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 High School Schedules, Standings & Stats |
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High School Schedules, Standings & Stats |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Friday, May 28, 2004 By Al Cohen The Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League are once again seeking young artists from across the Delaware Valley to provide drawings and paintings for the team's 2004-05 season ticket book. For the second year in a row, a total of 40 submissions from kids ages 14 and under will be chosen, with a different winner featured on season tickets for each of the Phantoms' 40 home games next year. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Friday, May 14, 2004 By Al Cohen The Philadelphia Phantoms' season came to an end tonight at Wachovia Arena as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins captured the East Division Finals with a 3-1 victory in Game Six. Tomas Surovy recorded a goal and an assist and Andy Chiodo stopped 20-of-21 shots for the Penguins, who won the series four games to two. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will now face the Hartford Wolf Pack in the Eastern Conference Finals. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Wednesday, May 12, 2004 By Al Cohen Peter White scored the game-winning goal 9:40 into the third period and Jeff Carter added an empty-netter as the Philadelphia Phantoms stayed alive in the East Division Finals with a 4-2 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in Game Five tonight at the Wachovia Center. Mark Murphy and Ben Stafford also scored for the Phantoms, who trail the best-of-seven series three games to two. Game Six is set for this Friday in Wilkes-Barre. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Monday, May 10, 2004 By Al Cohen Andy Chiodo recorded his second straight shutout over the Philadelphia Phantoms as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins posted a 2-0 victory in Game Four of the East Division Finals tonight at Wachovia Arena. Chiodo, who turned aside all 18 shots he faced in Saturday's 3-0 triumph, registered 32 saves tonight to help Wilkes-Barre/Scranton take a three games to one lead in the best-of-seven series. Game Five is set for Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. in Philadelphia. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Saturday, May 8, 2004 By Al Cohen Andy Chiodo stopped all 18 shots he faced as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins took a two games to one lead in the East Division Finals with a 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phantoms tonight at Wachovia Arena. Chiodo, who was taken out of Game One after surrendering four goals in just over 21 minutes, made eight saves in the second period and five in the first and third tonight for his second postseason shutout. Antero Niittymaki stopped 24-of-27 shots for Philadelphia, which will return to Wilkes-Barre on Monday for Game Four of the best-of-seven series. Game Five is set for Wednesday in Philadelphia. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Friday, May 7, 2004 By Al Cohen Rookie Jeff Carter scored the game-winning power-play goal with 4:40 left in overtime to lift the Philadelphia Phantoms to a 3-2 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins tonight at the Wachovia Center. With the win, the Phantoms evened the best-of-seven East Division Finals at a game apiece. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton had the first power play of the extra session when the Phantoms were called for too many men on the ice at the 10:41 mark, but came up empty. Less than four minutes later, Shane Endicott was sent off for holding Kirby Law in front of the Wilkes-Barre net, giving Philadelphia its sixth man advantage of the game. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Wednesday, May 5, 2004 By Al Cohen Kris Beech scored the game-winning goal with 4:21 remaining as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins rallied from a three-goal deficit to post a 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phantoms in Game One of the East Division Finals tonight at the Wachovia Center. Philadelphia tallied four consecutive goals to build a 4-1 lead 1:19 into the second period before Wilkes-Barre/Scranton answered with three goals in the second and Beech's fourth postseason marker in the third. Matt Murley and Michel Ouellet assisted on Beech's one-timer from between the circles. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Saturday, May 1, 2004 By Al Cohen Peter White recorded a goal and an assist as the Philadelphia Phantoms captured their East Division Semifinal series vs. the Norfolk Admirals with a 3-2 victory in Game Six tonight at the Wachovia Center. John Slaney and rookie Jeff Carter also scored for Philadelphia, which won the series four games to two. The Phantoms will now take on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the East Division Finals, beginning Wednesday in Philadelphia. Antero Niittymaki stopped 27-of-29 shots, including all 11 he faced in the third period, to notch the win. The 23-year-old goaltender surrendered just nine goals in the six match-ups to help Philadelphia set a club record for fewest goals allowed in a seven-game series. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Friday, April 30, 2004 By Al Cohen Blake Bellefeuille's power-play goal with 1:54 remaining was the difference tonight at the Scope as the Norfolk Admirals posted a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phantoms in Game Five of the East Division Semifinals. Philadelphia, which captured Games Three and Four in Norfolk earlier in the week, still owns a three games to two lead in the best-of-seven series. The Phantoms will host Game Six on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at the Wachovia Center. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Wednesday, April 28, 2004 By Al Cohen B.J. Abel scored 13:02 into the third overtime to lift the Philadelphia Phantoms to a 2-1 victory over the Norfolk Admirals in Game Four of the East Division Semifinals tonight at the Norfolk Scope. With the win, Philadelphia took a three games to one lead in the best-of-seven series. Game Five is set for Friday at the Scope. The running time of 113:02 is the longest in Phantoms history and the eighth longest in AHL annals. Philadelphia's previous record for the longest game was 100:42 - a 3-2 loss in Hershey in Game Six of the 1997 Mid-Atlantic Division Finals. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Tuesday, April 27, 2004 By Al Cohen Mark Murphy scored twice and John Slaney added a goal and an assist as the Philadelphia Phantoms posted a 3-1 victory over the Norfolk Admirals in Game Three of the East Division Semifinals tonight at the Norfolk Scope. Antero Niittymaki stopped 17-of-18 shots for Philadelphia, which took a two games to one lead in the best-of-seven series. Game Four is set for Wednesday at the Scope. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Friday, April 23, 2004 By Al Cohen Quintin Laing scored the winning goal 9:51 into overtime to lift the visiting Norfolk Admirals to a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phantoms in Game Two of the East Division Semifinals tonight at the Wachovia Center. Norfolk, which lost Game One by a score of 2-1 on Wednesday, will now return home to host Games Three through Five next week. Making his first appearance of the playoffs, Craig Anderson made 28 saves to notch the win for Norfolk. His counterpart Antero Niittymaki turned aside 14-of-16 shots to suffer the loss. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Wednesday, April 21, 2004 By Al Cohen Ian MacNeil and Stefan Ruzicka each scored to lead the Philadelphia Phantoms to a 2-1 victory over the Norfolk Admirals in Game One of the East Division Semifinals tonight at the Wachovia Center. Antero Niittymaki made 30 saves and recorded an assist on MacNeil's goal to notch the win in his first postseason appearance as a Phantom. Philadelphia was playing its first game since the regular-season finale 10 days ago, as the team captured the division title and had to await the winner of the qualifying round series between Norfolk and Binghamton. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Sunday, April 11, 2004 By Al Cohen Goaltender Antero Niittymaki was credited with a shorthanded empty-net goal 2:32 into overtime as the Philadelphia Phantoms ended the 2003-04 regular season with a 3-2 victory over the Hershey Bears tonight at GIANT Center. Hershey assumed a 4-on-3 power play 48 seconds into overtime when rookie defenseman Freddy Meyer was called for holding Shane Willis from behind on a breakaway attempt. Needing a win to qualify for the playoffs, the Bears then pulled goaltender Phil Sauve late in the power play. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Sunday, April 4, 2004 By Al Cohen The Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League handed out their annual team awards prior to Sunday's regular-season finale against the Binghamton Senators at the Wachovia Spectrum. Phantoms Chief Operating Officer Frank Miceli bestowed six awards, while two others were presented by Phantoms fans. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Saturday, March 27, 2004 By Al Cohen Rookie defenseman James Laux scored 23 seconds into overtime to lift the Philadelphia Phantoms to a 1-0 victory over the Binghamton Senators tonight at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. With the win, Philadelphia clinched a playoff berth in the 2004 Calder Cup Playoffs and moved into the top spot in the Eastern Conference standings. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Friday, March 26, 2004 By Al Cohen Peter White scored the game-winning power-play goal 5:14 into the third period as the Philadelphia Phantoms moved into first place in the AHL's East Division with a 2-1 victory over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers tonight at the Wachovia Spectrum. White's 11th goal came during a high sticking minor on Luke Curtin, who was playing his first game of the year for Bridgeport. Freddy Meyer took a shot from just inside the blue line on the play and Mike Peluso tried a deflection in front. The puck caromed to White, who took two pokes to place it past Sound Tigers goaltender Dieter Kochan. |
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High School Ice Hockey: Wednesday, March 24, 2004 By Mike Costantino Looking back over this past season of high school ice hockey, we have had a lot that has happened. South Jersey Sports Online has covered a lot of good games through out the season and will continue to do so with the support of the coaches, players, fans, officials and sponsors. With the season completely at an end, there are some final thoughts and a few comments that have to be addressed. |
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Thursday, March 18, 2004 By Mike Costantino The Eastern Vikings lost to Malvern Prep 3-1 in the quarterfinal of the AAA Flyers Cup Tournament in action played at Iceline in West Chester, Pa. Malvern, a perennial powerhouse in high school hockey and the top seed in the tournament, are expected to win their fourth consecutive Flyers Cup, but someone forgot to tell the Vikings, and in particular Dan Myers. Myers faced 44 shots, many from close range and was spectacular in goal, keeping Eastern in the game. Midway through the first period, Brandon Tunstill scored from the slot to give Eastern a 1-0 lead. Unfortunately, the only two people that did not see the goal go in were the “officials” on the ice. Clearly, this was a sign of things to come. |
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Wednesday, March 17, 2004 By Ron Schwinn On Wednesday the Moorestown Ice Hockey Club's middle school team captured the club's first ever fall/winter season championship. The team finished the regular season 12-6-2, and the number two seed in the playoffs of the Flyers Skate Zone Middle School "B" Division. Their first opponent in the playoffs was rival Williamstown on Sunday March 7th. In an exciting contest, Moorestown won 2-1 as Issa Aji scored both goals. In addition, strong defensive play limited Williamstown to just 6 shots for the entire game. |
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Tuesday, March 16, 2004 By Mike Costantino Anthony Orner had a goal and three assists all in the third period as Eastern defeated Archbishop Ryan 7-3 in first round AAA action in the annual Flyers Cup Tournament at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. Eastern seemed a little tentative early on. Ryan struck first as Marty Spellman scored to put Ryan ahead 1-0. The game plan was clear for the Raiders, be physical and intimidating and for two periods it worked as Eastern responded in non-typical fashion with retaliatory penalties. The teams combined for over twenty penalties, giving both squads numerous power play advantages. |
