March 16, 1998
La Salle, GA, Conwell-Egan, Wood, and Pennsbury all could make noise in the Flyers Cup competition.
The 19th annual Flyers Cup tournament begins tonight, and several area teams have legitimate shots at being around when the championship games of the three divisions are played on March 29 at the Core-States Spectrum. La Salle is considered by many the favorite in Class AAA, but Germantown Academy and Conwell-Egan have the talent and firepower to challenge the Explorers. Archbishop Wood, from the Suburban High School Hockey League (SHSHL), will vie for the Class AA title, and Pennsbury, from the Lower Bucks County Scholastic Hockey League (LBCSHL), could I make a run at the Class A crown. Here is a closer look at the Flyers Cup.
Class AAA. La Salle, which went 14- 1-1 en route to winning the Division AAA title in the Inter-County Scholastic Hockey League (ICSHL), has the speed, depth, and goaltending necessary to claim its second championship in the last three seasons. (After sweeping Germantown Academy in the best-of-three finals in 1996, La Salle failed to qualify for the tournament last season.) The Explorers, who have a bye in the opening round, are scheduled to meet Hershey in a quarterfinal on March 24 at Ice Line in West Chester. First-year coach Wally Muehlbronner can look to a number of players to score. The Explorers, whose only league loss was to Cardinal O’Hara on Dec. 22, averaged more than seven goals a game in the regular season. The team’s offensive leaders include senior center Bob Farrell, senior winger/center Brant Heaton, and sophomore wingers Peter Naticchione and Ryan Ciolli. Senior Mike Mauriello anchors a defense that held ICSHL opponents, on average, to under two goals a game. La Salle, however, is by no means a prohibitive favorite. Except for their depth, not much separates the Explorers from Germantown Academy and Conwell-Egan. GA went undefeated (20-0-2) in SHSHL regular-season play for the fourth consecutive year and nipped North Penn, 4-3, in overtime Thurs- day to win its first playoff championship since 1995. The Patriots will face Eastern, the top-seeded team from the South Jersey Scholastic Ice Hockey League (SJSIHL), in a quarterfinal on Wednesday at 8:45 p.m. at Hollydell Twin Rinks in Sewell.
“I don’t know much about them at all,” said GA coach John Ioia, whose team fell to league rival Council Rock, two games to one, in the Flyers Cup semifinals last season. GA’s go-to scorer is senior winger Kyle Neary, who has racked up 61 goals and 25 assists this season. Neary produced a hat trick in Thursday’s victory over North Penn. “We do have a couple of other kids that are capable of chipping in on offense,” said Ioia, mentioning senior center Peter Narog (14 goals, 36 assists) and senior winger An- drew Skilton (20, 20). Other offensive forces for the Patriots are senior winger Justin Holmes, who scored the winning goal in the opening game of the SHSHL championship series, and junior winger Matt Jubelirer. “We also have, in my mind, one of the better defensive units in the area,” Ioia said. “If we get good goaltending to go along with that, we’ll be extremely difficult to beat, no matter which team we play.” GA last won a Flyers Cup championship in 1995. Its other titles came in 1982, ’83 and ’94. Fresh off winning its second LBCSHL championship in three years, Conwell-Egan will meet Washington Township, the No. 2 seed from the SJSIHL, at 8:45 tonight at the Grundy Recreation Center in Bristol Borough. The Eagles routed Township, 8-2, in a first-round game last season. C-E went 22-0-2 in the regular season and defeated Archbishop Ryan, two games to one, in the LBCSHL semifinals before sweeping Bensa- lem in two games for the crown. The Eagles have an explosive offense spearheaded by their first line: sophomore center Brian Tetley (27 goals and 49 assists in the regular season), senior winger Dan Fox (47, 30), and junior winger Mike Delfin (38, 21). North Penn will square off against Father Judge, the No. 2 seed from the LBCSHL, in a first-round matchup at 8:30 tomorrow night at the Face-Off Circle in Warminster. The victor will meet Conwell-Egan or Washington Township in a quarter-final next Monday. North Penn went 13-8-1 in the regular season, placed third in the SHSHL American Division, and upset Council Rock in the playoff semifinals. Coach Tony Mauriello’s group of overachievers is led by four seniors: center Jon Kemp, winger Dan Cook, defenseman Kurt Kaufman, and goalie Mike Atlee.
Class AA. Archbishop Wood went a disappointing 8-12-2 in the regular season and finished fifth in the SHSHL American Division. The Vikings will have a chance at redemption when they play the Archbishop Ryan-Edgewood winner in a semifinal on March 24 at 8:45 p.m. at Face-Off. Coach Eric Tye’s up-and-down team will rely heavily on the shot-stopping talents of freshman goalie Ryan Costa and the scoring ability of senior center Steve Krol.
Class A. Pennsbury is hoping for a repeat of 1993 when it won the Class A title. The Falcons will play Clearview in a first-round game tonight at Grundy. Coach John Bria’s team will need production from its top line-junior center Jim Gannon (10 goals and 20 assists in the regular season) and senior wingers Scott Fyffe (30, 18) and Billy Farris (13, 21).
By Rick O’Brien
The Philadelphia Inquirer
