High School Ice Hockey: Shawnee Super Sophs too much for Cherry Hill East Monday, January 29, 2007 By Mike Costantino SJSports Staff Writer Matt McDonald had three goals and an assist and fellow sophomores Joe Pezzato and Ryan Welsey also scored as Shawnee flew past Cherry Hill East 8-1 in the regular season finale for both teams. All three have been in the top ten in scoring and with McDonald's four point evening he will just edge out Washington Township's Colin Davis for the overall scoring leader. At the beginning of the season this looked to be a rebuilding year for Shawnee as they skate 17 underclassmen, but the emergence of these sophomores along with the outstanding performance turned in by goalie Paul Gray led them to a 16-1-1 record, and the top seed and favorite in the double elimination tournament. Shawnee got off to a fast start, something they haven't done in the last few games, scoring four goals in the first period. Ian Watson got things started with a shot right up the slot. Then McDonald and Welsey scored goals twenty six seconds apart to build the lead to 3-0. After East scored a power play goal to cut the lead to 3-1, McDonald scored on the power play to close out the first period and a 4-1 advantage. Goals by Pezzato and Matt Murphy increased the lead to 6-1. Welsey notched his second of the game and McDonald completed his hat trick as Shawnee ended their season with an 8-1 win. Notes: We salute Coach Jim Pezzato and his assistants Steve Watson, Fred Gray and Bill Ruskowski for an excellent season and they seem to have the right combination to complete the job, strong goaltending, good defense, discipline and scoring. Photos by Art Redd