Wyoming Seminary 8 Hun School 2

Mathis Pellerin delivered a hat trick as Wyoming Seminary downed the host Raiders 8-2 Friday afternoon at Ice Land.

Elian Estulin and Brendan Marino scored first-period goals for Hun School (8-10) which didn’t score again after taking the 2-0 lead.

The Raiders will host La Salle in an APAC game on Wednesday.

Wyoming Seminary 2 3 2—8

Hun School 2 0 0—2

First-period goals: Elian Estulin (HS) from Justin Laplante, 3:04; Brendan Marino (HS) from Estulin and Vincent Gregoire, 4:15; Yoan Gagnon (WS) from Mathis Pelletin, 7:00; Pellerin (YS) from Gagnon and Alexis Billequey, 10:22

Second-period goals: Xavier Beaulac (YS) unassisted, 13:19; Billequey (YS) from Vitello and Gagnon, 13:57; Oliver Van Der Groen from Ford Boock, 15:10

Third-period goals: Pelletin (YS) from Billequey, 1:08; Matyas Tichy from Daniel Svozil, 3:58; Pellerin (WS) unassisted, 16:33.

Gump Whiteside Announces Retirement

Gump Whiteside has announced his retirement as the hockey coach at Holy Ghost Prep. Whiteside will step down at the end of the 2023 season, his 15th as the Firebirds’ head coach.

In that span, Whiteside’s teams have won two Flyers Cup Class AAA titles (in 2015 and ’17), the 2015 Pennsylvania Class AAA state championship, and five National Scholastic Invitational tournament titles.

In 2020, Whiteside was honored by USA Hockey with the 2020 Bob O’Connor Award for Excellence in Coaching Education. The award is given each year to a member of the volunteer coaching staff of USA Hockey’s coaching education program.

Whiteside previously coached at Germantown Academy. He will remain at Holy Ghost Prep as the assistant director of athletics and assistant director for the Holt Center and facilities.

APAC Standings as of 2-8-23

                                              Won  Lost  OTW  OTL Pts  GF  GA

La Salle (10-8-2)                     5       2        0       0      15   27  18 

Holy Ghost Prep  (15-5)        4      1        1        1      15  34  27

St. Joseph’s Prep (14-5-2)    3      4        1      0         11  24  28

Hun School (9-12)              3       5        0      0        9     24  30

Malvern Prep (8-6)                2       5        0      1     4     24   25

Game Results

Wednesday, February 8

Hun School 2, Malvern Prep 1

La Salle 4 Council Rick South 0

Holy Ghost Prep 7 Pennsbury 5

Holy Ghost Prep 3 Malvern Prep 2 OT

BRISTOL—There wasn’t much to choose between Holy Ghost Prep and Malvern Prep Wednesday afternoon. The regulation 51 minutes wasn’t enough to decide things. It took Brady Baehser’s goal 2:03 into overtime to give the host Firebirds a 3-2 win in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference game at Gundy Arena.

The win lifted Holy Ghost Prep to 13-5 overall and 4-1-1-1 in the APAC. Malvern Prep dropped to 6-5 overall and 1-4-0-1 in conference.

Baehser said the Friars controlled the flow of the game for most of the afternoon.

“It looked like they were trying to slow down our speed and eliminate chances,” he said. ”When we did get chances, their goalie had a really good game, but we started to figure it out towards the end and got the win.”

Senior forward Zach Pers said the Firebirds’ experience (there are 10 seniors on the roster) made an impact in the late going.

“Going down the stretch in a game like that shows how deep our team is,” he said. “We got a couple fortunate bounces, guys looked like they were slipping on banana peels out there. But other than that, I think we have a good group here that knows what they’re doing and is up to any task.”

It could be argued the Friars deserved a better fate. They never trailed until Baehser scored his game-winning goal. Their goaltender, sophomore Matt Crawford, was stellar between the pipes, making 36 saves.

“Matt hasn’t had much time in the net this year,” said Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan. “It was his second game. We played him against Hun last week and he looked good and we wanted to give him a shot against Ghost. 

“He looked good. He stood on his hand, he kept control of the puck, and have us an opportunity to win the game.”

The Friars took a 1-0 lead on Jeremy Jacobs’ shorthanded goal with 5:16 left in the first period. The goal came while his teammate Colin Inskeep was serving an interference penalty.

Pers tied the game for Holy Ghost Prep with 2:16 left in the period. It was the only regulation goal scored with both teams at full strength.

Malvern Prep got another power-play chance early in the second period when the Firebirds’ Patrick Slook was sent to the penalty box for delay of game when he was judged to have purposely knocked his own net off its moorings. Jack Sharer scored the go-ahead goal for the Friars 3:52 into the period.

Kieran Mulholland tied the game for the Firebirds with 3:37 left in the second session.

The third period was scoreless, largely in part to Crawford’s efforts on goal. He stopped 14 shots in the final session.

