Little Flyers Make Their 2020-21 NGHL Debut

The Philadelphia Little Flyers were well represented at the NGHL’s Labor Day Weekend Face-Off held in Connecticut. 

U19 Weekend Review

Ken Deming’s first NGHL game behind the bench as the Head Coach of the Little Flyers U19 team was a successful one, as the Little Flyers downed the NJ Titans by a final score of 5-2.  The team kept the momentum going in their second game of the weekend on Saturday with a great all around team effort defensively, shutting out the York Devils in a 4-0 victory.  The team’s third game of the weekend was a tightly contested battle against the CT CATS.  The Little Flyers battled all game long but fell by a final score of 3-1. 

Taking two of three round robin games earned the Little Flyers a spot in the playoffs where they faced off against their cross-town rival, JR Flyers.  In a very competitive back and forth game, the Jr. Flyers edged by the Little Flyers by a final score of 3-1.  Offensively, Evelyn Pryadkin led the way, scoring four goals on the weekend, Sam Schultz and Lexi Poulin each tallied one goal and two assists in the team’s four games.  Monica Mumma (2 G), Leeanne Sakers (1G,1A), Sophia Rosenthal (1A), Izzy McGarvey (1A), Cyenna Martinez (1A) rounded out the scoring for the Little Flyers on the weekend. 

U16 Weekend Review – Contributed by Jim Booth  

Friday afternoon the girls took on the CT Northern Lights.  Our girls fell behind fast by 2 goals early in the first period.  This prompted Coach Jordan to “gently” remind the girls the game had actually started a few minutes previously.  This bench speech inspired the girls play to transform into a dominating performance that saw them score 4 unanswered goals over the remainder of the game.  Katie Smiley had 2 goals, Sophia Grant had 1 goal, Kaila Booth had 1 goal, and Morgan Daly had 1 assist.

Later that night the girls took to the ice against the Springfield Rifles.  Despite controlling the majority of play for 2 periods our girls were only able to get 2 into the net.  Then in the third they let the Rifles tie the game at 2 goals and were forced into a shootout.  They ultimately won the game after Bonnie Mundy and Kaila Booth scored and Lea Grassia kept the Rifles shooter out of the net.  During regulation time Kaila Booth had an unassisted goal and Sophia Grant also had a goal with the assist going to youngster Annie DiGnazio.

The third game saw Sydney Babin in net against the Northern Suburban Wings Saturday afternoon.  This game was evenly matched throughout the game.  Unfortunately, the Hockey gods were not with us and we fell behind 2-0 going into the 3rd period.  The girls kept fighting and Kaila Booth was able to score to bring us with 1 goal to keep hope alive.  As time wore on Babin was pulled for the extra offense support but the Wing were able to clear the zone and put in an insurance goal to seal the game 3-1.

Later Saturday night our girls took to the ice for their final game against the WC Swans.  In a game much tighter than the score our girls just could not beat the Swans netminder.  The final score was 2-0 Swans.  After the game center Kaila Booth commented, “…I really like our team,  I mean I know we lost by 2 but we really came together and keep playing.  Actually, this whole weekend we played well considering this is the first time we played this year.  Jordie told us after the game we know our soft spots and they are definitely fixable…I can’t wait to play again”.   

U14 Weekend Review – Contributed by Sal Viola

It was a successful 3-1 weekend for the Little Flyer U14 team.  In game one against the Lady Boston Baked Beans, it was a back and forth affair with the teams trading goals back and forth through the first three periods of play.  Alyssa Viola scored all three goals for the Little Flyers in regulation.  Little Flyers goaltender, Madison Maloney came up big in the shootout, making two saves on the three shots she faced.  Annie Dignazio and Amanda Beatty both scored on their shootout attempts, giving the Little Flyers a 4-3 win. 

In game two, Maloney continued her clutch play in net for the Little Flyers, recording her first career shutout for the Little Flyers in a 5-0 win against the Springfield Riffles Selects.  Offensively, Nora Barth put the Little Flyers up 1-0 early in the game.  Amanda Beatty continued her impressive weekend, scoring the next two Little Flyer goals, followed by Alyssa Viola and Poppy Pennessee lighting the lamp to secure the 5-0 victory. 

In game three, the Little Flyers faced their stiffest competition of the weekend against the Rome Girls Hockey Club.  Nora Barth scored the lone goal on the day for the Little Flyers in a game that was evenly matched for the most part until Rome took a commanding lead and held off the Little Flyers attempts to tighten the gap on the scoreboard.  Rome, who went on to win the 14U Showcase Championship, downed the Little Flyers by a final score of 6-1.

The final game of the weekend sent the Little Flyers back to Pennsylvania with another win and the team’s second shutout of the weekend.  The Little Flyers’ Allie Bramble opened the scoring in the game when her shot from the point found its way through traffic into the back of the net.  From that moment on, the Little Flyers didn’t look back, adding goals from Annie Dignazio, Nora Barth, Alyssa Viola and Amanda Beatty.  Madison Maloney picked up her second shutout of the weekend in net with a solid defensive playing in front of her.