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Monday, March 15, 2004 By Mike Costantino Lower Merion rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Clearview 3-2 in Flyers Cup action played at the Skate Zone. All three teams from South Jersey lost last night despite playing on their home ice. Jim Sprinkle and Wyatt Fox had given Clearview a 2-0 lead scoring forty seconds apart. First Sprinkle was sent on a great pass from Mike Sullivan to make it 1-0. Then Bill Dunbar hit Fox with a cross-ice pass and his quick shot had Clearview ahead 2-0. |
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Monday, March 15, 2004 By Mike Costantino Rancocas Valley lost to Methacton 5-2 in an opening round game of the Flyers Cup Tournament. Top defenseman Ray Mellon was lost early in the game, apparently from a serious leg injury, and never returned. After a scoreless first period, Jesse Deczynski put Rancocas on top with under seven minutes left in the period. Two late goals by Methacton, one by Matt Rist and the other by Carfagno, gave them a 2-1 lead heading into the final period. After Steve Hamaday put Methacton up 3-1 with a slap shot from the point, Aaron Smith answered thirty seconds later to cut the lead to 3-2. |
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Friday, March 15, 2004 By Mike Costantino Washington Township lost to Central Bucks West 3-2 in the opening round of the Flyers Cup Tournament at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. Unable to generate much offense, Township managed only 16 shots on goal and saw their promising season end. PJ Bizon gave CB West the lead midway through the first period, but Fred Brewer tied the game at 1-1thirty seconds later with a quick wrist shot from the slot. Reuter put CB West ahead to stay scoring a power play goal with less than four minutes left in the period. West seem to control most of the play in the later stages of the period and early on in the second period. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Saturday, March 13, 2004 By Al Cohen Sam Ftorek tallied the game-winning goal 2:55 into the third period as the Manchester Monarchs posted a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phantoms tonight at Verizon Wireless Arena. Yanick Lehoux recorded a goal and an assist and Jerred Smithson added an empty-net goal to help Manchester win its fifth game in a row. Mathieu Chouinard stopped 26-of-27 shots for the Monarchs, who have also picked up a point in each of their last 12 games. Boyd Kane scored the lone goal and Antero Niittymaki made 25 saves as Philadelphia had its three-game win streak come to an end. The Phantoms will seek revenge when the Monarchs visit Philadelphia on March 28. |
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High School Ice Hockey: Friday, March 12, 2004 By Mike Costantino Recently five teams from the South Jersey High School Ice Hockey League received invitations to play along with other teams to compete for this year’s Flyers Cup Scholastic Championship. The annual tournament is comprised of teams from the Delaware Valley and is broken into three levels; AAA, AA and A. These teams become the focus of scholastic sports as they compete for "The Stanley Cup of High School Hockey." So, get out your calendar and make plans to support your favorite team. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Friday, March 12, 2004 By Al Cohen John Slaney recorded two goals and two assists and Antero Niittymaki made 31 saves to lead the Philadelphia Phantoms to a 4-0 victory over the host Providence Bruins tonight at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. Boyd Kane and Ben Stafford also scored as Philadelphia won its third straight game and moved two points ahead of the idle Bridgeport Sound Tigers for first place in the AHL's East Division. The Phantoms also closed within two points of the Hartford Wolf Pack for the Eastern Conference lead. Slaney set up Philadelphia's first two goals before scoring twice in the third period to tie a team season high for points in a game (4). It was Slaney's most productive game as a Phantom since also registering four points (3G, 1A) on Jan. 18, 2002 in Hartford. |
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Wednesday, March 10, 2004 By Mike Costantino South Jersey Sports Online is pleased to announce its annual ice hockey awards presented to those who we felt stood out this year. This was a banner year for the SJHSIHL with over forty teams spread out in Tier 1 through JVB, the league continues to grow and the competition level has improved tremendously. In addition, the difficult task of scheduling and maintaining order has been handled with remarkable ease once again by league President Mike Pontonio and the “Jack of all trades” Jack Anderson. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Monday, March 8, 2004 By Al Cohen Kirk Furey scored twice and Steve Gainey and Mark Murphy each recorded a goal and two assists as the Philadelphia Phantoms cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Albany River Rats tonight at the Wachovia Spectrum. Ben Stafford, Randy Jones and P.J. Stock added two points apiece for Philadelphia, which had posted a 5-3 win over the River Rats on Sunday night. The Phantoms improved to 11-1-1 in their last 13 home games and 4-1 vs. Albany this season. Starting for the second straight night, Antero Niittymaki turned aside 26-of-27 shots as Philadelphia gained sole possession of first place in the East Division. The Phantoms now have 79 points, two more than the idle Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Ari Ahonen finished with 29 saves for Albany, which has dropped six of its last seven games. |
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Sunday, March 7, 2004 By Mike Costantino Washington Township defeated Shawnee 8-2 and won the JVA Championship in the SJHSIHL. Billy Choy led Township with two goals and two assists, Alex Bickle scored both goals for Shawnee. Unfortunately the game deteriorated in the final moments with both teams taking fighting majors and in a show of sportsmanship or lack there of, erupted in an all out brawl during the handshake after the game had ended. Most hockey fans enjoy a fast paced, good checking, clean hitting game and occasionally a jostle between the enforcer on each team, but that game is played at the pro level, not in high school, let alone at the JV level. |
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Sunday, March 7, 2004 By Mike Costantino Kevin Walsh netted a hat trick and Corey Jackmuff added two goals to lead West Deptford over Rancocas Valley 6-2 and win the JVB Championship in the SJHSIHL. Walsh started things off ninety seconds into the game as he jumped on a loose puck in the slot. After Jackmuff blasted a slap shot from inside the blue line to put West Deptford ahead 2-0. Rancocas needed to respond and had an opportunity in the waning moments of the period with the man advantage. |
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Saturday, March 6, 2004 By Mike Costantino There have been some great tandems over the years that have played high school ice hockey, and since the 1998-1999 season, our first covering ice hockey, we could not think of a better combination than Brandon Tunstall, Anthony Orner and Sean Sullivan. Some dynamic duos come to mind such as Pat Henderson and Sean Zahacewski from Cherokee, Chris Frynewicz and Greg Kuster from Moorestown, Chris Riggs and Jon Probe from Clearview and Mike Becker and Mike Cianfrani from Eastern, just to name a few. However, when you look at how a line plays together and the communication and knowing where your linemate will be and the amount of scoring chances they create, these three stands out from all the rest. We recently sat down and spent a few minutes right before their preparation for the championship game against Cherokee. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Saturday, March 6, 2004 By Al Cohen The Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League will be hosting Washington Township Night on Friday, March 26, when the team takes on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the Wachovia Spectrum. For just $18, residents of Washington Township will receive a ticket to the game, one hot dog, popcorn and soda, as well as a Phantoms cap. |
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Thursday, March 4, 2004 By Mike Costantino The Eastern Vikings won their second consecutive SJHSIHL championship as they defeated Cherokee 4-0 before a standing room only crowd at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. Dan Myers stopped all 25 shots, many from in close as he posted his second consecutive shutout in the playoffs. Once again, it was the line of Sean Sullivan, Anthony Orner and Brandon Tunstall that led the way for this senior-laden team as they accounted for all the goals. Cherokee coach Steve Rumbus in speaking prior to the game said, “One of the keys will be the first five minutes. We expect Eastern to try and jump right on us with their top line and if we can survive with the way we have been playing, it should be a good game”. Well in the games first minute Orner made a good play at the point to keep the puck in the zone and found Tunstall down low. Orner quickly hit Sullivan along the side of the net and he re-directed the pass into the net for a 1-0 lead. |
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Wednesday, March 3, 2004 By Mike Costantino Louis Sarcone scored four goals to lead Cherokee over Rancocas Valley 10-5 and advance to the finals in the SJHSIHL Tournament against defending champion Eastern. Patrick McMahon and Kevin Magnin added two goals for Cherokee while Ryan Smith led the Rancocas attack netting a hat trick. Rancocas carried play for the first half of the opening stanza, and Cherokee did not register a shot until the midway point. That shot however turned out to be a goal as McMahon broke down the right side and ripped a shot by Kevin Kraft. Cherokee made it 2-0 as Dan Altieri dove to keep the puck in at the point and McMahon drove to the net after Kraft made the initial save. Altieri was right there to jam home the rebound. Smith cut the lead to 2-1 in the last minute of the period on a break. |
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Tuesday, March 2, 2004 By Mike Costantino Kevin Magnin scored two goals and Cherokee played a strong defensive game in front of Bobby Colasoro as they shut out Cherry Hill East 5-0 and advanced into the semi-final game against Rancocas Valley on Wednesday night at Voorhees. Most of the first period was spent feeling each other out; no one wanted to make that first mistake or turnover. Cherokee finally broke through in the last thirty-six seconds as Magnin broke in with Dan Shaw and Mike Garofolo, with only one man back for East. Garofolo hit Magnin down low and his back-hander found the net for a 1-0 lead. |
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Saturday, February 28, 2004 By Mike Costantino Usually referees are the brunt of fans anger, whether they missed a call or didn’t see the puck cross the line. This past Saturday all of the refs that officiate in the SJHSIHL volunteered to play the Wings of Steel, the local sled hockey team in the third annual Jon Payne Memorial Tournament. If you have never seen a sled hockey game or the Wings of Steel, they are a group of boys and girls with physical disabilities. They are belted into a seat with a glider attached, and they used cut down hockey sticks for two purposes to maneuver around the ice as well as shoot the puck. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Saturday, February 28, 2004 By Al Cohen Simon Gamache scored twice and Darren Haydar added a goal and two assists as the Milwaukee Admirals posted a 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phantoms tonight at the Bradley Center. Greg Classen and Kirill Safronov each added two assists for Milwaukee, which avenged a 4-3 overtime loss to the Phantoms on Jan. 31. Brian Finley registered 24 saves as the Admirals improved to 3-0-1 in their last four games and 10-1-2 in their last 13 at home. John Slaney and P.J. Stock each scored and Neil Little stopped 19 shots for Philadelphia, which had four-game unbeaten streaks overall and on the road come to an end. The Phantoms are now 2-1-1 on their season-high seven-game road trip. |
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Friday, February 27, 2004 By Mike Costantino Cherry Hill East came into Hollydell as an underdog on Friday, but it was Washington Township that saw its season end with an 8-5 loss. Township never led in the game, but rallied from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game at 4-4 midway through the third period and it looked as though the momentum had swung to the home team. Andrew Roth would score two consecutive goals to put East back up 6-4 with three minutes left. |
