Scott Huff previews Tuesday’s Flyers Cup final pitting Souderton against Central Bucks South at Warwick Ice Arena at 7:45 p.m.
By Scott Huff
The gold standard in the Suburban High School Hockey League in recent years has been without question Council Rock South. The Golden Hawks have soared to Flyers Cup titles in 2012, 2011, and 2009 and also captured a state championship in 2012.
Council Rock South was jettisoned from this year’s Flyers Cup tournament when Souderton clipped the Hawksby a 5-4 score in the semifinals. The Indians will face Central Bucks South in the Flyers Cup championship final for the 2013-2014 season on Tuesday.
“I have so much respect for both (Central Bucks South head coach) Tom Coyne and (Souderton head coach) Matt Montagna,” said Council Rock South head coach Joe Houk. “It is great that we are going to have a team from our league (SHSHL) win the Flyers Cup and move on to the state championship.
“Right now, the way that Souderton is playing, they are going to be tough to beat,” added Houck. “The senior leadership they have – and they have the premier player in the league in (Daniel) Rock. He is just so strong and mentally tough.
“But Central Bucks South has a lot of skill players, and you can’t count them out,” continued Houck. “They have four stellar players on defense, and both teams work hard.
“The Flyers Cup is the big prize,” added Houck. “Sometimes the state championship game is just a bonus to the season. You want to be a Flyers Cup champion.”
And that will be either SHSHL’s Souderton Indians or Central Bucks South Titans.
And the beat goes on…
Flyers Cup ‘AA’ Championship Final
Tuesday – March 18, 2014
@ Warwick Ice Arena – 7:45 pm
# 4 Souderton Indians vs. # 2 Central Bucks South Titans
Head to Head Meetings: Souderton and Central Bucks South have played each other three times this season with Souderton holding a 2-1 advantage. The Indians defeated CB South 7-3 in a regular season SHSHL game played on November 7, 2013. Souderton scored five goals in the first period to roll to the victory. Alex Politsky registered a hat trick in the win, while freshman goaltender Dawson Anders had 29 saves. The Titans won the second regular season contest with a 7-6 win on November 22, 2013. Jake Bauer and Mike Pilla each scored a pair of goals for the winners, while Daniel Rock and Politsky each scored a hat trick for the Indians. And in the SHSHL semifinals on February 26, 2014 – Souderton captured a 4-3 victory over CB South. Clay Anders scored a pair of goals – including the game winner. Dominic Bova scored a couple of goals to pace the Titans. Dawson Anders turned away 38 shots for the Indians.
Road to the Flyers Cup Finals: Souderton opened the Flyers Cup tournament with a 5-1 victory over # 13 Neshaminy. The Indians followed with an 8-4 win over # 5 Haverford and advanced to the championship final with a 5-4 victory over # 8 Council Rock South. In the win over Rock South, the Indians had single goals scored by Politsky, Anders, Rock, Luke Dieterich, and Tyler Diepietro. Central Bucks South opened the Flyers Cup tournament with a 6-1 victory over # 15 Council Rock North. The Titans followed with a 6-4 victory over # 7 Cumberland Valley and advanced to the championship finals with a 6-2 win over # 6 Parkland. In the win over Parkland, Pilla scored a pair of goals to spark the offense. Tom Liberta, Brendan Clements, Damon Delaurentis, and Alex Stoll each scored single goals – Leo Flick collected four assists.
Souderton head coach Matt Montagna says: “It is going to be a great environment to play a championship game. Both CB South and us have a great fan base, and the building should be packed and very loud. These teams know each other very well, and it should be – let’s say – a very physical game to say the least. The script for us is going to be the same as it has been all year – and South knows exactly what that will be. He (CB South head coach Tom Coyne) knows what my game plan is going to be, and I know his game plan. Not only do these players play against each other, a lot of them play with each other on club teams. Central Bucks South is an excellent team – but so are we. I think that we have been underestimated with how well we play defensively. There will be no surprises in this game – and the team that plays the best will win the game. And we want that to be us.”
Central Bucks head coach Tom Coyne says: “I love the fact that we are playing Souderton in the final. I would rather play the devil we know rather than he devil you don’t know. We played both Cumberland Valley and Parkland with very little idea of who they were all about. Souderton is a very good team that can capitalize on your mistakes – and they beat us twice this year. The only advantage that we will have is that we are the home team and get the last line change. Daniel Rock is a great player, and we will have the advantage of playing our best pairings against him. Our blue line defense of (sophomore) Connor Matsinger, (sophomore) Thomas Liberta , (sophomore) Jared Conroy, and (senior) Brandon Spognardi has not gotten enough credit for our success this season. The last two years we lost in the Flyers Cup semifinals to Cherokee, and this year we were able to make it to the finals. We’re there to win it.”
Winner Gets: The winner of this game will play the Bishop Canevin Crusaders who were the winners of the Penquin Cup ‘AA’ final. That state championship game will be played on Saturday - March 22, 2014, at the Pegula Ice Arena (Penn State University) with a 2:30 pm opening faceoff.
Flyers Cup Stat Sheet:
Souderton (3-0): Daniel Rock (9 goals – 4 assists – 13 points); Alex Politsky (3-6-9); and Clay Anders (2-4-6).
Central Bucks South (3-0): Leo Flick 2 goals – 5 assists – 7 points); Mike Pilla (2-4-6); Dominic Bova (3-2-5).
Flyers Cup Goalie Profile:
Souderton: Dawson Anders (3-0) – 2.92 goals against average – 64 saves.
Central Bucks South: Aaron King (2-0) – 3.09 goal against average – 29 saves; Jeff Pelkowski (1-0) 1.0 goals against average – 10 saves.
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