In sports the one of the many sayings is it’s not how you start but how you finish. Look at the Giants, they got hot at the right time and unfortunately are celebrating another championship. Same can be said for the St Louis Cardinals last year. As we look back in the SJHSIHL, we used the last 6 games as a barometer to see who has been hot. Cherokee comes in as the favorite, rightfully so as they are the defending champs and finished atop of the Tier 1 division with just 2 losses. And in their last 6 games have gone 5-1. Clearview has won 4 games in a row and 5 out of 6, with the lone loss coming against Cherokee, a team they defeated earlier in the season.

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Jonny Ruiz scored four goals and Jake DiStasio added two as Williamstown opened the playoffs with a 7-3 win over Clearview. The two teams had just played on Friday night with Clearview rallying from four down to win 7-6. But tonight there was no comeback as the Braves played better defense and when there was a lapse; Troy Altbaum was there to shut the door. The Braves jumped out early as Kyle Parks, who had another strong game with a goal and two assists, scored just three minutes into the game.

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Washington Township opened its playoff run with a 3-1 win against Shawnee on Monday night in SJHSIHL double elimination action played at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. Ryan McCusker stopped 20 shots, including a penalty shot and Township got goals from Doug Sanders, Jason Smith and Garrett Quinn. After a scoreless first period Mack Kaiser was awarded a penalty shot by referee Tim Holz after being dragged down from behind on a breakaway. McCusker stoned him to keep the game scoreless and about one minute later Sanders scored down low with Pat Curiale getting the assist.

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John Garbarino broke a 6-6 game scoring with less than four minutes left in the third period as Clearview rallied from a 6-2 deficit scoring five goals in the final period to edge Williamstown 7-6 in the regular season finale for both teams. The win catapulted Clearview into fourth place, as they win the first tie-breaker against Williamstown, which is most wins. The two teams will meet again Monday night in the first round of the playoffs, at Voorhees at 7:10.

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Jonathan Ruiz scored his 100th goal as a member of the Williamstown High School Varsity Ice Hockey Club against Black Horse back in November and has since added 19 more goals. We unfortunately were not aware of this back in November, but are aware now and we congratulate Jonny on this remarkable achievement. In addition to his goal record, Ruiz has also compiled 66 assists in his four seasons with the Braves. Having had his older brother Tom precede him did not seem to put any added pressure on Jonny as he has continued to improve his all around game as he also kills penalties as well.

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The tandem of Taylor Olson and Mike Vulpio combined for seven goals and eight assists as Clearview had little trouble in defeating Cherokee II 9-1 in Friday night action played at Hollydell. After a slow start, Clearview scored three goals in the final three minutes of the first period to jump ahead 3-0. Vulpio opened the scoring on a nice pass from Olson down low to make it 1-0. Then on the power play Olson and Vulpio hooked up again with Vulpio notching his second of the night with one minute left in the period.

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The EEW got strong goaltending from Shane Lippincott and two goals from Eric Simone as they defeated Washington Township 4-1 in SJHSIHL action at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. Having combined the schools of Eastern, Cherry Hill East and Cherry Hill West to form The EEW, this is a very talented team with strong goaltending and 3 good coaches behind the bench. And although this might have been game #17 for Township on the calendar, I can guarantee you that the EEW had this circled from day one.

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Patrick Curiale ran his goal streak to four games as he netted a hat trick and Tyler Benton and Nick Urban notched their first of the season as Washington Township defeated Lower Cape May 8-0 at the Skate Zone in Voorhees. Benton scored the lone goal of the first period as Township led just 1-0 after one. Township broke open the game scoring four goals in a span less than four minutes in the second period.

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Jeff Steinmann scored a short-handed goal with just over two minutes left in the game as Delran came back from a 3-1 deficit to tie Holy Cross 3-3 in action played at the Igloo in Mt Laurel. Holy Cross led 2-0 after the opening period on goals by Bradley Peditto and Brian Clegg, with Clegg’s coming right at the buzzer. Nick Taylor scored a power play goal with four minutes left in then second period to bring Delran to within 2-1.

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Mainland killed off two consecutive power play chances for Cherokee II as they held on for a 4-3 victory. With the win Mainland improved its record to 6-6-4 on the season and is in third place in the Tier II division. Jack Handshaw scored the lone goal of the first period as the teams combined for nine penalties. In the second period both teams capitalized on the power play, each scoring twice with the man advantage. Cherokee II scored two goals in less than one minute early in the period to take a 2-1 lead. After Sam Goldberg tied the score at 1-1, Zack Hendrickson gave Cherokee II a 2-1 lead scoring his fourth goal of the year and his first of two on the night.

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