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Friday, February 27, 2004 By Mike Costantino Danny Myers stopped all twenty-eight shots and Sean Sullivan had a goal and two assists as Eastern defeated Rancocas Valley 5-0 and advanced to the finals of the SJHSIHL tournament. Eastern will now wait until Thursday and play Rancocas Valley, Cherokee or Cherry Hill East. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Friday, February 27, 2004 By Al Cohen Ian MacNeil and Mike Peluso each scored as the Philadelphia Phantoms remained unbeaten on their seven-game road trip with a 2-2 tie against the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks tonight at the Cincinnati Gardens. Antero Niittymaki turned aside 19-of-21 shots for Philadelphia, which was coming off Wednesday's 4-1 victory over the Mighty Ducks. The Phantoms improved to 3-0-1 in their last four games overall and 2-0-1 on their longest road trip of the season. Ilya Bryzgalov finished with 27 saves for Cincinnati, which has just one win in its last six games. Each team concluded the season series with a 1-1-2 record and Philadelphia improved to 4-0-1 in its last five games in Cincinnati. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Wednesday, February 25, 2004 By Al Cohen Steve Gainey recorded a goal and an assist and Neil Little made 21 saves as the Philadelphia Phantoms moved into first place in the AHL's East Division with a 4-1 victory over the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks tonight at the Cincinnati Gardens. Rookie Randy Jones added a pair of assists, while John Slaney, Boyd Kane and Freddy Meyer all scored for Philadelphia, which has won three straight games overall and on the road. With the victory, the Phantoms moved one point ahead of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, who dropped a 5-2 decision in Hartford tonight. Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 24-of-28 shots for Cincinnati, which has lost four of its last five games. The teams are now 1-1-1 against each other in 2003-04, with one match-up remaining this Friday in Cincinnati. |
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Monday, February 23, 2004 By Mike Costantino Cherokee roared back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Holy Cross 8-2 in playoff action at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. The loss eliminated Holy Cross from the tournament and ended their season. Pat Tamez scored both goals for Holy Cross in the first period as they controlled the play early on. However, goals by Mike Garofolo on the power play and Matt DeLucia tied the game after the first period. |
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Monday, February 23, 2004 By Mike Costantino Sean Sullivan netted three goals and Danny Myers made several big saves as Eastern defeated Washington Township 4-2 in playoff action at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. Eastern is now two wins away from their second consecutive championship. Eastern scored the only goal of a very defensive first period as Christopher Ball deflected a shot by Chris Lieg into the net. Township came out more aggressive in the second period after generating just four shots in the opening stanza. Marco Jordan sent Billy Choy down the right side and his quick wrist shot beat Myers on the short side to tie the game at 1-1. |
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Monday, February 23, 2004 By Mike Costantino Kevin Kraft was strong in goal and Ryan Smith scored late in the second period as Rancocas Valley edged Clearview 3-2 to remain unbeaten in the double elimination tournament and will move on to face Eastern on Monday night. Jeff Sporer and Tom Fritz exchanged goals in the first period, Sporer scoring on a short-handed breakaway and Fritz jamming home a power play goal. Matt Sansoni went top shelf early in the second period to put Rancocas ahead 2-1, actually, they never trailed in the game and are playing sound defensive hockey. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Saturday, February 21, 2004 By Al Cohen Rookie defenseman Freddy Meyer recorded a hat trick and John Slaney broke the AHL record for most career goals by a defenseman as the Philadelphia Phantoms rallied for a 4-1 victory tonight at the Giant Center and improved to 10-0 vs. the Hershey Bears this season. With Philadelphia trailing 1-0 entering the third period, Meyer evened the score on the power play at the 4:57 mark before Slaney netted the game-winner with 8:46 remaining. The goal was the 125th in his AHL career, eclipsing the mark held by Jim Wiemer, who accomplished the feat over 548 games from 1981-95. Slaney has played 399 career AHL games. |
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Friday, February 20, 2004 By Mike Costantino Last week Cherokee’s junior forward Jeff Burd passed away from meningitis and on Friday night at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, family, friends and well-wishers gathered to pay their respects and say their last goodbyes before Moorestown and the Chiefs took the ice for their playoff game. The standing room only crowd showed how Jeff Burd has touched the lives of many in the ice hockey community. The pre-game ceremony was organized by the South Jersey High School Ice Hockey League (SJHSIHL) and was represented by all of its board members including President Mike Pontonio, Vice President Jack Anderson, Treasurer Mike Stern and Cherokee President Dave Sabol. As he does so often, Mr. Anderson handled the microphone and was elegant in this tribute. |
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Friday, February 20, 2004 By Mike Costantino After an emotional and moving pre-game ceremony honoring teammate Jeff Burd, Cherokee played an inspired game as they defeated Moorestown 7-3 to advance in the SJHSIHL tournament. Louis Sarcone honored his fallen linemate by scoring two goals and leading a balanced attack as six different players scored for Cherokee. Coach Rumbos could not have asked for a better start as Cherokee scored four goals in the first period and never looked back. Dan Shaw opened the scoring in the games first minute and the packed house at the Skate Zone in Voorhees erupted. Mick Scian, Kevin Magnin and Sarcone also found the net, as Cherokee was relentless with their pressure. Moorestown finally responded on the power play in the final sixteen seconds of the period as Dan Greene cut the lead to 4-1. |
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Friday, February 20, 2004 By Mike Costantino Timber Creek scored three goals in a span of nineteen seconds to erase a 4-3 deficit and key a 7-4 victory over a very tough Cherokee II. Proving that their undefeated season in Tier 2 was no fluke, Cherokee II gave Timber Creek all it could handle and led for most of the game. Each team traded goals in the games opening moments, Lanny Frederick for Timber Creek and Doug Ferguson for Cherokee II. Phillip Rivello put Timber Creek up 2-1 as he picked up a loose puck in the slot and ripped a shot into the net but Zach Sawyer tied the game at 2-2 scoring on the power play. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Friday, February 20, 2004 By Al Cohen The Philadelphia Phantoms improved to 9-0 against the Hershey Bears this season as Neil Little stopped all 29 shots he faced in a 3-0 victory tonight in front of a crowd of 11,875 at the Wachovia Spectrum. Little made 12 saves in the first period and 10 in the third as Philadelphia posted its third consecutive shutout over the Bears, extending its scoreless streak against the instate rival to 221:38. The nine straight wins vs. Hershey is a new franchise record for most consecutive victories against one opponent. |
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Wednesday, February 18, 2004 By Mike Costantino The South Jersey High School Hockey League will remember Jeff Burd, the Cherokee hockey player who passed away from meningitis last week, before Cherokee’s playoff game on Friday night at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. Each team will have a player present as the league remembers the passing of one of its own. Life goes by so quickly and our lives are so hectic, between taking the kids to dance class, dropping them off for practice, working our jobs or cooking dinner, our kids are the most important focus in our lives. All of us at South Jersey Sports Online cannot fathom what it would be like to lose a child, and our hearts and deepest sympathy go out to the Burd family. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 By Al Cohen Patrick Boileau recorded a goal and an assist and Sebastien Caron stopped all 30 shots he faced as the visiting Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins downed the Philadelphia Phantoms, 2-0, tonight at the Wachovia Spectrum. Boileau set up Matt Murley's first-period goal and tallied his first of the year in the second stanza to help Wilkes-Barre/Scranton win for just the second time in its last 10 tries (2-5-2-1). The Penguins evened the season series at 3-3, with four match-ups remaining. Reassigned from the Philadelphia Flyers earlier in the day, goaltender Antero Niittymaki finished with 20 saves and suffered the loss for the first time in his last 10 starts as a Phantom. Philadelphia has dropped four of its last five games overall and had a nine-game home unbeaten streak (8-0-1) come to an end. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Sunday, February 15, 2004 By Al Cohen P.J. Stock's penalty shot goal with 4:47 left in the second period was the difference this afternoon at the Tsongas Arena as the Philadelphia Phantoms edged the Lowell Lock Monsters, 2-1. Rookie defenseman Randy Jones also scored and Neil Little stopped 27-of-28 shots for Philadelphia, which ended a three-game losing streak. The Phantoms also completed a two-game sweep of the Lock Monsters following a 6-2 triumph at home on Nov. 21. Damian Surma tallied the lone goal and Patrick DesRochers finished with 22 saves as Lowell lost its third game in a row. The Lock Monsters dressed just 16 skaters today. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Saturday, February 14, 2004 By Al Cohen Johnny Pohl and Igor Valeev each scored second-period goals as the Worcester IceCats held on for a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phantoms tonight at the Centrum Centre. Brent Johnson stopped 27-of-28 shots he faced to notch his second win for Worcester, which improved to 6-2-2 in its last 10 contests. The 26-year-old netminder was appearing in his sixth game of the season with the IceCats. Mark Murphy scored the lone goal for Philadelphia, which has lost three games in a row for the first time since Dec. 27-Jan. 2. Making his first career AHL start after three previous relief appearances this season with the Phantoms, goaltender Chris Houle also made 27 saves. |
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High School Ice Hockey: Wednesday, February 11, 2004 By Mike Costantino For the second consecutive year, the SJHSIHL will decide its champion through a double elimination tournament after its successful debut last year. While Eastern is the odds on favorite having just completed there season at 16-0-2, there are a few teams that have the talent to pull off an upset. Namely Washington Township, Clearview and Rancocas Valley. Here are some early results: |
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Friday, February 6, 2004 By Mike Costantino Mike Brown scored five goals as Neumann defeated Lenape 8-1 to keep their season alive and advance in the playoff tournament. Next up for Neumann will be a date with Paul VI at Voorhess on Monday night. An unlikely hero, Brown scored just six goals all season, but tonight everything seem to go in. His first goal he was all-alone in the slot just two minutes into the game and he ripped it into the back of the net. After Shawn Kosoy tied the game at 1-1. Brown deflected a point shot by Chris Lanciano to give Neumann the lead for good at 2-1 with just over three minutes left in the period. In the final seconds of the period, Brown sent Curran McCauley in on a breakaway and suddenly it was 3-1. |
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Friday, February 6, 2004 By Mike Costantino St. Joe’s jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the first period and went on to defeat Eastern II, 8-4 in playoff action at Hollydell on Friday night. With the victory, St. Joe’s moves on and will play Moorestown on Monday night at Mt. Laurel and with the loss the season ended for Eastern II. Colin Davis, the speedy freshman led St. Joe’s with two goals, both both on breakaways and both in the first period as the Vikings defense was victimized by numerous odd-man rushes. After Davis scored in the games first two minutes, Frank Formica made it 2-0 with a shot that went over the glove of the goaltender. |
