Downingtown East Wins Flyers Cup

Downingtown East defeated Central Bucks South 4-3 in overtime Thursday night to win the Class 2A Flyers Cup at Hatfield Ice.

Luca Pisai scored the winning goal with 2:10 left in the first sudden-death overtime period.

This account of the game was published in the Intelligencer on Friday, March 16 and the newspaper holds the copyright.

Downingtown East 4, Central Bucks South 3

By Rick Woelfel

HATFIELD— The performance was held on a stage that measured precisely 200 feet long and 85 feet wide. And on that grand stage, Luca Pisani was the brightest star of all. Pisani’s goal, 7 minutes and 50 seconds into overtime, gave Downingtown East a 4-3 win over Central Bucks South Thursday night at Hatfield Ice in a Flyers Cup Class 2A final that was the ultimate advertisement for interscholastic hockey.

The second-seeded and defending championship Cougars, who claimed their four Cup since 2010, went on the power play when the Titans’ Nick Morelli drew a holding penalty at the 7:09 mark when he took down a Cougar on the right wing at the blue line in front of the Titans’ bench and directly in front of one of the referees.

The winning goal came on a slapshot from the left point.

It was Pasani’s second goal of the game; he was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

South coach Sean McGinty directed a stream of verbiage at the officiating crew following the goal and afterwards his emotions were still running on high. “In my opinion… you can’t make that call,” he said. “It’s overtime. It’s the Flyers Cup.”

The Titans took a 1-0 lead at the 5:37 mark of the first period when Joe DeLaurentis parked himself on the goal line to the left of the Cougar net and found Reis Braccio in front, Braccio found the back of the net with a forehander. That was the only goal of a fast-paced opening session.

Downingtown East drew even on a second-period power-play chance. The Titans’ Dominic Patrone was sent to the box for high sticking at the 11:59 mark and it took the Cougars just 28 seconds to score. Pisani launched rocket from the center of the ice just inside the blue line and found his target inches off the ice just inside the right post.

Braccio put the top-seeded Titans (30-4) ahead with 1:08 left in the period on a goal that produced traffic in front of the Cougar net. Goaltender Matt Shandler was knocked to the ice in the midst of he scramble. He regained his feet but Bracio scored in the midst of the scrum. The Cougars argued for goaltender interference but the goal was allowed to stand.

DeLaurentis and the Cougars’ Jack Barton traded goals two minutes, 15 seconds apart in the third period before Patrick Bobko tied the game for Downingtown East on a slapshot from the point with 5:03 left in regulation.

It was a game that saw the two teams push each other to a level that only truly outstanding teams can aspire to. Even in the midst of his disappointment, South captain Matt Stoll sensed that.

“It’s awesome,” he said, “playing at such a fast pace. Knowing that for some players, this is the highest level we’ll ever play at. “It’s awesome. It’s truly an honor to make it this far.”

Notes: South was trying for its third Flyers Cup title in five years. Downingtown East will play in the state championship game on March 24. The Cougars, who held a 35-21 edge in shots, are the first Class 2A team to defend the Flyers Cup title since Council Rock South six years ago.

Downingtown East 0 1 2 1—4

C.B. South 1 1 1 0—3

First-period goal: Reis Braccio (CBS) from Joe DeLaurentis, 5:37.

Second-period goals; Luca Pisani (DE) from Mark Stankiewicz and Eric Stankiewicz,, 12:27 (pp); Braccio (CBS) from Dominic Patrone, 15:52.

Third-period goal: DeLaurentis (CBS) unassisted, 3:30; Jack Barton (DE) from Justin Cohn, 5:45 (pp); Patrick Bobko (DE) unassisted, 11:57.

Overtime goal: Pisani (DE) from MIke Bolger, 7:50 (pp).

Shots: Downingtown East 35, C.B. South 21; Saves: Matt Shandler (DE) 18; Tim White (CBS) 31.

Records: Downingtown East (19-5); Central Bucks South (30-4)

A look back at Thursday’s Flyers Cup 2A final

Downingtown East’s Luca Pisani, who scored two goals, including the game winner, is #6.

His teammate Mike Bolger is # 98. Joe DeLaurentis of Central Bucks South is #66.

Photo by Dara Nappen King

www.DaraNKingPhotography.com
www.facebook.com/DaraNKingPhotography
www.linkedin.com/in/daranking
DaraKing@mac.com

Flyers Cup Day 6 Results

Class 2A Semifinals

Central Bucks South 7, Council Rock South 2—the top-seeded Titans trailed 1-0 early but scored six straight goals to advance to their third final in five years; they won the previous two. Joe DeLaurentis and Tyler Boylan scored two goals each

Read our account at www.theintell.com

Downingtown East 2, Conestoga 1—Alex Fox scored the game-winner 3:33 into overtime to send the defending-champion and second-seeded Cougars into the championship game. Downingttown East outshot the third-seeded Pioneers 58-16.

Downingtown East will face Central Bucks South Thursday at 7:00 at Hatfield Ice for the title. the Cougars will be trying to become the first team to successfully defend a Class 2A title since Council Rock South in 2011-12.

Girl Semifinal

West Chester East 8, Radnor 4—Shannon Russell scored four goals for the Vikings

West Chester East will face Unionville in the title game Thursday at Ice Line at 6:30

C.B. South Wins SHSHL 2A Title

Joe DeLaurentis scored three goals Thursday night as Central Bucks South defeated Pennridge 8-3 Thursday night in the Suburban High School Hockey League Class 2A championship game at Hatfield Ice.

