One team pulls out; another may follow
April 12, 1979
By Don McKee
Inquirer staff writer
The southeastern Pennsylvania regional hockey tournament threatened to self-destruct yesterday, with one of the six remaining contenders withdrawing and another threatening to pull out. The tournament directors will meet this morning to decide when to resume play because of conflicts with Easter and spring vacations. No games are scheduled the rest of this week. Germantown Academy, scheduled to play Malvern Prep last night, forfeited the game and was eliminated. In the other scheduled game, Archbishop Ryan defeated Radnor, 8-7, in overtime, ousting the Raiders from the tournament. But the entire proceeding was overshadowed by the threats of pre-tourney favorite Archbishop Carroll to pull out because of what Carroll officials considered manipulation of the tournament schedule to benefit William Tennent, the strongest challenger. William Tennent’s seniors are on a class trip that will last through Monday, so Tennent could not put a full team on the ice before Tuesday night. Carroll, with its own travel arrangements made to coincide with that school’s vacation next week, doesn’t want to extend the tourney. Since the tourney draw worked out to a Tennent-Carroll game tonight, Carroll feels the game should be played. “If they don’t play, that’s a forfeit,” said Carroll Coach Gary Vetre. “We’ll play by the original schedule.” Tennent apparently was not made aware before the tourney that it might have to play Thursday night. Tourney director Jack Hunt, president of the Inter-County League, said, “Tennent really is not at fault. There were administrative problems in communicating the schedule to them.”
Hunt said he hoped the problem would be worked out over the weekend so the teams could play Tuesday. But by that time Carroll will be without super forward Greg Arnold and goaltender Guy Madigan. Other families, which had arranged vacation schedules around the tournament, also are upset, Vetre said. Everyone connected with the tourney admits that a game between Tennent and Carroll would be the only undefeated teams left necessary to make it a true championship. But everyone also fears that a game between a rested and fully manned Tennent and a depleted Carroll would not produce a true championship game. Germantown Academy forfeited rather than play without two stars, Eric Girardi and Charlie Wertz, suspended for fighting during Tuesday night’s 5-3 win over Bishop Egan. GA already had lost star Gump Whiteside with a leg injury and was down to nine players, two of them goaltenders. Because some Germantown Academy officials felt the suspensions were unjust, they merely withdrew via Steve Engle scored his third goal of the game one minute, forty-five seconds into overtime last night to lead Ryan past Radnor. Kevin Emore also had a hat trick for Ryan.
