Holy Ghost Prep 5 St. Joseph’s Prep 1

Through the peaks and valleys of a long season, Holy Ghost Prep has stayed on an even keel. That was evident Wednesday afternoon as the Firebirds closed out their APAC campaign against St. Joseph’s Prep at Grundy Arena.

The hosts took a one-goal lead after 34 minutes before erupting for the three goals in the third period. The resultant 5-1 win gave Holy Ghost Prep a perfect 8-0 APAC record (16-4 overall), the top seed in the upcoming Founders Cup playoffs and presumably the top seed in next month’s Class AAA Flyers Cup tournament, which the Firebirds will enter as defending champions.

St. Joseph’s Prep closed the regular season 14-6 overall and 4-4 in the APAC, sharing second place with Hun School. The Raiders will be seeded second in playoffs on the basis of having beaten the Hawks twice this season.

After two periods, Wednesday’s game was up for grabs. Jackson Foster got things started for the Firebirds, off a scramble in front of the Hawks’ net, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead with 4:58 left in the first period.

Cole Garson tied the game for the Hawks with 7:07 left in the middle period when he collected a feed from Bradan Fisher and tucked the puck inside the right post. Mason Thompson put Holy Ghost Prep in front for good with 3:47 left in the period and Lucas Gonzalez extended the lead 3:30 into the final stanza.

Junior defenseman Anthony Cerne had the primary assist on Gonzalez’s goal. He and his teammates knew what was at stake going into the final period.

“Coach {John Ritchie} said in the locker room that some guys were going to have to step up,” he said. “We went out there and we were like ‘We’ve got to win this game, it’s a big game,” he said.

Chase Logue made it a 4-1 game 3:38 remaining and Nate Romer completed the scoring with 2:19 left.

By that point, the game’s emotional temperature had risen several degrees. The Firebirds’ Jack Gavaghan drew a misconduct penalty in the wake of Romer’s goal and Garson was given a minor plus a misconduct for head contact a few moments later. The Hawks were accessed five penalties in the third period.

St. Joseph’s Prep coach Charlie Van Kula voiced his frustrations.

“We fell apart in every way possible,” he said. “We’re not going win hockey games that way, especially against a team like that. They exploited us.

“We’ve been getting away with this stuff for a long time and still winning games. But {Holy Ghost Prep} played well, they’re a good team.”

Cerne notes that teamwork was at the heart of the Firebirds’ success, on this occasion and throughout the season.

“Everyone came together as a team,” he said. “We put in a lot of work after hours to match up the lines with the other teams.

“We really played as a team. Gonzalez had a great game. Chase had a great game. Everyone found a way to put the puck in the net today.”

  • The Founders Cup semifinals are set for Wednesday, February 18 at Ice Line. Top-seeded Holy Ghost Prep will face the winner of the February 11 play-in between fourth-seeded La Salle and fifth-seed Malvern Prep at 3:30. St. Joseph’s Prep and Hun School will meet in the other semifinal. at 5:45. The final on February 25 will be hosted by the highest seeded finalist.

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 1 0—1

Holy Ghost Prep 1 1 3—5

First-period goal: Jackson Foster (HGP) from Anthony Valeriote and Lucas Gonzalez, 12:02

Second-period goals: Cole Garson (SJP) from Bradan Fisher and Jake Ely, 9;53; Mason Thomas (HGP) from Chris Marshall and  Jack Gavaghan,  13:13

Third-period goals: Gonzalez (HGP) from Anthony Cerone and Valeriote, 3;30;   Chase Logue (HGP) from Valeriote and Foster, 13;22; Nate Romer (HGP) from Marshall, 2:19

Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 25, Holy Ghost Prep 30; Saves: Declan Geary (SJP) 25, Jack Botthof (HGP) 24

Hun School 5 Malvern Prep 2

There were signs an explosion was impending. When it occurred, it was an overwhelming force. The Hun School snapped a 2-2 tie with three goals in a 3 minute, 51 second span of the second period and shut the door afterward.

The result was a 5-2 win over Malvern Prep Tuesday afternoon at Ice Land that had ramifications throughout the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference. The win assured the host Raiders (13-9 overall, 4-4 in the APAC) of facing St. Joseph’s Prep in the Founders Cup semifinals on February 18. The result of Wednesday’s game between St. Joseph’s Prep and Holy Ghost Prep will determine whether the Raiders are seeded second or third.