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South Jersey Sled Hockey: Wednesday, February 4, 2004 By Ike Richman The National Sled Hockey Championships, featuring youth hockey players with physical disabilities on hockey sleds, comes to Sovereign Bank Flyers Skate Zone at Voorhees, NJ, from Friday, February 6 through Sunday, February 8. The three-day tournament features teams from St. Louis, MO, Boston, MA, Buffalo, NY, Pittsburgh, PA, Vineland, NJ, Woodbridge, NJ, Warminster, PA and Long Island, NY. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Sunday, February 1, 2004 By David W. Unkle John Slaney’s power play goal at 1:23 of overtime kept the Phantoms’ home unbeaten streak intact as Philadelphia downed the Milwaukee Admirals 4-3 in front of 15,603 at the Wachovia Center. With less than 30 seconds left on the man advantage, Slaney’s one-timer beat Flaherty who could only watch as the Phantoms remained one point behind first place Bridgeport in the East. Antero Niittymaki stopped 23 shots in earning his 14th victory of the season. Milwaukee’s Wade Flaherty stopped 22 of 26 shots in a losing effort. The Phantoms started January with a 3-1 loss to the Worcester Ice Cats; aside from a 4-3 road loss the Phantoms have been next to perfect. |
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Monday, January 26, 2004 By Mike Costantino Joey Johnston scored on the power play with less than five minutes left in the game as Eastern rallied from a 3-0 deficit to tie Washington Township 3-3 in the last scheduled game of the regular season. Eastern has a make-up game with Cherry Hill West on Thursday. The Vikings started out very sluggish and Township jumped on them early scoring all their goals in the first period. After Marco Jordan put Township up 1-0, Dave Smetaniuk increased the lead to 2-0 as his shot from the right circle squeezed through the five hole of Danny Meyers. Moments later Mike Rohach intercepted a bad clearing pass and was all alone in front and his quick shot put Township up 3-0. |
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Monday, January 26, 2004 By Mike Costantino Mike DeGennaro scored three goals and Zach Booth added two goals as Paul VI came back from a 5-3 deficit to defeat Timber Creek 8-6 in the regular season finale for both teams. Danny Cavallaro had a hat trick for Timber Creek and Lanny Frederick added two goals as Timber Creek took advantage of a five-minute major penalty to go from trailing 3-2 to leading at 5-3. Timber Creek dominated the first period with 17 shots but their lone goal was scored by Cavallaro. DeGennaro and Rich Ferro scored goals for Paul VI as they led 2-1 thanks in large part to Eric Lake. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Sunday, January 25, 2004 By Al Cohen Rookie Nick Deschenes scored the game-winning goal with 4:25 remaining as the Philadelphia Phantoms posted their ninth win in their last 10 games with a 3-2 victory over the Springfield Falcons tonight at the Wachovia Spectrum. Ben Stafford assisted on all three Philadelphia goals and Kirby Law added two assists as the Phantoms passed Bridgeport for first place in the East Division. Philadelphia now has 59 points through 46 games, while the Sound Tigers have 58 in 44 contests. Neil Little won for the second night in a row by stopping 24-of-26 shots. The Phantoms completed a two-game season sweep of the Falcons, as they also notched a 3-2 victory in overtime in Springfield back on Jan. 9. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Saturday, January 24, 2004 By Al Cohen Neil Little stopped all 24 shots he faced to help the Philadelphia Phantoms post consecutive shutouts for the third time in franchise history in a 2-0 victory over the Hershey Bears tonight at the GIANT Center. Coming off Friday's 2-0 victory over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Philadelphia used goals by defensemen Freddy Meyer and John Slaney to improve to 8-0 vs. the Bears this season. The Phantoms have outscored their instate rival, 33-10, in the eight meetings, including a 4-0 decision in the last match-up on Jan. 16. Little notched his third shutout of the year, his 12th as a Phantom and the 15th of his pro career. Philadelphia registered its club-record seventh shutout of the season and blanked an opponent on back-to-back nights for the first time since Feb. 27 & March 2, 2001 - both vs. Quebec. |
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Friday, January 23, 2004 By Mike Costantino Colin Higgins allowed just one goal and Kevin Schaffer scored late in the third period as Moorestown upset Washington Township 2-1 in Tier 1 action at Hollydell. With the loss Township must beat Eastern on Monday night, the last game of the season in order to finish in second place. However, tonight the story was Higgins as he kept Township off the board until the third period. Moorestown scored first as Schaffer won the face-off and fed the puck back to T.J. Hooper at the point; his shot was deflected by Mike Bodine midway through the first period. |
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Friday, January 23, 2004 By Mike Costantino Tom Ruiz and Jack McDonough each scored two goals as Williamstown defeated Timber Creek 6-2 in action at Hollydell. William Justice got the start in goal and played a solid game. After Ruiz made it 1-0 midway through the first period, Jonathan Anderson scored on a breakaway to put Williamstown up 2-0. Brian Scully got that one back for Timber Creek as his backhander from the slot beat Justice at the three minute mark to cut the lead to 2-1 after one period. |
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Thursday, January 22, 2004 By Mike Costantino Brandon Tunstall had a hat trick and Sean Sullivan chipped in with four assists as Eastern defeated Moorestown 7-2 in a game played at Voorhees on Thursday. Originally, scheduled for earlier in the season, the game was postponed due to scheduling conflicts and Eastern clinched first place with the victory. After Joey Johnston had put Eastern up 1-0, Tunstill and Sullivan struck twice in the final twenty seconds of the period. Sullivan and Orner did a good job keeping the puck in, Tunstill was in the right position along the right side of the net, and he buried it for a 2-0 lead. |
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Monday, January 19, 2004 By Mike Costantino Robert Speckman stopped 37 shots and Colin Davis netted three goals and an assist as St. Joe’s upset Cherokee 7-4 at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. After spotting Cherokee a 1-0 lead on a goal by Patrick McMahon midway through the period, goals by Davis and Mike Slusarz less than three minutes apart gave St. Joe’s a 2-1 lead heading into the second period. St. Joe’s has been hot lately, winning two out of its last three despite dressing mostly underclassmen and has steadily improved since moving up from Tier 2. |
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Monday, January 19, 2004 By Mike Costantino In one of the more entertaining games of the season, Rancocas Valley and Paul VI skated to a 5-5 tie in Tier 1 action played in Voorhees on Monday night. With the season winding down and the tournament just around the corner, both teams skated well and could meet again down the road. Peter Antinore tallied twice and Bret Balco added a goal and two assists to lead the Paul VI attack. Rancocas had a balanced attack as five different players scored. Balco opened the scoring on the power play, the first of three goals scored with the man advantage by Paul VI, as he ripped home a shot from the slot on a feed from Mike DeGennaro. Rancocas, which never led in the game, tied the game at 1-1 as Justin Nusspickel scored from the right circle after Eric Lake had made two good saves from in close. |
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Friday, January 16, 2004 By Mike Costantino Clearview had four power play goals and their top line of Jim Sprinkle, Wyatt Fox and Bill Dunbar combined for 10 goals as they defeated Paul VI 10-5 on Friday night. Fox and Dunbar, suspended since the Township game on December 19th, still had the same chemistry with Sprinkle before their suspensions. Clearview broke out on top early, with Paul VI on the power play, Sprinkle fed Fox in the slot and he ripped a shot past Eric Lake for a 1-0 lead just two minutes into the game. Dunbar made it 2-0 as he deposited a rebound of a Mike Sullivan shot into an empty net and Clearview led 2-0. |
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Friday, January 16, 2004 By Mike Costantino Three players had hat tricks as Washington Township defeated Cinnaminson 12-3 in Tier 1 action at Hollydell on Friday night. Bryan Paulson, Fred Brewer and Chris Keyser each netted three goals, Billy Choy added a goal and five assists as Township scored early and often to take control of the game and never look back. Township led 4-0 with the game barely five minutes old and kept the pressure on until the final buzzer. Paulson started the barrage as he put home a rebound of a shot by Matthew Grossi. Thirty seconds later Keyser was sent in on a breakaway by David Henninger and his quick shot made it 2-0. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Friday, January 16, 2004 By Al Cohen Antero Niittymaki stopped all 19 shots he faced as the Philadelphia Phantoms remained unbeaten against the Hershey Bears with a 4-0 victory tonight at the Wachovia Spectrum. Kirby Law, Boyd Kane, Randy Jones and Peter White each scored for Philadelphia, which has won all seven meetings with Hershey this season. The Phantoms have outscored the Bears, 31-10, in the series with five match-ups remaining. After facing zero shots during the second period, Niittymaki registered 13 saves in the third to complete his third shutout of the season. The 23-year-old native of Finland has just three losses in his last 18 appearances as a Phantom (9-3-3 with three no-decisions). |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Saturday, January 10, 2004 By Al Cohen In the highly anticipated rematch between Philadelphia and the Binghamton Senators, Neil Little made 26 saves tonight to lead the Phantoms to a 2-1 victory at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. The last time the Phantoms and Senators met on Dec. 28, the teams combined for 373 penalty minutes, 11 fights and 15 game misconducts in a 5-1 Binghamton win. Three Philadelphia players received suspensions from that game, including Little. After serving his two-game suspension and backing up Antero Niittymaki the last two games, Little returned to the ice tonight and only allowed a power-play goal by Chris Kelly in the second period. The 32-year-old stopped all 13 shots he faced in the third to win for the ninth time in his last 11 decisions. |
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Friday, January 9, 2004 By Mike Costantino Tom Ruiz scored two goals late in the third period as Williamstown rallied from a 2-0 deficit and defeated Clearview 3-2 in Tier 1 action played at Hollydell. Freshman goalie Joshua Haines was outstanding in nets and it was his play in the first 2 periods that enabled Williamstown to stay in the game. Mike Sullivan scored the only goal of the first period as he skated around the net and came out in front after Haines made the initial save. Sullivan banged home his own rebound. Williamstown started slow offensively and did not register its first shot on goal until midway through the period. Haines later robbed Jim Sprinkle and Sullivan again on close-in opportunities. Early in the second period, Sprinkle broke down the right side and with Sullivan trailing, dropped a pass that Sullivan one-timed to Matt Gagne along the side of the net and he re-directed the pass into the goal for a 2-0 lead. |
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Friday, January 9, 2004 By Mike Costantino Chris Keyser’s second goal of the game with less than four minutes remaining snapped a 4-4 tie as Washington Township defeated Cherry Hill East 5-4 at Hollydell in the first game for Township after the holiday break. Billy Choy added a goal and three assists and Fred Brewer added a goal and two assists. Reid Hlavka led the East attack with two goals. The first period was scoreless thanks in large part to Township goaltender Derek Anderson, who was tested on two odd-man rushes and one turnover in front of his own net. Choy opened the scoring as Keyser from the corner, fed him a perfect pass, that Choy just had to chip it in giving Township a 1-0 lead. Andrew Roth tied the game at 1-1 for East as he ripped a shot through a screen with about four minutes left in the second period. Township responded about one minute later, just as the first goal, except Choy, from the corner, fed Keyser and he put Township up 2-1. Then Matt Grossi put home a rebound of a shot by Choy in the period’s final seconds and Township led 3-1 heading into the last period. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Friday, January 9, 2004 By Al Cohen Kirby Law scored the tying goal with four seconds left in regulation and John Slaney tallied the game-winner 3:43 into overtime as the Philadelphia Phantoms rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Springfield Falcons tonight at the Springfield Civic Center. Philadelphia trailed 2-1 after two periods and came up empty on three power plays over the first 15 minutes of the third. The Phantoms then killed a hooking minor on Craig Berube before pulling goaltender Antero Niittymaki for a sixth attacker with 77 seconds left. Defenseman Jim Vandermeer stole a pass to set up a final scramble in front of the Falcons net and Law wound up batting the puck in at 19:56 to force the extra session. Former Falcon Boyd Kane and Mike Peluso received assists on Law's 16th goal. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Wednesday, January 7, 2004 By Al Cohen Rookie Nick Deschenes scored the game-winning goal at 9:15 of the third period as the Philadelphia Phantoms posted a 3-2 victory over the Hamilton Bulldogs tonight at the Wachovia Spectrum. Philadelphia took a 2-1 lead into the final period before Hamilton's Chris Higgins knotted the score just 59 seconds into the third. But with 10:45 to play in the game, Kirby Law got off a shot from the near circle and Deschenes was there to knock in the rebound for the game-winner. Fellow rookie Freddy Meyer also assisted on Deschenes' third goal of the year. |
