Arena

6:00 1 Holy Ghost Prep vs 5 Salesianum

8:30 2 La Salle vs 6 Father Judge

Class AA Semifinals at Hatfield Ice Arena

6:15 1 Council Rock South vs 12 Spring-Ford

8:45 2 North Penn vs 3 Downingtown East

Finals Schedule

Class A Monday, March 17

Class AA Monday, March 17 or Wednesday, March 19

Class AAA Wednesday, March 19

Girls Tuesday, March 18

Salesianum 4 Malvern Prep 2

Salesianum had a bit too much for Malvern Prep Thursday night. Too much in terms of physicality and firepower. Liam Bell scored two goals set the pace as the Sallies downed the Friars 4-2 Thursday night in a Class AAA Flyers Cup quarterfinal at Ice Line.

Fifth-seeded Salesianum (18-3) will move to the semifinals next Thursday against top-seeded Holy Ghost Prep. Fourth-seeded Malvern Prep closes the season at 5-11.

Salesianum coach Brian LeBlanc said his team took care of the small details.

“Our game is forecheck hard and backcheck hard,” he said. “Every shift we have 110 percent in that 45-second shift and every person on all three lines did that. That’s what gets you success.”

Senior Braeden Graham, the Sallies’ captain, said he and his teammates were comfortable with the game’s physics tone.

“We knew they were going to come out hitting,” he said. “We knew they were a team that hit. we knew from watching film on them that we had to match that so playing the body tonight was really important to us to keep their skill payers contained.”

Bell have his team a 1-0 lead 10:33 into the first period off a setup from Jerry DiStefano who played the puck across the goal mouth from the right wing. Bell was perfectly positioned to tuck the disk inside the left post.

The Friars suffered a huge loss with 10:54 left in the second period when they lost senior forward Teague Murray, one of their primary offensive threats. Murray checked the Sallies’ Connor Davis into the boards near the Salesianum bench and was assessed a five-minute major penalty for a check from behind plus a game misconduct.

“You don’t want to see a kid get kicked out of the game,” said Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan. “I think the call was a little borderline but you can’t control the {referees}.

“Obviously, we needed somebody to put the puck in the net for us and that was a back breaker but you have got to find a way to step up and fill the void.”

Sean Melican extended Salesianum’s lead with 49 seconds left in the second period when he found his target from between the faceoff circles. Bell scored his second goal of the night 2:49 into the third period. From that moment on Malvern Prep was playing against the clock as much as the Sallies.

James Young got the Friars on the scoreboard 7:31 into the final session with a shot from just inside the blue line during a power play.

Salesianum’s Sean Albert and Malvern Prep’s Luke Johnson traded goals down the stretch.

Keenan credited the Sallies for their effort

“They’re a really good team,” he said. “They’re well coached. I’ve known {LeBlanc} for a few seasons now. They play fast, they play physical. Our boys I think matched the intensity, we just couldn’t find the back of the net.”

Graham says he and his Salesianum teammates aren’t finished yet. “We’re very proud of ourselves,” he said, “but we know this isn’t the end.

“A lot of the teams in the APAC have disrespected us. They don’t think we’re on the same level as they are because we play in a different league (the Prep/Catholic Division of the ICSHL).”

Ice chips—Salesianum won three Flyers Cup titles in the now-defunct New Jersey/Delaware Division, including the last one two years ago.

Salesianum 1 1 2—4

Malvern Prep 0 0 2—2

First-period goal: Liam Bell (MP) from Jerry DiStefano and Connor Davis, 10:33

Second period goal: Sean Melican (S) from Davis and Justin Celestino, 16:11

Third-period goals: Bell (S) unassisted, 2:49; James Young (MP) unassisted, 7:31 (pp); Sean Albert (S) from Braedon Graham, 9:53; Luke Johnson (MP) from Gabe Bedwell and Matt Barbacane, 13:56 (pp)

Shots: Salesianum 33, Malvern Prep 23; Saves: Gavin Needs. (S) 21; Matt Crawford (MP) 29

Father Judge 6 St. Joseph’s Prep 2

Father Judge took control of the game with a four-goal outburst  in the second period and stunned St. Joseph’s Prep 6-2 Thursday night in a Class AAA Flyers Cup quarterfinal at the Skatium.