Malvern Prep (4-11-2, 2-6), which was missing several players due to injury, finishes the APC regular season in fifth place and will travel to fourth-place La Salle next Wednesday, February 11 to play for a slot in the semifinals. Game time will be 4:00 at Hatfield Ice.

It’s been a remarkable turnaround for Hun School, which went 5-17 a year ago.

“I think we had a lot of great things come together this year,” said Hun School coach N.G. Welsh. “We’ve got some great goaltending. We’ve got production all the way down to the third line, and there’s goals and assists across the board from nine forwards and three or four {defensemen,} which is awesome to see.”

Wednesday afternoon’s first period was a shootout. Andrew Starck gave the Friars a 1-0 just 44 seconds after the opening faceoff. Zachary Vallee tied the game at the 7:07 mark.

Cole Scarbinsky gave Malvern Prep the lead once more with a power-play goal when he beat Hun School netminder Blake Echternacht with 2:58 remaining in the opening session. The goal came while the Raiders’ Conor Mulligan was in the box serving a hooking penalty.

Echternacht would not yield again.

Jacob Kelly-LePage tied the game at 2-2 with 1:19 left in the period. Mulligan was out of the by that point and picked up the primary assist.

Anders Van Raalte gave Hun School the lead 4:21 into the second period.  The power-play goal game with the Friars’ Bennett Stanton in the box for tripping.

Vallee took over from there, scoring his second goal of the game 60 seconds later before completing his hat trick 18 seconds shy of the period’s halfway point.

Vallee, a junior who is in his first year at Hun School, says he and his teammates are focused on doing the little things well.

“First on the puck,” he said. “Shooting and going through the net. Just jamming the net. Little things that work.”

Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan noted his team was unable to maintain its good start.

“I thought we came out well,” he said. “We put one in early in the game.

“Being down a couple with injuries kind of flip-flopped the lineup a little bit but we’ve got to play three periods of hockey.

“I thought we played well in the first period we played well in the third period. But, the second period got away from us.”

Malvern Prep 2 0 0—2

Hun School 2 3 0—5

First-period goals: Andrew Starck (MP) from Paxton Hoishik, :44; Zachary Vallee (HS) unassisted, 7:07; Cole Scarbinsky (MP) from Jake Weingartner and James Young, 14:02 (pp); Jacob Kelly-LePage (HS) from Conor Mulligan and Luca Jean, 15:41

Second-period goals: Anders Van Raalte (HS) from Andrew Darst and Jean, 4:21 (pp); Vallee (HS) from Aiden Honan and Blake Echternacht, 5:21; Vallee (HS) from Van Raalte and James Dolan, 8:12

Shots: Malvern Prep 33, Hun School 26; Saves: Ryan Caterino (MP) 16 an Isaac Maloney (MP) 5, Blake Echternacht (HS) 31

APAC Standings 2-3-26

                                                Won    Lost    Otw    Otl       Shw  Shl    Pts

Holy Ghost Prep (15-4)          7          0           1            0        0         0     20

St. Joseph’s Prep (14-5)         4           3          0           1         1        0      12

Hun School (12-9)                   3          4          2            3        0         0       9

La Salle (5-12)                          2          5         0            1        0         0     7

Malvern Prep (4-10-2)            2       5             1             0        1         0     6

Remaining Conference Games

Tuesday: Malvern Prep at Hun School 4:00 at Ice Land

Wednesday: St. Joseph’s Prep at Holy Ghost Prep 4:00 at Grundy

SHSHL Update 2-2-26

National Division                W    L   T  OTW OTL    SOW SOL Pts

North Penn (16-1)              13    0   0   –       –          –            –       52

Council Rock South (14-2) 11     2   0    –        –         –           –     44

Central Bucks South (10-4)    9      3    0      –         –          –     36

Pennsbury (10-4-1)               8     4   1   –    –             –            –   34

Pennridge   (5-8-1)               5     8  –     –       2           –            –      22

Central Bucks East (5-8-1)   5    7   1   1                –            –      21`

Souderton (3-10)                   3    9   0   1    1          –           –        12

Neshaminy (2-11)                  2  10   0    1    –           –            –      7

