PHILADELPHIA—Cole Gargon stepped up for St. Joseph’s Prep in a big way for Sr. Joseph’s Prep Wednesday afternoon. The sophomore scored three of his team’s goals as the Hawks bested Malvern Prep 4-1 in an APAC encounter at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 Arena.
The win lifted St. Joseph’s Prep (5-1, 3-1 in the APAC) into a three-way tie for the top spot in the conference standings but the Hawks have a game in hand over Holy Ghost Prep and La Salle, the teams they are tied with.
The hosts had to play from behind. After a scoreless first frame Gabe Bedwell gave the Friars (2-5, 1-3) the lead 6:50 into the second people when he put in a rebound of Matt Barbacane’s shot.
Gargon tied the game with a power-play goal at the 7:56 mark and put his team ahead for good 86 seconds later when he weaved his way through traffic front of the net and beat Malvern Prep goaltender Riley Doyle.
Gargon completed his hat trick six minutes into the third period before Frank Ely, who missed some time after being helped off the ice with an injury early in the first period finished the scoring with 2:08 left in the game.
Afterwards, Gawk coach David Giacomin credited Gargon and his linemates for their effort.
“Their line played well,” he said. “It was tough being without Frankie Ely for a while because of the injury but once he came back it was nice to be able to get that line back.”
Giacomin noted his team had some ups and downs over the course of the afternoon.
“The first 10 minutes of the game we played really well,” he said. “Then they took it to us a bit and won the board battle and all that stuff and it took us a little while to get back into it.”
Giacomin said the break for an ice cut between the second and third periods helped the Hawks regain their focus.
“Today it was well needed,” he said. The second period was not a pretty period to watch. There were a lot of scrums, there wasn’t much up-and-down skating. We had to get them back to doing what we were supposed to do.”
The Friars were limited to just 15 shots on goal.
“We’ve been stressing moving through the ice, good zone entry, and getting shots on net,” aid Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan. “We weren’t able to get much traffic today.
“Overall, I thought our effort was there for a period-and-a-half and then it tailed off.”
Malvern Prep 0 1 0—1
St. Joseph’s Prep 0 2 2—4
Second-period goals: Gabe Bedwell (MP) from Matt Barbcane and Paton Hoishak, 3:50 (pp); Cole Gargon (SJP) from Frank Ely, 9:04; Gargon (SJP) unassisted, 10:30 (pp)
Third-period goals: Gargon (SJP) from Michael Castelli and Ely, 6:00; Ely (SJP) unassisted, 14:52
Shots: Malvern Prep 15, St. Joseph’s Prep 25; Saves: Riley Doyle (MP) 21, Declan Geary (SJP) 14
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