Carlos Rowland and Owen Myers each scored twice for the sixth-seeded Crusaders (16-5), who will face La Salle next Thursday in the semifinals while the third-seeded Hawks closed their season at 10-10.

Rowland scored the first goal of the night 7:19 into the opening period. When he scored a second time, 50 seconds into the second frame, the burst. Gavin Culver, Myers, and Joseph Mullen followed with goals in a span of 3 minutes, 6 seconds and 11:16 still to go in the second period Father Judge had a 5-0 lead.

“We weren’t prepared,” said St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin. “The boys thought they would walk all over Father Judge.”

Jai Perry-Pereira got the Hawks on the scoreboard with 2:18 left in the second session but St. Joseph’s Prep never got any closer.

Myers scored his second goal of the night with 7:09 left in regulation. Michael Washlick added  the Hawks’ second goal with 4:49 remaining.

“Judge’s goalie (Christian McDonald) played great,” Giacomin said. He made four unbelievable saves.

“In one-and-done scenarios you have to show up. Father Judge did and that’s why they are moving on. Our goalie played well despite the score as he got no help in the second period.”

Father Judge 1 4 1—6

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 1 1—2

First-period goal: Carlos Rowland (FJ) from Gavin Culver, 7:19

Second-period goals: Rowland (FJ) from Jake Proud and Owen Myers, :50; Culver (FJ) from Charles Heron, 2:38; Myers (FJ) from Rowland, 4:54 (sh); Joseph Mullen (FJ) unassisted, 5:44; Jai Perry-Pereira (SJP) from Adam Charaffi, 14:42

Third-period goals: Myers (FJ) unassisted, 9:51; Michael Washlick (SJP) from Patrick Sweeney and Perry-Pereira, 12:11

Shots: Father Judge 44, St. Joseph’s Prep 35 Saves: Christian McDonald (FJ) 33, Declan Geary (SJP) 38

North Penn 5 Pennridge 0

It can be quite a challenge to face the defending state champions. 

But North Penn had a resounding answer. 

The Knights posted a 5-0 win over defending Flyers Cup and state champion Pennridge in Thursday’s quarterfinal game of the Flyers Cup at Hatfield Ice Arena. 

Nolan Shingle got things started for North Penn, netting the first goal of the evening with an assist from Danial Cabrales and Samuel Norton with just over nine minutes to go in the first period. 

James Boyle added a goal, assisted by Cabrales, with five minutes left in the second period to extend North Penn’s lead. 

Cole Pluck scored back-to-back goals to put the game away in the third period. His first goal, coming less than two minutes into play, was assisted by Samuel Norton and Boyle while his second, coming six minutes later, was assisted by Shingle and Cabrales. 

With 2:36 to go, Landon Hostetter iced the cake for the Knights with an assist from Chris Silvotti. 

“We had a good team effort,” Pluck said. “We’ve got a great goaltender (Andy Norton) and we put a lot of trust in him.

“Late in the game, they were really trying to score and that opened up the ice a lot for us.” 

The two teams are very familiar with each other. This was the third meeting between them this year. North Penn won the first game, 5-0, on December 19 and the rematch, 4-3, in overtime, on Jan. 29. 

“We knew they were going to be good,” Andy Norton said. “We beat them two times this year, one in overtime, and coming into this game, we really knew that we had it. 

“Our offense was really our defense. They played amazing.” 

Norton made 24 saves in goal for North Penn. 

“The second period I was definitely nervous just having that 1-0 lead but I had confidence that we’d score again,” he said. 

It was the second time North Penn had shut out the Rams. 

“That shows a lot,” Andy Norton said. 