The Firebirds began the overtime on a power play after the Friars’ Jimmy Jacobs was boxed for an obvious holding infraction with 1:41 left in regulation.

The winning goal was set up by Mulholland’s dash up the center of the ice. Crawford stopped his shot but Baehser put in the rebound for the win.

Firebird senior Ciaran Chambers credited his teammates for their patience.

“It was extremely important to wait for our time,” he said. “We knew as a unit, going into this game, that we are the better team. We knew that going in. We wanted to go out there and wait for our time because we knew it was going to come.”

Holy Ghost Prep’s Ciaran Chambers (in white) battles with Malvern Prep’s Jack Sharer in front of Malvern Prep goaltender Matt Crawford during Wednesday’s game. (Photo by Robert Barnes)

Malvern Prep  1 1 0 0—2

Holy Ghost Prep 1 1 0 1—3

First-period goals: Jeremy Jacobs (MP) from Jimmy Jacobs, 11:44 (sh); Zach Pers (HGP) from Ronnie Selzer and Kieran Mulholland, 14:49

Second-period goals: Jack Sharer (MP) from Jimmy Jacobs and Jeremy Jacobs, 3:52 (pp); Mulholland (HGP) from Brady Baehser and Landon Stout, 13:23 (pp)

Overtime goal: Baehser (HGP) from Mulholland, 2:03

Shots: Malvern Prep 22, Holy Ghost Prep 39; Saves: Matt Crawford (MP) 36, Colin Mudrick (HGP) 20

CLICK HERE for more information about Holy Ghost Prep

CLICK HERE for more information about Malvern Prep

St. Joseph’s Prep 4 St. Augustine Prep 3

Jeffrey Hammond scored two goals, including the game winner with 2:08 left in the third period proved to be the game winner as St. Joseph’s Prep downed St. Augustine Prep on Monday at Holly dell Ice Arena.
John Lynch and Patrick Sweeney also scored for St. Joseph’s Prep (14-3-2).

Kai Ackerman scored twice for the Hermits.

The Hawks built a 3-0 lead on first-period goals from Lynch, Sweeney, and Hammond.

Ackerman scored with 2:21 left in the middle period to get St. Augustine Prep on the scoreboard, then added his second goal with 11:55 left in the third period.

Hammond’s second goal have his team a two-goal advantage before Enzo Fanelli scored for the Hermits to make it a one-goal game with 1:48 left in the final period. got the win in goal, making 32 saves.

Ajay White earned the win in goal with 32 saves.

St. Joseph’s Prep 3 0 1—4
St. Augustine Prep 0 1 2—3

First-period goals: John Lynch (SJP) from Joe Samango, 6:45; Patrick  Seeeney (SJP) from Dante Passio and Samango, 12:28; Jeffrey Hammond (SJP) from Eric Seo and Lynch, 12:49

Second-period goal: Kai Ackerman (SAP) from Enzo Fanelli and Dale Curtis,14:39

Third-period goals: Ackerman (SAP) from Curtis and Fanelli, 5:05; Hammond (SJP) from Tristan Winata and Matthew Giuliani, 14:52; Fanelli (SAP)) from Ty Simonet and Robert Romarino, 15:12.
Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 18, St. Augustine Prep 35

Samango Showing the Way for St. Joseph’s Prep

By Rick Woelfel

Friday night was a big night for Joe Samango. A very big night.

The senior scored all three of his team’s goals as St. Joseph’s Prep downed archrival La Salle 3-1 in an APAC game at the Skatium. The loss gave the Hawks a measure of revenge for a 5-1 setback at the hands of the Explorers nine days earlier at the APAC Outdoor Classic.

It was Samango’s second hat trick of the week. He scored five goals and assisted on another in an 8-4 win over Holy Ghost Prep last Monday.

Samanago says he and his teammates were especially motivated heading into the rematch with La Salle.

“Absolutely,” he said. “I don’t think we were prepared going into that (first meeting with La Salle) but we knew we weren’t going to let that happen again, so we all kind of came together, talked about it, decided we were going to play hard, and give it our best shot.”

There was more to the evening than the final result. Friday was also Pink the Rink night at the Skatium with the focus on collecting funds to benefit cancer victims and their families. Samango, a four-year varsity player, says the entire student body gets behind the effort.

“It does get promoted around school,” he said. “Everybody wants to chip in and help raise money. It’s always highly anticipated, everyone is excited to play, to wear the pink jerseys. It’s a great time.

Joe Samango #20 in pink in action in the Pink the Rink game on 1-20-23

(Video courtesy of Jost Winata)

“We always get a good crowd out there and get to raise some money and its always a fun game to play in.”

St. Joseph’s Prep starts this week with an overall record of 13-3-2 (2-3-1 in the APAC). Samango says the Hawks are a close-knit group off the ice.

