High School Ice Hockey:
Varsity Final Four Preview

Wednesday, February 16, 2000

By Mike Costantino
SJSports Staff Writer

You didn't have to be a rocket scientist to predict that Clearview, Eastern and Washington Township would be three of the final four teams left in the SJHSIHL road to the final four. However, to predict that Cinnaminson would be the fourth team is somewhat of a surprise, as they finished sixth during the regular season but have been playing well lately and could give Township some problems. Here is a breakdown of each series, which, like the finals are a best of three:

Cinnaminson vs. Washington Township:

• Defense -   the speed of Anderson and the size of Harrington and Fratantoro give a huge edge to Township.
• Goaltending -   both teams utilize the two-goalie system, give the edge to Townships' Ciccone and Lucas over Gideon and Vizzacco.
• Team Speed -   Gori, Poletis and Anderson are three of the quickest players in the league, Wood and DeVece hold their own, but give the edge to Township.
• Intangibles -   Township went undefeated and is supposed to win, must watch for complacency and over-confidence. Cinnaminson has nothing to lose but not enough to win. Edge to Township.
• Keys for Township -   continue to play their game, utilizing speed and size and avoid silly penalties.
• Keys for Cinnaminson -   need contributions from other players beside Wood and DeVece, and stellar goaltending.
• Prediction -   Township in 2.

Clearview vs. Eastern:

• Defense -   Schellenhammer is big but Meenan plays bigger and has help with Gooch. Edge to Clearview.
• Goaltending -   Clearviews' Weisenbach has played strong all season, Keppler for Eastern will battle you. Slight edge to Clearview.
• Team Speed -   Cianfrani and Becker are two of the quickest players in the league, but Coble and Sullivan are no slouches. Edge to Eastern.
• Intangibles -   Eastern is trying to three-peat and Clearview would like nothing better than to end the streak. Edge to Eastern.
• Keys for Clearview -   stay out of the penalty box and maintaining their poise, must capitalize on the power play and keeping Meenan on the ice.
• Keys for Eastern -   no soft goals, contributions from Manara and Schellenhammer, and special teams play.
• Prediction -   very tough to call, will be the better of the two series and will go three games with Eastern, no Clearview, I mean Eastern moving on.