APAC Founders Cup Playoff Preview

The APAC’s Founders Cup semifinals are set for Wednesday at Ice Line. Second seed Hun School will face third seed St. Joseph’s Prep in the 3:30 opener. Top seed and defending champion Holy Ghost Prep will go against fifth seed Malvern Prep at approximately 5:45.

The Founders Cup championship game is set for next Wednesday, February 25 and will be hosted by the highest-seeded finalist.

Here’s how the teams match up. The statistics listed below are for APAC games only.

Hun School (2)

Coach: N.G. Welsh

Record: 13-12, 4-4 in APAC

Key Players: Jr. Zachary Vallee 8 goals, 2 assists, 10 points; Sr. Luca Jean 3-3-6; Elliot Trottier .917 save %, 2.45 GAA; Blake Echternacht .915 save &, 2.71 GAA

St. Joseph’s Prep (3)

Coach: Charlie Van Kuna

Record: 15-6, 4-4 in APAC

Key Players: Jake Ely 3 goals, 3 assists, 6 points; Jr. Cole Gargon 4-1-5; Sr. Bradan Fisher 1-4-5;. Jr. Declan Geary .908 save &, 2.31 GAA

This season:

12-10 Hun School 2 St. Joseph’s Prep 1

12-29 St. Joseph’s Prep 3 Hun School 2 (Purple Puck final)

1-13 Hun School 4 St. Joseph’s Prep 3

Holy Ghost Prep (1)

Coach: John Ritchie

Record: 16-4, 8-0 in APAC

Key Players: Sr. Lucas Gonalez 4 goals, 6 assists, 10 points; Jr. Chase Logue 9-1-10; Sr. Anthony Valeriote 1-7-8; Jr. Matt Salita .971 save &, 0.67 GAA

Malvern Prep (5)

Coach: Bill Keenan

Record: 5-10-2, 2-6 in APAC

Key Players: Sr. Pax Hoishik 5 goals, 7 assists, 12 points: So. Jake Weingartner 4-7-11; Sr. Ryan Caterino .921 Save %, 2.34 GAA

This season

11-19 Holy Ghost Prep 4 Malvern Prep 1

12-3 Holy Ghost Prep 2 Malvern Prep 0

Past APAC Champions

2025 Holy Ghost Prep 6 La Salle 4

2024 La Salle 7 St. Joseph’s Prep 0

2023 La Salle 7 Holy Ghost Prep 3

2022 Malvern Prep 4 La Salle 1

2021 La Salle and Malvern Prep declared co-champions

2020 La Salle 4 HGP 1

2019 La Salle 6 Holy Ghost Prep 3

Vallee Making a Big Impact at The Hun School

Zachary Vallee has experienced some changes in his life of late. Vallee enrolled at The Hun School as a junior this past fall and is making a big impact for the Raiders on the ice.

In eight APAC games, he’s scored eight goals and added two assists; his 10 points tied him for the conference lead in scoring. His contributions have helped his team to a 13-12 overall record; its best since Hun School joined the APAC for the 2021-22 season.

The Raiders will face St. Joseph’s Prep in a Founders Cup playoff semifinal Wednesday afternoon at Ice Line (3:30 start).

Hun School coach N.G. Welsh has rotated Vallee through the lineup.

“I think he’s adaptable,” Welsh said. We’ve had him on lines with probably six or seven guys this year. We haven’t had him out there with the same two all year.

“He’s very adaptable to whoever he plays with. He picks up off those guys and he works with them well and then I think he’s just been a good fit for the team. He’s got a great work ethic and He wants to win just as bad as anybody else, which are two things we always look for.

Vallee says the formula to this season’s success has revolved around he and his teammates doing the little things well.

“We’re doing the little things that we work in practice,” he said. “Working the little things out makes the team win.”

A native of Pont-Rouge, Quebec, a town of roughly 10,000 located some 25 miles southwest of Quebec City, Vallee learned about Hun School via a hockey showcase.

“I got recruited through a showcase in Montreal,” he said. “I already had some interest in going to a prep school. {Hun School} reached out to me and I just decided to go there.”

