It took longer to get to the finish line than expected. But the wait was worth it
Holy Ghost Prep overcame an early 1-0 deficit to score a 4-1 over St. Joseph’s Prep Wednesday evening and successfully defend its Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference Founders Cup championship.
The game was delayed 23 minutes early in the third period and the Firebirds leading 2-1 due to a hole in the ice that forced the contest to be moved from the B Rink at Grundy Arena, to the A Rink in the front half of the building.
The top-seeded Firebirds (18-4) adapted quickly to their new surroundings and extended their lead with two additional goals.
“It’s amazing,” said senior forward Anthony Valeriote. “This is what we’ve worked for all year. We went undefeated in the APAC and now that we’ve finally won it, it’s exciting, but it’s like a relief. We know we did it, but the bottom line is we’ve still got a Flyers Cup to win.”
The third-seeded Hawks (16-7) struck first, 5:22 into the opening period. Cole Gargon made a move down the right wing that led to Michael Castelli beating Firebird netminder Matt Salita from close range.
But that was all the Hawks could muster offensively.
“They have a good goalie,” said Prep coach Charlie Van Kula. “It’s a matter of making it hard on him.
“We probably played a solid game. it is hard to win championships, harder to beat teams like Ghost.”
The Firebirds picked up pace later in the opening period. Billy Harmar tied the game when he finished a play that started behind the Prep by converting a setup from Valeriote.
Chase Logue made it a 2-1 game 36 seconds later and it stayed that way into the early moments of the third period until, with 13:23 remaining in the third period, Proceedings came to a halt. One of the linesmen discovered a large hole in the ice along the wall near the blue line directly across the ice from the Firebirds’ bench.
A series of conversations followed that at various points included the coaches, Holy Ghost Prep Assistant Athletic Director Gump Whiteside, and APAC Commissioner Steve Mackell. There were also some unsuccessful efforts to patch the hole. After a 15-minute wait, the decision was made to continue the game in the A Rink.
The hosts responded with goals from Mason Thomas and Chase Logue in a span of 2:25.
Senior defenseman Chris Marshall, the Firebirds’ captain, said he and his teammates stayed focused during the stoppage.
“Our guys stayed locked in,” he said. “We knew we couldn’t get unfocused. We were ready to ho. We came out pumping in the third.”
The Hawks had some quality chances after play was resumed but Salita stood tall in goal; he finished with 24 saves.
“I thought we were really rolling certainly in the first two periods,” Van Kula said. “I thought the first few shifts in the third we kept up the pace and we were just kind of a step slower after that. Both teams had to deal with the delay so I don’t want to blame it on that but it did seem like we were a little more flat footed coming out of that.”
• Both teams will move on to the Class AAA Flyers Cup. Holy Ghost Prep, the top seed in the field of seven and defending champion, has a bye into the semifinals and will face either fourth seed Malvern Prep or fifth seed Devon Prep on Thursday, March 12. The Hawks, the second seed, will take on seventh-seeded Salesianum in a quarterfinal game on Tuesday, March 3.
St. Joseph’s Prep 1 0 0—1
Holy Ghost Prep 2 0 2—4
First-period goals: Michael Castelli (SJP) from Ben Judson ands Cole Garson, 5:22; Billy Harmar (HGP) from Anthony Valeriote and Chris Marshall, 10:38 (pp); Chase Logue (HGP) from Lucas Helms, 11:14;
Third-period goals: Mason Thomas (HGP) from Harmar and John Gavaghan, 10:27; Chase Logue (HGP) from Lucas Gonzalez ands Josh Zdunkiewicz 12:52 (pp)
Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 25, Holy Ghost Prep 25 Saves: Declan Geary(HGP) 21, Matt Salita (HGP) 24
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