Archbishop Spalding wins its second consecutive MIAA A Conference Ice Hockey crown
Once the league's "little brothers," the Cavaliers are all now grown up
by Derek Toney
Robert Trantin remembers the early days of the Archbishop Spalding High ice hockey program.
“We were the little brother of every other school in the conference,” said Trantin, a 2001 graduate and now Cavalier coach. “They beat us up all the time.”
Well, “the little brother” is all grown up. Spalding won its second consecutive MIAA A Conference championship with a 2-1 victory over Calvert Hall at Piney Orchard in Odenton. Corey Malonado and Caleb Young each scored for the Cavaliers.
Spalding (14-7-3 overall) combined two second quarter power play goals with a taut defensive effort to claim its seventh league title. The Cavaliers’ seven championships have come since 2012.
“The culture was established at the beginning of the season and the boys just worked through it,” said Spalding junior goalie Evan Snyder. “We’ve battled all year and this just keeps growing and growing.”
Snyder was brilliant in the net Thursday, keeping the Cardinals off the board until two minutes left in regulation. Spalding weathered Calvert Hall’s extra pressure with the goalie off and a power play in the final 75 seconds to complete its third back-to-back (2012-13 and 2018-19).
A year ago, Spalding got a goal from Joey Banks and solid netminding from Luke Schaub to hold off Calvert Hall, 1-0, at Piney Orchard for the A crown.
Maldonado, a junior wing, said the Cavaliers haven’t missed a beat this winter.
“Different goalie, same team,” said Maldonado, one of 13 returning letterwinners. “All the seniors from last year are gone, but we got new players and we still win.”
The Cavaliers carried a power play opportunity, from the latter seconds of the first quarter, and converted in the early moments of the second. Maldonado put a wrister past Calvert Hall goalie Vinny Reiley after a feed from junior mate Grant Wanner with 14 minutes, 28 seconds left before intermission.
With time winding down on another power play chance, Young gathered a pass from senior Bryan Rice. Young calmly placed an angled shot low past Reiley, extending Spalding’s advantage to 2-0 with 2:19 left in the second period.
Rice. a defensemen, said the Cavaliers found their bearings after the opening 15 minutes.
“They (Calvert Hall) hit the post and a switch just flipped at the end of that period,” said Rice, one of 12 seniors. “We picked it up and started playing our game. When we play hard, we score goals and shut teams down.”
The Cavaliers were closing in on a second straight title shutout effort, but Jack Tanton got a shot past Snyder to keep Calvert Hall’s hopes alive. The Cardinals pulled Reiley with about 1:13 left in regulation.
Calvert Hall (14-13-2) missed wide on a shot with 18 seconds remaining, then got a power play chance after a game misconduct penalty on Spalding. The Cardinals weren’t able to get a final shot and the Cavaliers celebrated another title.
After scoring nine goals in three regular season matches - winning twice - Calvert Hall wasn’t able to generate consistent opportunities Thursday.
“We were trying to do too much. The plan was to neutralize things and make things simple…we don’t need home runs, just singles,” said Cardinals coach Paul Gansler, whose team was denied a seventh MIAA A crown (last in 2022). “This one hurts, but we got a good core coming back.”
The Cardinals will get another shot at Spalding in the opening round of the MAPHL AA playoffs next week at Mount Pleasant.