March 22, 1995
After losing in the first round of the Inter-County League playoffs on Feb. 21, Lower Merion has had to wait more than a month to play in the Flyers Cup Championship. And now, the week the Aces finally get to play, turmoil has set in. Lower Merion was originally scheduled to play Malvern Prep in a Tier II semifinal game tomorrow at the Ice Line rink in West Chester, but on Monday the Flyers Cup committee which consists of the five high school league presidents decided to change the game to tonight. The reason was that at least five players among Malvern, Lower Merion, and the teams that will meet in the Tier III game to follow Unionville and Springfield, are on a club team scheduled to compete tomorrow night in a regional tournament. Rather than have the players make a difficult decision, the committee thought it was doing everyone a favor by rescheduling the games for tonight. Not so, Lower Merion coach Kerry Lipkin said. The Aces may be missing two key players senior forwards Jason Goldman and Nick Baker who have been away skiing and have scheduled their return so they can play tomorrow. “And I don’t know how to get hold of them,” Lipkin said. “They could be in Switzerland for all I know.” There was talk of changing the game to Friday, but the Aces’ star goaltender, Josh Bernstein, would then be unable to play because of a conflict with his club team. Lipkin said he didn’t know what would happen.
As of yesterday afternoon, the game was still scheduled for 7:30 tonight at the Ice Line rink. Lower Merion is 10-5-1, while Malvern is 12-9-1.
Out of the woods. Springfield is a school used to scheduling changes. After searching for a suitable ice slot, the Cougars waited a week to get in their Eastern League playoff game with Ridley, one that would determine the league’s Tier III Flyers Cup berth. On Monday, at the Ice Line rink, the teams finally met. Although Ridley was a 3-1 winner the last time the teams met, in a regular season game on Jan. 13, this time it was no contest. Springfield came out on top, 11-1. What caused the turnaround? Ridley coach Ryan Clark put his finger on two players: the Raiders’ Dominic Avicolli, who was sidelined by an ankle injury, and the Cougars’ Dan Woods, who had been missing the last time the teams played. Woods tallied four goals and assisted on a fifth. The Cougars also got a pair of goals from Jay Cannon and Chris Kobasic. Avicolli and Woods “made a big difference,” said Clark, whose team finished at 4-14-1. “We got smoked.”Springfield is 9-10 going into tonight’s game against Unionville of the Inter-County League. The Indians are 12-4-1.
Zamboni to the rescue. Monsignor Bonner staged a strong comeback to edge La Salle, 4-3, in overtime Monday night in a Flyers Cup Tier I quarterfinal game. And the Friars probably have a Flyers Cup rule
to thank for it. La Salle came back from a 1-0 deficit in the second period to take a 3-1 lead, scoring all three goals within a span of 2 minutes, 49 seconds. By the buzzer, the Friars were still back on their heels, committing one turnover after another and giving up scoring chances. Between the second and third periods, the teams normally would have had a minute to rest, but Flyers Cup rules call for the ice to be cleaned. That gave Bonner coach Mike Barry time to settle his players and get them refocused, and in the third period, the Friars came out and dominated. They got a pair of goals from Rich Tremonte to tie the game, and Tom McMonagle scored his second goal of the game to win it in overtime. “They had thrown us off our game, and if we didn’t get the ice cut, we’d have been in more trouble,” Barry said. “I got a chance to calm the guys down, time to convince them that two goals was nothing.” The Friars (20-2-1) will take on Downingtown (18-3-2) in the Tier I semifinals tomorrow night at the Skatium in Havertown. The Whippets, who lost the Eastern League title to Bonner on Thursday, were a 5-3 winner over West Chester East in another quarterfinal game Monday.
By David T. Shaw
The Philadelphia Inquirer
