March 24, 1999
Malvern Prep had a problem with La Salle the last two years in ice hockey. The Friars had been 0-5-1 against La Salle, and 0-1-1 this season without junior center Chase Watson. Last night, Watson scored two goals and assisted on another and Malvern erased two years of frustration by exploding for five second-period goals en route to a 6-4 victory over La Salle in the Flyers Cup Class AAA quarterfinals game. The game was played in front of more than 1,000 fans who were jammed into the Ice Line rink in West Chester. The victory enabled Malvern (15-1-2) to advance to the semifinals, in which the Friars will meet Cardinal O’Hara at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Skatium in Havertown. The loss ended La Salle’s reign as Flyers Cup and Class AAA state champions with a 16-1-1 record. Watson, a 6-foot 170-pounder missed both games against La Salle this season, one because of injury and one because of a club-team commitment. He made up for the missed time last night. After a somewhat lethargic and scoreless first period, Malvern struck for three second-period goals in 21 seconds. Joe Hooker, Watson, and Tim Wochok found the net. The Friars’ Chris Lawrence finished the flurry of offense with a deflection of a shot from Mike Illgas to make it 41 with 8 minutes, 49 seconds left. La Salle had taken a 1-0 lead on a goal by Pat Salvitti off an assist from Shawn Garvin with 14:46 left in the second period. But Malvern came right back to tie the score on a great move by Hooker, who pulled La Salle goalie Justin Levin one way and back-handed the puck into the net. After Malvern’s four straight goals, LaSalle’s Peter Naticchione and Ryan Ciolli scored. Naticchione scored his second goal with 18.5 seconds left to play before Hooker added an empty-net goal for the final 6-4 score.
Class A. In a Flyers Cup Class A semifinal, Springfield won a 5-4 game over Strath Haven when Bill Scheier scored his second goal of the game with 7:19 left in overtime. The victory enabled Springfield to advance to the Flyers Cup Class A final for the first time in school history. The Cougars (17-3-4) will play the winner of Thursday’s Holy Cross (N.J.) Archbishop Ryan game in the Flyers Cup Class A title game at 11 Sunday morning at the First Union Center. It looked as if Springfield’s Ben Wood had supplied the game-winning goal with 3:19 left in the third period, but Strath Haven’s Bill Blystone came back to tie it, 4-4, with his second goal of the game with 27 seconds left in regulation. For Springfield, Ryan Cell also scored a pair of goals. Scheier had three assists for the Cougars.
Malvern Prep….0-5-1–6
LaSalle……………0-2-2–4
Goals: L-Pat Salvitti, Peter Naticchione 2, Ryan Ciolli. MP-Joe Hooker 2, Chase Watson 2. Tim Wochok, Chris Lawrence.
Saves: L-Justin Levin 13. MP-Jeff Caruso 15.