North Penn will take on third seed Downingtown East, a 4-0 winner over No. 6 Downingtown West, in the semifinals. The game will be Thursday at Hatfield at 8:45 p.m.

“This is the furthest we’ve gone in my four years here,” Pluck said. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

The loss wasn’t just the end of the season for Pennridge; it was the end of an era. Longtime head coach Jeff Montagna is stepping down.

“We’re not built to come back,” Montagna said. “When they got the lead they were able to put three guys back there and we didn’t play very smart. We didn’t play a good game today. Sometimes that just happens. 

“You go as far as your talent takes you. You lose enough guys, eventually it has to end. I’d rather it was 5-0 than 2-1 in overtime. 

“To come out here and get a Flyers Cup win (Tuesday’s 7-2 opening round victory over Avon Grove), we’ve done that for nine straight years and I don’t think any other team in the league has done that, I’m proud of them.”

Montagna guided the Rams to the Flyers Cup and state championships in both 2022 and 2024.

“This was the first high school job I had, and I didn’t really know what I was doing,” he said. “It’s a vastly different experience from club hockey. I was blessed with talent and talent has a way of making coaches look a lot better than they are. 

“To know that our players, that every time they walk in this rink for the rest of their lives, they can look up and see the banners and go to their drawers and get their rings out, to know that the players get to do that, it’s really special.”

Pennridge 0 0 0—0

North Penn 1 1 3—5

First-period goal: Nolan Shingle (NP) from Danial Cabrales and Samuel Norton, 7:53

Second-period goal: James Boyle (NP) from Cabrales, 16:56

Third-period goals: Cole Pluck (NP) from S. Norton and Boyle, 1:16; Pluck (NP) from Shingle and Cabrales, 7:33; Landon Hostetter (NP) from Chris Silvotti, 15:24

Shots: Pennridge 24, North Penn 30; Saves: Jacob Winton (P) 21, Andrew Slutsky (P) 4; Andy Norton (NP)  

C.R. South 5 Boyertown 3

This was absolutely the comeback of the season. And it couldn’t have come at a better time. 

Council Rock South overcame a 3-0 deficit in the final 11:19 of the third period to defeat Boyertown, 5-3, in Thursday’s quarterfinal round of the Flyers Cup at Hatfield Ice Arena. 

“We flipped a switch,” said CR South senior defenseman Peter Pereborow. “We went into the locker room for that intermission (when the Zamboni was resurfacing the ice) and just changed everything. We realized we can’t let any team get to us and that we had to come out battling. Any team can beat any team and we just had to find a way to win. 

“This is a lesson learned. When they scored that third goal, I was like, ‘We’re going to dig down and find a way to win this one’ and we did. I’m so proud of us.” 

Boyertown, the tourney’s ninth seed, started strong with a pair of first period goals, scoring on their first shot when Noah Cutillo took a feed from Braydon Havrilla while the Bears were on a power play barely two minutes into the game. 

Logan Brown added a second goal for Boyertown, assisted by Cutillo.

After a scoreless second period, the Bears added a third goal while playing shorthanded when Cutillo’s pass found Jax Drost, who got it into the net.

“I think in the early portion of the game we were playing good,” CR South senior center Jackson Mosely said. “We just weren’t playing to our potential. We were getting a lot of shots, but they weren’t going on net. I think we got away from our game a little bit. Obviously, it was frustrating because we were shooting so much and we couldn’t get a goal but eventually we were able to get them in.

“When they put in that third goal, I thought it was just going to be a harder game for us to win. I knew we were going to have to go through some adversity.”

Then everything changed. 

The Golden Hawks, seeded first in the tournament, netted a power play goal on their 56th shot of the game when Jeremy Rayher took a pass from Jack Weiner and Jackson Mosley with 11:19 to go. 

That was the first of many, as Weiner scored with an assist from Jake Maurer on CR South’s next shot on goal with 10 minutes to go. A minute and a half later, Jordan Sarne (Rayher assist) tied it up with a power play goal. 

