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Flyers Cup Results | |
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Malvern Prep beats La SalleThe 5-1 triumph gave the Friars their fourth straight crown in Flyers Cup competition. By Joe Santoliquito Inquirer Suburban Staff Without skates, the top of Bryan Mountain's head might not reach the crossbar of a hockey net. The diminutive goaltender, a freshman at Malvern Prep, is listed at 5-foot-4, 120 pounds. But that must factor in all the equipment he wears. He played big last night. La Salle outplayed Malvern Prep for most of the first two periods in the Flyers Cup Class AAA championship game, but couldn't solve Mountain. The result was a 5-1 Malvern Prep victory at the Wachovia Spectrum. The win made Malvern Prep the first AAA team to win four straight Flyers Cup titles. The Friars (37-3-3), who have won 19 straight, play Penguins Cup champion Mount Lebanon for the state ice hockey title April 10 at Robert Morris University Island Sports Center in Pittsburgh. La Salle (21-18-2) fell to the Friars for the second straight year in the Flyers Cup final. Mountain, the tournament's most valuable player, steered away 30 shots last night. He frustrated the Explorers with diving saves and smothered a number of hard, point-blank shots, courtesy of Malvern turnovers deep in its own end. By the midpoint of the second period, La Salle had outshot Malvern Prep, 17-4. "They totally outplayed us at equal strength," Friars coach John Graves said. "If Bryan didn't make a couple of big saves early, I'm not sitting here with a championship trophy in my hands. If we went down early to La Salle, I think we would have been in big trouble. Bryan kept us in the game," Graves said. The Friars scored on two of their first three shots against reliable La Salle goaltender Ken Wochele. Justin Martin poked a shot past Wochele for the first goal of the game with 12 minutes, 54 seconds left in the opening period. Malvern Prep struck again on a power-play goal by Matt Campanale later in the period; he beat Wochele high to the glove side. Wochele, who was screened on the play, never saw the shot. A goal by Steve Klenk pulled the Explorers within 2-1 with 50.2 seconds left in the first period. The goal helped ease some of Klenk's frustration; he was stoned by Mountain twice earlier in the period. "I thought, without question, we outplayed them, but they buried their chances and we didn't," La Salle coach Wally Muehlenbronner said. "Our system worked. We took away their cross-ice passes." Though Malvern Prep led, 2-1, after one period, the Friars were fortunate. They were outplayed and outshot, 12-3. If not for a couple of nice saves by Mountan - he stopped a breakaway by the Explorers' Andrew Brady - Malvern could have been trailing. Tim Gerhing gave the Friars a 3-1 lead on a goal late in the second period. Campanale made it 4-1 with his second goal of the night on a power play early in the third period. Chris Campanale scored the final Malvern Prep goal. La Salle 1 0 0 - 1 Malvern Prep 2 1 2 - 5 Goals: LS-Steve Klenk. MP-Justin Martin, Matt Campanale (2), Tim Gehring, Chris Campanale. Saves: LS-Ken Wochele, 15. MP-Bryan Mountain, 30. |
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