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Monday, January 5, 2004 By Mike Costantino Cherokee defeated Cinnaminson 5-1 in Tier 1 action at the Skate Zone despite the efforts of Cinnaminson goalkeeper Kevin Kloss. Louis Sarcone led the Cherokee attack with two goals, Anthony Casale scored the lone Cinnaminson goal. Cherokee controlled the play for most of the first period, launching 18 shots but could only beat Kloss twice. First Pat McMahon scored to make it 1-0 with just over six minutes left in the period and Sarcone tallied just over one minute later to put Cherokee up 2-0. Kloss made several saves from point blank range to keep his team close. Kevin Magnin scored a power play goal from the slot and Cherokee led 3-0, but that was the only goal of the period as Kloss stood tall in nets and Cinnaminson just needed to generate some offense as they were being out shot 28-9 after two periods. |
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Monday, January 5, 2004 By Mike Costantino Balanced scoring has been the key to Eastern’s success this year and in their latest victory, a 7-1 win over Cherry Hill East, they had seven different players score. Sean Sullivan led the Vikings attack with a goal and two assists. Joey Johnston opened the scoring on the power play as he went end-to-end skating through the defense and scored from in close. Sullivan made it 2-0, also on the power play, as the Vikings spent most of the power play in the offensive end, with Brandon Tunstall and Anthony Orner working in the corners to keep the play alive. Tim Woods cut the lead to 2-1 midway through the second period, however Mike Kondrla won the center ice face-off and scored ten seconds later and Eastern led 3-1. |
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Sunday, January 4, 2004 By Jim Calore Shawnee Varsity Hockey players attended a special Christmas party on Saturday, December 20, 2003. The Burlington County Bar Foundation hosted a holiday party for over 100 children, ranging in age from 1 to 14, from the Burlington County area. These children are those who have been torn away from their homes and put into foster care. Many of the children have been abused physically or mentally and many are slow emotionally due to the lifestyle they've suffered. Most of the parents of these children do not show up and the parents that do show, usually do not participate with the children. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Friday, January 2, 2004 By Al Cohen Mike Glumac recorded a hat trick to lead the visiting Worcester IceCats to a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phantoms tonight at the Wachovia Spectrum. Glumac, in his first full AHL season out of Miami of Ohio University, snapped a 1-1 tie 36 seconds into the third period and sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 34.7 seconds remaining. It was the first hat trick of the season by an IceCat. Curtis Sanford stopped 17-of-18 shots for Worcester, which had lost three of its last four games and was 0-2-1 in its last three road games. The IceCats have won the last four match-ups in the series since Philadelphia's last win on Oct. 5, 2001. Kirby Law scored the lone goal and Antero Niittymaki made 25 saves for Philadelphia, which has lost three games in a row for the first time since a five-game skid from Oct. 18-Nov. 1. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Sunday, December 28, 2003 By Al Cohen In a game that featured a combined 379 penalty minutes - including 11 fights and 16 game misconducts - the Binghamton Senators posted a 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phantoms tonight at the Wachovia Spectrum. Binghamton was leading 4-1 when the first of four major brawls broke out with 3:50 remaining in the game. Senators goaltender Ray Emery and Phantoms right wing Mike Peluso were the main combatants initially until everyone else on the ice joined in, including Philadelphia goalie Neil Little, who skated the length of the ice and literally jumped onto the pile of fighters. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Friday, December 26, 2003 By Al Cohen The Philadelphia Phantoms continued their dominance over the Hershey Bears tonight by scoring the final six goals of the game - including five in the third period - en route to a 6-2 victory at the Wachovia Spectrum. After Philadelphia fell behind 2-0 after the first period, Mark Murphy scored two of the six goals to help the Phantoms improve to 6-0 over the Bears this season. Philadelphia has outscored its instate rival, 27-10, in the first six match-ups, with six remaining. Defensemen Freddy Meyer and Jim Vandermeer each recorded two assists for the Phantoms, who have won 13 of their last 17 games, including a current six-game unbeaten streak (5-0-1). Neil Little finished with 24 saves to win for the eighth time in his last nine decisions. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Tuesday, December 23, 2003 By Al Cohen Neil Little stopped all 25 shots he faced and Peter Vandermeer scored the game's only goal 8:47 into the third period as the Philadelphia Phantoms posted a 1-0 victory over the Hamilton Bulldogs tonight at the Copps Coliseum. Little turned aside nine shots in the opening period and made eight saves in both the second and third stanzas to notch his second shutout of the season, 11th as a Phantom and the 14th of his pro career. The 32-year-old netminder has won seven of his last eight decisions. Vandermeer, the AHL leader in penalty minutes, netted his first game-winning goal of the season with 11:13 remaining in the game. Peter White and Mike Siklenka received assists on Vandermeer's third goal of the year, as the puck deflected off the left winger's skate and past Hamilton goaltender Eric Fichaud. |
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Monday, December 22, 2003 By Mike Costantino Mike Sullivan scored four goals and Bobby Kovarovic stopped twenty-five shots as Clearview defeated Williamstown 5-2 in Tier 1 action. Clearview was missing three starters, two from their top line, Wyatt Fox and Bill Dunbar who were suspended for fighting in the Township game played on Friday night. After a scoreless first period, Clearview scored three goals in the first five minutes of the period. After Sullivan scored from a scramble in front of the net, Jim Sprinkle made it 2-0 with a quick shot from the slot. With Williamstown caught on a line change, Sullivan had a breakaway and lifted a shot just under the cross bar and all of a sudden it was 3-0. Midway through the period Williamstown had its best opportunity has Jack McDonough had a breakaway, but Kovarovic turned his shot away. |
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Monday, December 22, 2003 By Mike Costantino Sean Sullivan netted six goals to lead the Eastern Vikings to an 8-0 rout of the Cinnaminson Pirates on Monday night at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. Anthony Orner assisted on all six and fellow line mate Brandon Tunstall added a goal and three assists. Despite missing most of their second line, Eastern double shifted their first line in the first period as the Vikings jumped out to a 5-0 lead. After Sullivan scored his first goal converting a 2-on-1 break with Orner five minutes into the game, they struck again at the nine-minute mark. As Orner stood along the left boards, he threaded a pass through the defense and right onto Sullivan’s stick along side and he just re-directed the puck into the net for a 2-0 lead. |
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High School Ice Hockey: Sunday, December 21, 2003 By Mike Costantino The Rancocas Valley Junior Varsity Ice Hockey team skated to a 5-1 victory Sunday evening over Vineland at Mt. Laurel. Jordan Mihalik started Rancocas Valley's scoring drive in the first period with a rocket slap shot from the point beating the Vineland goaltender. Sean Mellon converted in the second period while Vineland answered with a goal following a turn over in Rancocas Valley's zone. |
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Friday, December 19, 2003 By Mike Costantino Fred Brewer netted five goals to lead Washington Township over Clearview 10-5 in a wild and physical game played at a jammed pack Hollydell on Friday night. These two long time rivals, gave the fans their money’s worth and then some as the teams combined for 15 goals, 34 penalties, 3 fights and numerous checks. Jimmy Sprinkle led Clearview with four goals as the freshman sensation continues his torrid season. The key for Township tonight were face-offs, as they scored four of their goals off draws, with Billy Choy winning three draws. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Thursday, December 18, 2003 By Al Cohen Dennis Seidenberg and Kirby Law each scored in the third period to lift the Philadelphia Phantoms to their sixth straight road win - a 3-1 decision over the Toronto Roadrunners at the Ricoh Coliseum. Wade Skolney also scored for Philadelphia, which has won 11 of its last 14 games overall. The Phantoms, who moved past Hershey into second place in the East Division, have won six in a row on the road for the first time since Feb. 11-March 11, 2000. The road win streak is the longest in the AHL this season. Celebrating his 32nd birthday, Neil Little made 13 saves to notch his sixth win in his last seven decisions. The Phantoms were making their first-ever visit to Toronto and avenged a 4-2 loss to the expansion Roadrunners back on Oct. 18. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 By Jason Chaimovitch American Hockey League President and CEO David Andrews announced today that the AHL, at the request of the National Hockey League, will carry out a limited test involving revisions to the neutral-zone ice markings, in an effort to evaluate the impact of an enlarged neutral zone on the offensive flow of the game. The test will comprise adding two feet of width to each blue line beginning at the leading edge of the line in the attacking zone, and adding one foot to either side of the leading edges of the center red line. |
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Monday, December 15, 2003 By Mike Costantino Jeff Sporer had two goals, one assist, Jesse Deczynski scored twice, and Chelsea Ward stopped all seventeen shots as Rancocas Valley shutout Cherry Hill East 7-0 in Tier 1 action played in Voorhees. Ward also picked up her second assist of the season on Rancocas’ last goal. After Ward stopped Louis Stommel on a breakaway, Rancocas went on the power play and Sporer scored on a feed from Mark Wilson to make it 1-0. Playing a more supportive role on defense and limiting East to just seven shots and no rebounds, Rancocas doubled their lead late in the period as Rob Brown converted a rebound after Aaron Smith had created a scoring opportunity by beating the defense utilizing his speed. |
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Monday, December 15, 2003 By Mike Costantino Dan Drazen had a hat trick and Dan Weaver and Rich Smith added two goals apiece as Eastern pulled away from Delran 10-3 in Tier 2 action at the Skate Zone in Voorhees on Monday night. Brian Caputo led Delran with two goals. The first period saw each team score twice, Weaver and Smith for Eastern, Caputo and Tom Travaglini for Delran. Despite being out-shot 16-8, Delran was still in the game at 2-2. After Weaver gave Eastern a 3-2 lead early in the period, the turning point came when Eastern was down a man and Delran controlled the puck in the Vikings zone for almost the full two minutes and generated eight shots. However, Zach Fayer stopped all eight shots to keep his team ahead by one goal and over the next five minutes, Eastern would score five goals. |