Central Bucks West (0-14)  0   13   0    –     –           –           –       0                                 

American Division          W    L    T    OTW     OTL   SHW  SOL PTS  

Hatboro-Horsham (13-2)  11    2     0       1         –          –      45

Plym. Whitemarsh (11-1)   11    1     0     –           –         –          44

Wissahickon (5-8)            5   7      0    2          –        –          –       18  

Springfield (4-9)               4    8     0     1      –           –                 15

Abington (0-13)                0    13    0      –         2       –          –       1

Scoring   All League Scheduled Games                        

 National Division                      GP    G     A      Pts

Shane Gleisner   Pb                    15    39   19     58

Jake Weiner CRS                        13     34  17      51

Samuel Norton NP                     15     19  25     44

Chris Silvotti NP                          17     20  20     40

Nolan Shingle                              16     19    14   33

Jordan Sarne   CRS                      13    17   15    32

Ryan Frey     C.B. South              14      13    19   32

Ismael Cabrales   NP                   15     10    22   32

 

American Division         GP      G     A    Pts

  Vincent Graziani HH      15      29   23   52

 Daniel Guller       PW       12    12    29    41

 Nate Nemchinov HH      13     20    20    40

 Bill Moffa   HH                14      11   16    27

Mack Risnychok Wiss    12      18     8     26

Luca Staffieri HH            12      13    13   26

Blake Ambler PW            10     10     16   26

Cooper Kanze   PW         8       13     11   24

Grayson Quinn Sp.         13      16     7    23

Reid Rochestie     HH     14       7     15   22

Wissahickon’s Dicus Has Picked Up a Whistle

When Logan Dicus isn’t on the ice with a stick in his hands he might be found on the ice blowing a whistle. The Wissahickon senior is a USA Hockey referee and spends his Saturday and Sunday mornings officiating youth games.

Dicus started thinking about officiating last summer.

“I didn’t really have much going on so I thought I’d just look into it. A couple of my friends did it so I thought ‘Why not?’ So, I signed up and have been doing the early morning games and slowly making my way up.

I have a lot of fun doing it as well. And it’s a good time.”

As a Level 1 official, Dicus is certified to work games including players as old as age 10. But hockey, like all sports, is dealing with a shortage of officials and it’s theoretically possible he could be assigned at a high level.

USA Hockey’s requirements for new referees include paying an application fee ($55), completing on-line and classroom training sessions, a rules test, and a background check. Those 18 and older (birth year 2008, as Dicus is, or prior) must also complete a SafeSport training protocol.

Dicus says officiating has him seeing the game differently than he does as a player.

“When you’re reffing, you see a different perspective from when you’re playing the game,” he said. “You’re not even paying attention to the score, honestly.

“You’re staring at the puck. You’re staring at the players around the puck. You’re barely paying attention to the game, honestly. You’re just kind of watching in areas. It’s definitely a different perspective than playing the game.”

Dicus has gotten an abundance of support from his more experienced officiating partners.

“All the refs that I have {officiated} with have been very nice,” he said, “very respectful, and that makes it an easier environment to learn in.”

Dicus will head to college next fall but plans to take his striped shirt and whistle with him. He says being on the ice as a referee brings back memories of when he was getting started in the game himself.

“Watching younger kids playing the game and knowing that I was once on that position,” he said. “I didn’t really understand hockey at that point and how much it was going to have to do with my life. And I just get to see my life all over again.”

Pennsbury 4 Pennridge 3

Elite players have a way of taking over a game. Shane Gleisner did just that Thursday night.

The Pennsbury senior delivered three goals, including the game winner, as the Falcons bested Pennridge 4-3 in a SHSHL National matchup at Hatfield Ice.

Gleisner took the ice Thursday night as the National Division’s leading scorer. He now has 34 goals and 16 assists for 50 points in divisional games; 39-19-58 overall, which puts atop him both scoring lists for both goals and points

Being his team’s primary offensive force is a role Gleisner has grown into over the course of his four varsity seasons.

“When I was a freshman, sophomore, and junior, I was working my way up to be the guy,” he said. “It feels good to be relied on. Now that I’m a senior, I’d say I’ve worked out all the mistakes I used to make, so I’m finally ready to be the goal-scoring guy.”

Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley cited Gleisner’s impact.

“He’s had a phenomenal year so far,” Daley said. He was a big role player the year we won the Flyers Cup (2023) and we could tell the best was yet to come with him.

“He just filled into that body, got big, got fast, with one of the hardest shots you’ll see in this league.”

