Brawley in a Rush to get good in goal
Brendahn Brawley, who was named the first-team goalie on the 2016 AllDelco ice hockey team when he was a Ridley senior, was a member of the Charlotte Rush, who defeated the Hampton Roads Whalers in the 2017 United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) Elite Division championship series last weekend.
The Rush won the deciding game of the championship series, 5-3, over the Whalers after defeating the Wisconsin Rapids Riversharks, the Dells Ducks, the Syracuse Stars, the Richmond Generals and the Palm Beach Hawks. The Rush had beaten the Whalers in the final game of the regular season to win their division title.
Taylor Bommarito, a Michigan native who had 26 goals in the regular season, scored twice in the second period for the Rush in the playoff championship game.
Brawley, 18, who is a resident of Morton, was the youngest of the Rush’s three goalies. He posted an 8-0 record with a 1.90 goalsagainst average and a .915 save percentage.
West Chester University senior Colin Vannicolo, a graduate of Marple Newtown, was named to the NCAA Division II indoor track and field all-region team.
Vannicolo placed first in the heptathlon at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships at Edinboro University. The event includes competition in the long jump, shot put, high jump, pole vault, 60-meter dash, 60-meter hurdles and 1,000-meter run.
He will graduate from West Chester in May with a degree in criminal justice with a minor in psychology.
A number of Delaware County residents who are members of the Main Line Swimming and Diving Officials Association worked the recent District 1 Championship Meet at La Salle University.
The local district officials include Dave Lewis and Steve Talley of Springfield, Jean Chambers and Jeff Rosengarten of Havertown, and Phil Pierce of Ridley Park.
Lewis also went to Bucknell University to officiate the PIAA Championships.
Emily Mathewson, the 2016 Daily Times Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year as a Garnet Valley senior, enjoyed her ‘homecoming’ Saturday afternoon.
Mathewson, a freshman at Vanderbilt University, scored five goals — on five shots — and added three assists to help the Commodores (4-2) open Big East play with a 14-12 comeback victory at Villanova.
The Wildcats scored six of the first seven goals, but Mathewson got all five of her scores in helping Vanderbilt to a 9-9 tie. She set up the goal with 6:49 to play that gave the Commodores their first lead, 13-12.
Mathewson, who had scored five goals in her first five collegiate games, boosted her season total to 10 goals with her effort Saturday.
The Sports Legends of Delaware County Museum is featuring one of the cards from its new collection of top county sports figures each week on the museum website at www.sportslegendsofdelawarecounty.com.
The featured card this week is that of Temple University men’s basketball coach Fran Dunphy.
A native of the Drexel Hill section of Upper Darby, Dunphy attended St. Dorothy School and Malvern Prep before playing college basketball at La Salle University under coach Tom Gola. He was team co-captain as a senior, when he averaged 18.6 points per game.
After serving as an assistant coach at American University, Army and La Salle, Dunphy spent 15 seasons as head coach at the University of Pennsylvania, winning eight Ivy League titles. In 2006, he succeeded John Chaney as head coach at Temple University and has taken the Owls to the NCAA Tournament seven times.
The Sports Legends Museum, which is located at 301 Iven Avenue in Wayne, has added Saturday hours, when it will be open from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Additional information about the card set and the museum’s hours of operation can be obtained from curator Jim Vankoski at 610-909-4919 or by visiting www.sportslegendsofdelawarecounty.com or by emailing vankoski21@comcast.net.
The Sports Legends Museum is in the process of raising funds to have a bronze statue built of Emlen Tunnell, the late Radnor AllDelco football player whose professional career included time in the uniforms of the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers.
Tunnell, who died in 1975 at the age of 50, was the first African-American inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. When he retired as a player and went into coaching, he was the NFL record holder for career interceptions.
Ray Didinger, the St. James graduate who was inducted into Pro Football Hall for his years as one of the top writers covering the sport, recently mentioned the Sports Legends Hall’s efforts on the show he does each weekend on Sports Radio 94-WIP and talked about how great a player Tunnell was during his NFL career.
Phil Damiani, head of the statue fund-raising project, and Delco sports historian Rich Pagano also recently talked about Tunnell on the “Sports Chatter” show, hosted by Sharon Hill native Bill Werndl on WCHE 1530AM radio.
“We know there are a lot of people in Delaware County who aren’t aware of Emlen Tunnell and his accomplishments,” Damiani said. “Not only was he an outstanding athlete, he also was a truly brave member of the United States Coast Guard who saved the lives of two men during World War II.”
Additional information about the statue project can be obtained at www.delcosportslegends.com.
Registrations are being accepted for Future Captain Sports’ spring Child Development Programs for children 18 months to six years of age.
Children are placed in age-appropriate groups as they experience soccer for the first time. Classes are held from 10-10:45 a.m. and will take place Saturdays beginning April 1 at the Healthplex in Springfield and Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at the MapleZone facility in Garnet Valley, beginning April 26. The cost is $80 per child. For additional information, email Darren@FutureCaptainSports.com or call 215-300-1872.