Griff Boyle's hat trick and Daniel Sade's four-point game were more than enough for St. Albans on Tuesday night at Ft. Dupont Ice Arena as the Bulldogs defeated Bethesda-Chevy Chase 9-2 in a non-league match-up.  St. Albans exploded for five goals in the third period to run away with it.

The Bulldogs got the scoring started in the first as Sade and Gavin Hughes set-up Boyle for his first of the night 2:30 into the game on the power play.  It would be the only goal of the period and the game would remain close for two periods.  Eric Sade scored a short-handed goal midway through the second to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead and started a scoring barrage for both teams.  Todd Bracken scored 69 seconds later to make it 3-0.  David Fillinich got Bethesda-Chevy Chase on the board 18 seconds later.  He then added a power-play strike 1:23 later to make it 3-2.  Daniel Sade scored his first of the game 16 seconds later to cap the second period scoring.

Two quick goals in the first 37 seconds of the third opened up the St. Albans lead to 6-2 with a couple more goals added midway through the third, just 50 seconds apart.  A late power-play goal by Santiago Burelli capped the scoring.


Knights Work A Tie Out of Eagles

A pair of goals by Nick Guerere and stellar goaltending by Doug Page stymied the Gonzaga Eagles on Monday night at Ft. Dupont in a game riddled with penalties.  All four goals scored in the game, came via the power play.

Guerere's first tally tied the game at one midway through the first, erasing a strike by Ford Lands.  The teams skated tied at one through the second period and it wasn't until Guerere scored 55 seconds into the third period that O'Connell took the lead.

It looked like Page's actions in goal would be enough for the Knights to notch the win but Nicky Demeria struck with a wrist shot with just over five minutes remaining to Page's right.

Page turned aside 25 shots while his mates only managed 15 on Matt Tyler. 


Defending Champion DeMatha Off To Fast Start

They played the season's first two games and hit the road for a pair of games in Pennsylvania before some teams had a chance to wrinkle their jerseys which is why the DeMatha Stags are already on the path to repeating as MAPHL champions for the second year in a row.  But there are 12 other teams in the league who have something to say about that.

With seven games already played, the Stags have just a pair of losses, one of those in overtime to Shady Side Academy, one day after getting shelled 9-0.  The 12 goals allowed in those two games are more than half they've allowed in their five wins this season. 

They started the season with a 7-1 thumping of last year's runner-up and rival Mt. St. Joseph.  Nine days later, they dispatched with Spalding by a 5-3 score.  Five days after that, they took down perennial Virginia powerhouse, Langley 11-1.  A hard-fought 6-4 win over Archbishop Spalding and a controlled 5-2 victory over O'Connell helped the Stags to their hot start. 


Defending Champion on Top in Pre-season Rankings

As the MAPHL gears up for the 2008-2009 season, the defending champion DeMatha Stags have already garnered the top spot among league coaches in grabbing the top spot in the pre-season rankings among the league's 13 teams.  Last year's runner up, Mt. St. Joe starts the season ranked fourth while newcomers, Bishop O'Connell and Good Counsel are 7 and 9 respectively.

Landon (2) had a pair of first-place votes while last year's regular season favorite Gonzaga is ranked third.  Calvert Hall (5), last year's Purple Puck champion Georgetown Prep (6), regular-season undefeated Bullis (8) and Archbishop Spalding (10) round out the top 10.

St. Stephens and St. Agnes (11), St. Albans (12) and Loyola (13) finish out the rankings.

The rankings are based upon votes by the league's coaches and members.


MAPHL Gears Up For 2008-2009 Season

The Mid-Atlantic Prep Hockey League is gearing up for the 2008-2009 season with a revamped web site including team pages for each team in the MAPHL.  The league has increased to 13 teams on the season as Good Counsel and O'Connell join the WCAC Division.  Games start in a few weeks so stay tuned for an updated schedule, rosters and more. 

Gonzaga's Tilch Heads Back to Jr. Nationals

Gonzaga Head Coach and former All-Met Coach of the Year has resigned from his position with the school to take the head coaching position with the Washington Jr. Nationals, a team he helped coach from 2004 to 2006.  Tilch, a graduate of the Washington Little Capitals Development Program, has served as a coach in the program while also heading Gonzaga to three straight MSHL championships.

