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Saturday, December 1, 2007
Defending the Cup
Collin County, TX
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By: Tim Polzer
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Photo(s) By: Chris Leahy
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A new group of team leaders has helped Allen begin its state title defense
The Texas Cup resides in Collin County and the Allen Eagles Varsity Gold is playing as if they don’t want to give it up soon. The Eagles defeated Plano West, 2-1, in overtime of the state title game, earning their first hockey state title, and hope it’s the front end of a repeat.
The Eagles entered the 2007-08 AT&T Metroplex High School Hockey League on a roll, but looking a lot different than the squad that went 20-3-1 in regular season and 6-0 in the playoffs. Replacing the loss of a starting goalie and explosive scorer topped the list of Eagles challenges. Coach Dave Fry, who played pro hockey for the Fort Worth Brahmas in the Central Hockey League and Edinburgh in the British National League, wasn’t offering any excuses.
“Every year brings challenges to a team. I believe we have the group that can work hard and meet those challenges,” Fry said. “It took a lot of hard work to win the state tournament and we would like to do it again.”
Cups are won with great goaltending, but graduation presents high school league teams with annual turnover.
Allen entered its title defense with two new goalies, Nick Dowhaniuk and Trey Holloway, to replace Matt Pombo, who saved 68 of 72 shots in the state tournament and finished 19-2 with a 1.40 goals-against average. With Pombo teaming with Daniel Barnes, another Allen product, to play for the Vaughan Vipers of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League, the net was literally wide open.
Any fears that opponents would light the lamp at will quickly melted away. Dowhaniuk earned the bulk of work early and played steady goal. Dowhaniuk, a senior and Canada native, played for Allen as a sophomore, returning for his senior season after a year of travel hockey. Holloway, a freshman, also was impressive, picking up wins in his first starts.
“Pombo was an important player for us, but he’s gone and we’re moving on with Nick and Trey,” Fry said. “No matter who’s in goal, it’s important that our defense works together.”
The Eagles defense, led by Jordan Bonzo, Mike Kowalski and Jordan Soloman, has teamed with the goalie tandem to keep the Eagles among the league leaders in goals-against average.
In the offensive zone, the Eagles have absorbed the absence of scoring leader Robbie Lopes (18 goals, 14 assists, 11 points in six postseason games). Patrick Capetillo, Ryan Holloway and Garrett Master provided the scoring punch, each averaging a point a game.
“It’s up to our guys to pull together as a team,” Fry said. “This is a tough league full of good teams. We’ll work hard in the regular season to become the best team we can be and worry about the postseason later.”
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