O’Neill steps into the spotlight for Henderson
Mike O’Neill took a while to come out of hiding.
In the area’s varsity ice hockey circles, O’Neill’s name didn’t really surface until the beginning weeks of the past scholastic hockey season.
That’s when the junior goaltender for West Chester Henderson’s hockey program began opening eyes by merely winning. And then winning some more.
In his first season as Henderson’s starting goaltender, the 6-foot-3 O’Neill played well enough, in fact, downright superb at times, to lift the Warriors to their first-ever Flyers Cup final. The Warriors lost that final, 4-3 in overtime to a powerful Holy Ghost Prep team, but when all was said and done, Henderson had had its best season to date. And for that reason, O’Neill is the Daily Local News player of the year.
” He came out of nowhere,” Henderson coach Rich Hribal said. “He was held back by two seniors, Nick Rice and Ryan Hagerty.” O’Neill started in Henderson’s system playing on the seventh and eighth grade teams, then moved up to junior varsity when he entered Henderson High. His junior varsity time lasted through ninth and tenth grades. Until this season, O’Neill did not have a place on the varsity roster. Rice and Hagerty were the upperclassmen on the team and held the goaltending spots. They graduated after last season, and the opportunity opened up for O’Neill. Needless to say, he took full advantage. “I didn’t think I was going to lose it,” O’Neill said. “I was ready to take it, I thought we could go far.” O’Neill had help upon his arrival at the varsity level. One of the assistants, Brian Kilgarif, a 20-year-old former Downingtown goalie.
According to Hribal, Kilgarif immediately took O’Neill under his wing and worked with him tirelessly. They spent at least three extra hours of practice per week during the season to work on improving O’Neill.
In addition, O’Neill played on a club team, Quaker Midget-A, out of Ice Line, with Hribal and Kilgarif as coaches on that team as well.
“He worked my butt off during practice,” O’Neill said. “It was easier to bond with a 20-year-old than with a 35-year-old.
“He’s a great, positive guy. He’s a huge help.”
