Philadelphia — After losses to West Chester East and Downingtown East last week, Salesianum (7-8-1) staved off a late push from Archbishop Ryan (5-10-0) to defeat the Raiders, 2-1, on Monday night (Feb. 4) at the Flyers Skate Zone Northeast.
With leading scorers Ethan Scharp and Jack Brady both scratched from the Salesianum lineup, the defending Flyers Cup champions hustled and worked hard to establish their first-period lead. Despite being kept without a shot on goal for the first 7:25, Salesianum drew first blood on a three-on-two attack in the 10th minute. Sophomore Johnny Lee carried the puck into the Raiders’ zone up the right and advanced the puck to Logan Downs in the mid-slot, who then set up Pat Kelly for a wrist shot from just inside the left face-off dot. Kelly’s third seasonal goal, which came at 9:21, beat Ryan’s southpaw goalie Kevin Flynn above his stick.
Following his assist on the Kelly goal and after missing a shift late in the first period due to a brutal Brandon Martelack check into the end boards, Downs took advantage of a major power play and capped the period with a breakaway from the Ryan blue line, walking the puck in for a cross-crease wrist shot from the left side of the goal mouth in the final second of the frame.
The Raiders bounced back in the second to halve Salesianum’s lead when leading scorer C.J. Perkins carried the puck out of his zone and beat Dylan Johnson in a one-on-one before bouncing the puck in off the right post at 6:33. Lee generated a short-handed breakaway in the 13th minute of the frame, but failed to lift Salesianum to a 3-1 advantage after a Flynn kick save denied his 15-foot wrist shot.
Penalty trouble in the final 18 minutes of the game — Nick Falkowski, Pat Kelly and Ryan Kelly all serving minors in that span — kept Salesianum pinned in their zone for much of that stretch and limited them to two third-period shots. However, the Sals’ defensive strength shone through to seal the win while backstopped by a 23-save performance from senior Graham Burke.
Salesianum forward Chase Golden left the game late in the second period with an upper-body injury.
Flynn stopped 19 of 21 shots in defeat for Archbishop Ryan, who remains winless in Philadelphia Catholic League play this season. Salesianum improved to 4-3-1 in divisional action, and will next face Delaware Military Academy on Monday (Feb. 11).
In other ICSHL action:
Father Judge 9, Delaware Military Academy 6
Father Judge extended their lead atop the PCL standings with a 9-6 win over Delaware Military Academy at the Patriot Ice Center. Thomas Scannell led Father Judge with four goals while Sean Melso added two. Aidan Danese and Max Ruggerio tallied two apiece for the Seahawks, while Aaron Catron and Alex Maglio also scored.