Once he arrived on the Hun School campus, Vallee adapted to the English-speaking/American culture with little difficulty.

“It took me about two weeks to really switch up in English and everything,” he said. That was my only concern. Making friends has always been easy for me so it was just language-wise.”

This year’s Hun School roster includes five players from Quebec. Welsh says the school provides support to help them with their transition.

“We’ve got two or three kids every year that come down,” he said, “and it’s a lot on them that first semester. We try to help them out as much as we can that first semester even though we’re not in hockey season to get them set up for success, learn how the school works.”

Welsh points out that Vallee had to adjust to doing his academic work in English.

“He’s got to put extra time into it, just because English is not his first language,” he said, “and its challenging to do homework in your second language.

“And so, time management is important for all of those {players from Quebec}, it takes them a little bit longer to do the work than the standard player here.”

Vallee makes it a point to hit the books whenever time allows.

“When we go to away, games, I usually study on the bus back and forth,” he said. “Trying to find time to study when you go away, after practices. During free blocks, we go to the library and study.”

SHSHL Update 2-16-26

National Division W L T OTW OTL Pts

@North Penn (19-1) 15 0 0 – – – – 60

#Council Rock South (15-3) 12 3 0 – – – – 48

#Central Bucks South (12-4) 11 3 0 – – – 44

#Pennsbury (11-5-1) 9 5 1 – – – – 38

Central Bucks East (6-9-1) 6 8 1 1 – – – 25

Souderton (6-11) 6 9 0 1 1 – – 24

Pennridge (5-10-1) 5 10 0 – 2 – – 22

Neshaminy (2-14) 2 13 0 1 – – – 7

Central Bucks West (0-16) 0 15 0 – – – – 0

American Division W L T OTW OTL PTS

#Plym. Whitemarsh (13-2) 13 2 0 – – 52

#Hatboro-Horsham (14-3) 12 3 0 – 1 49

Springfield (6-10) 6 9 0 1 23

Wissahickon (5-9-1) 5 8 1 2 – 20

Abington (1-14-1) 0 14 1 – 2 4

@ clinched regular-season title

Scoring All League Scheduled Games

National Division GP G A Pts

Shane Gleisner Pb 17 42 21 63

Jake Weiner CRS 15 38 18 56

Samuel Norton NP 17 24 29 53

Chris Silvotti NP 20 23 26 49

Max Ryon Sou. 11 29 16 45

Nolan Shingle 19 23 20 43

Ismael Cabrales NP 18 14 27 41

Ryan Frey C.B. South 16 17 21 38

Shane Hicks Pb 16 16 21 37

Jordan Sarne CRS 15 17 17 34

Landan Bishop Pr 13 20 13 33

American Division GP G A Pts

Vincent Graziani HH 17 32 26 58

Daniel Guller PW 14 17 31 48

Nate Nemchinov HH 15 23 20 43

Grayson Quinn Spr. 16 24 14 38

Cooper Kanze PW 11 17 18 35

Luca Staffieri HH 14 15 16 31

Mack Risnychok Wiss 14 19 11 30

Bill Moffa HH 14 11 16 27

Blake Ambler PW 12 10 17 27

Logan Dicus Wiss 14 12 13 25

North Penn 7 Pennridge 0

While the U.S. men’s hockey team was celebrating its opening win at the Olympic Games, North Penn took the ice Thursday night and continued its winning ways. The Knights took on Pennridge already assured of the SHSHL regular-season title. But they appeared to not let that circumstance distract them from the tasks at hand.

Chris Silvotti and Nolan Shingle scored twice and three other players scored one goal each as North Penn left Hatfield Ice a 7-0 winner.

With their regular-season finale against Council Rock South to come next Wednesday, the Knights stand at 19-1 overall and a perfect 15-0 in divisional play. For the defending Class AA Flyers Cup and state champions, Thursday night was business as usual.

“They knew {they had clinched the regular-season title} going into this game, but it was never brought up before the game,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “They truly look at it one game at a time and that’s the mentality they’ve had all season.”

