Hockey sets sights on back-to-back Flyers Cup championships

By Jon Jankowski
Senior Staff Reporter

The Conestoga boys’ ice hockey team has a distinct chance of becoming Flyers Cup champions this season for the second time in as many years. The boys are off to a strong start in regular season play. The team has suffered only one loss and one tie in 14 games.

“The chances are very good. We have a lot of senior leadership. We have to play tough defense and create some offensive pressure,” senior Rich Masciantonio said.

Conestoga has total control of the Central League, as the two teams tied for second, Marple Newtown and Haverford High, are well behind in the standings.  As a team, Conestoga has to work on fundamentals, focus on becoming a stronger team and make effective use of the plays they have run through at practice.

“We have returned a lot of offense. We scored a lot of goals and started the season off well,” Maciantonio said.

Conestoga’s only loss of the year came in an exciting 2-1 thriller against Strath Haven when opponent Greg Swinburn scored the game winning goal with 30 seconds left.
“We didn’t play that well. It was the worst game we played all season,” Masciantonio said.

The Masciantonio brothers, Rich and Vince, lead the Central League  in points. Junior Alex Smith leads the Central League in goals with 17, and is fifth in points with 25.
First place in the Central League is an improvement over last year’s third place finish.  Conestoga will face Strath Haven again today to get revenge on that loss early in the beginning of the season. Junior goalie Tyler Mazda has one shutout this year, it came in a 6-0 game against Penncrest.

“[Mazda] has a lot of intensity in games. He rises to the occasion when it comes to game time,” Richard said.

In order to become repeat as Flyers Cup champions, the whole team will have to emanate similar intensity when the Cup begins in March.

Jon Jankowski can be reached at jjankowski@stoganews.com.

Printed originally on p. 20 of the Feb. 13, 2009 issue of The Spoke.