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Monday, December 15, 2003 By Mike Costantino Chris Ball had two goals as Eastern held off a determined and under-manned Holy Cross team 5-4 in Tier 1 action at the Skate Zone on Monday evening. AJ Kirschner paced Holy Cross with two goals. Coming into the game not many people gave Holy Cross a chance. Near the bottom in the standings and only dressing eleven players, Holy Cross gave Eastern all they could handle and had the Vikings hanging on at the end. Eastern led 2-0 after the first period on goals by Ball and Sean Sullivan. Holy Cross tied the game in the first four minutes of the second period as goals by Kirschner and Neal Krause erased the Eastern lead. However, Eastern was able to capitalize on the power play as Joey Johnston scored with assists to Brandon Tunstall and Anthony Orner. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Sunday, December 14, 2003 By Al Cohen Antero Niittymaki made 33 saves as the Philadelphia Phantoms remained perfect against the rival Hershey Bears with a 3-2 victory tonight at the Wachovia Spectrum. Boyd Kane, Mike Peluso and Patrick Sharp each scored, while Peter White and Dennis Seidenberg contributed two assists apiece for Philadelphia, which has won 10 of its last 13 games. The Phantoms improved to 5-0 against Hershey this season, outscoring their instate rival by a combined score of 21-8 in the process. Philadelphia has won five in a row over the Bears for the first time in franchise history and holds a 42-32-8-5 lead in the all-time series. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Saturday, December 13, 2003 By Al Cohen The Philadelphia Phantoms scored three unanswered goals in the third period tonight at the Scope to rally for a 3-1 victory over the Norfolk Admirals and register their fifth straight road win. After trailing 1-0 heading into the final period, Mike Peluso, Ian MacNeil and Ben Stafford all scored in the third as Philadelphia won for the ninth time in its last 12 games. The Phantoms have also won five in a row on the road for the first time since Feb. 24-March 9, 2001. Neil Little needed to make just 15 saves to register his 200th career win. The Phantoms improved to 3-2-1 vs. the Admirals this year, including last Saturday's 3-2 win in Norfolk in which they tallied the final two goals. Craig Anderson finished with 34 saves for the Admirals, who have lost four of their last six games. Norfolk will host the Phantoms for the third time in December two weeks from tonight. |
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Friday, December 12, 2003 By Mike Costantino Ray Zola and Lanny Frederick scored two goals apiece and Timber Creek held off Paul VI 4-3 in a Tier 1 game played on Friday night at Hollydell. Zola scored his two goals in the first period, one on a tough angle and the other through a screen as Paul VI had trouble generating any offense in the first period and seemed flat. Frederick scored his two goals in the second period in a span of thirty seconds and Timber Creek led 4-0 one minute into the second period. Adam Cantiello and Jared Brasten scored goals for Paul VI to cut the deficit to 4-2 heading into the third period. When Paul VI looks back on this loss, they will bemoan the fact that their inability to capitalize on the power play was the difference in the game. |
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High School Ice Hockey: Friday, December 12, 2003 By Mike Costantino Cherokee scored two goals in the last two minutes, including the tying goal with eight seconds left, to keep their undefeated season alive with a 5-5 tie against West Deptford in Tier II action play at Hollydell on Friday night. Greg DeCristofor and Dan Maugeri led the Chiefs attack with two goals each. West Deptford had five different players score and were primed to hand Cherokee their first loss of the season. After the teams traded goals in the first period, one early by Ron Bruce of West Deptford and one late by DeCristofor, Tyler Chellew put West Deptford ahead 2-1 early in the second period using his speed to breakdown the defense and beating goalie Angelo DiBattista. |
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Friday, December 12, 2003 By Mike Costantino Skating with only nine players Holy Cross was able to hang around for two periods, but eventually wore down in the third period and Clearview won going away 11-4. Mike Sullivan led the attack scoring four goals while Bill Dunbar added two goals and two assists. Chris Countryman led Holy Cross with two goals. Clearview took control early scoring five goals in the first period, twice scoring goals less than a minute apart. After Dunbar put Clearview up 1-0, Countryman responded three minutes later tying the game at 1-1. Nick Vaccarino gave Clearview the lead for good as Nick Vaccarino went end-to-end showcasing his speed and puck carrying ability to score a breakaway goal. Jim Sprinkle, Mike Wolk and Dunbar on the power play put Clearview up 5-1. Neal Krause scored late on the power play to make it 5-2. Steve Short and Sullivan with two were the only goals scored in the second period as Clearview led 8-2. |
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High School Ice Hockey: Sunday, December 7, 2003 By Mike Costantino Ryan Jesz turned away twelve shots as Rancocas Valley JVB team defeated Cinnaminson 2-0 in action played in Pensauken. The freshman sensation continued his torrid play as his 1.16 goals against average and 92.5 save percentage are amongst the league leaders. Will Corke scored both Rancocas goals, in the first period and Jesz made them stand. Next up for Rancocas is a meeting with Delran at the Igloo in Mt. Laurel. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Friday, December 5, 2003 By Al Cohen Ajay Baines scored two power-play goals and Steve Passmore stopped 29 shots as the Norfolk Admirals ended the Philadelphia Phantoms' eight-game unbeaten streak tonight with a 2-0 victory at the Wachovia Spectrum. Passmore made 14 saves over the first two periods and turned aside all 15 Phantoms shots in the third to notch his second shutout of the season. The Admirals won for just the third time in their last 11 games, ended a five-game road winless streak and assumed a 2-1-1 lead in the season series. The Admirals and Phantoms will meet again on Saturday night in Norfolk. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Thursday, December 4, 2003 By Al Cohen The Philadelphia Phantoms scored three times in the opening period tonight and cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Hershey Bears at the GIANT Center, extending their unbeaten streak to eight games. Rookie Randy Jones recorded a goal and an assist, while fellow rookie Jeff Woywitka and captain Boyd Kane each added two assists for Philadelphia, which is 7-0-1 since its last loss on Nov. 15 at Bridgeport. It is the Phantoms' longest unbeaten streak since collecting four wins and four ties from Jan. 20-Feb. 6, 2002. |
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High School Ice Hockey: Wednesday, December 3, 2003 By Mike Costantino It is the holiday season, a time to see who has been naughty and who has been nice, and a time to make a list and ask the big guy for that one special gift. Lets take a look back at the first half of the SJHSIHL season and see what certain teams should ask for as they all gear up for the tournament: |
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Monday, December 1, 2003 By Mike Costantino Sean Sullivan scored four goals and Joey Johnston added two as Eastern stunned Rancocas Valley with an 11-1 thrashing at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. Coming into the game having suffered just one loss, Rancocas was out to prove that their record was no fluke. However, Eastern scored four goals in the first period and never looked back. The Vikings took advantage of defensive breakdowns capitalizing on odd-man rushes and converting power play opportunities. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Friday, November 28, 2003 By Al Cohen Kirk Furey and Patrick Sharp each scored power-play goals in the second period to help lift the Philadelphia Phantoms to a 3-2 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins tonight at the Wachovia Center. Ben Stafford also scored and Neil Little finished with 26 saves for Philadelphia, which extended its unbeaten streak to six games overall (5-0-1) and at home (4-0-2). The Phantoms have not gone this long without a loss since an eight-game streak from Jan. 20-Feb. 6, 2002. Martin Brochu registered 35 saves for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, which has lost six of its last seven games overall and four in a row on the road. Philadelphia has won two of three match-ups vs. the Penguins this season, with seven games remaining. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Wednesday, November 26, 2003 By Al Cohen Kirby Law scored twice and Mark Murphy recorded three points as the Philadelphia Phantoms posted a 4-4 tie against the Norfolk Admirals tonight at the Wachovia Spectrum. Antero Niittymaki finished with a team season-high 35 saves for Philadelphia, which extended its unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1). The Phantoms are also 3-0-2 in their last five home games since suffering a 5-3 loss to Cincinnati two weeks ago. Adam Munro totaled 22 saves for Norfolk, which rallied from a 4-1 third-period deficit to notch the point. The Admirals have now won just one of their last eight games overall (1-3-2-2) and one of their last 11 on the road (1-6-2-2). Norfolk and Philadelphia are 1-1-1 against each other this season, with seven match-ups remaining. |
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Monday, November 24, 2003 By Mike Costantino Kevin Magnin scored with less than five minutes left in the game as Cherokee rallied to tie Eastern 5-5 in a game that had a playoff atmosphere and intensity level that a packed Skate Zone thoroughly enjoyed. Eastern led 2-0 after the first period on goals by Zach Stewart and Chris Lieg. In their first meeting won by Eastern 5-1, Cherokee did not score until the games final minutes and would need to generate some offense and control Eastern’s top line. Patrick McMahon got Clearview on the board scoring a short-handed goal in the opening minutes of the second period to cut the lead to 2-1. Rory Levinson was set-up by Chris Ball three minutes later and Eastern led 3-1 and was going on the power play. However, Cherokee again scored short-handed, this time Steve Sheridan scoring through a screen to bring Cherokee to within 3-2. |
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Monday, November 24, 2003 By Mike Costantino Mike Sullivan scored three goals and Bill Dunbar added two as Clearview survived a slow start and defeated Cherry Hill West 10-2 at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. West jumped out to a 2-0 lead as Justin Hoch and John Lynch scored and were out-playing Clearview for most of the period. With less than two minutes remaining in the first period, Wyatt Fox converted on a 3-on-1 and thirty seconds later Dunbar would tie the score at 2-2 with his first of two goals. Therefore, despite having been outplayed, Clearview started the second period even. Nick Vaccarino put Clearview ahead for good as he scored from behind the net banking the puck off the pads of the goalie. |
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Monday, November 24, 2003 By Mike Costantino Andrew Finn scored four goals and Williamstown erupted for four goals in the third period and went on to defeat Cherry Hill East 9-5 in Voorhees. Joshua Haines stopped thirty-eight shots, including twenty in a wild second period where the teams combined for seven goals. Kevin Vaks and Louis Stomel led East scoring two goals apiece. Williamstown led 2-1 after the first period on goals by Finn, and then after Vaks tied the score at 1-1, Justin Osterdahl put Williamstown ahead with assists to Tom Ruiz and Dennis Cunnard. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Saturday, November 22, 2003 By Al Cohen The Philadelphia Phantoms fought back from a three-goal first-period deficit tonight to beat inter-state rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 5-4, at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza. Mark Murphy had two goals and Neil Little stopped 24-of-25 shots after replacing Antero Niittymaki early in the first period. Peter White and Kirk Furey each added two assists and Kirby Law registered the game-winner at 7:14 of the final period for the Phantoms, who won their third straight game. Kris Beech and Matt Murley both had three-point nights for the Penguins and Jean-Sebastian Aubin stopped 23 shots as Wilkes-Barre suffered its fifth loss in a row. |
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Friday, November 21, 2003 By Mike Costantino Eight different players scored for Township as they skated past Williamstown 9-1. Nino Cammaratta paced the Township attack with two goals, Jack McDonough scored the lone Williamstown goal. Township started out quickly as they launched sixteen shots in the first period, but Joshua Haines stopped them all and Williamstown actually led 1-0 heading into the second period. After Sean Rainey tied the game at 1-1, Township scored four goals in a span of five minutes to brake open a close game. |