Silvotti and Tyler Evans gave North Penn a 2-0 first-period lead. Silvotti, Declan Leahy, and Shingle extended the lead in the second stanza and ended the suspense, since Aidan Quigley was working on a shutout at the other end of the ice. The junior finished with 19 saves.

For all the Knights have accomplished this season; they are the highest scoring team in SHSHL National, it is their defensive prowess that is especially noteworthy. In 15 divisional games this season, North Penn has allowed just 20 goals.

“It just comes down to our practices and our mentality going into the games,” Quigley said. “We’re focused and we stay focused, it keeps the team in the game.”

Quigley, a junior, notes that defensive is the top priority for the Knights. “We play defense first,” he said, “then move to offense. Our defense is very good. They also know when to move up and join the offense. I think that leads to a lot of our goals, when our defenseman are up in the play too after making a good defensive play.”

Shingle and Gabriel Dunn added third period goals for the Knights, who launched 54 shots at Pennridge goaltender Andrew Slutsky.

For the Rams (5-10-1, 5-10), who are battling with Central Bucks East and Souderton for the division’s last two playoff spots, it was a difficult evening.

“We were outclassed,” said Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna. “They’re the better team and we need a lot of things to go right. We had chances, and if we’re going to have a chance against this team, we need to finish some of them.

“Obviously, it’s hard to compete with them; they’re the defending state champs. But, if we’re not going to finish, we don’t have much of a chance.”

• The Rams close the regular season next Thursday against Central Bucks East,

North Penn 2 3 2—7

Pennridge 0 0 0—0

First-period goals: Chris Silvotti (NP) from Ismael Cabrales and Gabe Dunn, 3:12; Tyler Evans (NP) from Milo Little and Landon Hostetter, 13:36

Second-period goals: Silvotti (NP) from Ismael Cabrales and Briggs Hostetter, 1:03; Declan Leahy (NP) from Chase Kelly Del Ricci and Evans, 6:56; Nolan Shingle (NP) from Daniel Cabrales and Ismael Cabrales, 12:08

Third-period goals: Shingle (NP) from Silvotti and Ismael Cabrles 1:57; Gabriel Dunn (NP) from Leahy and Daniel Cabrales

Shots: North Penn 54, Pennridge 19; Saves : Aidan Quigley (NP) 19, Andrew Slutsky (Pr) 47

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Plymouth Whitemarsh 7 Hatboro-Horsham 4

Plymouth Whitemarsh scored three goals in two-minute span of the third period and went on to a 7-4 win Wednesday night in a SHSHL American Division matchup at Hatfield Ice.

The win moved the Colonials (13-2 overall and in divisional play {52 points}) back into first place in the division standings heading into the final week of the regular season. The regular-season champion will receive a bye into the division championship game. The Hatters dropped to 12-3 for 49 points in divisional play and 14-3 overall.

The game was tied 4-4 when Daniel Guller put the Colonials in front with 5:26 left in regulation. It was Guller’s third goal of the game. He followed with his fourth with 3:58 remaining and Dan Moloney extended the Plymouth Whitemarsh lead 32 seconds after that.

Guller’s first two goals came in the second period and helped Plymouth Whitemarsh to a 4-1 lead before the Hatters got goals from Nathan Nemchinov and Vincent Graziani to make it a one-goal game before the second period ended.

Nemchinov tied the game 14 seconds into the third period but the Hatters, who had just eight skaters available, would not score again.

“It’s always good to get a win,” said Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Vince Forti, “but it was not our best game. There are still some things we need to work on, but I have confidence in our group.

Hatboro-Horsham coach Shane Smith praised his team’s effort despote being shorthanded.

“The team knew the importance of the {game} and fought extremely hard,” he said. “I am really proud of them.”

In addition to Guller’s four goals, Cooper Kanzee provided the Colonials with four assists. Nemchinov and Graziani each scored twice for the Hatters.

Hatboro-Horsham will conclude its regular season next Wednesday against Abington. Plymouth Whitemarsh finishes against Wissahickon next Thursday.

