To view game action photos, visit the photo gallery by clicking on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
By Scott Huff
HATFIELD – Council Rock South – the defending Flyers Cup Class AA champion and current Suburban High School Hockey League champion - was undefeated going into the Flyers Cup Class AA Final played at the Hatfield Ice World.Downingtown East – the Inter-County Scholastic Hockey League champion – was also unbeaten going into the Flyers Cup Final against Rock South.
And the winner was – Downingtown East.
The Cougars (23-0-1) got off to a rapid start in the first period – led 3-0 at one point – held off a dogged effort by Rock South that closed the gap to 3-2 – and finally defeated the Golden Hawks (26-1-3) – 4-2.
“We hung in there and made it a one-goal game,” said Council Rock head coach Joe Houk. “But Downingtown East is too good a team to play catch up against, and we let them get that early lead.
“You hate to finish #2, and to go the whole season without a loss until the Flyers Cup Final makes it difficult,” added Houk. “The coaches and I sometimes talked about how it might have been a good thing to lose a game earlier in the year.”
Council Rock South – which jettisoned Downingtown East from Flyers Cup competition last year – lost six games last season on its way to a Flyers Cup trophy.“Council Rock South is an extremely well coached, determined, and skilled hockey team,” said Downingtown East head coach Dave Hendricks. “What you saw on the ice tonight was a pair of Class AA teams that could play with any AAA teams around.
“The fast start for us was very important,” added Hendricks. “We got a lot of nervousness and excitement out of our system, and we could concentrate on playing hockey.”
The Cougars got on the scoreboard first at the 8:28 mark when Ryan Urban scored on assists from Justin Baca and Robert Melfi. Downingtown East added a second goal in the first period when David DeFazio scored on assists from Ian Hall and Geordi Lukas.
“Downingtown East has a very fast team, they really get up and down the ice,” said Houk. “It almost looked like they had a sixth man on offense.
“We basically ran one and a half lines out there, and they had three very good lines,” added Houk. “Plus their goalie (Ryan Lord) stood on his head when we did get good shots on goal.”
The Cougars – who had an exceptionally vocal crowd of students and parents – added a second period goal to push the lead to 3-0. Urban scored his second goal on assists from Melfi and Lukas.
Rock South, though, refused to go away.The Golden Hawks scored a power play goal with 59 seconds left in the second period to cut the lead to 3-1. The goal scorer for Rock South was Patrick Grilli with assists from Jake Domsky and Peter Malamud.
Council Rock South put Downingtown East on notice with a second power play goal at the 11:03 mark of the third period. Jon Houk – who scored the game winner against Pennsbury in the Flyers Cup semifinal game – scored an unassisted goal to get the Hawks to within a goal at 3-2.
“When we got the score to 3-2, I really thought we were going to come all the way back and win the game,” said Council Rock South senior goaltender Sean Boyd. “But give Downingtown East credit, they are a good team and seemed to want it a little more than us.”
The rink exploded in noise with the up and down action in the tense one-goal game. The Rock South crowd sensed a huge comeback, and the Downingtown East throng continued to boisterously support its Cougars.
It was East that came up with the deciding goal with 7:02 left in the contest as Hall skated in all alone to beat Boyd.
“Our seniors have been warriors all season long,” said Houk in reference to Malamud, Tyler Deitrick, Boyd, Domsky, and his son – Jon. “It was a great season, and I am proud of these kids.
“Council Rock South runs a class program, and we’re all proud of that,” added Houk. “They are just a great group of kids.”
“I will have great memories – winning the league title, winning the Flyers Cup last year, and playing those great games with (CR) North,” said Boyd. “But it sucks to lose your last game. It really does.”
Downingtown East 2 1 1 - 4
Council Rock South 0 1 1 - 2
First Period:
DE: Ryan Urban (Justin Baca & Robert Melfi) [8:28]
DE: David DeFazio (Ian Hall & Geordi Lukas) [4:06]
Second Period:
DE: Urban (Melfi & Lukas) [10:51]
CRS: Patrick Grilli (Jake Domsky & Peter Malamud) [0:59]
Third Period:
CRS: Jon Houk (unassisted) [11:03]
DE: Hall (DeFazio & Lukas) [7:02]
Goaltenders:
DE: Ryan Lord – 20 saves
CRS: Sean Boyd – 21 saves
- Log in to post comments
0
