Garnet Valley 7 Avonworth 2

Garnet Valley’s up-tempo offense was on display Saturday afternoon for all the world to see. Nolan Stott and Kevin Walton each scored two goals and each contributed two assists as the Jaguars pounced on Avonworth 7-2 to win the Class A Pennsylvania at the Robert Morris Island Sports Center in suburban Pittsburgh.

It marks the first state championship for Garnet Valley (23-) which finished its season as Central League, Flyers Cup, and state champions.

Head coach Stephane Charbonneau said the state title marked the climax of a long journey that featured contribution from the entire group.

“We all had a job to do,” he said. “We went one by one. We asked our guys ‘What is your job for your team and what are you going to do and what are you going to sacrifice?’

“Everyone had a job to do and these kids are awesome.”

Jake Morrow gave the Jaguars a 1-0 lead 7:18 into the opening period. Cooper Powell answered for the Antelopes at the 9:43 mark but Garnet Valley counterattacked by scoring six unanswered goals.

Kaden Longo’ goal with 3:32 left in the first period put Garnet Valley in front for good. Walton and Stott added goals in the second period and Aiden Delfin, Stott, and Walton in the third to give the Jaguars a 7-1 lead with 4:34 left in the game.

Garrett Stoops stopped 24 of the 26 shots he faced in goal.

This game marked the 12th straight victory for the East in the state title game.

Garnet Valley 2 2 1—7 23-2

Avonworth 1 0 1—2

First-period goals: Jake Morow (GV) fron Nolan Stott,7:18 (pp); Cooper Powell (A) unassisted, 9:43; Kaden Longo (GV) unassisted 14:28;

Second-period goals: Kevin Walton (GV) from Dylan Orr, 4:16; Stott from A.J. Tenhuisen, 6:53

Third-period goals: Aiden Delfin (GV) from Walton, 1:04; Stott (GV) from Walton, 2:32 (pp); Walton (GV from Delfin and Matt Abbonizio, 3:20; Austin Dzadovsky from Connor Ralston 12:26 (sh)

Shots: Garnet Valley 33, Avonworth 26; Saves: Garrett Stoops (GV) 24, Danny Mack (A) 26

North Penn 4 Cathedral Prep 1 NP 21-3

North Penn 0 0 3—4

Cathedral Prep 0 1 0—1

Second-period goal: Tucker Kinnear from Ethan Cunningham and Chris Bruschi, 5:19

Third-period goals: Samuel Norton (NP) unassisted, 2:49 (pp); James Boyle (NP) from Norton and Cole Pluck, 13:21 (pp); Daniel Cabrales (NP), 13:43 unassisted; Nolan Single (NP) 16:17 (en) unassisted

Shots: North Penn 35, Erie Cathedral Prep 27; Saves: Andy Norton (NP) 26, Ian Brown (CP) 31

Garnet Valley 2 WC East 1

In the Flyers Cup atmosphere, pressure and mistakes are magnified. So it was Tuesday night.

Kaden Longo’s goal off a turnover with 48 seconds left in the second period proved decisive as Garnet Valley prevailed over West Chester East 2-1 in a Class A semifinal at Ice Line.

The top-seeded Jaguars (21-2) will take a 12-game winning streak into Monday’s championship game against West Chester Henderson (at Ice Line, time TBD) where they will attempt to win their second Flyers Cup title; their first came in 1998. Fourth-seeded West Chester East closed its season at 11-10.

The winning goal came off a miscue when the Vikings coughed up the puck to the left of their goaltender Cameron Chandler and Longo was able to coral the puck and tuck it in the net.

“I think being alert out there really helps us,” Longo said. Having our head up. We have a great group of forwards, a great group of defensemen, we have good chemistry out there.

“I think, crashing the net, everything just worked out.”

The Vikings started the scoring when Konrad Finnin beat Garrett Stoops with the first shot of the game 2:10 into the opening period. Longo responded 10:30 into the opening frame during a power play with a shot from just inside the left faceoff circle.

Neither team could find the back of the net after that until Longo’s game winner but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. The Jaguars outshot the Vikings 46-31 but Chandler kept the Jaguars at bay

“We knew it was going to be a strong battle with these guys,” said Garnet Valley coach Stephane Charbonneau. “They all know each other. Everybody knows everybody.

