1981 Four from Carroll named first team in all-area hockey

April 12, 1981

The Inquirer’s fifth all-area hockey team is dominated by the five players who led Archbishop Carroll High School to its second straight Flyers Cup, emblematic of supremacy in Southeastern Pennsylvania, and the inaugural Pennsylvania Cup, which symbolizes the state championship. One of them, senior defenseman Carmen DiGiandomenico, is Player of the Year. Of the 12 players on the first team, four are from Carroll. Its goaltender, Rob Schnorr, made the second team. Carroll players joining DiGiandomenico on the first team are sophomore forward Jeffrey Arnold, junior forward Phil Chamness, and senior defenseman Pat Marra. Arnold won trophies as the most valuable player in both the Flyers Cup and Pennsylvania Cup by scoring 19 goals in five games. His 17 goals in the four-game Flyers Cup was a record. Arnold also led the Inter-County League in scoring with 74 points. Cham- ness tied for second (with St. James’ Tony Feliziani). Marra excelled as a defenseman in the Flyers Cup; he was an all-star forward during the season.

FIRST TEAM

SECOND TEAM

HONORABLE MENTION

GOALTENDERS: Scott Brehman, Haverford High; Dave Eric, Penncrest; Jim Kusters, Archbishop Wood; Brian McLaughlin, Monsignor Bonner; Chuck Bolnick and Frank Vochinsky, Marple-Newtown; Scott Borowsky, William Tennent.
DEFENSEMEN: Dan Ashbee, Penncrest; Jeff White, Radnor; Andy Kubit, Abington; Frank Reago, Archbishop Wood; Jack Tompkins and Joe Modersky, Episcopal Academy; Greg Murphy, Swarthmore; Todd Eachus, Marple-Newtown; Steve Schneer, North Penn; Frank Margiotti, Bishop McDevitt; Mike Mullaney, Central Bucks; Brian Brady, Abington; Kent Kline, William Tennent.
FORWARDS: Kevin Kolaski and Brian Tibbles, Neshaminy; Frank Burdo, Archbishop Carroll; Jamie Houston, Marple-Newtown; Vince McNamee, Bishop Egan; Mike Donahue, David Rolston and Chris Purkiss, Haverford School; Al Cobb, Malvern Prep; Joe Shuron and Steve Delaney, La Salle; Chris Fixari, Conestoga; Brian Miller, Unionville; Joe Walsh, Ed Cunningham and Jack Cleery, Haverford; Andy Clibanoff, Cheltenham; Chuck Aikens, Central Bucks; Steve Duda and Ken Orlando, Washington; Ken Reinhl, Archbishop Wood; Steve Altmann, William Tennent; Leo Lorenz, Abington; Tim French and Mike McDevitt, North Catholic; Jeff Garvin, Bishop McDevitt; Mark Erbe, Methacton; John Bjornson, Central; John Barroll and Doug Horner, Chestnut Hill Academy; Ken Leach and Dan Scully, Cardinal O’Hara; Steve Orlando and John Madonna, Monsignor Bonner; Lou Tiernan, West Catholic.

DiGiandomenico is Player of the Year

Carmen DiGiandomenico says his second favorite sport is weight-lifting.
“He has a barbell in his room,” says his father, Frank DiGiandomenico, “and every time he takes a break from homework or watching television, he goes in and does 50 curls.” The imposing physique developed through weightlifting (“I’ve never seen him get beat in the corners,” Frank says), plus his equally developed mental agility, have made DiGiandomenico the best hockey player in Southeastern Pennsylvania. He is recognized today as The Inquirer’s Player of the Year, both for his outstanding individual season and for leading Archbishop Carroll to its second straight Flyers Cup. “He’s a real student of the game,” said Frank, who has coached Carmen in the Little Flyers program and as the assistant at Archbishop Carroll. “He really understands the strategy of the game, what it means to change systems, to adapt. His anticipation is super. Plus, he learned a lot of perseverance this year… he really stopped taking penalties at the end of the year.” The end of the year was a touch-and-go situation for both Carmen DiGiandomenico and Car- roll. During the Inter-County League playoffs, Carmen developed mononucleosis. Without him, Carroll lost to Marple-Newtown, 5-3, breaking a 19. game-winning streak. “Carroll never would have gotten where they got without Carmen,” said Frank. “If he hadn’t gotten out of a sickbed in that series with Marple-Newtown, we’d have gotten beat. We never would have made the Flyers Cup in the first place.

“He has one more thing that, in my opinion, is a super, super quality. He’s a totally unsung hero- and he’s learned to live with it. For years he’s been overshadowed by Greg Arnold, Scott Chamness, and now Jeff Arnold, because they’re big scorers. But he’s managed to do his job and g never worry about it.”That loss to Marple-Newtown was the only one Carroll would suffer in a 27-1 season. It is no accident it was the only game Carmen DiGiandomenico missed.