The CHA icemen cometh - again

by TOM UTESCHER

Chestnut Hill Academy's ice hockey team, disbanded in the mid-1980's, returned to action last Wednesday afternoon. The Blue Devils' first ice encounter in two decades came at the Academy of the New Church, where CHA earned a 4-0 lead over the first two periods, then survived a third period rally by the Lions to secure a 5-3 victory.

It was a particularly moving occasion for the CHA seniors, who thought until recently that they'd graduate from the local school without ever having donned a Chestnut Hill hockey sweater. The upperclassmen on the squad are: goalie Scott Redpath, defenseman Ryan Hoyes, and forwards Vince Amoroso, Rob Deery, Evan Farren, Kris Kimball, Hal Martin, and Pat Spanninger. CHA Dean of Students Bob St. George is the head coach of the fledgling squad.

The team rosters three juniors, two sophomores, and five freshmen, and one of the ninth graders is a Springside School student, Mary Beth Dougherty. She was out with an injury for the opener, and the Ice Devils were missing junior defenseman Ian Holton, who is also a varsity squash player and was engaged in an Inter-Ac League racquet match.

On the coldest afternoon of the month to that point, Wednesday's game was played at ANC's Pavillion, a roofed rink with no walls. Hot chocolate flowed freely at the school snack bar next door.

Just 50 seconds into the game CHA rang up the first goal of its new era, a strike by Amoroso assisted by Farren. Later there was another milestone as junior forward Brett Shandler made the initial trip to the penalty box, serving a minor for interference. This worked out well for the Devils, actually, as they scored a shorthanded goal with 2:40 remaining in the period. Freshman Matt Petrillo centered the puck from the left and his brother Bruno, a junior, jammed it in at the right post.

In the first minute of the second stanza, CHA's Amoroso and Farren reversed roles, with Farren scoring this time for the visitors. Just after returning to full strength off of another penalty, the Ice Devils went up 4-0 with 9:12 to go in the period. On a Bruno Petrillo shot assisted by Amoroso, ANC goalie Ryan Schauder went down in a split to trap the puck between his leg pads, but he had drifted behind the goal line in the process.

Desperate for their first victory, the host Lions (0-3) began a rally in the third period with goals by Briggs Odhner and Jake Asplundh, then David Cass scored with 1:07 to go to make it a one-goal game. Pulling its keeper, New Church had its last chance to tie on a face-off in the CHA zone with eight seconds remaining, but when the puck came loose Farren carried it to the far end and bagged an empty-netter at the buzzer for a 5-3 final.