“They started strong but we kept battling and working hard and chipping the puck out. Finish our checks, stay out of the box; that was very important for us.”

There were just six penalties called in the game, West Chester East was assessed four of them and Viking coach Eric Wolf felt that having to kill four penalties cost his team in the late going.

“It wasn’t lack of effort that lost this game,” he said. “We were fighting an uphill battle against one, sometimes two teams, so it’s tough. It’s hard to penalty kill for that long. It takes a lot out of your guys.

Wolf praised his netminder’s work; Chandler finished with 44 saves. A strong case could be made that he was the best player on the ice

“He was going to have to be the best player on the ice for us to win this game,” Wolf said. “We told him that coming into the is tournament. If we were going to be here in the end, he would have to be our best player.”

West Chester East 1 0 0—1

Garnet Valley 1 1 0—2

First-period goals: Konrad Finnin (WCE) from Sean Farrell, 2:10; Kaden Longo (GV) from Nolan Scott and A.J. Tenhuisen, 10:30 (pp)

Second-period goal: Longo (GV) Matt Abbonizio, 16:12

Shots: West Chester East 31, Garnet Valley 46; Saves: Cameron Chandler (WCE) 44, Garrett Stoops (GV) 30

Garnet Valley 5 WC Henderson 2

Garnet Valley made a statement Friday night in one of the most anticipated matchups of the season. Nolan Stott scored two goal and assisted on a third as the Jaguars bested West Chester Henderson 5-2 in an ICSHL matchup at PNY Arena.

The Warriors and the Jaguars took the ice ranked one-two in the current set of Class A Flyers Cup rankings. The Jaguars were without leading scorer Kevin Walton, forward Owen Parker, and top blueliner Matt Abbonizio but their coach Stephane Charbonneau was pleased with the way the players that were available stepped up.

“I don’t schedule around my guys when they go away,” he said. “In believe in who I’ve got. It is what it is.

“I have a very good group of very mature players and they’re ready to step up to the plate.”

The goals started coming early. Kaden Longo got the Jaguars (13-2) on the scoreboard just 59 seconds after the opening faceoff. It took Hunter Haas four-and-a-half minutes to respond for the Warriors (12-3). Haas’s goal came during a power play with the Jaguars’ Nolan Stott in the box serving a roughing minor.

A.J. Tenhuisen, who assisted on Longo’s game-opening goal, got one of his own 5:59 into the middle period to give Garnet Valley a 2-1 lead. Stott made it a 3-1 game when he scored on a breakaway with 1:18 left in the period and then extended his team’s lead with another breakaway goal 3:53 into the third frame.

Andrew Denny drew the Warriors closer when he scored with 6:50 remaining in regulation but Henderson couldn’t get closer. Dylan Orr put the game on ice for the Jaguars when he scored into an empty net with 1:26 remaining.

Charbonneau was especially pleased with his team’s effort inside its own blue line.

“My goalie [Garrett Stoops] was good,” he said. “I told my defense it was the it was the best game of the season they’ve played so far.”

Henderson coach Tom Aughey saw Friday’s matchup as a battle of Titians.

“It was a tough battle between two top teams,” he said. “One team took advantage of their chances, one team did not.

“We played a little slow and laid back tonight. To win against Garnet Valley you need to be aggressive an aggressive all the time. Hopefully, we can earn our chance to see them again.”

• Garnet Valley has now won four straight and seven of its last eight. Henderson saw a three-game winning streak snapped.

Garnet Valley 1 2 2—5

WC Henderson 1 0 1—2

First-period goals: Kaden Longo (GV) from Nolan Stott and A.J. Tenhuisen, :59; Hunter Haas (H) from Declan Dowd 5:35 (pp)

Second-period goals: Tenhuisen (GV) from Ryan McGhee and Jeremy Hyczka, 11:01; Stott (GV) from Jake Morrow, 15:42

Third-period goals: Stott (GV) from Jake Robinson, 1:53; Andrew Denny (H) from John Gordon and Haas, 8:10; Dylan Orr (GV) unassisted, 15:34 (en)

Goaltenders: Garrett Stoops (GV), Matt Cieslukowski (H) (shot totals unavailable)