Wharton "A" Hockey Team Wins HBS McArthur Cup Tournament
Matt Scattarella (WG'09) Contributing Writer
Issue date: 4/21/08 Section: News
The Wharton "A" Hockey Team beat HBS, Tuck and others this past weekend en route to Wharton's 1st ever McArthur Cup Tournament title. The McArthur Cup, hosted by Harvard Business School, is an annual tournament which draws top hockey talent from east coast business, law and medical schools. In its first two games of round-robin play, Wharton emerged with a record of 2-0, with wins over Suffolk Law and Canada's Ivey Business School. Wharton's only misstep of the tournament was a 1-3 loss to Tuck during the third and final game of this round. This loss proved insignificant, however, as Wharton's efforts during round-robin play were enough to advance them to the elimination round.
Having already played a game at 9:00pm the previous night and 2 games earlier that morning, the endurance of Wharton's 11 players was set to be tested in the semi-final match-up against HBS. Not surprisingly, HBS had not scheduled any games for themselves earlier that day - ensuring that its larger bench of players was well-rested for the game. In spite of these challenges, Wharton stunned HBS with two early goals to take a 2-0 lead into the third period. As a result of a strong team defense, led by Aaron Duncan (WG'08), HBS was not able to climb back into the game. Brian Gornick (WG'09) eventually put the game out of reach with an empty net goal late in the third period. When asked about his 2 goal effort after the game, Brian commented, "I came here to do one thing - beat HBS in their own barn. To be honest, it's why I decided to come to Wharton in the first place." Although the win over HBS was a well-deserved victory, the championship (Wharton's 5th game in 24 hours) loomed on the horizon.
Tuck, the only team to beat Wharton during round-robin play, emerged from its bracket to face Wharton in the final. Prior to the game, Ben Daverman (WG'08), known to many of the other players simply as "Dad", offered a few words of encouragement. "These guys are garbage, we are way better than them. Did the 1980 US Olympic hockey team lose to Finland in the gold medal finals after beating the Russians in the semis?" The Wharton team responded, beating Tuck 4-3 in a hard-fought, championship-game battle. Inspired by the Slapshot's Hanson brothers, Matt Scattarella (WG'09) led the tournament with 10 penalty minutes and was named to the all-goon team.
Despite many of the players' inability to walk on Sunday morning, it was a great weekend for the team and the Wharton community at large. The McArthur Cup now resides in Philly - soon to be mounted in its proper place above the bar at Pub.
Having already played a game at 9:00pm the previous night and 2 games earlier that morning, the endurance of Wharton's 11 players was set to be tested in the semi-final match-up against HBS. Not surprisingly, HBS had not scheduled any games for themselves earlier that day - ensuring that its larger bench of players was well-rested for the game. In spite of these challenges, Wharton stunned HBS with two early goals to take a 2-0 lead into the third period. As a result of a strong team defense, led by Aaron Duncan (WG'08), HBS was not able to climb back into the game. Brian Gornick (WG'09) eventually put the game out of reach with an empty net goal late in the third period. When asked about his 2 goal effort after the game, Brian commented, "I came here to do one thing - beat HBS in their own barn. To be honest, it's why I decided to come to Wharton in the first place." Although the win over HBS was a well-deserved victory, the championship (Wharton's 5th game in 24 hours) loomed on the horizon.
Tuck, the only team to beat Wharton during round-robin play, emerged from its bracket to face Wharton in the final. Prior to the game, Ben Daverman (WG'08), known to many of the other players simply as "Dad", offered a few words of encouragement. "These guys are garbage, we are way better than them. Did the 1980 US Olympic hockey team lose to Finland in the gold medal finals after beating the Russians in the semis?" The Wharton team responded, beating Tuck 4-3 in a hard-fought, championship-game battle. Inspired by the Slapshot's Hanson brothers, Matt Scattarella (WG'09) led the tournament with 10 penalty minutes and was named to the all-goon team.
Despite many of the players' inability to walk on Sunday morning, it was a great weekend for the team and the Wharton community at large. The McArthur Cup now resides in Philly - soon to be mounted in its proper place above the bar at Pub.
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