Matousek scores 3 shorthanded goals as Henderson stuns Rustin for Ches-Mont title

EAST GOSHEN >> The last thing any underdog wants to do on the ice is give the favorite repeated and unnecessary power plays.

But when that underdog has David Matousek on its roster, being short-handed is apparently not a problem.

Matousek scored three short-handed goals and assisted on two other scores as West Chester Henderson stunned archrival West Chester Rustin, 6-4, in Thursday’s Ches-Mont League championship at Ice Line.

“This win means so much to us, espeially representing our school,” Matousek said. “It is awesome to win the Ches-Mont. We were losing against our biggest rival so we started to play so hard and it motivated us. Our goal was to just beat Rustin. It felt awesome, the way the student section supports us it’s just amazing.”

Matt Owens started the scoring just 19 seconds into the game for Rustin, giving the second seed a 1-0 lead and silencing the sizable Henderson contingent at Ice Line. Rustin dominated in the opening minutes with six shots on goal and shut Henderson down without a shot until after the halfway point of the period. Late in the first period, Rustin gave Henderson a two-man advantage, and 32 seconds into the 5-on-3, Brendan Boyko put Henderson on the board with an assist from Matousek. The momentum of the game changed drastically, as the Golden Knights only registered one shot in the final 12 minutes of the period after dominating early on. 

There was a physical presence that went along with screaming fans on both sides in the second period. Alex Holloway assisted on a goal by Matousek and Patrick O’Connell broke the tie just over five minutes into the period to give Henderson the 2-1 lead. 

The Warriors did not let penalties later in the period affect their game. With 5:36 left in the second, Matousek scored on a shorthanded breakaway. Holloway would follow the penalty kill up with an even-strength goal less than one minute later to take a 3-1 lead. 

Henderson was not finished with its dominant second period quite yet, as Matousek broke free on another penalty kill and buried his second goal of the game with seven seconds remaining in the period. 

Henderson goalie Kieran Green was solid after surrendering the opening goal and stopped 16 straight shots, while Henderson scored on half of its 10 shots en route to a 5-1 lead at the end of the second. 

Just 15 seconds into the third period, Matousek converted his third shorthanded goal of the game for a commanding 6-1 lead. 

Rustin would not go down easily, however, as Owens managed to beat Green with a backhand on the power play, assisted by Robert Cook and David Carney. Just over three minutes later, Owens scored again for a hat trick of his own, thanks to an assist from Brett Turner, to make the score 6-3. 

About one minute after Owens’ hat trick, the Golden Knights struck again and seemed to put the game on ice.

But Jack Page cut the Warrior lead to two with another assist from Turner. But despute scoring three goals in just over four minutes, Rustin’s comeback would prove to be too little too late, as Henderson held on to win the Ches-Mont crown.

“It was no different from any other game other than the fact that we were playing our rival, who we hadn’t beaten in a couple years and our goal was just to beat them,” said Henderson coach Scott DiRico. “Outside of trophies or anything our goal was just to beat Rustin. Our penalty kill was excellent and we got pucks out of our own zone. We also had a good forecheck and were blocking shots. Our goal is usually to get pucks out of our own zone and let our forwards capitalize on turnovers, and that’s what happened today.”

The Warriors improve to 17-4 on the season and will also be preparing to play next in the Flyers Cup on Monday.

West Chester Henderson 6, West Chester Rustin 4

West Chester Henderson 1 4 1 — 6

West Chester Rustin 1 0 3 — 4

Henderson Goals: Matousek 3, Holloway 2, Boyko.

Rustin Goals: Owens 3, Page.

Saves: Green 29, Keller 5, Marley 3.