West Chester East stays perfect, beats rival Henderson for first Flyers Cup since 2013

WEST GOSHEN >> Four years ago, the Vikings of West Chester East watched someone else lift the Flyers Cup.

And it wasn’t just any old opponent. It was a crosstown archrival.

Seniors Joe Vagnoni and John Conlon remember that loss to West Chester Rustin all too well, and they were not going to watch a neighboring school carry the cup again.

West Chester East added yet another accolade to their long list on Wednesday night, as the Vikings finished off a perfect run to the title with a 3-2 win over a different crosstown rival, beating West Chester Henderson for the Flyers Cup Class A championship at Ice Line.

The program’s third Flyers Cup title — their first since 2013 — sends the Vikings on to Saturday’s state final against Indiana (Pa.) High, which won the Penguins Cup on Sunday.

“We told the guys, we’ve been through it before, and we don’t want it to happen again,” Conlon said of the memories from 2017.

Despite the team’s spotless 19-0 record, Tuesday’s game was far from a walk in the park for the Vikings.

“It’s a championship game, they’re always tight,” Conlon said. “They came out hard, probably harder than we expected.”

“I’d rather win a game like that than a blowout,” said Vagnoni.

West Chester East’s toughest challenge was getting the puck past Henderson’s resident brick wall, goalie Dylan Krick.

“We knew what we were going to get from their goaltender,” said East coach Eric Wolf. “Going into the game, I said to everyone, ‘This is going to be tight. Don’t look at the scores from this season.’”

The Vikings starkly outshot the Warriors, more than doubling the Warriors 26 shots with 60 of their own. The fact that they only had three goals to show for it was almost entirely due to the heroic effort of Krick, the Henderson goalie who took home tournament MVP honors.

“It’s got to be a rebound game, it’s got to be where you get traffic in front of him and make his life difficult,” Wolf said. “I frankly didn’t think we did a good enough job of that.”

Henderson gained an early lead in the first period — senior forward Dylan Tench netted a goal just five minutes into the game.

After a, “We Can’t Hear You Chant” echoed from Henderson’s excited student section inside a packed Ice Line rink, Viking sophomore forward Greg Diamond responded on a power play, notching his seventh goal of the tournament. He was assisted by junior forward Chase Becnel and senior forward Tristan D’Elia.

The Vikings outshot Henderson 20-7 in the first period, but they entered the second period behind.

Senior Alex Holloway secured a lead for Henderson at the end of the first with a power play goal of his own.

But the Vikings began to take control in the second period. Defender Henry Thornton connected on a backdoor pass from D’Elia to tie the game. Then, in the possession following a contentious Henderson shot off the pipe, Becnel took advantage of the Warriors’ frustration and took the lead for good at 3-2.

The third period was a matter of how long the Viking defense could hold the determined Warriors.

“Our defense, as a group, was very committed,” Wolf said. “Gavin Kane, Joey Vagnoni, really did a good job. And when they were called on, Cam Greenawalt and Nolan Shemmer — even though they didn’t get their normal shifts — they were in good shifts. We could rely on them.”

The win, and East’s season as a whole, has been defined by talented lines and a deep bench.

“I’ve said it before, I haven’t seen anybody measure up to our depth,” Wolf said. “And I still haven’t.”

Months ago, Wolf outlined East’s goals for the season. The Ches-Mont title, then the Flyers Cup, and then one more box to check: Saturday’s state final in Pittsburgh.

“We’re expecting a tough opponent,” Wolf said. “It was good to find out in a tight game, how we react, and how we handle it, because we haven’t had a ton of that this year.”

WC East skated the Cup towards the stands in celebration, but rest assured, they’ll soon be back to work, focused on winning one final game.

“We kind of have to forget this,” Vagnoni said. “It definitely will be just as tight as this. We have to put this in the past and look forward to that.”