Hockey: Haverford getting hot, but Central seems a postseason toss-up

HAVERFORD — John Povey cannot remember the last time the Central League was as balanced on the ice as it is this season.

And the reigning two-time champion Fords realize that, no matter which seed it earns in next week’s tournament (probably the second), there is a target on their backs. If you’re good enough to qualify in the field of eight, you have a decent chance of winning the whole thing.

So, the Fords handled their business Thursday night at the Skatium, defeating a good Lower Merion squad, 6-1. Call it a warm-up for playoffs, but captain Aidan Brawley will tell you the Fords are grateful for every point they can get.

“Obviously coming into the season, expectations were so high, even though we lost a lot of good players,” Brawley said. “But, through everything, we have a chance to finish with the 1 seed. It’s almost like every game builds on the other. If you lose one before the playoffs, it’s going to be that much harder to get back to winning.”

The Fords haven’t done any losing in more than a month. The last time they went down was Jan. 16 against Radnor. In that game the Fords blew a 5-1 lead. They are 5-0-1 in the ICSHL Central since then, and Povey sees a team that is poised to make another deep run in the postseason.

“Obviously, last year and the year before we lost some incredible players that are maybe some of the best players that have ever come through our program. And that’s what you’re missing and you rely on those guys so much,” Povey said. “It has taken some time but we also have some guys that have been through it. We have guys that have won Flyers Cups and Central League titles and learned a lot from being part of those teams. At the end of the day, they know what it takes.

“It’s not necessarily me barking and yelling and screaming. They know what’s good and what’s not. I’m lucky with my captains and we’ve got five, six guys that were in those minutes last year. So we do have the experience and I feel really good where we’re at right now. But with that being said, the Central League, I’ve been doing this for 20 years and I’ve never seen parity this close. That’s a good thing, and really, anybody can win it next week.”

Pat Cunningham had two goals and assistant captain Gus Scuderi added a goal and two assists. Scuderi assisted on Brawley’s power-play goal in the first period to put the Fords ahead 2-0. Later in the period, Scuderi created a steal in LM’s zone when the Fords were shorthanded. On a 2-on-1 break, Scuderi passed to Cunningham, who sent a wrister past LM goalie Julian Lucca to make it 3-0.

“We spend a lot of time in practice working on those units,” Scuderi said. “Tonight it worked out for us.”

Povey can’t say enough about the Fords’ leadership, a difficult challenge for any senior following in the footsteps of last season’s group. Brawley has earned the right to wear the “C” with his actions on and off the ice.

“Everything about him is the team first,” Povey said. “He’s the type of guy, if he’s not on the power play and we score, you would think he was the guy who scored. Everything about his game is team, team, team and there’s not a ‘me’ part of it. And that’s what makes him such a good captain.”

Scuderi scored off a rebound early in the second period and Ryan McGlade found the back of the net two minutes later to give the Fords a 5-0 advantage. Ryan Vieria scored Haverford’s final goal early in the third period.

Andrew Henderson, who owned a sparkling 2.42 goals-against average at the start of the night, saved 30 of 31 shots. The lone goal was unlucky at best. LM’s Noam Nisimi stood in front of the net as the puck caromed off the boards and to his stick. He flicked the puck past Henderson, spoiling the shutout bid.

“Lower Merion is a good team and the reason we won tonight is because we played a really good game,” Povey said. “We have to play three more of those next week.”