Unionville girls, Rustin boys lead pack early on

By Bryan Davis
bdavis@21st-centurymedia.com
@btdavis25 on Twitter

With the Inter-County Scholastic Hockey League season charging ahead, the picture is beginning to clear up on the prognosis of local area ice hockey teams. From the Ches-Mont to the bigger AAA Prep division, Chester County hockey is among the premier areas in the state.
Heading up the roll call, West Chester Rustin is a three-time state champion, and the early signs are pointing upwards for a strong run at a fourth. The Golden Knights (4-0, ICSHL, 6-0 overall) have started unbeaten behind a balanced scoring attack backed by one of the best goaltenders in the area, Jason Grande.
Hot on the heels of Rustin are both Downingtown schools, East and West.
The Cougars (3-1, 4-2-1), who fell in the Flyers Cup AA championship game last season, look strong again. They are led by a stingy defense, allowing just seven goals in seven games, led by the goaltending tandem of Jeff Cummings, who has a .955 save percentage and Matt Shandler, who has two shutouts in three starts. They have gotten balanced goal scoring, Alan Fox leads the team with four goals in the division.
The Whippets (3-1, 6-1) have gotten off to a hot start, looking to make a deep run in the Flyers Cup. Noah Bebee and Zach Hanaway have six goals each to power the offense.
West Chester East (1-3, 4-3) was actually the top seed in the Flyers Cup, before falling to Springfield (Delco) in the semifinals.
The Vikings have struggled in the league out of the gate, but behind the goalie tandem of Troy Percival and Joseph Galitski, they should be a force coming down the stretch.
Unionville (0-2, 3-4) and Henderson (0-3, 1-5) are teams with opposite issues. The Indians have been a high-scoring outfit, as Joey Impagliazzo and Tyler Glennon have scored 14 goals each, but they have been victimized on the back end, allowing 35 goals. The Warriors are trying to find some offense, they have a league-low 18 goals in six games.
In AAA, Malvern (1-0, 5-0-1) hopes to have the pieces in place to return to the top of the AAA heap. They are backed by the strong goaltending of Mathew Hollingshead and the scoring of Stphen D’Elia (10 goals), Charlie Andress (13 points) and Nick DeSantis (13 points).
Conestoga (3-0-4, 5-1-4) is sitting at the top of the Central League standings by a simple coda: don’t lose. The have a league-high four ties to go along with three wins. They are doing it mainly on the offensive end, scoring 61 goals, led by a team-high 10 from Frank Konopasek.
In the South division, Kennett (3-0-1, 3-1-2) leads the way after fashioning a thre-game unbeaten streak. Ryan Johnson has been a scoring force with a team-high 17 goals and 27 points. Ryan Ganly has been a potent deputy with 20 points.
Brendan Harmon has been paving the way for Avon Grove (3-3-0, 3-3-0) with 17 goals. Oxford is looking for its first conference victory, while Great Valley and Bishop Shanahan are both winless overall.
In girls action, perennial favorite Unionville (6-0, 6-0) has another strong season in the offing. The two-time reigning Flyers Cup champion has been fuled by Madison Doucette (12-9, 21 points), Jordan Hower and Kaelen Speck, who also have double-digit goals. McKenzie Myers has been solid in goal.
For Downingtown West (7-1), Delaney Carle has nine goals to lead the team, as the Whippets have a 43-15 differential mark. West Chester East (5-3) has one of the highest-scoring players in the league in Erin Bonner, who has 18 goals and eight assists.
Trying to be a factor in the league race are, Bishop Shanahan (4-4), Downingtown East (3-5) and West Chester Rustin (3-5). Avon Grove (2-6) and Conestoga (0-7) are trying to recover from early struggles.