Archbishop Wood defeated PW to capture the SHSHL Varsity A championship on Thursday night. Photos courtesy of Dara N King Photography. Check back for a gallery of photos.
By Ben Reese
HATFIELD -- Tim Cordero is accustomed to scoring a lot of goals for the Archbishop Wood ice hockey team.
But the four goals he scored on Thursday night in the Suburban High School Hockey League A championship game might be the biggest. They led the Vikings to a 7-4 win over Plymouth Whitemarsh.
"He put the team on his shoulders today," said Wood coach Tom Walsh. "He's a guy who just loves to play this game and you can tell by the way he plays the game. He willed us to win tonight, basically."
"Willed" isn't quite right. "Scored" is more like it.
In addition to the four goals, Cordero also had an assist. Those were added to the 28 goals and 28 assists he had during the regular season.
"I love it," Cordero said about ice hockey. "I've played my whole life. I really enjoy the sport."
Actually, it wasn't so much the fact that Cordero scored a lot of goals. It was more about when he scored them.
He got his first goal late in the first period to offset a Colonial goal. His second came in the second period, 24 seconds after Plymouth Whitemarsh had tied the game at 2-2.
Cordero's third goal, completing the hat trick, came later in the period when the Vikings were short-handed. His fourth was, fittingly, Wood's final goal of the game and was unassisted.
This was a very important victory for the Vikings. It was a bit of revenge for a loss the Colonials had handed them earlier in the season. But it was also more.
"It's very gratifying," said Walsh. "We're struggling to get numbers. We only had 12 skaters this year.
"The guys worked hard and played good defensive hockey. That's what helped us win the game."
For Cordero, it was a bit more.
"It's what we've been working for," he said of the championship. "It feels great for the whole team.
"We really wanted it. It's a team effort."
The Plymouth Whitemarsh offense was led by Chris Zawislak, who scored three goals. Two of them came on the power play.
In all, 15 penalties were called in the game. Nine of them were called on the Vikings.
Both teams will enter the Flyers Cup next week. Archbishop Wood will play Archbishop Carroll in the opening round of the AAA championship on Monday, March 6, while Plymouth Whitemarsh will battle Kennett in the A tournament, also on Monday.
Archbishop Wood 1 4 2 – 7
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1 2 1 – 4
First period: 1, Chris Zawislak PW (Luke Brzozowski) 12:40; 2, Tim Cordero AW (Brendan Cullera) 13:18.
Second period: 3, Cullera AW (unassisted) 1:24; 4, Zawislak PW (Nathaniel Slowik) 3:13 PP; 5, Cordero AW (unassisted) 3:37; 6, Joseph Hill AW (Nick Romano) 4:28; 7, Cordero AW (Cullera, Michael Carelli) 9:08 SH; 8, Zawislak PW (unassisted) 13:31 PP.
Third period: 9, Evan Capinas AW (Declan Cole, Cordero) 13:32 PP; 10, Cordero AW (unassisted) 14:02; 11, Brzozowski PW (Colin Franzoni) 15:06.
Shots: AW 31, PW 24. Saves: David Casper (AW) 20, Cole Shula (PW) 24.
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