Note, the rest of this article is reprinted from JrNationals.org...
The Washington Junior Nationals College Development Program coaching staff will consist of many of the same faces in different roles for the 2008-09 season.

Paul Tilch, who is a product of the Little Capitals and Junior Capitals programs, will begin his sixth year with the WJNCDP by taking over the head coaching job of the Washington Junior Nationals. Tilch assisted Justin Guiles with the Junior Capitals last year and was head coach of that team during the 2006-07 campaign. From 2003-06 Tilch was an assistant with the Junior Nationals and helped guide them to their only AJHL championship in 2004.

As a player Tilch grew up in the Washington Little Capitals organization and played for the Junior Caps while attending Gonzaga College High School. At Gonzaga he was named First Team All-Met by the Washington Post and he graduated with a 3.0 GPA. At the University of Delaware, Tilch played four years of Blue Hen hockey where he helped his team finish in the top 10 nationally all four years, including a national runner-up finish in 2001. He was voted an ACHA All-American two times during his collegiate career, and finished third on UD’s all-time defensive scoring list with 103 points.

Brian St. Louis, who is also a product of the Little Capitals and Junior Capitals, will begin his fifth year on the WJNCDP coaching staff by taking over as head coach of the Junior Capitals. St. Louis has spent the past four seasons as Mark Tinordi's assistant coach -- two with the Junior Capitals and two with the Junior Nationals.

As a player, St. Louis captained the 2004 Junior Nationals team that captured the AJHL title.

Justin Guiles, who spent the 2007-08 season as the head coach of the Junior Capitals, will come up to the Junior Nationals and serve as Tilch's assistant for 2008-09. Guiles teamed with Tilch last year to lead the Caps back to the MJHL playoffs.

Tinordi, who led the Nats to two straight AJHL semifinal appearances, and spent 2004-06 as head coach of the Junior Capitals, will continue with the WJNCDP as a defensive assistant coach.

The Junior Capitals will complete their coaching staff later this spring.

Four Selected to The Washington Post All-Met

Washington, DC -- Four MAPHL players were selected to first team of the 2008 The Washington Post All-Met team.  Defenseman Shaun Gibbons (DeMatha) joined forwards Steven Burke (Bullis), Pat Foster (Gonzaga) and Ian Gordon (St. Stephen's/St. Agnes) as selections to the first team.  Two were selected for the second team while 11 received honorable mention.

Goalie Matt Tyler of Gonzaga and defenseman David Mann of Landon were selected to the second team.

Those receiving honorable mention include goalies Michael Band of Bullis and Corey Walwaski of Georgetown Prep.  Defensemen Jay Carmony of Gonzaga and Will Newman of St. Stephen's/St. Agnes were selected on the blue line.  The forwards are Lennie Childs & Casey Thrush of DeMatha, David Chakola & John Tiernan of Landon, Danny Cullen of Gonzaga, Nick Sorkin of Bullis, and C. J. Sweigart of Georgetown Prep.

In all four players were selected from Gonzaga, three each from MAPHL Champion DeMatha, Landon and Bullis, with a pair each from St. Stephen's/St. Agnes and Georgetown Prep.  Six of the 11 MAPHL teams were represented.  All-Met is chosen from teams based in the Washington D. C. Metropolitan area.


MAPHL First and Second Teams
DeMatha had three players named to the first team as goalie Bret Gilmour joined forwards Lennie Childs and Casey Thrush.  Andy McCrumb of Mt. St. Joseph was the other forward.  Ian Gordon of St. Stephen's/St. Agnes and Gonzaga's Jay Carmony were selected as the blue liners on the first team.

Mt. St. Joseph's Paul McDonald was selected as the goalie for the second team.  Teammate Jake Natoli was selected as one of the forwards along with Brandon Upshaw of DeMatha and Briggs Davis of St. Stephen's/St. Agnes.  Shaun Gibbons of DeMatha and Shane Casey of Mt. St. Joseph were the two defensemen chosen.

