WEST GOSHEN—A high-school hockey game features 51 minutes of playing time. Wednesday’s Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference semifinal between La Salle and St. Joseph’s Prep was decided in a window of roughly two of those minutes.
The Explorers scored three goals in a span of 1 minute 19 seconds at the start of the second period and went on to a 4-1 win over the Hawks at Ice Line.
Evan Golato scored two goals for second-seeded La Salle (8-7-1) which will face top-seeded Malvern Prep next Wednesday, February 23 at Ice Line (8 p.m. start) for the Founders Cup and the APAC championship. Third-seeded St. Joseph’s Prep (8-8-1) will be idle until the Flyers Cup tournament which begins March 7; seedings will be announced on February 27.
After a scoreless first frame, La Salle broke the game open in seemingly the blink of an eye. Golato found the back of the net 1:03 into the middle period. Ryan Desmond made it 2-0 just 18 seconds later before Golato added his second goal at 2:22.
“Our momentum shifted right when our shift got out there,” Golato said. “We saw rebounds laying around all game. We buried opportunities and we kept going.”
After La Salle’s third gal, the Hawks called timeout and made a goaltender change with Rocco Bruno taking over for Ajay White. Bruno pitched a shutout the rest of the way; La Salle’s final goal, off the stick of Max Monzo was scored into an empty net with eight seconds left in the game.
La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner expressed concern about his team’s inability to sustain its momentum after its second-period surge.
“I think we had a really great start to the second period,” he said, “The first eight minutes of the second, I thought we played our game. Other than that, I didn’t think we played a great team game.
St. Joseph Prep’s only goal came from Liam Mooney in the third period.
“They beat us in two-and-a-half minutes,” Giacomin said. “They scored three goals because we didn’t cover anybody, and after that it was up and down. Both teams had chances.”
Will Braun got the win in goal, making 33 saves.
St. Joseph’s Prep 0 0 1—1
La Salle 0 3 1—4
Second-period goals: Evan Golato (L) from Chase Hannon, 1:03; Ryan Desmond from Jackson Lindmar, 1:15; Golato from Keenan Schneider and Max Maddalo, 2:22
Third-period goals: Liam Mooney (SJP) unassisted, :39; Maddalo (L) from Hannon, 16:52
Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 34, La Salle 31
La Salle’s three second-period goals
Video courtesy of Erin Schneider
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