Malvern opened the 1998-99 season successfully last week with an 8-2 victory over a very good Henderson club. What appears to make Malvern so much better than last year, is their depth at the forward position. While the veterans led the way opening night with senior captain Joe Hooker scoring 3 goals, and senior defenseman Chris Mavromates adding 2 goals and an assist, the rookies to Malvern's squad made an immediate impact with sophomore defenseman Jerry Reitano and Mike Illgas both playing well in their first Malvern game. All five rookie freshman played well, and each had at least one point, with Jim Gehring and Phil McKeon scoring goals in their first varsity game. Freshman Zachary Bedwell had an assist on his first varsity shift, and freshmen Mike McMullen and Tim Wochok also played great with each having assists on goals.

Downingtown is in a rebuilding year and was no match for Malvern las Monday night as Malvern won 11-0 with the game ending after 2 periods. Congratulations to Freshman Jim Gehring on his first varsity hat trick, and to Goalie Nick Nudy, who was tough when he had to be, recording the first shutout of the year! Freshman Zachary Bedwell and Michael McMullen each picked up their first varsity goals, as well as sophomore rookie defenseman Mike Illgas. Speaking of defense, the entire defensive team was very active offensively, led by Brett Landrum's 2 assists, Joe Sheridan's 1 goal and 1 assist and Joe Testa's Power Play blast. Chris Lawrence was a dominant force until he was knocked out of the game with a mild concussion. Chris scored our 2nd goal and assisted on Chase Watson's terrific short-handed goal, early in the second period.

Malvern improved their record to 3-0 last Friday night with an impressive 8-0 victory over Monsignor Bonner. Malvern has a solid team effort both offensively and defensively, holding Bonner to only 9 while giving Malvern Goalie Jeff Caruso his first shutout of the year! Joe Testa started the scoring for Malvern just 1:39 into the first period when he slapped the puck past Bonner's goalie on a beautiful feed to the point from Chase Watson, with Zachary Bedwell screening in front. Bedwell scored 5 minutes later, tapping in a Watson rebound, and the period ended 2-0, Malvern. Just 8 seconds into the second period, Malvern Goalie Jeff Caruso was whistled 2 minutes for delay of game for clearing the puck out of the rink. The Bonner Power Play would have been a perfect time for Bonner to gain momentum and pull within one goal; however, freshman star Phil McKeon scored shorthanded, assisted by Joe Sheridan and Joe Testa to put Malvern up by three. Testa scored his second of the night just minutes later, assisted by the two rookies, Jim Gehring and Jerry Reitano. Malvern never looked back! We'll have to check the Malvern record book for what happened next. Malvern scored three even-strength goals in 26 seconds! Here's how the second by second play went: With 2:41 remaining in period two, Joe Hooker scored on passes from Brett Landrum and Phil McKeon. Just 12 seconds later, Tim Sheehan scored, assisted by freshman rookie Tim Wochok. Then, incredibly, just 14 seconds later, Wochok scored his first varsity goal on a Mike Illgas pass - and a stunned Bonner was finished. Senior Captain, Joe Hooker scored his second goal of the night, and closed the scoring for Malvern in period three. Chase Watson picked up his third assist of the game on Hooker's goal.

The November 20th 8-3 victory over East showed the depth of the 1998-99 Friars as Malvern outshot a very good West Chester East Team 27-13, despite not having Chris Lawrence, Chris Mavromates, Joe Hooker or Joe Sheridan, 4 of their most veteran players. Rookie Freshman Mike McMullen had a big night opening the scoring late in the 1st period on a feed from Jack Gardner. Chase Watson scored unassisted on the next shift and the 1st period ended 2-0 Malvern. McMullen scored again to open the 2nd period, assisted from another rookie, Phil McKeon. McKeon then scored himself on a nice pass from Watson, as the newly formed Malvern line of Watson, McMullen and McKeon was too much for East to handle. Joe Testa scored to put Malvern up 5-1 on a Jimmy Gehring feed and senior Jack Gardner scored late n the 2nd period again assisted by Gehring and the 2nd period ended 6-1. East scored 2 early goals in period 3, but then Zach Bedwell scored for the Friars to take away the East momentum. Defenseman Brett Landrum added a short handed goal (assisted by Watson & Testa) to close out the scoring as sophomore goalie Nick Nudy earned an 8-3 victory over West Chester East.

