March 28, 1988
There was good news and bad news out of the Northern Scholastic Hockey League. The bad news was that league champion Archbishop Wood was ousted from the prestigious Flyers Cup tournament at the Havertown Skatium last week. The good news was that the NSHL’s second-place finisher, William Tennent, captured the President’s Cup The Flyers Cup tournament is the high school hockey equivalent of college basketball’s NCAA tournament with the best hockey teams from the Philadelphia area participating. The President’s Cup is like the NIT, where the league’s second-place finishers are showcased. Wood, bracketed in the Orange Division along with Suburban Hockey League champion Council Rock and Lower Bucks County League champion Bishop Egan, opened the Flyers Cup tournament with a 6-3 loss to Council Rock on Monday night. The Vikings were eliminated from the tournament when Bishop Egan beat them, 6-1, on Tuesday night. Council Rock defeated Bishop Egan, 6-2, on Wednesday to win the Orange Division bracket and will meet the second-place finisher from the Black Division, Conestoga, in a semifinal game tonight. Conestoga, the Inter-County Scholastic League champions, defeated and eliminated New Castle County Scholastic League champ William Penn, 12-0, on Wednesday. But the Pioneers lost to defending Flyers Cup champion Malvern Prep, 7-5, in Monday’s opener. Malvern Prep, Eastern High School League champion, won the Black Division bracket with the win over Conestoga and a 6-3 victory over William Penn on Tuesday night. Malvern will meet Bishop Egan in a semifinal game tomorrow. The championship game will be played at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Havertown Skatium. “The kids wanted very badly to beat Tennent for the league championship,” Archbishop Wood coach Glenn Meyers said. “So in that regard, we had a successful season.” The success that Wood had in the Flyers Cup was a 2-2 tie in the Council Rock game. The Vikings trailed 2-0 early, but second-period goals by Tom Geib and Brian O’Gara put Wood back in the game. However, a 3-goal outburst in a 1:38 interval gave the SHL champion Indians a 5-2 lead. The final Vikings goal was scored by Eric Tye on a third period power play. William Tennent seized its second chance opportunity for postseason play with some fine hockey in gaining the President’s Cup for Eastern Pennsylvania Class AA high school supremacy. The Panthers will meet Meadville High, from suburban Pittsburgh, at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena for the state Class AA title at 4 p.m. Saturday. “I knew at the beginning of the tournament that the kids could do it,” Tennent coach Joe Paul said. “When we play with emotion, we can beat anybody. We didn’t play with that emotion in the league championship series with Wood, and we lost. We have it back now.” Tennent opened the single elimination tournament by beating second place Suburban Hockey League finisher Central Bucks, 6-3, on Monday at the George Washington Rink. Ryan Maestas, with a hat trick; Mike Lang: Shawn Murray, and Mike Mothersbaugh scored for the Panthers. Central Bucks’ goal scorers were Mike Henke, Tom Cole and Dave Pfeister. Scott Shaw was spectacular in the net for Tennent with 46 saves. Tennent followed with a 6-0 shutout of Father Judge of the Lower Bucks League on Tuesday at the Face-Off Circle in Warminster. Shaw was again brilliant with 26 saves, while Lang and Paul Gregg each scored a pair of goals. Single goals were scored by Murray and Rob Wolfson. The President’s Cup clincher came at the George Washington Rink with a 5-3 victory over Monsignor Bonner of the Eastern Hockey League. The Panthers got power play goals from Gregg. Lang, Mothersbaugh and Maestas, who also had an even-strength goal.
CREDIT: The Philadelphia Inquirer
By Scott Huff – Special to the Inquirer
