To view action photos of the Pennsbury/Cherokee game, visit the Photo Gallery by clicking on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
By Scott Huff
Pow!!!The Suburban High School Hockey League took a thunderous clout to the jaw as six of the eight SHSHL teams that participated in the opening round were knocked out of the Flyers Cup ring with season ending losses.
Bam!!!
Only North Penn and William Tennent were able to survive first round battles to move on in the Class AA tournament, while Pennsbury, Neshaminy, and Council Rock North were all eliminated.
Smack!!!
The entire Class A Flyers Cup field from the SHSHL was jettisoned from the tournament as Lansdale Catholic, Upper Dublin, and Hatboro-Horsham all suffered setbacks.
The blow-by-blow account ….
Flyers Cup Class AA Games
North Penn opened its Flyers Cup run with an impressive 4-1 victory over Parkland on Wednesday in a game played at Hatfield Ice. The Knights entered the game as the # 8 seed, while the Trojans were the # 9 seed.
“The game was almost like a pond hockey game early on,” said North Penn head coach Kevin Vaitis. “There was a lot of offense – too much offense as far as I was concerned.
“But we settled down in the second period, and we really clamped down in the third period,” added Vaitis. “We held them to four shots in the third period, and that is more like playoff hockey.”
The Knights scored three goals in the first period to take a 3-1 lead. Richard Feher, Brandon Fishman, and Jimmy McKelvie all scored goals for the winners. The only other North Penn goal came in the third period off the stick of David Heggan. Sophomore goaltender Jake Wolff played well in goals and had 24 saves.
North Penn will play next Tuesday – March 15, 2001 – and will face the winner of the Council Rock South vs. Perkiomen Valley game. The contest will be played at the Bucks County Ice Sports Center with a 7 pm face-off.
North Penn 3 1 0 * 4
Parkland 1 0 0 * 1
William Tennent opened its Flyers Cup run with an impressive 3-2 victory over Avon Grove on Tuesday (3/8/11) in a game played at Ice Line. The Panthers entered the game as the # 19 seed, while the Grove was the # 14 seed.
“We really came out at the beginning of the game being very physical,” said William Tennent head coach Nick D’Aurizio. “The kids came out all amped up, and we took control of the game.
“Playing the game on an unfamiliar rink took a little getting used to,” added D’Aurizio. “But I told the kids to play like we have nothing to lose – because we really don’t.”
The Panthers scored three goals in the second period to take a 3-1 lead. The goal scorers for Tennent were AJ Carbone, DJ Mulhern, and Cameron Goodell. Eric HorroX – as usual – was spectacular in the nets and secured the one goal win for the Panthers.
William Tennent will play Thursday against # 3 seed Washingtown Township. The game will be played at the Skate Zone with a 9 pm start.
William Tennent 0 3 0 * 3
Avon Grove 0 1 1 * 2
Pennsbury was shown the Flyers Cup exit door as the Falcons were clipped by Cherokee – 4-2 – on Wednesday in a game played at Grundy Ice. Pennsbury entered the game as the # 5 seed, while Cherokee was the # 12 seed.
“We didn’t get many quality shots on goal – no second chances,” said Pennsbury head coach John Bria. “Their first goal was a real fluke goal – they had two early goals on just four shots. But we didn’t show enough discipline, and they were able to score three power play goals.
“I was happy with getting to the (SHSHL) finals, but I really thought we had a chance to go much deeper in the Flyers Cup,” added Bria. “The players were disappointed.”
The goal scorers for the Falcons were Michael Hlatky and Will Richards. Pennsbury outshot Cherokee 27-23 but could not outscore the winners.
Cherokee 2 1 1 * 4
Pennsbury 1 0 1 * 2
Neshaminy was shown the Flyers Cup exit door as the Redskins were throttled by Conestoga – 8-0 – on Tuesday in a game played at Ice Line. Neshaminy entered the game as the # 18 seed while Conestoga was the # 14 seed.
“We were off for about two weeks, and we just didn’t play well,” said Neshaminy head coach Ray Sherno. “We were in the game after the first period, but that second period really snowballed on us. They hurt us on the power play.
“Considering we had only 13 skaters all year with four freshman and three sophomores, we were pretty happy with the season,” added Sherno. “We hung in with a lot of good teams for the first period, but we couldn’t keep it up for an entire game.”
Conestoga outshot the Redskins 27-14 for the game.
Conestoga 1 5 2 * 8
Neshaminy 0 0 0 * 0
Council Rock North was shown the Flyers Cup exit door as the Indians were defeated by Downingtown East – 7-2 on Tuesday in a game played at Ice Line. Council Rock North entered the game as the # 20 seed, while Downingtown East was the # 13 seed.
“There were a lot of people who didn’t think that this team was capable of winning two or three games this year,” said Council Rock North head coach Eric Tye. “But we won seven games in our league, and we got an invitation to the Flyers Cup.
“This is a very young team, and our best ice hockey is ahead of us,” added Tye. “We got some playoff experience this year, and that should help us get ready for next season.”
The goal scorers for Rock North were AJ Garboski and Mark McDonald.
Downingtown East 1 2 4 * 7
Council Rock North 0 1 1 * 2
Flyers Cup Class A Games
Lansdale Catholic will have to settle for a SHSHL title as the Crusaders were ousted from the Flyers Cup tournament with a 4-1 loss to Archbishop Carroll on Tuesday in a game played at the Skatium. LC was the # 19 seed in the bracket, while AC was the # 14 seed.
“We reached both of our main goals – win a championship and get into the Flyers Cup,” said Lansdale Catholic head coach Mark DiDonato. “We came out flat – maybe it was the letdown after winning the championship. Carroll is a pretty solid team with some very big players.
“Ben Mills played a great game in goal for us,” added DiDonato. “They out shot us 37-19 and the final score could have been a lot worse.”
The lone goal scorer for the Crusaders was freshman Andrew Hart.
Lansdale Catholic 1 0 0 * 1
Archbishop Carroll 1 3 0 * 4
Upper Dublin watched the brilliant career of senior Brian Markman come to a close as the Flying Cardinals were thumped by Williamstown – 9-3 – in a game played at Bucks County Ice Sports Center on Tuesday. Upper Dublin was the # 15 seed, while Williamstown was the # 18 seed.
“Brian is a great hockey player, but he is even a better person,” said Upper Dublin head coach Dave Japchen as Markman finished his Cardinal career with two goals and an assist. “We are going to miss him a lot next year.
“Brian is our only senior, and we have some very good hockey players coming back,” added Japchen. “We are going to have to become a much better ‘team’ than we were this season – on both offense and defense.”
In addition to Markman, Rob DeGregorio scored an Upper Dublin goal.
Williamstown 4 2 3 * 9
Upper Dublin 1 2 0 * 3
Hatboro-Horsham saw its season come to a close as the Hatters were topped by West Chester Henderson – 10-1 – in a game played at the Ice Line. The Hatters entered the game as the # 12 seed, while WCH was the # 5 seed.
The lone goal scorer for Hatboro-Horsham was Manny Billones.
Hatboro-Horsham 0 1 0 * 1
West Chester Henderson 4 4 2 * 10
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