P-W 2 2 3—7

H-H 1 2 1—4

First-period goals: Carson Woodbridge (PW) from Luke Smith, 2:58; Morgan Hulitt (PW) from Cooper Kanzee, 6:14; Vincent Graziani (HH) from Evan Snow and Luca Staffieri, 7:32

Second-period goal: Daniel Guller (PW) from Kanzee, :23; Guller from Kanzee, 6:54; Nathan Nemchinov (HH). From Snow, 7:40; Graziani (HH) from Aiden North and Snow, 13:55

Third period goals: Guller (PW) from Liam Kelly, 11:34; Guller (PW) unassisted, 13:02; Don Moloney (PW) from Kanzee, 13:34

Malvern Prep 2 La Salle 0

The pieces all fit for Malvern Prep Wednesday afternoon. And once connected, they formed a route to a very big win.

House Young scored a power-play goal midway through the second period and Andrew Starck added an empty-netter in the final minute as the Friars bested La Salle 2-0 in the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference play-in game at Hatfield Ice.

Fifth-seeded Malvern Prep (5-10-2), which had lost eight straight games, will advance to next Wednesday’ APAC semifinals where it will face top-seeded Holy Ghost Prep (5:30 at Ice Line). Fourth seed La Salle (6-13) will now sit until the Class AAA Flyers Cup Tournament begins in approximately three weeks.

Senior defenseman Logan Love said he and his Friar teammates came into Wednesday’s game in need of a lift.

“We’ve been really down in the dumps the past couple games,” he said. “We had a good practice Monday and that really helped going into this game.”

Senior forward Pax Hoishik, who assisted on Starck’s goal, said the key to the win was he and his teammates working hard for a full 51 minutes.

“Especially in the games we lost, we always played on or two periods,” he said, “and obviously, it showed that that’s not enough.

“We came out tonight and everyone was ready before the game which was another thing we needed to work on; we got it done and played a full three.

Young’s goal came off large scrum in front of La Salle goaltender Anthony Foster. Young delivered his shot from the inside edge of the left circle and put the puck in the left side of the net. Foster was hampered by the traffic in front and had little if any chance to deny him.

“A big thing for our team is getting one,’ Hoishik said, “and then hemming them in. Obviously, that’s what we did. We were able to keep them in their zone for a majority of the game.”

At the other end of the ice, Ike Matoney was perfect, making 26 saves in the Friar net. The sophomore has played sparingly this but came up big on this occasion.

“He hasn’t had many games this year,” Hoishik said, “but we wanted to give him a test and he performed the way we were hoping. It was good to see that.”

For La Salle, it was another blow in what has been a disappointing season.

“We were outplayed for the first two periods,” said Explorer head coach Wally Muehlbronner. “We didn’t have a whole lot of jump. It certainly wasn’t the way we’ve been playing of late. We’ve been playing a lot better with a lot more tempo and a lot more consistency throughout the lineup.

“We just didn’t have any sustained pressure, not a lot of great opportunities.”

• The win was Malvern Prep’s first since December 17…Next Wednesday’s other semifinal will match second seed Hun School and third seed St. Joseph’s Prep at 3:30 at Ice Line.

Malvern Prep. 0 1 1—2

La Salle 0 0 0—0

Second-period goal: House Young (MP) from Jake Weingartner, 9:38 (pp)

Third period goal: Andrew Starck (MP) from Pax Hoishik, 16:11

Shots; Malvern Prep 30, La Salle 26; Saves: Ike Matoney (MP) 26, Anthony Foster (L) 28

APAC Playoffs at Hand

The APAC Founders Cup playoffs begin Wednesday afternoon with a play-in game featuring fourth-seeded La Salle hosted fifth-seeded Malvern Prep. Game time is set for 4 p.m. at Hatfield Ice.

Here’s a look at how the Friars and the Explorers got to this point.