Junior Goalie Jeff Caruso saved the day for Malvern last Monday night! Jeff was outstanding in net stopping 25 of 26 O'Hara shots. Malvern started the game on fire, scoring 4 goals in the 1st 4 minutes of the game. Jack Gardner got Malvern going just 48 seconds into the game, tapping in a Joe Sheridan rebound. Chris Lawrence scored 28 seconds later on a feed from Joe Hooker and Mike Illgas. Just 15 seconds later, freshman Mike McMullen scored his first of the game, assisted from Jim Gehring and Brett Landrum, and a stunned O'Hara called time out after being shelled for 3 goals in the 1st minute and 42 seconds of the game. Malvern continued to dominate when Lawrence scored his 2nd of the game just 90 seconds later assisted by defensemen Reitano & Illgas. Halfway through the 1st period with a 4-0 lead, all that Thanksgiving turkey started to settle into our player's gizzards as we seemed to loose our intensity for the remainder of the game. After outshooting O'Hara 8-1 in the 1st 7 minutes, O'Hara and Malvern played fairly even with the final shot totals for the game being 29-26, Malvern. In addition to Caruso playing outstanding for the Friars, making 25 saves, O'Hara's Junior goalie Andrew McMann settled down and played great the remainder of the game with many great saves of his own against the Malvern snipers, stopping everything except a late 3rd period goal by McMullen (assisted by Gehring and Testa) Final Score, 5-1 Malvern.

The Haverford High School team is in a rebuilding year and it is very hard to stay focused when playing a team as weak as Haverford as witnessed by Haverford scoring three goals on only four shots. There were some exceptional performances in the 17 - 3 victory Monday night at the Skatium however:

LaSalle And Malvern entered Thursday night's game at Warwick undefeated and tied for 1st place in the ICSHL AAA Division, and finished the game in exactly the same position, with both teams skating to a hard fought 3 - 3 tie. The game was an outstanding high school game to watch, fast paced, hard hitting, great goals and great saves. Chris Lawrence opened the scoring for Malvern, 5:52 into the 1st period on a great pass across the crease from Tim Sheehan. LaSalle knotted the score just 15 seconds later when Lou Merlini scored on a defensive breakdown in our slot. Merlini scored again just 2 minutes later on the power play to give LaSalle a 2 - 1 lead entering the 2nd period. Malvern adjusted their defensive zone coverage between periods and took the play to LaSalle in period 2. Chris Lawrence scored his second of the night just 2 minutes into the period, assisted by Jerry Reitano. Captain Joe Hooker put Malvern up 3 - 2 with 5 minutes left in period 2 on a Phil McKeon feed. Malvern entered the 3rd period with a 3 - 2 lead. Halfway through period 3, LaSalle's Merlini scored another power play goal to tie the score at 3. Both teams had good scoring opportunities and Caruso had another great performance for Malvern, stopping 24 of LaSalle's 27 shots. Interesting observation that the coaches will work on for next game was that LaSalle was 2 for 3 on the power play and Malvern was 0 for 3. On the brighter side, if we fix those problems, Malvern outscored LaSalle 3 - 1 even strength. January 22nd's rematch at Ice Line should be a great one.