Less than a minute later, Jagger Smith netted the game winner with an assist from Weiner, who iced the cake with an empty net goal with 38 seconds to go.  

“We had some good bursts of momentum in the first and second periods, but I think we really got on board when we got that first goal,” Mosely said. “We needed to get one to get a few. I think they knew how good we are and once we got that first one, they were shaken a little bit.”

The Golden Hawks held an astounding 68-23 advantage in shots on goal. 

“They have a great goalie (Tyler Griffith) and that’s hard to work against,” said Weiner, a junior forward. “In playoff hockey, anything can happen any time. We were going hard the whole game; we were taking a lot of shots. We just needed to bury one. There was never a doubt in my mind that we would pull it off. 

“Being the one seed puts a target on our backs, but I love that. I love teams coming at us. It makes us work harder and not want to give up. 

We’re excited for the next game. We know business is on the table and we have to finish, and we’ll take what we learned in this game as we move forward. Never give up. Keep shooting. Find a way to win.” 

CR South advances to the semifinals and will take on 12th seeded Spring-Ford, a 4-0 winner over fourth seed Haverford.  

Boyertown 2 0 1—3

Council Rock South 0 0 5—5

First-period goals: Noah Cutillo (B) from Brayden Havrilla, 2:10; Logan Brown (B) from Cutillo, 9:40

Third-period goals: Jax Drost (B) from Cutillo, :40; Jeremy Rayher (CRS) from Jack Weiner and Jackson Mosely, 5:41; Weiner (CRS) from Jake Maurer, 6:59; Jordan Sarne (CRS) from Rayher, 8:34; Jagger Smith (CRS) from Weiner, 9:06; Weiner (CRS), 16:22   

Shots: Boyertown 23, Council Rock South 68; Saves: Tyler Griffith (B) 63; Trey Prozzillo (CRS) 20 

Flyers Cup Results for Thursday, 3-6

There are 10 Flyers Cup games on the schedule for Thursday night. By the time finishes Thursday night, 25 of the 41 teams that started the week will have been eliminated.

Class AAA Quarterfinals

Salesianum 4 Malvern Prep 2

Father Judge 6 St. Joseph’s Prep 2

Class AA Quarterfinals

Council Rock South 5 Boyertown 3

Spring-Ford 4 Haverford High 0

North Penn 5 Pennridge 0

Downingtown East 4 Downingtown West 0

Class A Quarterfinals

Garnet Valley 10 Plymouth Whitemarsh 0

WC East 3 Kennett 2

WC Henderson 7 Marple-Newtown 6 OT

Hershey 6 Penncrest 0

La Salle 7 Devon Prep 0

The atmosphere of the Flyers Cup tournament is unique. A period of adjustment is often necessary. Therefore, it was not surprising that it took La Salle some time to get started against Devon Prep Tuesday night.

But, the Explorers eventually got rolling and the two-time defending Class AAA Flyers Cup champions rolled on to a 7-0 win over the Tide at Hatfield Ice Arena. The top-seeded Explorers (16-7) will move on to next Thursday’s semifinals against St. Joseph’s Prep or Father Judge. Devon Prep, the seventh seed, finished its third varsity season at 14-7.

While La Salle dominated on the scoreboard, it took some time for the Explorers’ offense to settle in. Cam Ross scored the only goal of the first period with just 56.4 seconds remaining.

Danny Burke extended the La Salle lead two minutes into the second frame.

“It was the first Flyers Cup game for easily half our team,” said La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner in explaining his team’s start. “There were a lot of jitters I think they had to get out.

“We played a pretty good game. Their goaltender (Grant Gales) was strong early on.

Nole Donohue extended the Explorer lead to 3-0 when he scored with exactly one minute left in the second period before Alistair St. Hilaire, Will Gregorio, Donohue, and Grant LaGreca found the back of the net in the third.

Donohue said the Explorers; experience and cohesion is showing when it matters most. “We have a good bond,” he said. “We all work good together.

“We work hard as a team and pick each other up. That’s what gets us all going.”

