Flyers Cup Class AAA Championship
William Tennent Panthers vs Monsignor Bonner Friars March 31, 1992
Played at The Skatium, Havertown, PA
IN THE NEWS:
April 6, 1992
Bonner sweeps Tennent to win the Flyers Cup
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Monsignor Bonner’s hockey players sat down for a team meeting on a sizzling hot day last summer to discuss their goals for the season. On Wednesday night, the Friars once again assembled this time on the Havertown Skatium ice in a happy green pile of sweat-soaked jerseys. Their biggest goal had become reality the school’s first Flyers Cup championship. “It hasn’t really sunk in,” coach Ted Dolan said after his team beat William Tennent, 6-1, to sweep their best-of-three series. “To set a goal like this at the beginning of the season and now have it achieved is really something.” The Friars took a physical beating from William Tennent in the two games, but they withstood the pain of the Panthers’ hard checks and dodged plenty of others to get the job done in convincing fashion. After the Friars’ 3-1 win in last Monday’s series opener at the Face Off Circle, Dolan thought his team had a big advantage, despite Tennent’s substantial size advantage. “I thought we’d taken their best shot Monday because it was at their rink,” Dolan said. “They outhit us and were squashing us, but we maintained our poise and won.” On Wednesday night, the Panthers went into game No. 2 at the Skatium in Havertown, backed by roughly 600 vocal Friars fans. When the Friars’ Jerry DiStefano beat Tennent’s defense to a loose puck in the corner, then skated in front to score on goalie Chad Melnick just 3 minutes into the game, the advantage clearly was Bonner’s. “That first goal really helped,” Dolan said. “To look at it in Tennent’s perspective, there are hundreds of screaming Bonner fans, they’re down a game and now down a goal. They had their backs to the wall.” The Friars went up, 2-0, later in the period on a power-play goal by Angelo LaBuono. Tennent’s top forward, Mike Petrangelo, cut the lead to one goal with a score from the slot early in the second. Tennent continued its hard checking, but coach Joe Paul’s game plan didn’t pan out. “They won the first game by beating us in the corners,” said Paul, whose team ended the season at 21-7.. “Our game plan [Wednesday] was to play two periods of physical hockey, then open it up in the third. Our intent was to intimidate them and take them away from their offensive flow.” Paul’s plan might have been a viable one against other teams, but Bonner was determined enough to absorb Tennent’s punishment and maintain its poise. Tom Ely upped the Friars’ lead to 3-1 by powering down the right side and beating two Tennent defensemen. Paul’s plan really collapsed when Petrangelo was pulled down a minute later on a semi-breakaway and left the ice with an ankle injury. If that didn’t put Tennent in deep trouble, 48 seconds later, Mark Anzideo scored to make it 4-1, and from there the outcome was never in question. “That was the clincher,” Dolan said. The Friars added some insurance early in the third period. Anthony Vennello scored off a face-off, and 34 seconds later Anzideo added his second goal to make it 6-1. While the Friars might have been happy to end the season with their first Flyers Cup championship, their accomplishment left them with one more goal to reach a Tier I state championship. Yesterday, Bonner (23-0-2) traveled to Pittsburgh to take on Meadville, that region’s top tier Penguins Cup winner, for the state championship. Meadville, a hard-hitting team boasting a horde of players over 6 feet tall, entered the contest at 33-11. “They sound like a powerhouse,” said Dolan.
IF YOU HAVE A TEAM PHOTO, OR ANY GAME PHOTOS OR VIDEO FROM THIS GAME PLEASE USE THE CONTACT FORM TO LET US KNOW.
THE ROAD TO THE CUP:
SEMI-FINALS
Monsignor Bonner 7 vs Unionville 1
William Tennent 7 vs Archbishop Ryan 2
FINALS
Monsignor Bonner 3 vs William Tennent 1
Monsignor Bonner 6 vs William Tennent 1
SCORING SUMMARY:
WM TENNENT…………….0 1 0–1
MSGR BONNER…………..2 2 2–6
FIRST PERIOD: (BON) Jerry DiStefano, (BON) Angelo LaBuono
SECOND PERIOD: (TEN) Mike Pietrangelo, (BON) Chris Ely, (BON) Mark Anzideo
THIRD PERIOD: (BON) Anthony Venello, (BON) Mark Anzideo
SHOTS: (TEN) 17, (BON) 52
GOALIES: (TEN) Chad Melnick (BON) Jim Bauer
ATTENDANCE: 829
ROSTER:
Head Coach: Ted Dolan
Assistant Coach: Kevin Dolan
Assistant Coach: Bill Hammond
Assistant Coach: Mike Barry
Angelo LaBuono
Jerry Distefano – MVP
Jim Bauer
Anthony Venello
Alex McElroy
Joe Liberatore
Ed Smith
Kirk Kuzmick
Vinnie Santoro
Sean McIllhenney
Mike Jacobs
Kevin Glenn
Mark Anzideo
Tom Ely
Steve DiPacio
Tom Donahue
Ed Kelly
Sean Kane
