2000 All-Area Teams (Bucks/Montco)

With his quick shot release and craftiness around the net, La Salle’s Pete Naticchione was one of the area’s most feared ice hockey players this season.
Naticchione’s contribution to the Explorers’ march to the Class AAA Flyers Cup final had to be measured by more than his ability, though. As the team’s captain, he was a calming and influential presence during close games.
For his efforts on and off the ice, Naticchione has been named The Inquirer’s ice hockey player of the year for Bucks and Montgomery Counties.
“I hadn’t been too vocal in the past,” Naticchione said. “I pretty much just kept my mouth shut and played. But I knew it was important for me to do more this season. It took some time, but I think I developed into a pretty good leader. It became easier for me to say the things I wanted to say.” La Salle, which played a rigorous non-league schedule, went 33-15-3. Coach Wally Muehlbronner acknowledged that Naticchione’s leadership played a key role. “He was great with the guys in the locker room,” Muehlbronner said. “For a high school senior, he was extremely responsible. He was a tremendous leader.” Naticchione, a four-year varsity player, served as the Explorers’ unofficial statistician. According to the records, the senior left winger compiled at home, he totaled a team-high 108 points, registering 64 goals and 44 assists. “Pete was terrific for us the entire year,” La Salle goalie Joe Mastronardo said. “He’s a tough player, has a strong shot, and is a good leader. He did a lot of things for us.” The 5-foot-7, 170-pound Naticchione collected 20 goals and 15 assists as La Salle went 13-2-1 and placed second to archrival Malvern Prep in the Inter-County Scholastic Hockey League’s AAA Division. He did not neglect defense, though.

“One of Pete’s biggest strengths is that he plays at both ends of the ice,” Muehlbronner said. “And he has a great knack for finishing.”
Naticchione, who lives in Blue Bell, was joined on the Explorers’ dangerous first line by right winger Mike Loftus and center Brett Urban. The senior trio combined for 99 goals and 123 assists. Naticchione, Loftus (24 goals, 32 assists), and Urban (11, 47) attended Norwood Fontbonne Academy in Chestnut Hill as elementary-school students, as did many of their La Salle teammates. “We’ve been playing hockey together since we were in third or fourth grade,” Naticchione said. “We’ve been teammates in youth hockey, on club teams, and in high school. We’re very close friends.” La Salle got hot in the postseason, winning its first three Flyers Cup games by a combined score of 21-5. In the semifinals against Malvern Prep, the Explorers won, 5-2, getting revenge for two regular-season losses to the formidable Friars, including a 4-0 defeat on Feb. 10. “We were pretty confident going into that [Flyers Cup] game against Malvern,” said Naticchione. “They’ve been our top rival for the last couple of years. Beating them was really the highlight of our season. It felt great.”
The victory earned La Salle a

championship-game meeting with Father Judge, the Lower Bucks County Scholastic Hockey League champion. Bedeviled by ill-timed penalties, the Explorers fell to the Crusaders, 5-4, in overtime. The loss denied La Salle its second Flyers Cup title in three years. They defeated Pittsburgh Central Catholic, 3-2, to claim the AAA state championship in 1998, Naticchione’s sophomore season. “We were shorthanded a lot against Judge,” Naticchione said. “We spent a lot of time killing penalties. It just seemed like we could never get into the flow of the game. It was disappointing to lose, because we had been on such a great roll.” The Explorers hit the road most weekends this season, playing top prep-school and junior-college teams in, among other states, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York. “The competition was really strong,” Naticchione said. “And I think those trips helped us become a more close-knit team. We would go out bowling, to movies, do a lot of things together.” Naticchione said he was all but certain that he would play hockey next season at Nichols College in Dudley, Mass. Nichols has a Division III program. “I think Pete will do fine there,” Muehlbronner said. Naticchione said Loftus and Ur- ban were also considering Nichols. “I’m trying to talk them into it,” Naticchione said. “That would be great, for the three of us to continue playing together. I’d love for it to happen.”