“It’s just practice, texting each other, hanging out after school all that stuff,” he said. “Seeing each other at school, I think that’s the great thing about high-school hockey. You get to see all your teammates in school and you go to practice it’s a great bonding experience.

Like many of his peers, Samango, a resident of Haverford Township, found his freshman year at St. Joseph’s Prep was, in his words, “A huge adjustment.

“I was used to not traveling as much and that year,” he said. “I also made the jump to AAA hockey (Samango plays club hockey for the Little Flyers). That was big. I went from practicing twice a week to five times a week. playing games on weekends, traveling.

“And the work freshmen year at the Prep really hard. It’s a huge adjustment, but once you get used to it. Once you learn to manage your time, you get more used to it and it becomes second nature almost. You feel like you learn better when you’re doing all the work and it’s a really great process.”

That process includes having free periods that are built into the school day.

 “That gives you a good opportunity to get some of your work done in school,” Samango said. “But also, whenever I get home, I plan out what I have to do and what comes first and really just manage it that way. Getting the big things out of the way first and just going from there.”

Samango credits the Prep’s faculty for their support of the students.

“A lot of the faculty has been there for a very long time,” he said. They push know but they know when to lay off a little bit. They want to bring the best out of you.”

St. Joseph’s Prep 3 La Salle 1

Joey Samango delivered a hat trick to lead St. Joseph’s Prep to a 3-1 win over La Salle Friday night in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference game at the Skatium.

The win lifted the Hawks to 13-3-2 overall and 2-3-1 in APAC play. It also avenged a 5-1 loss to the Explorers at the APAC Outdoor Classic last Wednesday. La Salle dropped to 7-8-2 overall and 4-2 in conference play.

Both teams were missing several key players who were away on club duty.
Samango’s first goal was a shorthanded effort that came with 30 seconds left in the opening period while his teammate Dante Passio was serving a sentence for roughing.

Samango made it a 2-0 game 8:34 into the middle period.

James Carpenter scored for La Salle 3:01 into the third period to make it a one-goal game before Samango responded at the 8:35 mark.

The game included 17 penalties, including a skirmish at the final buzzer that saw five players penalized.

 La Salle 0 0 1—1

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 1 1—3

First-period goal: Joey Samango (SJP) from Luke Schienholtz, 16:30 (sh)

Second-period goal: Samango (SJP) unassisted, 8:26;

Third-period goals: James Carpenter (L) from Dean Carvalho, 3:01; Samango (SJP) unassisted, 8:35

Shots: La Salle 27, St. Joseph’s Prep 21; Saves: Jake Rossi (L) 18. Rocco Bruno (SJP) 26

For more information about La Salle College High School CLICK HERE

For more information about St. Joseph’s Prep CLICK HERE

Hun School 4 Malvern Prep 2

Elian Estulin’s goal midway through the third period proved to be the game winner as Hun School bested Malvern Prep 4-2 in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference game Wednesday afternoon at Ice Line.

Scott Richmond, Ryan Levesque, and Justin LaPlante also scored goals for the Raiders, who improved to 5-8 overall
 and moved into third place in the APAC standings with a 2-3 conference mark. LaPlante and Brendan Marino contributed two assists each.

Julian Arsensult got the win in goal, making 51 saves in the process.

Jimmy and Jeremy Jacobs scored goals for the Friars (7-4, 1-4).

Jimmy Jacobs gave Malvern Prep a 1-0 lead 10:22 into the second period. Richmond tied the game for the Raiders with a power-play goal at the 13:32 mark before Levesque put Hun School in front with 2:03 left in the middle period.

Jeremy Jacobs tied the game for the hosts 6:11 into the final period but Estulin’s effort with 8:27 left in the game proved decisive.

Hun School 0 2 2—4

Malvern Prep 0 1 1—2

Second-period goals: Jimmy Jacobs (MP) from Gabe Bedwell and Aidan Kelly, 10:22; Scott Richmond (HS) from Justin LaPlante and Brendan Marino, 13:32 (pp); Ryan Levesque (HS) from LaPlante and Marino, 14:57

Third-period goals:  Jeremy Jacobs (MP) from Jack Sharer and Jimmy Jacobs, 6:11; Elian Estulin (HS) unassisted, 8:33; LaPlante (HS) from LeVesque, 16:06 (en)

Shots: Hun School 30, Malvern Prep 53; Saves: Julian Arsenault (HS) 51, Matt Crawford (MP) 26

La Salle 11 Haverford School 0

 Dean Carvalho, Julian Tarsi, and Michael Zarzycki scored two goals each as the Explorers rolled over the Fords on Wednesday afternoon at Hatfield Ice.

Max Monzo, Bill Gregorio, Ryan Wiley, Luke Murphy, and Grant LeGrecca also scored goals for La Salle.

Dante Defruscio picked up the shutout in goal as La Salle improved to 7-7-2 on the season.