One individual seemingly unfazed by the environment was La Salle goaltender Jake Rossi who pitched a shutout, making 14 saves along the way. He spoke to what the Flyers Cup experience is like for his less-experienced teammates.

“I think for them it’s realizing the intensity and importance of it,” he said. “It was a little bit of a slow start today but around the second period and into the third we really put our foot down.”

Devon Prep coach Matt Fabrizio was disappointed with the result but not with his team’s effort.

“The way my guys came out and battled, the fight was pretty even up through the last minute or so of the second period when it was 2-0,” he said. “We were happy with the opportunity to play La Salle. We regard La Salle and Holy Ghost, and all those teams as the cream of the crop, so any chance we get to play those guys is a huge opportunity.”

Devon Prep 0 0 0—0

La Salle 1 2 4—7

First-period goal: Cam Ross (L) from Alistair St. Hilaire, 16:04

Second-period goals: Danny Burke (L) from St. HiIaire and Liam Greenwalt, 2:00; Nole Donohue (L) from Tristan Mitchell 16:00

Third-period goals: St. Hilaire (L) from Donohue, 6:02; Will Gregorio (L) from St. Hilaire and Julian Tarsi, 8:03; Donohue (L) from Tarsi, 11:13; Grant LaGreca (L) from Declan Kelly and Michael Zarzycki, 15:11

Shots: Devon Prep 17, La Salle 57; Saves: Grant Gales (DP) 50; Jake Rossi (L) 17 

Flyers Cup Schedule Results, Tuesday March 4

Class AAA First Round

Holy Ghost Prep 10 Owen J. Roberts 0

The top-seeded Firebird blasted the eighth-seeded Wildcats Tuesday night at Hatfield Ice Arena in a Class AAA quarterfinal game that was terminated 1:07 into the third period.

Brady Logue scored three times for the Firebirds. John Gavaghan found the back of the net twice while five other players scored one goal each.

“We had a very simple plan tonight,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach John Ritchie, “to control the tempo and pace of the game against a team we were only able to video pre-scout against some common opponents.

“I would say we accomplished that but their team and goaltender deserve lot of credit for hanging in there.”

Holy Ghost Prep (19-4-1) will face either Malvern Prep or Salesianum in next Thursday’s semifinals.

Owen J. Roberts 0 0 0—0

Holy Ghost Prep 5 4 1—10

First-period goals: Brady Logue (HGP) from Anthony Valeriote, 3:01; Patryk Oszer from Michael Previtera, 7:32; John Gavaghan (HGP) from B. Logue and Valeriote, 9:25 (pp); William Harmar from Nate Romer, 10:19; B. Logue from Joe Spadaccino and Harmar, 16:15;

Second-period goals: B. Logue (HGP) from Joseph Kaufmann and Chase Logue, 11:04; C. Logue (HGP) from Kaufmann, 11:42; Kaufmann (HGP) from Spadaccino, 14:49; Gavaghan (HGP) from B. Logue, 16:07 (pp)

Third-period goal: Brian Kinniry (HGP) from Colin Bara, 1:07

Shots: O.J. Roberts 8, Holy Ghost Prep  43; Saves: Josh Burnheimer (OJR) 33, Jack Unger (HGP) 8

La Salle 7 Devon Prep 0—Check elsewhere on this site for details.

Class AA First Round

Spring-Ford 4 Central Bucks South 3—Dylan Cyr scored a shorthanded goal 5:11 into overtime as the 12th-seeded Rams stunned the fifth-seeded Titans at Hatfield Ice Arena.

Cyr’s winning goal, his second goal of the game, came when the Titans coughed up the puck behind their own net during a power play.

Spring-Ford trailed 3-1 going into the third period but goals from Stephen Falbo and William Schaeffer forced overtime.

The Titans trailed 1-0 after the first period but Logan Hood, Jake Stepp, and Ryan Frey all scored goals in a span of 3:04 to give South a two-goal lead with 7:48 left in the middle period.

The Titans closed the season at 17-7.