DeMatha Takes First MAPHL Championship Game 6-1

Laurel, Md. -- Brandon Upshaw scored two third-period, short-handed goals while Casey Thrush (goal, two assists) paced the offense over the first two periods to lead DeMatha to the first MAPHL championship over Mt. St. Joe in front of over 1,200 at The Gardens Ice House in Laurel. 

DeMatha stormed out to a 3-0 first-period lead when Bucky Paul got the scoring started 3:54 into the game.  Paul took a pass from Brock Campbell and from Paul McDonald's left found a hole that allowed the puck to find the back of the net.

Less than five minutes later Shaun Gibbons scored on Thrush's first of two assists in the period.  Upshawk also added a helper on the goal that made it 2-0.  Thrush added his second assist when he found Lennie Childs on a break.  Childs found the back of the net with 3:07 remaining and the DeMatha fans were sent into a frenzy.

Mt. St. Joseph would strike back 6:17 into the middle frame on a goal by Andy McCrumb from Mark Cisar and Jake Natoli.  That would be the only blemish on Bret Gilmour's (25 saves, first start) night.

Three minutes later, Thrush struck back to get the momentum back for the Stags who were able to cruise the rest of the way, but failed to sit back, even on the penalty kill.

With George Shemas in the penalty box, Childs worked the press well and forced a Mt. St. Joe turnover.  Childs got the puck to Upshaw who went top-shelf to make it 5-1 just 1:26 into the third.  On the flip side, with 13:34 remaining and Eric Nash in the penalty box Upshaw forced a turnover of his own at the Gaels blue line, skated in and scored his second

Notes: Photographs of the game were taken by SmartPuckPhotography and should be available online by next Friday...Upshaw was named the games number three star while Thrush was awarded the second star.
 

HOBEY BAKER HIGH SCHOOL CHARACTER AWARD INFORMATION
Teams who wish to nominate a player for the Hobey Baker High School Character Award, please take note that the deadline to submit is February 1.  For information, click on the logo to the right.

The Hobey Baker High School Character Award is presented to the player to best exemplifies the sportsmanship and character of Hobey Baker.  It's recommended that the award go to a senior.

For more information, please see the attached PDF file.


THREE POWER-PLAY GOALS LEAD GONZAGA PAST PREP
Washington, D. C. -- Joey Demeria scored twice on the power play to lead Gonzaga to a 4-1 victory over Georgetown Prep in front of 200 fans at Ft. Dupont Ice Arena.  The Eagles were celebrating senior night.

After taking a 1-0 lead in the first on a strike by Tyler Schmutz, the Eagles saw a rarity at Ft. Dupont, the visiting team scoring.  Prep, who won the Purple Puck at this same arena earlier this season, scored when Devin Drewyer came out of the penalty box and picked up a puck that was cleared by C. J. Sweigart.  Drewyer went five-hole on Matt Tyler (20 saves) to tie the game at 1.

Demeria scored his first of two goals on the man advantage less than three minutes later then added his second 4:13 into the third with an assist from his brother Nick.  Dan Cullen found the back of the net with help from the elder Demeria with 34.1 seconds remaining in the game to seal it for the Eagles.
 

The Washington Post
All-Met

2008 MAPHL Representatives

First Team:
Shaun Gibbons, Jr., D,
DeMatha
Steve Burke, Sr., F,
Bullis
Pat Foster, Sr., F,
Gonzaga
Ian Gordon, Jr., F,
SSSA

Second Team:
Matt Tyler, Soph., G
Gonzaga
David Mann, Jr., D
Landon

Honorable Mention:
Bullis
Nick Sorkin, Jr., F
DeMatha
Lennie Childs, Sr., F
Casey Thrush, Soph., F
Georgetown Prep
C. J. Sweigart, Jr., F
Corey Walwaski, Sr., G
Gonzaga
Jay Carmony, Jr., D
Danny Cullen, Sr. F
Landon
David Chakola, Jr., F
John Tiernan, Sr., F
St. Stephen's/St. Agnes
Will Newman, Sr., D