Announcement
2014 Flyers Cup AAA Champions - LaSalle Explorers
Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championships
2014 Flyers Cup AAA Finals – LaSalle 5 St Joseph;s Prep 4 OT
Pennsylvania Championship History – LaSalle has won the Pennsylvania High School Hockey Championship 4 times in 1998, 2008, 2009 and 2012 and been finalists in 1996, 2011, and 2013.
Philadelphia Inquirer - Philly.com Article LaSalle -
By Doug Gausepohl, Inquirer Staff Writer
Up against a hungry St. Joseph's Prep team, La Salle boys' hockey squad followed the blueprint that served it so well over the years. Find a way to win. The third-seeded Explorers did just that Monday night as they came back from a 4-1 deficit and defeated No. 1 St. Joseph's Prep, 5-4, in overtime and won their fourth consecutive Class AAA Flyers Cup at the Skatium in Havertown.
Coty Thomas scored his second goal of the game 3 minutes, 46 seconds into overtime to cap off an amazing Explorers comeback. "It really shows what a good team this is when you can come together, battle back, and get the overtime win," Thomas said. La Salle was down, 4-1, with less than four minutes left in the second period. Collin Gustafson scored with 3:41 left in the second period to make it 4-2.
La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner made a simple statement to his team during the second intermission. "The message was to play the same way we did in the first period," Muehlbronner said. Midway through the third, La Salle cut the deficit in half when Albert Washco converted on Andrew Romano's third assist of the game with 5:09 left. Romano, who assisted on all three of La Salle's previous goals, tied it up on a scramble in front to send the game to overtime.
St. Joseph's Prep owned the second period. Midway through, David Mustin scored to make it 2-1 in favor of the Prep. Just seconds later, Jake Gerbner doubled the Hawks' lead with a shot that sneaked past La Salle goaltender Harrison Feeney. Near the end of the second, Chris Maratea connected on a blast from near the top of the blue line to put the Hawks up by 4-1 with about four minutes left in the second period.
The Explorers will play in the Pennsylvania Class AAA championship Saturday against the winner of Monday's Penguins Cup final between Peters Township and Bethel Park. The title matchup will take place at 5 p.m. at the Pegula Ice Arena in State College, Pa. La Salle will be going for its second Class AAA state title in three years.
