Newark, Del. — While usually a looming presence at the blue line, Salesianum (6-6-1) captain Dylan Johnson was instrumental in both of his team’s goals in a 2-0 victory over Delaware Military Academy (8-4-0) in a hard-fought and physical renewal of the ‘Battle of Delaware’ on Friday night (Jan. 18) at the Patriot Ice Center.
After goalies Anthony Guerrieri and Graham Burke recorded nine saves each in a scoreless first period, Salesianum ground away to a slight edge in the second. At the 4:31 mark of the middle frame, Johnson — who posted up just in front of Guerrieri — fielded a back-door pass from Chase Golden and fired a wrist shot over Guerrieri’s glove to give Salesianum the game’s first goal. Johnson, one of six seniors honoured before the game, then connected with freshman winger Logan Downs on the night’s second goal, setting him up with a net-front centring pass at 9:15 in the period while DMA’s Braedon Dougherty was serving a slashing minor.
The Seahawks tried to stage a third-period comeback, but the Salesianum defence consistently angled the Seahawks snipers to the perimeter, the penalty killing unit staved off two power-play attacks, and Burke stopped all 15 shots he faced in the final frame to cap a 34-save shutout.
Prior to the game, Johnson and Burke were recognised in addition to Jack Brady, Will Calandra, Russell Sands and Chris Wheeler in an on-ice Senior Night ceremony.
In other ICSHL action:
Sun Valley 4, St. Mark’s 3 (OT)
The Sun Valley Vanguards (4-8-0) pulled out an overtime win over St. Mark’s (5-1-2) at IceWorks in Aston, Pa. when Parrick Brees potted the game-winning tally 16 seconds into the extra period.
Penalty trouble for St. Mark’s led to two of Sun Valley’s three second-period goals, with Ian Finley and Joseph Bonaquisti both beating Billy Pierce amid power plays. Down 3-2 through two and with Jimmy Paoli serving a delay of game minor early in the third, senior defenceman Joey Centrone scored the game-tying goal for the Spartans 4:05 in after registering assists on second-period St. Mark’s goals from Kelly Stroik and Owen Boyle.
Ryan Duffield saved 16 of 19 shots in victory, while Pierce stopped 20 of 24 in defeat.
Appoquinimink 2, Interboro 2 (OT)
Fresh off a 5-0 win over Harriton, the Appoquinimink Jaguars (8-4-2) battled to a 2-2 tie over rising Liberty South Division power Interboro (7-4-2) at IceWorks.
Defenceman Paul Army returned to the Jaguars’ lineup after sustaining an upper-body injury the prior weekend, and he accounted for the game-tying goal 4:31 into the second period in addition to an assist on Aiden Kurych’s other goal for the Jaguars. Frank Jirak and Konnor Oreskovich both scored for the Buccaneers.
Vincent Paloni registered 29 saves on 31 shots for Appoquninimink, while Interboro goalie Hunter Chubb saved 34 of 36 shots.
Downingtown East 6, Avon Grove 1
Six different Cougars scored goals in Downingtown East’s 6-1 rout of Avon Grove in a Ches-Mont division matchup at the Patriot Ice Center. Ryan Johnston, Andrew Ceglia, Ryan Prestayko, Dan Stankiewicz, Theo Vela and Kevin Shannon all lit the lamp for the Cougars, who towered over the Devils in terms of speed, size and strength. Nicholas Rosati added three assists, and Haig Pogharian stopped 21 shots in victory. Ricky Stoner scored the lone goal for Avon Grove midway through the third period, while J.D. D’Ambrosio saved 28 of 34 shots faced in loss.