Coach of the Year. Holy Ghost Prep’s Brian Tibbels is The Inquirer’s ice hockey coach of the year for Bucks and Montgomery Counties. Turning a perennial doormat into a league contender, Tibbels guided the Firebirds to a 16-7-1 mark and third place in the Lower Bucks County Scholastic Hockey League. They finished only a point behind defending league champion Conwell-Egan. Tibbels, who doubles as the Lower Bucks league commissioner, took over Holy Ghost’s struggling program in 1997-98. After a first-year league record of 4-17-3, the Firebirds improved to 13-8-3 last season and reached the final of the Class AA Flyers Cup before losing to La Salle II, 3-0. This season, Holy Ghost handed Class AAA Flyers Cup champion Father Judge its only regular-season league setback. The squad again qualified for the Class AA Flyers Cup, losing to William Tennent, 3-2, in the first round.

Team of the year. La Salle appeared unbeatable in the playoffs, first breezing through the Inter-County Scholastic Hockey League AAA Division’s qualifying tournament and then winning its first three games of the Class AAA Flyers Cup by a combined score of 21-5. The impressive postseason drive was finally halted by Judge in the Flyers Cup final. The Crusaders twice rallied from two-goal deficits to beat the Explorers, 5-4, in overtime at the First Union Spectrum. The Explorers went 33-15-3 overall this season. They avenged two regular-season losses to Inter-County league nemesis Malvern Prep, beating the Friars, 5-2, in the Flyers Cup semifinals.

Turmoil of the year. Conwell-Egan first-year coach Steve Urglavitch, citing ongoing verbal abuse from some parents associated with the program and a lack of commitment from some team members, re-signed eight days before the Eagles were to begin defense of their Class AAA Flyers Cup. The Eagles weren’t able to answer the bell in the Flyers Cup. With interim coach Steve Easley behind the bench, they bowed to Washington Township (N.J.), 9-6, in first-round action.

Scorer of the year. Holy Ghost Prep’s Ryan Tocicki, a senior center, accounted for 71 points, with 50 goals and 21 assists, in 21 regular-season games. The Lower Bucks league scoring champion totaled 76 goals and 57 assists in regular-season play over the last two seasons.

Most improved player. Pennsbury junior center Mike LaTorre, who had 14 goals and 15 assists in the regular season, played a key role in the Falcons’ first Class A Flyers Cup title since 1993.

Best stretch of the year. La Salle senior Ryan Ciolli played splendidly in the playoffs. Named the MVP of the Class AAA Flyers Cup tournament, he provided nine goals in four games. The second-line winger notched three of the Explorers’ four goals in the championship-game loss to Judge.

Best single-game performance 1. Harry S Truman senior center Mickey Klemp posted a team-record eight goals in a 9-3 win over Bensalem in February.

Best single-game performance 2. Junior goalie John Zdunkiewicz, the MVP of the Class A Flyers Cup, stopped 27 shots as Pennsbury nipped Strath Haven, 3-2, in the final. The Falcons won despite registering only 14 shots on goal.

Best line. La Salle’s Pete Naticchione, Mike Loftus, and Brett Urban made up the area’s most explosive forward line. The three seniors combined for 32 goals and 37 assists in 16 regular-season games. Runner-up: Methacton, which had three capable scorers in juniors Kevin Unruh and Mike Prendergast and sophomore Brian Burgoon. Winger Unruh (25 goals, 18 assists) and center Prendergast (16, 27) each netted 43 points in regular-season play; Burgoon, a winger, tallied 27 goals and 23 assists for 50 points, the fourth-best total in the league.

Smallest player of the year. Five-foot-6, 130-pound Nick D’Agostino, Lansdale Catholic’s senior center, finished the regular season with 31 goals and 23 assists. Among Inter-County A-North Division players, only junior teammate Justin Bardsley (32 goals, 34 assists) managed more points.