Gleisner’s talents allow the Falcon to employ the up-tempo style Daley prefers.

“That’s kind of been what we’ve tried to have as our calling card the last few years,” Daley said. “This year, we’ve finally got kind of the right pieces again to have that explosive offense, stretch the ice a little bit, get those odd-man rushes.”

Pennsbury (10-4-1, 8-4-1 in the division) had to play from behind early on. The Rams (5-8-1, 5-8), who had just 10 skaters dressed, took a 1-0 lead on Landon Bishop’s goal 3:32 into the opening period. Gleisner tied the game 2:04 into the second frame and after Shane Hicks put the Falcons in front at 9:18 they never trailed again.

Gleisner extended his team’s lead with 5:03 remaining in the period but Pennridge, which had just 10 skaters dressed, refused to go away.

James Rush made it a one-goal game 18 seconds into the final period but Gleisner responded when he finished a solo breakaway 25 seconds later. Even then the Rams refused to yield. Dinsmore made it a 4-3 game with 13:36 still remaining and Pennsbury goaltender Brendan Milliken made some big saves down the stretch to keep his team in front.

“We lost to the best goal scorer in the league this year,” said Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna. “And that’s the way it goes sometimes. He did a great job, he finished the chances he had to. We kept fighting back and came up a little bit short tonight.”

Pennsbury 0 3 1—4

Pennridge 1 0 2—3

First-period goal: Landon Bishop (Pr) from Justin Dinsmore, 3:32

Second-period goals: Shane Gleisner (Pb) from Francis DeLucia,  2:04; Shane Hicks (Pb) from Jake Sarver, 9:18; Gleisner (Pb) from  Connor Gray, 11:57

Third-period goals: James Rush (Pr) from  Ryan Burke, 2:42; Gleisner (Pb) unassisted, 3:07; Dinsmore (Pr) from Rush, 3:24

Shots: Pennsbury 25, Pennridge 27: Saves: Brendan Milliken(Pb) 24, Andrew Slutsky (Pr) 21

St. Joseph’s Prep 3 La Salle 2

St. Joseph’s Prep used two third-period goals to post a 3-2 win over La Salle Wednesday evening in an APAC game at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 Rink.

The win lifted the hosts to 14-5 on the season and 4-3 in conference.

Two of the Hawks’ three goals came while they were shorthanded.

Cole Gargon scored what proved to be the winning goal with 6:16 remaining in the third period. It came in the aftermath of a skirmish that sent five players to the penalty box and left St. Joseph’s Prep shorthanded.

Matthew Jones opened the scoring when he gave the Explorers (5-12, 2-6) a 1-0 lead 8:22 into the second period. Adam Charaffi tied the game for the Hawks with 6:38 remaining in the period while his teammate Michael Castelli was in the box serving a hooking penalty.

James Fratantuono put the Hawks in front for the first time 9:25 into the third period. Gargon extended his team’s lead when he beat La Salle goaltender Dylan Brown 1 minute 19 seconds later.

William Paulka scored for La Salle with 4:19 left in regulation to complete the scoring.

Declan Geary made 23 saves in goal in his winning effort.

“We relied heavily on Declan to make some big saves for us,” said St. Joseph’s Prep coach Charlie Van Kula. “”Hats off to La Salle, who battled hard all game.

“We have not been doing ourselves many favors lately with how we have shown up for games and its apparent. That’s on me. The road only gets harder from here with ther playoffs around the corner.”

St. Joseph’s Prep will conclude its conference schedule next Wednesday at Holy Ghost Prep in a game that was originally scheduled for this past Monday. La Salle, which has two non-conference games remaining on its schedule, will play in the APAC play-in game as either the fourth or fifth seed on a date to be determined.

 La Salle 0 1 1

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 1 2

Second-period goal: Matthew Jones (L) from Roman Tkach and Matthew Martin, 8:22; Adam Charrafi (SJP) from Frank Ely and Jake Ely, 10:22 (sh)

Third-period goals: James Fratantuono (SJP) from Noah Stuhl, 9:25; Cole Gargon (SJP) from Bradan Fisher, 10:44 (sh); William Podulka (L) from Owen Reinhart and Jones, 12:41;

Shots: La Salle 25, St. Joeph’s Prep 37; Saves: Dylan Brown (L) 34, Declan Geary (SJP) 23