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Recent 19U News

Aston, PA --

The Philadelphia Little Flyers, proud members of the Mid-Atlantic Woman’s Hockey Association (MAWHA) and National Girls Hockey League (NGHL) are proud to announce Morgan Daly’s NCAA commitment to Anna Maria College.  Daly, has been a staple of defense for the Little Flyers girls program since its inception in 2018.  “This is a great commitment for our Little Flyers Girls program and a testament to Morgan and her continued hard work” said Little Flyers President Stephane Charbonneau.  He continued “Morgan is a career IceWorks player, from her days as a Delco Phantom to the Little Flyers and now becoming an NCAA Student-Athlete, its great to see her progression as an on-ice player, in the weight room with our trainers and being a student of the game through video and chalk talk sessions.  Couldn’t be prouder of her development and wish her the best of luck at Anna Maria College in the fall”.  The Anna Maria College Amcats, located in Paxton, Massachusetts competes in the Eastern Collegiate Hockey Alliance (ECHA). 

“I am happy to announce my commitment to Anna Maria College in Paxton, MA, to play D III ice hockey and study Fire Science.  I could say I worked really hard to get myself here, but the real reason I am in this position is because of the people in my life. I’d like to thank my mom for carting me to all my games for years, my coaches that gave me the opportunity to improve, my friends for encouraging me to keep working and bettering myself, and my team that has stuck with me throughout my entire girls hockey career. It may not have always been Little Flyers, but I am still playing with the 12 year olds I met playing Delco Phantoms. I think that’s the best part” said Daly upon making her NCAA commitment official last week. 

Daly, was a key factor on the blue line this past season for the Little Flyers and their stingy defense that went 20-0-1 in MAWHA league play.  In 16 regular season games played, Daly scored four goals and added five assists for 9 points.  Her goal against the Tri-City Eagles was the game winner in a 1-0 Little Flyers victory.  Her biggest game of the year came with a bid to USA Hockey Nationals on the line, Daly shined in the game, scoring a hat trick in a 4-0 win over the Lady Patriots to punch the Little Flyers ticket to nationals.  On behalf of the entire Philadelphia Little Flyers Organization, we would like to congratulate Morgan and her family on Morgan’s NCAA commitment to Anna Maria College and thank her for contributions both on and off the ice to the Philadelphia Little Flyers Organization.

Aston, PA --  It was a good weekend to be wearing Orange and Black during the Atlantic Amateur Hockey Association (AAHA) Championship weekend as three Little Flyers girls teams punched their ticket to USA Hockey Nationals.

U19 –   Morgan Daly’s hat trick provided all the offense the Little Flyers needed to secure their bid to Nationals, defeating the Lady Patriots by a final score of 4-0.  Katrina Conway and Avari Hahn each notched two assists on Daly’s goals.  Wilkes University commit, Sydney Babin was perfect in net for the Little Flyers, earning a shutout on the team’s way to victory.  Jenna Calchi put an exclamation point on the game, scoring the final goal to put the game out of reach, Kaila Booth and Guinivere Donovan were credited with assists on Calchi’s goal.  The Little Flyers now set their sights towards Nationals on March 31st in West Chester, PA.

 

U16 -  The Little Flyers entered districts as the number one seed after winning the MAWHA Championship two weeks earlier.  The only thing standing between Coach Grant’s Little Flyers and their second consecutive trip to USA Hockey Nationals was the Princeton Tiger Lilies, the same team they defeated in the MAWHA Championship.  Emmy Michaels put the Little Flyers on the scoreboard first, taking a feed from Annie Dignazio in the first period.  Sophie Grant doubled the Little Flyers lead in the second period with an assist from Avelyn Higgins.  Jenny Gallagher closed out the Little Flyers scoring in the third period to put the Tiger Lilies away.  Down the other end of the ice, Gracie Meyers gave the Tiger Lilies offense fits, giving up no goals in the Little Flyers 3-0 victory.  The Little Flyers have won four post season games thus far, winning each game by a final score of 3-0.  Next up for the Little Flyers U16 team is their second straight Nationals appearance.  In 2020-21, the team took home silver medals as the National runners up. 

U14 -  The U14 Little Flyers rounded out the trio of Little Flyers girls teams going to Nationals.  In their first game at Atlantic Districts, the Little Flyers took down the Princeton Tiger Lillies by a scored of 4-0.  This earned the Little Flyers a matchup against the #1 seed New Jersey Bandits with a spot to Nationals on the line.  In a back-and-forth affair, the two teams were tied 3-3 at the end of regulation and needed overtime to determine a winner.  The Bandits found the game winner in overtime to earn their bid to Nationals, the Little Flyers still had one more opportunity to punch their ticket, needing a win in a rematch against Princeton.  After trailing 1-0 early in the game, Philadelphia’s offense came alive.  Alyssa Viola led the way offensively, scoring two goals in the game.  Four more Little Flyers would find the back of the net in the game Jayne Gamburg, Madelyn Yost, Angela Bruno and Maggie Donnelly all lit the lamp in the Little Flyers 6-1 victory.  Ava Re recorded the win in net to secure the teams spot in Nationals.   

