March 9, 2007
Three classes will start playoffs next week for the right to represent Eastern Pa. in states.
By Rick O’Brien
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
The 28th annual Flyers Cup ice hockey tournament opens next week, and a vastly improved Roman Catholic club will try for its first tournament victory. The sixth-seeded Cahillites, who won just two games last season and only nine over the last two seasons, will face 11th- seeded Bishop Shanahan in a Division AAA second-round game on Tuesday at 9 p.m. at Grundy Recreation Center in Bristol. “It’s important for us to win at least one Flyers Cup game,” Marc Rago, Roman’s first-year coach, said yesterday. “That’s kind of been our goal since the beginning of the year.” The Cahillites (17-12-3) placed fourth in the Lower Bucks Coun- ty Scholastic Hockey League (LBCSHL). They were defeated by Holy Ghost Prep, the eventual league champion, in a best-of- three semifinal series. Junior winger/center Geoff McGrath totaled 17 goals and 11 assists in 24 LBCSHL games. Rick Jacobs, a junior center, had 14 goals and eight assists in 22 league appearances. Roman’s other offensive leaders are Mark Salerno and Nick Largo, both senior wingers. Nick Claus, a sophomore winger, joins McGrath and Jacobs on the first line. Junior Matt Slobodinsky, Sophomore Luke Branin and Freshmen David Hayes and Matt Pemper are among the club’s top defensemen. Freshman Matt Petitti (8-2 record in the LBCSHL) and junior Jim Fynes are rotating goaltenders. “We’re a good-skating team, and we’re very disciplined,” Rago said. “We had the fewest penalties of any team in the Lower Bucks league.” The tournament, which is broken down into three tiers — A, AA and AAA — features teams from Southeastern Pennsylvania and South Jersey. The Pennsylvania schools that win in their tiers will advance to the state championships, where they will face the tier winners of the Pittsburgh region’s Penguins Cup. In the event a New Jersey team wins the Flyers Cup, the Pennsylvania runner-up would go to the state championships.
Flyers Cup Schedule
CLASS A
ROUND 1
Monday
Game 1: Moorestown vs. Plymouth Whiterrarsh, 7
p.m. at Skate Zone Voorhees.
Game 3: Marple Newtown vs. Garnet Valley, 7 p.m. at
Skatium.
Game 4: Penncrest vs. Central Bucks East, 7:30 p.m.
at Ice Works.
Tuesday
Game 2: Wissahickon vs. Springfield (Montco), 8:45
p.m. at Hatfield.
ROUND 2
Thursday
Kennett vs. Winner Game 1, 7 p.m. at Ice Line.
Interboro vs. Upper Dublin, 8:45 p.m. at IceWorks.
Lower Dauphin vs. Bayard Rustin, rink and time to be
announced.
Springfield (Delco) vs. Winner Game 2,8 p.m. at Ice
Works.
Shawnee vs. Winner Game 3, 7 p.m. at Skate Zone
Voorhees.
Henderson vs. Williamstown, 8:45 p.m. at Ice Line.
West Chester East vs. Hershey, 8:45 p.m. at Ice Line.
Next Friday
Perkiomen Valley vs. Winner Game 4, 7 p.m. at Ice
Line.
QUARTERFINALS
March 19
7 p.m. and 8:45 at Ice Line.
7 p.m. and 8:45 at Ice Works.
SEMIFINALS
March 21
7 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. at Ice Line.
CHAMPIONSHIP
March 24
7 p.m. at Ice Line.
CLASS AA
ROUND 1
Tuesday
Game 1: Hempfield vs. Council Rock North, rink and
time to be determined.
Game 2: Bethlehem Freedom vs. Neshaminy, 7:15
p.m. at Steel Ice.
Game 3: Souderton vs. Cumberland Valley, 7 p.m. at
Hatfield.
Game 4: William Tennent vs. Parkland, 7:20 p.m. at
Face-Off Circle.
ROUND 2
Next Friday
Haverford High vs. Game 1 Winner, 8 p.m. at the
Skatium.
Cherokee vs. Central Bucks West, 7 p.m. at Skate
Zone Voorhees.
Pennridge vs. Methacton, 8:45 p.m. at Hatfield.
Conestoga vs. Game 2 Winner, 8:45 p.m. at Ice Line.
Pennsbury vs. Game 3 Winner, 8:15 p.m. at Grundy.
Central Dauphin vs. Bishop McDevitt, rink and time to
be announced.
Council Rock South vs. Downingtown West, 7 p.m. at
Face-Off Circle.
Washington Township vs. Game 4 Winner, 8:45 p.m.
at Skate Zone Voorhees.
QUARTERFINALS
March 20
7 p.m. at the Skatium.
7 p.m. at Ice Line.
8 p.m. at Grundy.
8 p.m. at Ice Works.
SEMIFINALS
March 23
7 p.m. at the Skatium.
8:45 p.m. at Ice Works.
CHAMPIONSHIP
March 25
10:30a.m. at the Wachovia Spectrum
CLASS AAA
ROUND 1
Monday
Play-in game: Monsignor Bonner vs. Archbishop
Wood, 8:45 p.m. at the Skatium.
ROUND 2
Tuesday
Game 1: Father Judge vs. Salesianum, 8:30 p. m. at
Grundy.
Game 2: Archbishop Ryan vs. Play-in game winner,
6:45 p.m. at Grundy.
Game 3: Roman Catholic vs. Bishop Shanahan, 9
p.m. at Grundy
Game 4: St. Joseph’s Prep vs. Germantown
Academy, 7 p.m. at the Skatium.
QUARTERFINALS
Next Friday
La Salle vs. Winner Game 1, 7 p.m. at Hatfield.
Holy Ghost Prep vs. Winner Game 2, 7:15 p. m. at
Skate Zone Northeast.
Malvern Prep vs. Winner Game 3, 7 p.m. at Ice Line.
March 19
Cardinal O’Hara vs. Winner Game 4, 8 p. m. at the
Skatium.
SEMIFINALS
March 22
6:45 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. at Hatfield.
CHAMPIONSHIP
March 25
1 p.m. at the Wachovia Spectrum
