High School Ice Hockey:
SJHSIHL Finals Are Set: Lenape vs. Eastern

Thursday, March 4, 1999

By Mike Costantino
SJSports Staff Writer

It doesn't happen too often in sports when the top two teams during the regular season meet in the finals. Usually one team is upset and the finals are anti-climatic. Well in the case of the finals in the SJHSIHL, you have the teams that finished at the top in Eastern and Lenape. Even for the casual fan, this will be an entertaining series to see.

These teams are so evenly matched that I wouldn't be surprised to see some overtime games. Lets look at how they stack up:

Defense - Lenape plays a solid team defense; Eastern has good offensive defensemen. Edge to Lenape.

Team Speed - Bagnoli brothers should keep up with Becker and Cianfrani. Edge to Eastern

Goaltending - Mike Keppler struggled early against Township but rebounded nicely, however Sean Sheehan has been very solid. Edge to Lenape.

Special Teams - Eastern seems to generate offense when short-handed, Lenape needs to capitalize on chances. Edge to Eastern.

Keys for Lenape- continued good goaltending and minimizing the contributions of Cianfrani and Becker.

Keys for Eastern- avoid dumb penalties and clearing their zone.

Prediction - whoever wins will have deserved it as both teams are run by class people and are equally deserving. However I think this could be Lenape's year by the slimmest of margins. But if you ask me tomorrow...