West Chester Rustin triumphs, 4-1

Six years and three hockey championships later, West Chester Rustin already is in a tie as the most-decorated program in Class A Flyers Cup history.

Making its fourth title-game appearance in the last five years, top-seeded Rustin won its third Cup, downing No. 3 Springfield (Delco), 4-1, at Ice Line in West Chester on Monday night.

Rustin also beat Springfield in the 2010 final, when it won its second straight Cup. This year's championship ties the Golden Knights (15-2-2) with Radnor for the most in Class A history at three. It also sent them to the state championship game next Sunday in Pittsburgh against the pending Penguins Cup titlist.

"We're very lucky," Rustin coach Nick Russo said. "We've got a great bunch of families in our school, and they really support the kids. And the kids - I can't say enough about the talent."

Rustin goalie Zack Sheriko stopped 26 shots for his 14th victory. Colin Clarke scored two goals to bring his four-game tournament total to seven. Senior defenseman Jon Thompson added an assist and an empty-net goal with 2.8 seconds remaining en route to tournament MVP.

"The team has been great this year," Thompson said. "The team's worked hard; everyone wanted it. It's been the goal since the beginning of the season, and we made it. Now we have to win states."

Springfield (13-3-3), the 2011 champion making its third consecutive finals appearance, fell behind early, committing two penalties 23 seconds apart less than five minutes into the game.

The Knights utilized the two-man advantage. Charlie Young's slapshot from the point (assisted by Thompson) whizzed past Cougars goalie Mike Rice at the 9-minute, 45-second mark of the first period for a 1-0 lead.

Clarke later beat Rice, who recorded a 35-save shutout in the semifinal, 10 minutes into the second period with a wrist shot that trickled into the net after deflecting off the goalie's shoulder.

Defenseman Kyle Laughlin scored the Cougars' goal at 4:26 of the second.

Despite giving up the goal, Sheriko was solid in the second period, handling hard slapshots and deflections in front of the net. He was outstanding in the latter stages of the third period, thwarting multiple Cougars chances with acrobatic pad and stick saves.

Rustin peppered Rice early in the third, with four shots in the first 1:35. After pounding the net with 10 shots, Clarke hammered in a rebound with 8:19 remaining to push the Rustin lead to 3-1.

"Things didn't go our way tonight," Springfield coach Phil Eastman said. "We played an excellent hockey team that played better than us."

In the girls' division, top-seeded Unionville beat No. 2 Lansdale Catholic, 5-0, for its third consecutive championship. Sophomore Jordan Hagerty scored twice for Unionville, which outshot Lansdale, 65-2.

Springfield (Delco)   0 1 0 - 1

West Chester Rustin   1 1 2 - 4

Goals: S-Kyle Laughlin. WCR-Charlie Young, Jon Thompson, Colin Clarke 2.

Saves: S-Mike Rice 24; WCR-Zack Sheriko 26.