Aston, PA -- Big hockey weekend all over the country and the U19 Little Flyers women put their signature on it.  After finishing the MAHWA regular season undefeated (20-0-1) they entered the 2021-2022 MAHWA Tournament on Saturday afternoon against the Snider women.  It was obvious early on that both teams forgot about the regular season and showed up at the rink ready to play rough playoff hockey.  Eve Hill was first to get the Little Flyers on the scoreboard with a fancy back handed bar down shot with the assist from Kaila Booth.  The Snider women answered by turning up their play and the crowd witness another 28 minutes of scoreless play.  Then deep into the second period Guin Donovan got an insurance goal to bring the score to 2-0.  Early in the third the hot hands of Donovan got her second goal with a sweet assist from Olivia Perrin.  The final buzzer sounded with the Little Flyers women wining 3-0 and moving on to face Tri City.

 A much-improved Tri City team showed up to the semifinal game with something to prove and they really put it to our girls.  It took netminder extraordinaire Sydney Babin to use every trick in her book to keep Tri City off the score board until our girls found their game.  Then late in the first period Morgan Daly worked the puck to Jenna Calchi who found Kaila Booth for the first goal of the game.  Tri City showed what they were made of when they fought back and tied the game early in the second period.  That was it for scoring until late in the third when the Little Flyers Dynamic Duo of Lexi Poulin and Kaila Booth paired up for the game winning goal.  It was a sight to see when Poulin got the puck to Booth for what can only be described as a sick goal.  This set the stage for the two U19 MAHWA heavy weights to slug it out for the Championship game on Sunday afternoon.

Now to be honest I typically would never describe a women’s hockey team as heavy weights for some obvious reasons but in this case, it is truly the best description.  Games between the Little Flyers and Junior Flyers have been close from the beginning.  I’m not sure why this true.  Perhaps the reason is the proximity of the two teams or maybe the reason lies with the familiarity of the players between the clubs, as many attend same high schools.  For whatever the reason these match ups have always been exciting to watch.  I can assure the readers that this match up was one for the record books.

Both Little Flyers and Junior Flyers had some difficulty earning their spot in the finals because every MAHWA team stepped up their game for the playoffs.   This made for some for some unexpected close games.  So, each team had lots of players with lots of bumps and bruises but both clubs were ready for some more when the puck dropped a 3 pm.  Right from the start Lexi Poulin ended up on the wrong side of particularly rough exchange at the boards that earned the Little Flyers a Power Play.  The Junior Flyers battled hard and killed it off.  So, for more than two periods the teams battled hard and traded both metaphoric and literal punches back and forth.  A serious amount of what could be euphemistically referred to as “players passionate play” went unnoticed by the referees but the score keeper’s hand still cramped up from the amount of ink he used recording penalties.  There was an amusing moment when Kaila Booth got up off her back at center ice to have a seemingly polite discussion with both referees while blood was dripping from her mouth.  They cleared the air and the players, and the referees got back to doing their jobs.  Afterall, this was a Championship game and neither team was giving an inch.

Maybe it was the discussion with the referees or perhaps the friendly verbal exchanges amongst the players on the ice but both teams found a way to get even more intense.  Intensity turned to joy when Booth and Katrina Conway, set up Charlotte, the Big Game Hunter, Labre for a shot to put the Little Flyer up 1-0 at the 12-minute mark in the third.  The parents in two counties started hold their collective breath as it looked like that might be the game winner.  Three minutes later the Junior Flyers took advantage of one of many of the games Power Plays to tie the game at 1-1.  Parents and fans started breathing again but each breath was interlaced with four letter words like “Darn!” or “Yeah!” depending on their perspective.  The players on both sides were looking for breath as they settled in to start battling again.  They all thought they had 9 minutes left to earn the MAHWA banner.

After hundreds of hours of practice and time in the gym the player poured the hearts into the next 9 minutes, but it just wasn’t enough to settle who would get the banner as the third period buzzer sounded and the scoreboard showed 1-1.  Instantly questions were heard everywhere, “Is it a shootout…Is it sudden death overtime…how many on the ice”.  All the questions were answered by the referees and the league commissioner when they let the benches know the fight was entering round 4 with sudden death rules.  Both teams took to the ice and started slugging it out again.  The excitement was palpable after a Junior Flyers player was forced to hook a player to the ice to stop a scoring chance.  This set up a Little Flyers power play but the Junior Flyers penalty kill was up to the task and the clock kept ticking.  Both coaches were keeping the players shifts short but fatigue was setting in for the everyone.  That is when the Little Flyers set up the simplest routine play with Charlotte Labre skating the puck along the boards and seeing Evelyn Pryadkin on the far point.  The Junior Flyers collapsed on her but Labre was able to get the puck over towards Pryadkin through the smallest of seems.  Pryadkin moved to get the puck and keeping her head up to see the “mother of all screens” being set by Samantha Roberts.  Pryadkin let the perfect shot fly directly at Robert’s head.  Using reflexes reserved for life saving events and setting screens in hockey Samantha stared down the shot until the last possible millisecond to move and the puck sailed past Junior Flyers netminder’s head for the win. 

After a few minutes of the players celebration the bleachers erupted with applause from everyone in gratitude for witnessing an epic game.  The Little Flyers move on to Atlantic District Tournament next week for what hopes to be another exciting series of games.