PHILADELPHIA—Malvern Prep took a back-to-basics approach Wednesday evening, and got the result it wanted.
Power-play goals in each of the first-two periods fueled what became a 4-1 win over St. Josephs Prep at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 Rink in a game that was originally slated to be part of the APAC Winter Classic on January 10.
The Friars, who were playing just their second game since the holiday break, improved to 7-5 overall and 3-3 in the APAC. St. Joseph’s Prep, which was playing its first game in 19 days, saw a seven-game winning streak snapped; the Hawks now stand at 11-3 overall and 2-3 in conference play.
The Friars took advantage of their power-play chances. Jonathan Holt scored the game’s first goal with 1:22 left in the opening period when he tipped in a shot from Jeremy Jacobs. The goal came while the Hawks’ Noah Stuhl was in the penalty box serving a tripping minor.
Teague Murray made it 2-0 on a similar play late in the second frame, he tipped Jacobs’ original shot past St. Joseph’s Prep goaltender Jacob Aranda with eight-tenths of a second showing on the clock. while the Hawks’ Patrick Sweeney was in the box.
Holt noted the Friars have had some additional practice time of late and says the extra work has paid off.
“We’ve been working structure-wise a lot in practice,” the senior said. “We’ve been moving the puck well. We’ve been shooting a lot of shots and getting traffic in front of the net. We’ve been grinding a lot.”
With a lighter game schedule since the Christmas break, the Friars have been able to do some fine tuning.
“We’ve been able to develop line chemistry with everybody,” Holt said. “It’s been a good experience.
“And, working on the power play, shots from the point. We struggled a little bit with that early in the season. We’ve been getting after that, which is good.”
St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin felt his team was impacted by its lengthy layoff.
“We shot our self in the foot with our penalties and penalty kills,” he said. “I think our layoff really hurt us today.”
Jacobs extended Malvern Prep’s lead when he scored on a shorthanded breakaway 8:19 into the third period.
Ben Kerson for the Hawks on a power-play effort with 7:26 left in regulation before Jacobs scored his second goal of the game with 51 seconds remaining.
Jacobs has scored four goals and collected six assists for 10 points in six conference games which puts him atop the APAC scoring race. In all competitions, he’s accumulated 15 goals and 14 assists for 29 points.
Jacobs spoke to how the Friars’ chemistry has improved since the early going.
“At the start of the season, we didn’t start too hot,” he said. “We kind of had to change our mindset a little bit. And ever since we started changing our mindset, focusing our energy, the simple stuff, we started striving more. So, it’s been helping us.”
Malvern Prep 1 1 2—4
St. Joseph’s Prep 0 0 1—1
First-period goal: Jonathan Holt (MP) from Jeremy Jacobs and Brady Doyle, 15:38 (pp)
Second-period goal: Teague Murray (MP) from Jacobs and Doyle, 16:59 (pp)
Third-period goals: Jacobs (MP) from Caiden Canale, 8:41; Ben Kersun (SJP) from Thomas Ely, 9:34 (pp); Jacobs (MP) from Doyle, 16:09
Shots: Malvern Prep 33, St. Joseph’s Prep 26; Saves: Matt Crawford (MP) 25, Jacob Aranda (SJP) 29
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