Newark, Del. — Wins from Appoquinimink and St. Mark’s further cemented them atop the 10-team Inter-County Scholastic Hockey League Liberty Division table, while DMA and Avon Grove were handed defeat to begin 2020.
Appoquinimink 5, Bishop Shanahan 3
The Appoquinimink Jaguars (8-0-2) took first place in the Liberty Division from Bishop Shanahan (9-3-0) by way of a come-from-behind, 5-3 win over the Eagles at the Patriot Ice Center.
Appoquinimink used four unanswered goals to climb out of a 3-1 deficit and complete a season sweep of the Eagles after a 3-0 win at Ice Line on Nov. 27.
Tristan Fallon scored both first-period goals for Shanahan, connecting on Colin O’Donnell setups on both occasions — with a 10-foot slap shot at 1:38, and then off a cross-slot pass from the left dot at 15:03.
After proving fruitless against a tough Shanahan backcheck in the first period, Appo leading scorer Jonny Schwarz halved the Eagles’ lead with a power-play goal 1:08 into the second period, firing a bar-down rocket from the right half-boards for his 14th seasonal tally, but mid-period penalty trouble for the Jaguars enabled the Eagles to reclaim a two-goal advantage. With Paul Army issued a hooking minor at 8:19, the door was open for two-way defenceman Matt Brozey to extend Shanahan’s lead to 3-1 with a power-play goal of his own at 9:17, finishing a coast-to-coast advance up the left dots by splitting defenders and connecting on a net-front backhand.
The Jaguars dominated the final 20 minutes, evening the score with two goals in the final four minutes of the second period and unleashing an 18-shot salvo on Shanahan goalie Domenic Veneziale in the third. With 3:58 left in the middle frame, Army connected on a backdoor pass from Nathan Panchisin, and Shane Hindt finished a 2-on-1 attack from a cross-ice Schwarz feed to tie the game with 47 seconds to go in the second.
Schwarz generated a solid end-to-end scoring chance with just over two minutes elapsed in the third period, but he failed to connect from the slot after being impeded by Brozey. A subsequent altercation between Schwarz and Veneziale saw both receive roughing minors while further involvement from O’Donnell well after the play concluded knocked Schwarz off his feet.
Despite a bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct negating their looming power play, the Jaguars exploited a weakening Shanahan defence and connected for two third-period goals. Jack Anderson potted both, finishing an Aiden Kurych takeaway at 9:19 before jamming the rebound of a Panchisin shot past Veneziale at 11:31.
Dylan Hadley improved to 6-0-1 in net for Appoquinimink with 11 saves on 14 shots faced, while Veneziale dropped to 8-3-0 after allowing five goals on 39 shots. Both teams currently have 18 points — as does St. Mark’s — but Appoquinimink has two games in hand over Shanahan.
Appoqinimink returns to action Monday (Jan. 6), hosting Great Valley-Phoenixville.
In other action:
Spring-Ford 6, DMA 4
Spring-Ford (5-6-1) took charge early and steadily kept Delaware Military Academy (2-5-0) at bay for a 6-4 win at the Patriot Ice Center. While the Seahawks out shot the Rams, 51-17, the Rams made the most of their chances to establish a 4-2 first period lead and nurse it through the early part of the third. Brandon Burt led the Rams with two goals and an assist, Saxon Vargo contributed the game-winning goal and an assist, and Justin Kratz accounted for a goal and three assists. Aaron Catron scored two of the Seahawks’ four goals while Aidan Danese and Max Ruggerio notched the others.
Tyler Temoyan proved stellar in net for Spring-Ford, stopping 47 of 51 shots faced. Goaltending woes continue to plague DMA, who are last in the five-team PCL Division, as Thomas Marzulli registered 11 saves on 17 shots.
DMA hosts West Chester Bayard Rustin on Monday.
St. Mark’s 10, Great Valley-Phoenixville 0
The St. Mark’s Spartans (8-1-2) extended their winning streak to seven by way of a 10-0 drubbing of Great Valley-Phoenixville (5-3-0) at Ice Line. Will Ralsten led the Spartans with five goals, while Graham Kline and Nick Butler accounted for two apiece and James Morrison one. Sam Griffith earned his second shutout of the season with an 18-save performance.
The Spartans travel to IceWorks on Friday (Jan. 10) to take on Interboro. Their Nov. 22 meeting resulted in a 3-3 draw.
Unionville 5, Avon Grove 2
Unionville (7-5-0) completed their season series sweep of Avon Grove (3-6-1) with a 5-2 victory at Ice Line. Philippe Doucette provided much of the Indians’ firepower with a hat trick and an assist; Jake Petrillo and Dylan Blackburn scored Unionville’s other two goals. Jordan Fabian and Ricky Stoner both scored for the Devils; Quinn Slavin assisted on both tallies. Justin Mackley took the loss in net for Avon Grove despite saving 29 of 34 shots; Keigan Craig saved 29 of 31 in victory for Unionville.
Avon Grove looks to complete a sweep of Downingtown West on Monday at the Patriot Ice Center.
