3 APAC Alums to Skate for U.S. at World Juniors

Three players with ties to Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference institutions will be part of the Team USA roster for the 47^th IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Championships which will kick off the day after Christmas.

Forward Tyler Boucher, a native of Haddonfield, New Jersey, played at St. Joseph’s Prep. Kenny Connors, from Glen Mills, PA skated for Malvern Prep while Sam Lipkin, from Philadelphia, competed for La Salle.

All are forwards.

Boucher is currently playing for the Ottawa 67’s after playing one season at Boston University. He also spent two seasons in USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program His NHL draft rights are held by the Ottawa Senators, who made him their number-one draft pick (10^th overall in 2021).

Connors is in his first season at Massachusetts after playing two years of junior hockey with Dubuque in the NAHL. His NHL rights are held by the Los Angeles Kings, who selected him in the fourth round of the 2022 draft.

Lipkin is in his first season with Quinnipiac after spending two seasons with the Chicago Steel in the USHL. The Arizona Coyotes made him their seventh-round draft choice in the 2021 NHL draft.

The Junior World tournament is set for its customary holiday window, from December 26 through January 5 in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Moncton, New Brunswick. Games will be televised on the NHL Network.

Holy Ghost Prep 6 Hun School 4

BRISTOL—Experience paid off for Holy Ghost Prep Friday afternoon. Midway through the third period, the Firebirds found itself backed into a corner, down by a goal and facing a two-man disadvantage for a full two minutes.

But they weathered the storm, killing off the twin penalties before goals from Kieran Mulholland and Shaun Moore propelled them to a 6-4 win over The Hun School at Grundy Arena.

The win lifted the Firebirds into first place in the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference with a 3-0-0-1 conference mark (8-2 overall). The Raiders dropped to 4-6 overall (1-3 in conference).

The Firebirds controlled play for most of the afternoon but after two periods had little to show for it; they held a 26-8 advantage in shots but thanks to Stephen Chen’s work in the Hun School net the teams were deadlocked at 2-2.

“The mindset was just overcoming adversity,” Moore said. “It was a tie game (but we thought we should have been up early in the game. We thought we needed to pick it up big time going into the third period.”

Brandon Barger gave the hosts the lead with a power-play goal 1:51 into the final session but Ryan Levesque answered for Hun School just 57 seconds later.

The key point in the period and the game came with 8:56 remaining in regulation and Hun School holding a 4-3 lead. In an instant, the Firebirds found themselves two men short. Barger was called for roughing while at the same time Patrick Slook was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, giving the Raiders an extended five-on-three power play.

But that disappeared when Scott Richmond was called for tripping with 7:27 left in regulation and the Firebirds were able to weather the remainder of the sequence. Twenty-two seconds after the twin penalties expired, Mulholland scored the tying goal. Moore delivered the game winner with 3:24 remaining. Afterward, he credited his teammates for how they dealt with adversity.

“That’s huge,” Moore said. That’s getting our guys ready for that big moment.”

Hun School coach Ian McNally viewed the sequence as the key to the game.

“We had a five-on-three for a minute and a half,” he said, “and all of a sudden, when we take a penalty and we’re shorthanded, all the guys you want out there are tired. It was pretty tough to make it through the last 10 minutes.”

The Raiders were without forwards Elain Estulin and Brendan Marino, forcing several players to play out of position.

“Unfortunately guys were in positions that they don’t normally find themselves,” McNally said. “(Holy Ghost Prep) moved the puck around very well, they find the open guy, and that definitely hurt us. We could have used a coupled more legs.”

Holy Ghost Prep’s John Seravalli assisted on three of his team’s goals, including the game winner. He noted his teammates’ efforts to solve Chen eventually paid off with the four third-period goals.

“We had to get pucks low,” he said. “Try to test him, go side to side. And luckily, we got a quick goal from (Barger). It was difficult, a little bit, but we got to him.”

Ice Chips—Chen still made 32 saves; the Firebirds enjoyed a 38-13 shot advantage. Seravalli’s father John filled in for Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside who missed the game due to illness.