Spring-Ford will gave Haverford High in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Pennridge 7 Avon Grove 2—The seventh-seeded Rams took a 3-1 lead into the first period and broke the game open with four unanswered goals in the third at Hatfield Ice Arena. Nate McKean and Rush each scored two goals as the defending Class AA Flyers Cup and state champions began their defense. James Embert, Shane Dachowki, and James Young also scored goals. Dachowski contributed two assists while Jacob Winton recorded 28 saves in goal.

Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna spoke to the importance of his team’s fast start.

“Even with the new guy, we have a lot of experience,” he said. “We have. a lot of pride, we have. a lot of expectations. We’ve been here before, we know what needs to be done.

“We have enough guys in that locker room that understand that in this type of game you can win the game in the first period.”

Pennridge (14-8) will face second seed North Penn on Thursday in the quarterfinals.

Downingtown West 3 Central Bucks East 1—Gavin Widmer gave the 11th-seeded Patriot a 1-0 lead with five seconds left in the second period but the sixth-seeded Whippets responded with three goals in the third.

Downingtown West will face Downingtown East in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

The Patriots closed the season at 10-10-1.

Class A First Round

Kennett 7 Strath Haven 1

Hershey 4 Hatboro-Horsham 1—Four different player scored for the sixth-seeded Trojans. Vince Graziani scored for the Hatters (12-9)

Marple-Newtown 9 Palmyra  3

Strath Haven 2 Moorestown 1

Strath Haven took its first steps into the Flyers Cup pool Monday night, and emerged to fight another day. Michael Leuthold’s goal with 12:30 left in the third period proved to be decisive as the Panthers bested Moorestown 2-1 Monday night in a Class A Flyers Cup play-in game at Hatfield Ice Arena.

The 13th-seeded Panthers (5-13-2) will have little time to celebrate their victory; they’ll be back in action against fifth-seeded Kennett (6:30 at Ice Line) in a first-round game.

Going into the game, Strath Haven coach John Gavin anticipated that goals would be few, if only because his own team scored just 33 goals in 19 games prior to Monday night. He also knew that his goaltender Jacob Aranda was taking the ice with a .904 aver percentage.

“Given our goaltending, I knew their goaltending was strong, given how the stats played out, I figured that was the type of game we were going to have.

Primo Modesti gave Strath Haven a 1-0 lead when he beat Quakes netminder David Rho midst of a scramble in front of the net with 2:52 left in the first period.

As the game played out, it seemed one goal might be enough. Quality shots were rare, both goaltenders were sharp and physicality was minimal.

Michael Leuthold extended the Strath Haven lead 4:30 into the final period.

Jakub Brazina cut the deficit in half at the 7:15 mark but that was the only one of 41 Moorestown shots that Aranda could corral.

Gavin, naturally enough, celebrated the performance of his goaltender.

“It was a great win for the boys,” he said. “We got great goaltending from Jacob, who is a senior for us, who was great for us all night.

“We got two big goals that we desperately needed and now we have a big game {Tuesday} against Kennett.”

Gavin noted that his team avoided the breakdowns and errors that take a team out of a single-elimination tournament.

“We usually do a pretty good job with that,” he said. “Our struggle has been scoring goals. We’ve been working on the power play and I was hoping maybe tonight we’d get a power-play goal. We definitely generated some chances off of that I think led to momentum and scoring at even strength.

There were just five penalties called in the game, four of them against Moorestown The Panthers wound up with three power-play chances, one of them lasting four minutes but were outshot 41-26 for the evening.

Strath Haven 1 0 1—2

Moorestown 0 0 1—1

First-period goals: Primo Modesti (SH) from Carson Farrington, 14:08

Third-period goals: Michael Leuthold (SH) from Christian Henzel, 4:30; Hunter Orr (M) from Jakub Brazina and Charles Hartzell, 7:15

Shots: Strath Haven 26, Moorsetown 41 Saves: Jacob Aranda (SH) 40, David Rho (M) 24