April 6, 1992
William Tennent’s hopes for a trip to the state ice hockey championship vanished when junior Mike Petrangelo crumbled to the ice with seven minutes left in the second period of the second game of the Flyers Cup final. Monsignor Bonner went on to win, 6-1 Wednesday at the Skatium in Havertown to complete a two-game sweep and capture the Flyers Cup. With the victory, Bonner earned the right to play the Penguins Cup champion, Meadville, for the state title.
“When Mike went out of the game, Bonner was winning (3-1), but we were putting a lot of pressure on them,” said William Tennent coach Joe Paul. “It was clear to almost everyone that Mike was the most dominant player in the entire Flyers Cup series and was virtually unstoppable. When he went down it was a big loss for us.” Tennent did not get a goal in the Bonner series from a player other than Petrangelo, and the Panthers’ offense was virtually nonexistent after his injury. “We are a very young team, and we were very disorganized after Mike went out,” said Paul. “Bonner is a good team, and they came out fast in both games we played. With Mike, we have a good chance; without him, we don’t have that good a chance.” In the opening game of the series Monday at the Grundy Rink in Bristol, Bonner took a one-goal lead, only to have Petrangelo tie the score late in the first period. It was to be Tennent’s only score in a 3-1 loss.
“We only had the one goal, but Petrangelo had three breakaways and [Tim] Brown had one in the first two periods,” said Paul. “Petrangelo and Brown each had another one in the last period, and we had seven shots on goal the last two minutes of the game before we pulled our goalie. They scored an open-net goal with 20 seconds left in the game, so really, the first game was a 2-1 game that either team could have won.” The second game was close, too, until Petrangelo went out. “Without Mike, there is no question that Bonner was a better team than us,” said Paul. Bonner rained 52 shots on goal in that second game against Tennent goaltender Chad Melnick. “Melnick played a great series for us,” said Paul. “He played extremely well in both the league playoffs and the Flyers Cup playoffs. “The kids shouldn’t lose track of what they accomplished this season. We beat Council Rock for the Suburban League title in what many people thought was the most memorable high school hockey series for the last few years. I considered this season an extremely successful season, and I’m very proud of the way the kids played.”
By Scott Huff
The Philadelphia Inquirer