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Friday, November 21, 2003 By Mike Costantino Clearview scored three goals in the second period, breaking a 1-1 tie as they defeated St. Joe’s 5-3 in Tier 1 action on Friday night. Jim Sprinkle, Wyatt Fox and Steve Short had a goal and an assist each. Sprinkle scored the only goal of the first period on a feed from Fox, splitting the defense. After Rich Hohenberger tied the game at 1-1 scoring short-handed, on the same penalty, Clearview re-took the lead. Mike Wolk scored from the slot as he swatted at the puck after falling to his knees. Goals by Short and Fox seem to put Clearview in command with a 4-1 lead after two periods. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Thursday, November 20, 2003 By Claudio Oliveira The public is invited to attend a free Holiday Open House event at three Philadelphia-area Flyers Skate Zone locations on Sunday, November 23 from 12:30 p.m. until 2:30 p.m. The three Flyers Skate Zone locations are in Northeast Philadelphia, Voorhees, NJ, and Atlantic City, NJ. The free, open-to-the-public Holiday Open House features an afternoon of free public skating, as well as free autographs, mascot and celebrity appearances, face-painting, inflatable games, and much more. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Wednesday, November 19, 2003 By Al Cohen The Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League today recalled defenseman James Laux (Cherry Hill, N.J.) from the Trenton Titans of the ECHL. Laux, a rookie who played the last two years at Colorado College, was signed as a free agent on May 19 and attended training camp with the Phantoms before getting assigned to Trenton on Oct. 6. He was scoreless in four games with the Titans, while also spending time on the injured list. |
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Monday, November 17, 2003 By Mike Costantino Sean Sullivan had three goals and three assists, and Brandon Tunstall added two goals and three assists as Eastern rolled over Clearview 8-2 at the Skate Zone. Coming off a win over previously undefeated Rancocas Valley, Clearview was looking to spoil Eastern’s winning streak, but the Vikings had other ideas. The line of Sullivan, Tunstall and Anthony Orner, who chipped in with four assists, were dominant all night, and set the tone as Sullivan scored his three goals in the first period. Dan Tavana added two goals and Chris Lieg also scored for the Vikings as they continue to get contributions from all three lines. |
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Monday, November 17, 2003 By Mike Costantino Cherokee scored four goals in the third period and defeated Washington Township 6-4 in Tier 1 action played in Voorhees. After a scoreless first period, Township scored three goals in a seven- minute span, two by Billy Choy and one by Jason Pelle to lead 3-0. But Cherokee scored two goals thirty seconds apart in the final three minutes of the period to cut the lead to 3-2 and carry the momentum heading into the third period. Louis Sarcone and Patrick McMahon scored goals ninety-seconds apart in the first five minutes to put Cherokee up 4-3. |
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Monday, November 17, 2003 By Mike Costantino Rich Ferro broke a 3-3 tie scoring a power play goal in the third period as Paul VI rallied for a 5-3 victory over Moorestown. The improbable win came after Paul VI tied a league record in the first period by registering zero shots on goal. Eric Lake continued his solid play in nets, particularly in the first period as Moorestown launched 23 shots on net but only managed two goals, one by Danny Wallace and the other by Colin Corley. Part of the problem was Paul VI spent more time killing penalties in the first period, eight, including two occasions where they were down two men. However, Lake made several key saves from in close until his teammates realized they were still in the game despite their lack of offense. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Sunday, November 16, 2003 By Al Cohen Philadelphia Phantoms goaltender Antero Niittymaki today was named the Sher-Wood AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Nov. 16. In three appearances last week, Niittymaki went 1-0-1, posted a 0.41 goals-against average and stopped 61-of-62 shots he faced (.984 save percentage). Niittymaki's week began on Wednesday when he came on for the third period of a 5-3 loss to Cincinnati and turned aside all four Mighty Ducks shots he saw. Niittymaki then made 33 saves in a 1-1 tie vs. Cincinnati on Friday, only allowing a power-play goal by Chris Kunitz during the first period. |
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Friday, November 14, 2003 By Mike Costantino Wyatt Fox scored three goals and Bobby Kovarovic stopped thirty shots as Clearview handed Rancocas Valley its first loss of the season 6-3 in Tier 1 action at Hollydell. The power play was the key for both teams; each team scored three times with the man advantage. Clearview got the only two goals in the first period, both on the power play, when Fox on a great pass from Bill Dunbar in the right corner, had the whole net to shoot. Jim Sprinkle made it 2-0 scoring unassisted about one minute later. |
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Friday, November 14, 2003 By Mike Costantino Trailing 6-1 late in the second period, Holy Cross shocked Timber Creek scoring five goals in the last period and salvaged a point as they skated to a 7-7 tie on Friday night at Hollydell. Timber Creek led after the first period 2-1 on goals by Jeff Scully and Gary Scott Jr. after Mike Welch had given Holy Cross the lead scoring on the power play. The second period was all Timber Creek as they controlled the play for most of the period, scored two short-handed goals within seven seconds and were seemingly in control when Daniel Cavallaro scored with sixteen seconds remaining in the period to make it 6-1. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Friday, November 14, 2003 By Al Cohen Antero Niittymaki made 33 saves and Boyd Kane scored Philadelphia's lone goal as the Phantoms skated to a 1-1 tie with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks tonight at the Wachovia Spectrum. Niittymaki finished with a Phantoms season high for saves, only allowing Chris Kunitz's goal 8:20 into the game. The Phantoms ended a two-game losing streak, which included Wednesday morning's 5-3 School Day Game loss to Cincinnati. Reigning AHL Player of the Week Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 27-of-28 shots for Cincinnati, which has lost just one of its last six games (4-1-1). |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 By Al Cohen Cam Severson recorded a goal and two assists and Tony Martensson scored the game-winning goal with 1:45 left in the second period as the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks posted a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phantoms in front of a School Day Game crowd of 10,092 at the Wachovia Center. Mike Mottau and Joel Stepp each added a goal and an assist for Cincinnati, which has won four of its last five games. Subbing for last week's AHL Player of the Week Ilya Bryzgalov, goaltender Eddy Ferhi stopped 34-of-37 shots to notch his first win of the season. |
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Monday, November 10, 2003 By Mike Costantino Manny Rayo stopped 23 shots and seven different players scored for Eastern as they rolled over Williamstown 9-1 in league action played at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. Dan Tavana and Anthony Orner led the Vikings with two goals each; Tom Ruiz scored the lone goal for Williamstown. Brandon Tunstill got Eastern off and running early, scoring in the first twenty-one seconds. After Ruiz tied the game at 1-1, Joey Johnston gave the Vikings the lead for good scoring on the power play late in the first period. |
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Monday, November 10, 2003 By Mike Costantino Fred Brewer scored three goals and Derek Anderson continued his solid play in nest as Washington Township defeated Cherry Hill East 5-1 in Tier 1 action at the Skate Zone in Voorhees on Monday night. Andrew Rovinsky scored the lone goal for East. Township took a 1-0 lead as Pete Laman broke in with Billy Choy and as Choy drew the defenseman over, he put the puck right on the tape and Laman just re-directed it into the net. Not many games are won in the first period, but Township killed off five short-handed situations, twice being down two men and were able to score on their only power play. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Saturday, November 8, 2003 By Al Cohen Kirby Law scored with 12.3 seconds left in overtime to lift the Philadelphia Phantoms to a 3-2 victory over the Hershey Bears tonight at the GIANT Center. Law actually scored on a redirection of a Dennis Seidenberg shot with 1:35 to go in overtime, but the goal was disallowed due to a high stick. After the Phantoms returned from prematurely celebrating in the locker room, Hershey captain D.J. Smith was sent off for interference with 66 seconds remaining, setting up a 4-on-3 advantage for the Phantoms. |
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Friday, November 7, 2003 By Mike Costantino Mike Varano had four goals and Mike Salvatore and Rob Cross added two each as Highland skated to a 10-3 win over Hammonton. The win was their first of the season, and clearly their best game since being placed in the proper Tier. Hammonton, in just its first season, is still looking for their first victory. The game was 1-1 after the first period as Mark Weiss, who led Hammonton with two goals, scored, but Highland would score a power play goal by Andre Trapani to even things up. Highland took control of the game in the second period scoring six times, four goals in a span of four minutes with Varano netting a hat trick. |
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Friday, November 7, 2003 By Mike Costantino Tom Sheridan scored twice, including the go-ahead goal early in the third period as Williamstown edged St Joseph’s Prep 4-3 in Tier 1 action at Hollydell on Friday night. Playing in only their second league game, St. Joe’s was led by Ryan McHugh with two goals. The first period saw each team scoring on a breakaway; first McHugh jumped on a puck at center ice and beat goalie Joshua Haines on the short side. Moments later Dennis Cunnard tied the game at 1-1 capitalizing on a turnover. After Sheridan had given Williamstown the lead early in the second period, putting home a rebound off a point shot by Cunnard, McHugh tied the game at 2-2 scoring right off the face-off. |
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Monday, November 3, 2003 By Mike Costantino Eric Lake stopped all twenty-nine shots and Brett Balco scored one goal and set-up another as Paul VI defeated Shawnee 2-0 in a foggy Skate Zone on Monday night. By the third period of this game, the rink was foggy due to the unseasonably warm weather this week. That didn’t seem to bother Lake as he withstood the challenge as Shawnee had numerous opportunities, particularly on the power play, having a two-man advantage on two separate occasions. |
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Monday, November 3, 2003 By Mike Costantino Christopher Ball scored four goals to lead the Eastern Vikings over Timber Creek 11-1 at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. Moved up to the top line to replace Brandon Tunstill who missed the game, Ball found himself playing alongside two of the top three scorers in the league in Sean Sullivan and Anthony Orner and he was able to capitalize on his opportunities. The Vikings are getting contributions from all three lines, and each accounted for the six goal first period. After Ball put home a shot by Orner to open the scoring, Joey Johnstone ripped a shot home from the slot to put Eastern up 2-0. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Sunday, November 2, 2003 By Al Cohen Kirby Law's four-point night led the Philadelphia Phantoms past the Hershey Bears at the Giant Center, 6-2, snapping their winless streak at six games. Down 1-0 early, the Phantoms' offensive explosion doubled their previous season-high goal output (3) to notch their first win since Oct. 12 vs. Norfolk. Six Phantoms had multiple-point games, and Antero Niittymaki stopped 28 Bears shots for his first win of the year. Law finished with two goals and two assists, while rookie defenseman Randy Jones notched three assists for Philadelphia, which ended a five-game losing streak when playing in Hershey. The Phantoms' next two games are also vs. the Bears - next Friday and Saturday. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Saturday, November 1, 2003 By Al Cohen A third period Philadelphia Phantoms rally was not enough tonight at the Pepsi Arena as the Albany River Rats held on for a 4-3 victory. Albany took a 3-0 lead into the third period before John Slaney and Ben Stafford scored less than two minutes apart to make it a one-goal game. However, Adrian Foster responded with the game-winning goal at 17:37 to help give the River Rats their first home win of the year. Scott Clemmensen, who has started every game for Albany thus far, made 23 saves on 26 shots. |
