March 26, 2000
Two seasons ago, when he was cut from La Salle’s top-level varsity hockey team, Joe Mastronardo nearly gave up the game he loved. “It almost made me quit hockey,” Mastronardo said. “I really didn’t know if I wanted to play the game anymore. I was pretty bitter. I was depressed for quite a while.”
Last year, as a junior, the goalie again fell victim to a numbers game. He finished third in a battle with returning senior starter Justin Levin and fellow junior Greg Molchen. Though disappointed, Mastronardo helped La Salle II, the Explorers’ other varsity squad, win the Class AA Flyers Cup. He stopped 16 shots in a 3-0 win over Holy Ghost Prep in the championship game. The 5-foot-7, 150-pound Mastronardo shared the goaltending duties most of this season with Molchen. However, La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner tabbed Mastronardo as the squad’s No. 1 goalie for the playoffs. The Explorers are reaping the benefits of Muehlbronner’s decision. Mastronardo turned away 29 of 31 shots as La Salle knocked off archrival Malvern Prep, 5-2, in the semifinal round of the Class AAA Flyers Cup Thursday night at the Skatium in Havertown. The senior also shined in two other tournament victories, a 6-2 defeat of Cardinal O’Hara in the quarterfinals and a 10-1 romp over Lower Dauphin in the first round. For Mastronardo, the transformation from perennial backup to stand-out starter has been exhilarating. “This is the best thing that could ever happen to me, as far as hockey goes,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been through so much to get to this point. All the pieces finally fell into place for me. I couldn’t be happier.” The Huntingdon Valley resident, confident as ever, will be between the pipes when La Salle faces Father Judge in the Flyers Cup final tonight at 7:30 at the First Union Spectrum. Mastronardo also battled back from an illness this season. Swollen lymph nodes caused him to miss several games. A procedure performed at Abington Memorial Hospital, in late December, started him on
the path to a full recovery. “It felt like I had the flu for two months,” he said. “I had no strength whatsoever. I even had trouble walking the steps to my first-period class, which is on the third floor. Looking back on it, I didn’t realize how sick I actually was during that time.” Equipped with quickness and a good glove hand, Mastronardo has posted a 22-3-2 overall record this season for the Explorers, who play a grueling nonleague schedule and participate in weekend tournaments on the East Coast. The flashy netminder posted a 1.78 goals-against average in Inter-County Scholastic Hockey League AAA Division regular-season action. He yielded only 17 goals, stopping 171 of 188 shots. “I was really happy with the way I played toward the end of the season,” Mastronardo said. “My confidence was pretty high heading into the playoffs.” The 18-year-old Mastronardo is the grandson of former Philadelphia mayor Frank L. Rizzo. He was 9 years old when his legendary grandfather died of a heart attack in July 1991. “I was really close to him,” Mastronardo said. “I have a lot of good memories of the time I spent with him. It was tough when he died because everything was going well for him. He had a radio show, and was involved in politics again…. It was hard on my entire family.” Mastronardo’s mother, Joanna, is Rizzo’s daughter. “My grandfather was a tough. guy,” Joe Mastronardo said. “There wasn’t anything he couldn’t do. He tried to help a ton of people, and I think he gained a lot of respect for that. He also told things as they were, and didn’t sugarcoat anything. I’m a lot like him in that way.” In defeating Malvern on Thursday, the Explorers gained revenge for two regular-season losses. The Friars, who placed first in the Inter-County league, notched a 5-2 victory on Nov. 12 and won 4-0 on Feb. 10. “We didn’t hit our stride until the end of the year,” Mastronardo said. “When we came up against Malvern for the third time, we felt pretty confident that we would beat them. We have a very strong team, a lot of good players.” Falcons in A final. Pennsbury will vie for the Class A Flyers Cup championship when it meets Strath Ha- ven tomorrow night at 7 at the Grundy Recreation Center in Bristol Borough. “We want to win pretty badly,” Falcons coach John Bria said. “It’s nice to have something to play for at this time of the season. We would love to win this game, and get a shot at playing for the state title.” The Falcons, who placed fifth in the Lower Bucks County Scholastic Hockey League, topped Pennridge, 3-1, in the semifinals last week. Junior center
Mike LaTorre keyed the victory, scoring a shorthanded breakaway goal in the second period and an empty-netter with 39 seconds remaining in the game. Senior center Jason Sweeney, with a power-play goal in the first period, was responsible for Pennsbury’s other tally. Junior goalie John Zdunkiewicz stopped 26 of the Rams’ 27 shots. Strath Haven went 13-3 in regular-season action, placing second in the Inter-County A-South Division. The Panthers topped Methacton, 4-2, in the league’s A Division championship game and also beat the Warriors, 3-1, in the Flyers Cup semifinals last week.
Said Bria: “They have a good offense, a good goaltender [sophomore Dave McCormick], and two lines that keep coming at you.” Strath Haven junior forward Matt Schroeder totaled a team-high 38 points, with 11 goals and 27 assists, in the regular season. Senior forward Dave Gerlach had a hat trick in the squad’s Flyers Cup win over Methacton. Pennsbury fell to Garnet Valley, 4-2, in the final of the Class A Flyers Cup in 1998. The Falcons won the Class A tournament in 1993, defeating Unionville in a best-of-three series.
By Rick O’Brien
The Philadelphia Inquirer
