April 4, 1994
Germantown Academy wanted one more shot at Suburban High School Hockey League champion Council Rock. Rock had captured the SHSHL title with a 3-2 overtime victory over GA on March 22, but both the Indians and the Patriots advanced to the postseason Flyers Cup Tournament. Germantown Academy advanced to the Flyers Cup North finals with a 4-3 victory over Father Judge last Monday, and Council Rock advanced to the finals with a 5-0 victory over Pennsbury on March 24. “We were really down after Rock beat us for the league championship,” said junior defenseman David Morgan. “All we wanted was a chance to get them back in the Flyers Cup We got that chance, and it was great to beat them.” Germantown Academy held off the Rock, 6-4, at the Face-Off Circle in Warminster to win the Flyers Cup North title Wednesday. The Patriots will now play Haverford, of the Eastern League, in a best-of-three series to begin tonight at Face-Off. The second game will be played tomorrow at the Skatium in Haver- town, and the third game, if needed, will be played at the Skatium on Wednesday. All games are scheduled for 8:30 p.m. starts.
“Haverford is a big, physical team,” said Germantown Academy junior defenseman Jeremy Brooks. “But I think that we might be a little quicker. We haven’t played them all season, but obviously, they haven’t played us either. It should be a good series.” The games between Germantown Academy and Council Rock have been exciting all season. And the Flyers Cup contest clearly fit into that mold. “Germantown Academy jumped on us very quickly, but we stormed right back,” said Council Rock coach Paul Gilligan.
Germantown Academy……..6
Council Rock……………………4
Flyers Cup North title game
“But GA played the better game in the third period, and you win big games when you play your best hockey at the end of the game.” The Patriots raced to a 3-0 lead, but Council Rock rallied to tie the score at 3-3. However, GA scored three of the final four goals in the last period to secure the victory. “There have been times when I thought this was a championship team,” said Gilligan. “But we never were able to string three or four good games in a row. Germantown Academy played an excellent game, and they deserved to win the game.”
Flyers Cup notebook
La Salle entered the Flyers Cup South Tournament confident that it could advance deep into the postseason. However, the journey was a short one as the Explorers were ousted, 5-3, by Haverford last Monday at the Skatium in Havertown. “No question that we are very disappointed that we lost,” said La Salle coach Peter Nolan. “We had beaten Haverford earlier in the year, and we have nobody to blame but ourselves. La Salle will graduate a list of impressive seniors that includes Dan Quinn, Frank Petka, John Eriksen, Tom Fullerton, and Jim Johnston.”The seniors have set a real standard for the teams that follow,” said Nolan. “They put hockey on the map at La Salle.”
Conwell-Egan also was shown the exit door in postseason play as the Eagles dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to Upper Darby in President’s Cup play. The game was played at the Grundy Ice Rink in Bristol on Friday night. “It seemed like we were skating in mud,” said Conwell-Egan coach Rich Slack. “It was a real strange game. We didn’t play our best hockey.” The Eagles will also graduate skilled seniors in goaltender Randy Cutillo, forward Mike Brem, and defensemen Stacey DeJesus and Brian Nulty. “Randy Cutillo had an outstanding career, and played terrific in the postseason games,” Slack said. “He will be very tough to replace.”
By Scott Huff
The Philadelphia Inquirer