Malvern Prep

Coach: Bill Keenan

Record: 4-10-2, 2-6 in the APAC

Key players: Sr. Jake Weingartner 7 goals, 11 assists 18 points; Sr. Pax Hoishik 6-9-15; Sr. Ryan Caterino 2.66 GAA, .912 save %

La Salle

Coach: Wally Muehlbronner

Record: 6-12, 3-5 in APAC

Key players: Fr. Thomas Leonards 11 goals, 2 assists, 13 points: Patrick Lunsford 4-8-12; So. Andrew Frantz, 4-7-11; Jr. Anthony Foster 2.94 GAA, .913 save pct.; So. Danny Trainor 1.59, .920

This season:

11-26 Malvern Prep 2 La Salle 0

1-14 La Salle 3 Malvern Prep 2

Wednesday’s winner will face top-seeded Holy Ghost Prep next Wednesday in one half of a semifinal doubleheader at Ice Line. The other half of that doubleheader will match second-seeded Hub School and third seed Joseph’s Prep.

APAC Update 2-10-26

Won Lost Otw Otl Shw Sol Pts

Holy Ghost Prep (16-4) 8 0 1 0 0 0 23

St. Joseph’s Prep (14-6) 4 4 0 1 1 0 12

Hun School (13-10) 4 4 2 2 0 0 12

La Salle (6-12) 3 5 0 1 0 0 7

Malvern Prep (4-10-2) 2 6 1 0 1 0 6

Scoring APAC Game Only GP G A Pts

Chase Logue HGP 8 9 1 10

Zachary Vallee HS 8 8 2 10

Pax Hoishik MP 8 4 6 10

Lucas Gonalez HGP 8 4 6 10

Jake Weingartner MP 8 3 6 9

Anthony Valeriote GFP 8 1 7 8

William Harmar HGP 8 4 2 6

Jake Ely SJP 8 3 3 6

Luca Jean HS 8 3 3 6

Goaltending Min. 153 Minutes GP Min Shots GA GAA Save %

Matt Salita HGP 6 306 136 4 0.67 .971

Ryan Caterino MP 8 414 241 19 2.34 .921

Anthony Foster L 4 187 124 10 2.73 .919

Blake Echternacht HS 5 226 142 12 2.71 .915

Declan Geary HGP 8 375 184 17 2.31 .908

SHSHL Update 2-10-26

National Division W L T OTW OTL SOW SOL Pts

North Penn (18-1) 14 0 0 – – – – 56

Council Rock South (15-2) 12 2 0 – – – – 48

Central Bucks South (11-4) 10 3 0 – – – 40

Pennsbury (10-5-1) 8 5 1 – – – – 34

Central Bucks East (6-8-1) 6 7 1 1 – – – 25

Pennridge (5-9-1) 5 9 0 – 2 – – 22

Souderton (3-11) 4 9 0 1 1 – – 16

Neshaminy (2-13) 2 12 0 1 – – – 7

Central Bucks West (0-15) 0 14 0 – – – – 0

American Division
W L T OTW OTL SHW SOL PTS

Hatboro-Horsham (14-2) 12 2 0 – 1 – – 49

Plym. Whitemarsh (12-2) 12 2 0 – – – 48

Wissahickon (5-9-1) 5 8 1 2 – – – 20

Springfield (5-10) 5 8 0 1 – – 19

Abington (0-13-1) 0 13 1 – 2 – – 4

Scoring All League Scheduled Games

National Division GP G A Pts

Shane Gleisner Pb 16 40 20 60

Jake Weiner CRS 16 37 17 54

Samuel Norton NP 17 24 29 53

Chris Silvotti NP 19 21 25 46

Nolan Shingle 18 21 20 41

Ismael Cabrales NP 17 14 23 37

Ryan Frey C.B. South 15 16 20 36

Max Ryon Sou. 9 20 15 35

American Division GP G A Pts

Vincent Graziani HH 16 30 25 55

Daniel Guller PW 13 13 31 44

Nate Nemchinov HH 14 21 20 41

Grayson Quinn Sp. 15 21 15 34

Cooper Kanze PW 10 17 14 31

Mack Risnychok Wiss 14 19 11 30

Luca Staffieri HH 13 15 15 30

Bill Moffa HH 14 11 16 27

Blake Ambler PW 12 10 17 27

Logan Dicus Wiss 14 12 13 25