Newark, Del. — Salesianum and Appoquinimink will both advance to second-round Inter-County Scholastic Hockey League playoff games on Wednesday (Feb. 27) after their respective victories on Monday at the Patriot Ice Center.
Salesianum 7, Archbishop Ryan 3
Salesianum (10-8-1), seeded third in the Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs, used a four-goal third period to pull away from Archbishop Ryan (5-12-0), 7-3. Freshman centre Logan Downs led Salesianum with two goals and an assist, while backup goalie Henry Annone stopped 24 of 27 shots in victory.
Tied 1-1 through the first period, Salesianum started to find their groove in the second with the Raiders’ Dominick Cerceo being assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct minor at 6:15. Just 37 seconds into the power play, Will Calandra set up a Dylan Johnson slap shot from the top of the zone that gave Salesianum a lead they would not relinquish. With 5:28 to go in the second period, Pat Kelly split defencemen to generate a scoring chance, failed to connect from close range, but freshman Jonathan Anthony connected with the rebound chance from the right edge of the crease, lifting Salesianum to a 3-1 lead.
Archbishop Ryan got one back in the final five seconds of the middle period — a C.J. Perkins power-play goal off a giveaway at the Salesianum blue line, but the Sals came back roaring with three consecutive tallies to start the third period. Downs, Ryan Kelly, and Ethan Scharp all beat Raiders goalie Kevin Flynn in the first 6:40 of the final frame, extending Salesianum’s lead to 6-2. With six minutes left and both Nick Falkowski and Downs ruled off for roughing and holding minors respectively, Ryan’s Patrick McClain connected on the five-on-three opportunity with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle, only for the Raiders’ brief rally to be stunted by a centre-point, bar-down rifle from Downs with 4:46 to go.
Flynn saved 32 of 39 shots in defeat for Archbishop Ryan, who were 2-for-6 on the power play.
Salesianum will next face Father Judge (7-1-2) on Wednesday at the Flyers Skate Zone in Northeast Philadelphia. Game time is 7:45 p.m.; coverage on Delaware Hockey Night Radio will begin at 7:35 p.m.
Appoquinimink 3, Spring-Ford 2 (OT)
After battling back from a 1-0 deficit in the third period, the Appoquinimink Jaguars (10-6-1) punched their ticket to the semifinals of the Liberty bracket by way of a 3-2 overtime win over Spring-Ford (8-8-2).
Only three days after scoring the overtime game-winning goal against St. Mark’s to secure a home playoff game, Jonny Schwarz did the same on Monday with a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle that bounced into the Rams’ goal past netminder Drew Clifford 4:03 into overtime.
Before their third-period rally, chances for the Jaguars to respond to Joey Temoyan’s first-period goal for Spring-Ford were scarce, even on three power plays they were availed through the first two periods. Jack Anderson tied the game for the Jaguars with a short-handed goal 1:40 into the third, connecting on a Schwarz feed off a takeaway in the Spring-Ford zone, and Nathan Panchisin gave the Jaguars a 2-1 lead 90 seconds later on a breakaway from the Rams’ blue line set up as well by Schwarz. A delayed penalty against Appoquinimink enabled Spring-Ford’s Jack Whiteside to tie the game with 9:33 to go in regulation with a long-range wrist shot that sailed in over the glove of Dylan Hadley.
Appoquinimink, backstopped by an 18-save outing by Hadley, takes on Boyertown (16-2-1) on Wednesday at Ice Line in West Chester, Pa. Game time is 6:45 p.m.
In other ICSHL playoff action:
Roman Catholic 6, DMA 3
Perkiomen Valley 9, Kennett 1
Owen J. Roberts 10, St. Mark’s 0