NOTE: Although this was not an ICSHL league event, it certainly deserves mention.
MALVERN WINS 3RD ANNUAL THOMAS HENDERSON MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT IN PITTSBURGH!
The game against LaSalle really helped pick up the pace of Malvern's play as they swept through the competition at last weekend's 3rd annual Thomas Henderson Memorial Tournament in Moon Township. Malvern opened the preliminary round Friday night with a hard fought 5-5 tie vs. Gonzaga Prep from Washington, DC. Malvern then crushed Pittsburgh North Catholic 12-2 Saturday morning in their 2nd game of the preliminary round, while tournament host Canevin H.S. defeated Gonzaga 7-6 in their 2nd game. This set the stage where the winner of the Saturday night game (Malvern Prep vs. Canevin) would advance to the Championship Game Sunday morning against the winner of the other division. Malvern figured they were in for a tough game after watching a very strong Canevin Squad defeat Gonzaga , we were going to play them Saturday night, 8 PM before their hometown crowd. At the drop of the puck Canevin never knew what hit them. Andrew Reisenberg opened the scoring with 8:52 remaining in period 1 to give Malvern the lead. Timmy Sheehan gave Malvern a 2-0 lead 44 seconds later and Chris Lawrence scored his 1st of 4 goals just 32 seconds later to put Malvern up 3-0 and silenced a stunned Canevin crowd. Lawrence scored 2 more in the 1st period, Malvern's Joe Gentile scored his 1st of 2 goals, and the 1st period ended 6-0, Malvern. Zach Bedwell, Joe Hooker Jack Gardner, Joe Gentile and Chris Lawrence added goals in periods 2 & 3 and Malvern earned a spot in the Championship Game vs. Erie Cathedral Prep with an 11-4 victory. (Erie Cathedral Prep defeated Conestoga 2 years ago to win the AAA State Championship.) In the championship game vs. Erie Cathedral Prep, Malvern was down to 3 defensemen; Joe Sheridan, Mike Illgas and Andrew Reisenberg. All 3 did an outstanding job and Sheridan receives the Ironman Award with only about 5 minutes off the ice out of 45. Erie jumped out to a quick 2 goal lead only 2 minutes into the 1st period. It would have been easy for the Malvern boys to pack it in; however, they showed their character by fighting back to a 2-2 tie by the end of the 1st period. Chris Lawrence scored both of the 1st period goals less that 2 minutes apart assisted by Joe Sheridan on the 1st and Zachary Bedwell on the 2nd. Malvern took the lead for good early in the 2nd period when Joe Gentile tipped in a cross-ice pass from Chris Lawrence on a Malvern Power Play. Lawrence scored his 3rd of the game late in the period on another Power Play goal, assisted by Joe Hooker and Zachary Bedwell, and the 2nd period ended 4-2 Malvern. Joe Hooker sealed the Championship for Malvern scoring midway through the 3rd period to put Malvern up 5-2 on a beautiful pass from Bill Sabia. Erie and Malvern exchanged late 3rd period goals and Malvern skated away with the championship. Sophomore goalie Nick Nudy played all 4 games and was especially outstanding in the championship game stopping 28 of Erie's 31 shots. Joe Hooker and Chris Lawrence were selected to the All Tournament Team and Chris Lawrence was also named the Tournament MVP. The Western PA teams are now on notice that Malvern Prep is one on the strongest teams in the eastern half of the state, and will be looking for revenge at the prestigious Meadeville Tournament in January!

Malvern is playing their best hockey of the year coming off the Thomas Henderson Tournament Championship in Pittsburgh 10 days ago. The players are passing and moving the puck very well right now as demonstrated in the 11-1 victory over Conestoga Friday night. Senior Captain Joe Hooker led the way with 4 goals and 1 assist. Linemate Chris Lawrence added 2 goals, and freshman Mike McMullen had a hat trick in the winning effort. Joe Testa and Bill Sabia also had goals for the Fryers. What was so impressive about the 11 goals is that there were 19 assist awarded, showing the crisp passing and team play Malvern is exhibiting right now.

Malvern out shot Bonner 44-19, and started off the new year with a 7-1 victory at the Skatium. Malvern scored the first 3 goals of the game. The first came when Zachary Bedwell dug the puck out of the Bonner corner and hit Chris Lawrence, who had just come off the bench, with a perfect pass coming down the slot. Lawrence made it 1-0 Malvern. Lawrence scored again in his next shift, this time assisted by Mike McMullen. Chase Watson was back in the line-up for the first time since his shoulder injury and contributed on the power play with a quick one-timer goal from the high slot on a pass from Chris Lawrence and Joe Hooker. Phil McKeon opened the scoring just 27 seconds into the second period from a Joe Testa pass. Mike McMullen scored late in the second period, assisted by Tim Wochok and Tim Sheehan to put Malvern up 5-1. Defenseman Jerry Reitano scored two minutes later on a pass from his defensive partner, Mike Illgas. Another defenseman, Joe Sheridan, closed the scoring 6 minutes into the 3rd period to seal the 7-1 Malvern victory. Malvern goalie Jeff Caruso had another terrific game, stopping 17 of Bonner's 18 shots.