Chris Francis Takes Over at WC Rustin

Chris Francis is the new head coach at West Chester Rustin.

A graduate of Penncrest Francis played Division I club hockey at West Chester University.

He began his coaching career by launching the program at Kingsway Regional High School in South Jersey and has also spent time at Springfield-Delco and Harriton. He is currently an assistant coach at Neumann University.

Rustin did not field a varsity team for the 2024-25 season but the Golden Knights have won nine Class A Flyers Cup championships and seven state chapionships including six straight Cup and state titles from 2024-19.

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.

West Chester Rustin 5, Hershey 1

West Chester Rustin 5, Hershey 1—Chris Owens scored two goals to lead West Chester Rustin to a 5-1 win over Hershey Sunday afternoon in the Class A Flyers Cup final at the Wells Fargo Center.
It’s the sixth straight Cup title for the Golden Knights, a Flyers Cup record in any classification.
Tommy Finley and Owens scored goals to give top-seeded Rustin (24-7-1) a 2-0 first-period lead.
Caden Freer scored for Hershey (20-6) to cut the lead in half but Nick Ferraro extended the lead with 1:29 left in the second session.
Owens and Nick Strasinski added third-period goals for Rustin.

Hershey 0 1 0—1
West Chester Rustin 2 1 2—5

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

Flyers Cup Update

The fields for the various Flyers Cup tournaments have been cut in half, in the case of Class A more than that.

Here is what lies ahead. Note: All game times and sites are subject to change

Monday, March 11

Class AA Quarterfinals

Downingtown East 5 Parkland 0

Pennridge 4 North Penn 3 OT

Conestoga 4 Haverford 1

Downingtown West 3, Boyertown 1

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Tuesday, March 12

Class A Semifinal Upper Bracket

West Chester Rustin 7 West Chester East 2

Wednesday, March 13

Class AA Semifinal Lower Bracket

Downingtown West 8, Conestoga 5

Class A Semifinal Lower Bracket

Hershey 6 Strath Haven 3

Girls Semifinal

8:45 2 West Chester Rustin 4, West Chester East 3 OT

Thursday, March 14

Class AAA Semifinals

LaSalle 5 Holy Ghost Prep 4

St. Joseph’s Prep 6 Malvern Prep 2

Class AA Upper Bracket Semifinal

D-town East vs Pennridge 5:15 @ Ice Line

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Sunday, March 17

Finals @Wells Fargo Center

9:45 Girls: West Chester Rustin vs. Unionville

2:00 Class A Hershey vs. West Chester Rustin

4:30 Class AA Downtown West vs. Downingtown East

7:00 Class AAA LaSalle vs. St. Josephs Prep

From the pages of history:

West Chester Rustin is seeking its 6th straight Class A Flyers Cup title. No team has ever done that in any classification since the tournament started in 1980. Malvern Prep won 5 straight Class AAA titles from 2001-05.

Unionville is a four-time defending girls’ champion and will be seeking its fifth straight title this year.

Saturday, March 23

State Championship Games at Robert Morris University Game Times TBA

For more information on girls’ hockey go to: info@ladytpariots.org

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