WEST GOSHEN— A lot of people stepped up for Malvern Prep Monday afternoon. Jack Constabile scored two goals and five other players scored one goal each as the Friars downed St. Joseph’s Prep 7-0 in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference game at Ice Line.
The win gave Malvern Prep the APAC regular season title and essentially assured the Friars (10-1 overall, 5-1-2-0 in conference) of the top seed for the Class AAA Flyers Cup, which begins April 5.
The Hawks, who were missing several players for an assortment of reasons (they dressed just 16 players) dropped 3-5 overall and 1-5 in conference.
As has been the case for Malvern Prep all season long everyone helped out. “We’re sticking to our basics,” Constabile said. “Everyone is putting in a part, they all have a role. Everyone is doing their job.
“We’re moving pucks fast, getting second opportunities in front of the net. I think that’s been a big part of our success this year.
The first period was contested almost exclusively on Malvern Prep’s offensive side of the red line, but the Friars couldn’t solve Andrew Custer in the St. Joseph’s Prep net; he stopped 12 shots in the period and went on to make 42 saves in the game. His teammates did good work in front of him early on to deprive their opponents of quality chances.
“Our first period, we didn’t play the game we wanted to,” Constabile said. “We weren’t getting guys in front, second opportunities. It was not our typical game but in the second period we started to play our game.”
The Friars certainly did. Matt Harris beat Custer with a shot from between the faceoff dots at the 2:13 mark for the day’s first goal before he and his teammates broke the game open with a three-goal spurt late in the period.
Quinn Dougherty finished off an end-to-end rush up the right wing before beating Custer with a backhander at 11:34. Constabile made it 3-0 42 seconds later when he finished off a game of tic tac toe with Harris and Jimmy Kirk. When Hayden Campbell found the back of the net at the 14:33 mark, it was Malvern Prep’s third goal in a span of 2:59.
Jeremy Jacobs, Chris Blango, and Constabile all scored goals in the third period.
Senior forward Ryan Sambuco finished the afternoon with two assists. He noted his team thrived on a back-to-basics approach, in part because of its depth.
“We have big depths going into the games,” he said. “We can get consistent from our first through our fourth line. It’s huge going into it and it makes it easier for us to kept it simple and just roll the lines and keep moving forward throughout the game.”
Ice Chips— Anthony Puerto made 15 saves in the Malvern Prep net before being relieved by Riley McCarry with 5:11 left in the game. McCarry made four saves of his own and preserved the shutout … The Friars were listed first in the Class AAA Flyers Cup rankings that were released Monday, while the Hawks were ranked fourth. No further rankings will be published prior to the tournament field being announced on Sunday, March 28. The APAC playoffs will not affect the Flyers Cup seedings.
St. Joseph’s Prep 0 0 0—0
Malvern Prep 0 4 3—7
Second-period goals: Matt Harris (MP) from Pierre Larocque and Jack Constabile, 2:13; Quinn Dougherty (M) unassisted, 11:34; Constabile (MP) from Kirk and Harris, 12:16; Hayden Campbell (MP) from Matt Donatucci and Chris Blango, 14:33
Third-period goals: Jeremy Jacobs (MP) from Jack Sharer, :58 (pp); Blango (MP) unassisted, 8:25 (pp): Constabile (MP) from Blango, 14:27
Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 19, Malvern Prep 49; Saves: Andrew Custer (SJP) 42, Anthony Perti (MP) 15 and Riley McCarry (MP 4
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