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Friday, October 31, 2003 By Mike Costantino Joe Cavacchia’s power play goal with four minutes remaining snapped a 4-4 tie and propelled West Deptford to a 6-4 win over Kingsway in SJHSIHL action at Hollydell. Tyler Chellew made the key play as he skated around the back of the net and found Cavacchia at the point and his shot went through a screen and gave West Deptford a 5-4 lead in a game that Kingsway led at one time 3-0. Shane Hanscom led Kingsway with three goals and Mike Curiale also scored. Spellman added an empty net goal with eighteen seconds left to complete the scoring. |
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Friday, October 31, 2003 By Mike Costantino Holy Cross used two goals from Countryman to defeat Williamstown 5-3 in high school ice hockey played on Halloween at Hollydell. Williamstown sports one of the biggest teams in the league, but fell behind 3-0 and never really took advantage of their size. Tommy Ruiz led Williamstown with two goals, and Josh Haynes added the other goal. Schulze, Gerner and Pat Tamez scored the remaining goals for Holy Cross. |
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Monday, October 20, 2003 By Mike Costantino Zak Booth had a hat trick as Paul VI defeated Cherry Hill East 5-3 in Tier 1 action in Voorhees. After a scoreless first period, thanks in a large part to the play of Eric Lake in goal for Paul VI, East controlled the games first three minutes peppering Lake with six consecutive shots. East finally broke through midway in the second period. Vaks was able to beat Lake with a quick shot in the slot and a 1-0 lead for Cherry Hill. Moments later Booth would tie the game at 1-1 when Rich Ferro kept the puck alive in the corner. Peter Antinore skated out and found Booth in the slot and he re-directed the pass into the net. Twenty seconds later Booth struck again as he skated down the left side and his shot seem to deflect off a defenseman’s skate and into the goal for a 2-1 lead. |
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Monday, October 20, 2003 By Mike Costantino Eastern’s top line of Anthony Orner, Sean Sullivan and Brandon Tunstill combined for eighteen points as the Vikings flew by Cherry Hill West 11-4 in SJHSIHL action played at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. Eastern remained undefeated and in first place as they continue to roll and with the continued strong play of their first line and the league’s top goalie in Dan Myers, will be tough to de-throne as champs. Steve Thompson, Chris Stevenson with two and Lynch led the Cherry Hill West attack. Joey Johnston added two goals and Chris Lieg and Tavana also scored goals for Eastern. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Saturday, October 18, 2003 By David W. Unkle The Toronto Road Runners erupted for four third period goals, including two by Nate DiCasmirro to drop the Philadelphia Phantoms 4-2 at the Wachovia Center. Phantoms goaltender Neil Little was peppered with nineteen shots in the final session as Toronto scratched back from a 2-0 deficit to score three goals in the final 5:25. |
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Monday, October 13, 2003 By Mike Costantino Tim Missell scored two goals as Cherokee defeated Cherry Hill East 5-2 in Tier 1 action in Voorhees. Rebounding from a loss to rival Eastern last week, Coach Rumbus had his Chiefs in control from the opening period. Pat McMahon scored the only goal of the period, converting a perfect pass from the corner from Mike Garofolo. Missell made it 2-0 as he broke down the left side early in the second period and picked the short side for a 2-0 lead. Twenty seconds later Cherry Hill got one back as Tim Woods scored from in close. |
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Monday, October 13, 2003 By Mike Costantino Clearview opened its SJHSIHL season with a thrashing of Highland 18-3, in action at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. Just about everyone scored for Clearview who was led by Wyatt Fox with three goals, Bill Dunbar with a goal and three assists and Jim Sprinkle and Tom Fritz with two goals each. Mike Verano, Lou Gray and Andrew Trapani scored the Highland goals. |
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Friday, October 10, 2003 By Mike Costantino Washington Township lost to Eastern 4-3 in varsity action at Hollydell on Friday night. Trailing 4-1early in the second period, Township kept chipping away, but time just ran out having plenty of opportunities. Three minutes into the game, Tavana deflected a Mike Kondrola shot from the point and Eastern grabbed a 1-0 lead. The Vikings made it 2-0 as Sean Sullivan hit Lieg with a pass and his quick shot made it 2-0. But Township answered twenty seconds later as Rob Hniedziejko scored from in close to cut the lead to 2-1. |
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Friday, October 10, 2003 By Mike Costantino Cinnaminson rallied from a 3-0 deficit and defeated Paul VI 5-4, capping the rally with a goal in the final twenty seven seconds of the game. Cinnaminson got two goals each from Longo and Schmid, including the game winner. Paul VI opened the scoring as Rich Ferro flew off the bench during a line change and scored on a breakaway, picking the top corner, for a 1-0 lead. Later in the period, Brett Balco broke in with Zak Booth and after drawing the defenseman over, Balco slid the puck to Booth who wasted little time in one-timing the puck into the net and Paul VI led 2-0 after one period. |
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Monday, October 6, 2003 By Mike Costantino Dustin Isbert, Jared Brasten and Zac Booth each scored two goals, as Paul VI cruised by Highland 10-6, in SJHSIHL action at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. With the game tied at 1-1 after the first period on goals by Isbert and Highland’s Sabato, Paul VI took control scoring six times in the middle stanza. The first goal coming after goalie Jimmy Childs made a great save on a breakaway, Brett Balco broke in with Isbert on a 2-on-1 and after drawing the defenseman over, slid the puck to Isbert who buried the shot for a 2-1 lead. |
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Monday, October 6, 2003 By Mike Costantino Strong goaltending, speed and good defense were all on display at the Skate Zone as Eastern defeated Cherokee 5-1. Sean Sullivan scored twice and defenseman Rich DeMonte added a goal and an assist to go along with playing a strong game defensively. Dan Myers continues to impress as he had another strong outing, losing his shutout in the games final minute. Cherokee, now coached by a former assistant from Eastern Coach Steve, also received a strong effort in nets from Casolaro, who kept the Vikings off the board in the first period until the final minute. |
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Friday, October 3, 2003 By Mike Costantino Gary Scott and Lanny Frederick netted hat tricks as Timber Creek defeated Cinnaminson 9-7 at Hollydell on Friday night. After joining the league last year and playing all of its games at Tier 2, Timber Creek entered the season finding themselves moving up to Tier 1 and opening against a very well coached and disciplined team in Cinnaminson. Returning several key players from last year, Frederick, Ray Zola and Matt Carpenter, Timber Creek will score some goals, and will win some high scoring contests. Carpenter opened the scoring; depositing home a rebound after Zola was stopped on a breakaway. Cinnaminson tied the game at 1-1, with the first of its four power play goals as Longo, who led the Pirate attack with two goals, found the back of the net. |
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Friday, October 3, 2003 By Mike Costantino Fred Brewer, Chris Keyser and Nino Camaratta scored two goals each as Washington Township began its SJHSIHL season with a 9-1 victory over Holy Cross. Welcoming a new head coach, the Minutemen took no prisoners. They utilized their speed on all three lines and were missing one of their top players from last year in Drew Peterson who should be available for the next league game. Pete Laman, Josh Courant and Kyle Stokes also scored for Township. Gerner scored the lone goal for Holy Cross. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Friday, October 3, 2003 By Al Cohen Ian MacNeil and Ben Stafford each scored twice and rookie Nick Deschenes recorded four points as the Philadelphia Phantoms surprised their parent club, the Philadelphia Flyers, 10-6 tonight at the Wachovia Spectrum. |
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Monday, September 29, 2003 By Mike Costantino It’s that time once again, to root for your favorite team, cheer for your favorite player and be kind to all the officials. The 2003-2004 South Jersey High School Ice Hockey League opened at the Skate Zone on Monday as the defending league champion Eastern Vikings barely survived against Cherry Hill East winning 3-2. Brandon Tunstill scored a short-handed goal midway through the third period, snapping a 2-2 tie. Eastern graduated just two players from last year’s championship team and should contend once again this year as they have the best goalie in the league in Dan Myers and top scorers Anthony Orner and Sean Sullivan. |
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Monday, September 29, 2003 By Mike Costantino Patrick McMahon scored two goals and Cherokee launched fifty-two shots on net as the Chiefs defeated Paul VI 7-5, in the season opener for both teams. Cherokee dominated the first period getting goals from Kevin Magnin, Dan Altieri and McMahon while putting twenty-one shots on net. Paul VI goalie Eric Lake picked up where he left off last year and was awesome in nets. Bret Falco scored the lone goal in the period for the Eagles on the power play, as the offense was only able to generate four shots in the opening period. The second period featured numerous penalties and seemed to go on forever and Cherokee jumped ahead 5-1 on goals from McMahon and Burro. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Saturday, September 27, 2003 By Al Cohen Antero Niittymaki stopped all 21 shots he faced and the Philadelphia Phantoms remained unbeaten in AHL preseason play with a 3-0 victory over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers this afternoon at the Polonia Bank Flyers Skate Zone in Northeast Philadelphia. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Friday, September 19, 2003 By Al Cohen Mike Peluso scored four goals to lead the Philadelphia Phantoms to a 5-3 victory over the Albany River Rats this afternoon in a preseason game at Sovereign Bank Flyers Skate Zone. It was the first American Hockey League preseason game of the 2003-04 season. |
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Ice Hockey Spotlight: Tuesday, September 9, 2003 By David W. Unkle On September 20, 2003, the Philadelphia Phantoms and Comcast-Spectacor are hosting WALK NOW, the national grassroots fundraising initiative of Cure Autism Now, which unites thousands of parents, children and families in a fun, safe, family friendly environment. |
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Event Spotlight: Tuesday, August 26, 2003 By Al Cohen Here's your chance to own an actual road jersey that the Philadelphia Phantoms wore during the 2002-03 season. Through Thursday, Sept. 4, a total of 24 black Phantoms jerseys from last season are available in an online auction at www.phantomshockey.com. Featuring such names as Neil Little, John Slaney, Mark Greig, Jim & Peter Vandermeer, Patrick Sharp, Peter White and Kirby Law, the online auction is run through Yahoo! Shopping Auctions. The auction page can be found through the jersey auction link in the top right side of the Phantoms' homepage, and includes photos and the bidding history for each available jersey. |
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Event Spotlight: Monday, July 21, 2003 By Al Cohen The Philadelphia Phantoms today found out their opponents for the upcoming 2003-04 season, as the American Hockey League revealed its 1,120-game schedule format. Each of the AHL’s 28 teams will play an unbalanced 80-game schedule featuring traditional and regional rivalries. The entire 2003-04 schedule is expected to be announced early next month. |
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Thursday, July 17, 2003 By Jim Law Thursday evening the local West Berlin Fire and Rescue Squads met the Philadelphia Flyers/Phantoms in the second annual fund raising softball game. If you remember the game last year, the locals prevailed in a home run derby with a final score of 34 to 33 West Berlin win. Although the Flyers/Phantoms held down the score this year they were equally impressive in a 22-20 loss. |
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Event Spotlight: Monday, May 5, 2003 By Patrick Williams The Philadelphia Phantoms are seeking young artists from across the Delaware Valley to provide drawings and paintings for the team's 2003-04 season ticket book. A total of 40 submissions from kids ages 14 and under will be chosen, with a different winner featured on season tickets for each of the Phantoms' 40 home games next year. |
| Ice Hockey Coverage from 2002-2003 Season |
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