March 26, 2007
Flyers Cup Class AAA Championship: Haverford High 7, Washington Township 6
By Chris Goldberg
FOR THE INQUIRER
Haverford High completed a momentous hat trick yesterday. T.J. Haeberle scored three goals as the Fords held off Washington Township, 7-6, to claim their third straight Class AA Flyers Cup championship at The Wachovia Spectrum. Haeberle, the tournament’s top scorer, and tourney Most Valuable Player Chris Campli combined for five goals and two assists. Each scored shorthanded goals early in the third period to give the Fords (19-2) a 6-3 lead. The Minutemen (14-3-2), who earlier roared back from a 3-0 deficit to tie it, 3-3, scored three times in the last five minutes to make the final score close. Haverford will shoot for a state title April 7 at Ice Line in Aston against Penguins Cup winner and defending champion, Pine-Richland. “It’s a dream come true,” said Campli, “especially ending my senior season with a win like this. We haven’t won a state championship, and hopefully, a win in states will make my season complete. It’s an amazing run.”
Campli has 31 goals and 47 assists this year, while Haeberle, a junior, has 43 goals and 31 assists. But the game-winner yesterday came from Andrew
Gregoire, who put the Fords back on top, 4-3, just 27 seconds after Cameron Rowand had drawn Washington Township even with 3 minutes, 20 seconds left in the second period. Haeberle and Campli then took over. Haeberle made a steal on a shorthanded situation and beat Joe Scafisi (34 saves) on a breakaway 2:20 into the third period. Campli followed with another shorthanded goal a minute later off a feed from Haeberle to make it 6-3. Haeberle finished his hat trick three minutes later for a 7-3 lead. “We weren’t going to let this game slip away,” said Campli. “I think after we got the three-goal lead [at 3-0], we had a letdown.
But we said, ‘No way is this going to happen.’ And we just turned it on and didn’t stop. Christian Biscardi (two goals, one assist), Colin Davis (two goals), and defenseman David Moore (two assists) paced Washington Township. Davis and
Moore joined Campli, Haeberle, and Haverford defenseman Conor Coyle on the all-tournament team. “I’m glad our team didn’t give up when it was 7-3. We didn’t want to go out like that,” Davis said. Haverford threatened to make it a rout early as Campli, Haeberle (power play) and Jim Hazelton scored in the first 3:40. But Biscardi tallied the first of his two goals midway through the period as the Minutemen began an impressive comeback. “We were up three and four [goals] and they came back both times,” Haeberle said. “You’ve got to give them credit. “The only thing we knew about them was that they were [seeded] No. 2 three years in a row and lost in the first round both times. We were always wondering how they were and finally got to see them tonight — and they were good.