For full details, read our account in the Intelligencer

http://www.theintell.com/sports/20180301/central-bucks-south-wins-fourth-straight-shshl-title-with-win-over-pennridge

Hatboro-Horsham won the Class A title, 7-4 over Lower Moreland

Hockey Happenings Update

With one week left in the Suburban High School Hockey League regular season, here’s how the standings look. Standings are based on divisional games only through 2-16-18

SHSHL

Class 2A Standings W L T Pts

C.B. South 10 0 0 20

Council Rock South 8 1 1 17

Pennridge 8 1 1 17

North Penn 7 2 1 15

Council Rock North 6 4 1 13

C.B. West 5 5 0 10

C.B. East 4 6 0 8

Souderton 3 7 0 6

Neshaminy 2 7 1 5

William Tennent 1 7 2 4

Truman 1 7 1 3

Pennsbury 0 8 0 0

Class 2A Scoring G-A Pts

Eric Slater Pr 33-20—53

Zac Herman Crn 22-21—43

Joe DeLaurentis CBS 23-18—41

Matt Stoll CBS 24-16—40

Michael Walker Pr 17-19—36

Andrew Galetta NP 19-14—33

Patrick McGinley Pr 20-12—32

Daniel Guest Crn 15-16—31

Nathan Oh NP 8-20—28

Matt Meli CRS 20-6—26

Collin Kleiser CRS 13-13—26

John Vanni CRN 12-12—24

Reis Braccio CBS 7-17—24

Brandon Smmmonds CRN 7-16—23

Colin Abbonizio CBS 9-14—23

Class 2A Goaltenders (Save Pct)

Oscar Levin CBS .938

Steve Glik Nesh .908

Tim White CBS .903

Luke Stranik Pr .901

Josh Smith Sou .894

Eric Lineman Wt .873

Our thanks to the administration and staff at Holy Ghost Prep for their support.

Holy Ghost Prep is a private, Catholic, all-boys school located in Bensalem, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Located adjacent to the busy I-95 corridor in metropolitan Philadelphia, Holy Ghost Prep attracts students from more than 100 elementary feeder schools from throughout metropolitan Philadelphia counties and New Jersey

Today is a vibrant community of nearly 500 young men preparing for college and adult life through a challenging program which stresses the cultivation of students’ unique gifts and talents, academic excellence, and generous service to the poor. We continue to be mindful of our founding history as a seminary as we seek to form young men morally, intellectually, and spiritually in the Spiritan tradition.

Class 1A Standings W-L-T Pts

Wissahickon 13 0 0—26

Abington 9 3 0—18

Lower Moreland 9 4 0—18

Hatboro-Horsham 8 4 0—16

Upper Dublin 7 6 0—14

New Hope Solebury 2 11 0—4

Plymouth Whitemarsh 2 11 0—4

Upper Moreland 0 11 0—0

Teams in bold have clinched a playoff spot

Teams in italic in contention for a playoff spot

Hockey Happenings Update 12-10-17

Longtime followers of the Suburban High School Hockey League may have noticed the scheduling format for the league’s two Class 2A Division, the Continental, has changed this season. In years past, teams played divisional opponents twice and crossover opponents once, for a 16-game league schedule.

This year, teams will play every league opponent once (11 games) and fill out their schedules with five games against what be described as ‘mutually agreeable opponents.’

In some cases, teams have elected to play one another twice; Central Bucks South and Council Rock South for instance. In that scenario, the second meeting will be the one that counts in the division standings.

Council Rock South (National) and Central Bucks South (Continental) are leading their respective divisions. The Golden Hawks are 4-1-1 overall and 4-0-1 in the division heading in to this week, despite being without big guns Matt Owens and Dylan Feoli because of injuries. Sophomore Matt Meli has picked up much of the scoring load, with 14 goals and three assists for 17 points. Jared Wagenmann, a senior, has contributed five goals and seven assists.

The Titans are carrying a 5-1 mark (3-0 in the division) that includes a 1-0 win over defending Class 2A Flyers Cup and state champion Downingtown East. Senior Joe DeLaurentis has scored 13 goals while Matt Stoll has collected six goals and added five assists.

The Titans and the Golden Hawks have already met once; the Titans prevailed 3-1 on November 29. They’ll meet again on January 25^th.

Former Holy Ghost Prep goaltender Peyton Jones is continuing to shine at Penn State. Jones, a sophomore, is carrying a 3.08 goals-against average and a save percentage of .895 in 17 starts.

The Nittany Lions are 11-7-2 and unbeaten in their last seven games after sweeping a two-game series from Robert Morris this weekend. They’re 4-4-2 in the Big Ten, which has expanded to seven hockey-playing schools this season with the addition of Notre Dame. They’re off now until after the New Year.

Unfortunately, Jones and his teammates will not be appearing in Philadelphia this year; there is no Philadelphia College Hockey Faceoff on the schedule this season.

The Flyers Cup brawl involving Ridley and Central Bucks West during their Flyers Cup quarterfinal last March is back in the news.

Five former Ridley players face misdemeanor assault charges stemming from the incident. Jake Tyler Cross, 19, of Secane; Ryan Anthony Gricco, 18, of Swarthmore; Thomas Joseph Plotts, 19, of Woodlyn; and Anderson Brock, 18, of Morton saw their charges held for court following a preliminary hearing on November 28 in Montgomery County Court. Nathan Dunning, 19, of Morton waived his hearing. The next step in the process is arraignment on January 17.

This information was reported in the Intelligencer newspaper on November 28-29. Kudos to reporter James O’Malley for his efforts.

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