Hun School 1 1 2—4

Holy Ghost Prep 1 1 4—6

First-period goals: Logan Stoudt (HGP) from Brady Baehser, 9:19 (sh); Scott Richmond (HS) from Vincent Gregoire and Ryan Levesque, 14:07 (pp)

Second-period goals: Shaun Moore (HGP) from John Seravalli and Stout, :47 (pp); Josh Sosner (HS) from Levesque, 2:04

Third-period goals: Brandon Barger (HGP) from Patrick Slook, 1:51 (pp); Levesque (HS) from Justin Laplante and Mark Gall, 2:48; Levesque (HS) from Laplante and Richmond, 5:32 (pp); Kieran Mulholland (HGP) from Stout and Seravalli, 10:26 (pp); Moore (HGP) from Seravalli and Baehser, 13:36 (pp); Slook (HGP) unassisted, 16:02 (en)

Shots: Hun School 13, Holy Ghost Prep 38; Saves: Stephen Chen (HS) 32, Colin Mudrick (HGP) 9

For more about The Hun School CLICK HERE

For More about Holy Ghost Prep CLICK HERE

St. Joseph’s Prep 7 Father Judge 4

Geoffrey Hammond scored three goals and assisted on another as St. Joseph’s Prep down Father Judge 7-4 Wednesday night in a non-league game at Flyers Skate Zone Northeast. Joey Samango added two goals and two assists as the Hawks improved to 7-2-1 on the season.
John Lynch and Matt Guiliani also scored goals.

La Salle 3 Hun School 1

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—There wasn’t a lot of artistry on display when Hun School and La Salle took the ice Wednesday afternoon. Instead, the Raiders and the Explorers engaged, in a gritty, grind-it-out encounter before La Salle emerged with a 3-1 win at Hatfield Ice Arena.

The win extended the Explorers’ unbeaten streak to four games and lifted them to 4-3-1 overall (3-1 in the APAC).

The Raiders, who were missing several players due to illness, dropped to 4-4 overall and 1-2 in conference.

“It wasn’t a pretty game for either side,” said La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner. “We were just happy to get through it on top.”

Three of the game’s four goals came in the first period. Justin Laplante gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead at the 2:51 mark; Ryan Desmond answered for the Explorers at 10:19. Dean Carvalho put his team in front for good when he deposited a rebound of Cam Ross’s shot behind Raider goaltender Julian Arsenault just before the period-ending buzzer.

For most of the rest of the last two periods the teams battled failed to find the net. Muelbronner juggled his lineup in a bid to generate more offense.

“We were mixing things around quite a bit,” he said, “trying different guys in different spots. Nothing seemed to really click.”

Hun School coach Ian McNally had to do some juggling of his own, albeit for different reasons.

“Unfortunately we had four guys out,” he said. “That’s not an excuse for why we lost but it just created enough of a disturbance in lines and power plays and everything.

“We did have to come up with a different game plan. The goal was to be within five minutes with a chance to win because some of the guys who weren’t able to play were the guys who score goals for us. We knew we wouldn’t be scoring five goals, but we knew if there was five minutes left and we were within one or up one or tied, that was the goal.”

Hun School received a power-play chance with 5:45 left in regulation when La Salle’s Chase Hannon was booked for a hooking in fraction but Explorer goaltender Aries Caranagi stood tall, he went on to finish the game with 20 saves. His best effort with just under eight minutes left in regulation when he turn aside a blast from the Raiders’ Scott Richmond.

“When we make mistakes, we know he has our backs,: Desmond said. “To build us back up. And save us when we need him.”

It was wasn’t a stylish performance, but the Explorers got the result they wanted.

“We pulled it together toward the end and came out with the victory,” Desmond said. “That’s all that matters.”

Ice Chips—Julian Arsenault made 34 saves in the Hun School net. The Raiders will face Holy Ghost Prep on Friday before pausing for the holidays while La Salle will travel to the Mount St. Charles tournament in Rhode Island after Christmas. It marks the first time the tournament will be held in three years because of Covid.

Hun School 1 0 0—1

La Salle 2 0 1—3

First period goals: Justin Laplante (HS) unassisted, 2:51; Ryan Desmomd (L) from Chase Hannon, 10:19; Dean Carvalho (L) from Cam Ross and James Carpenter 17:00

Third-period goal: Hannon (L) from Desmond and Evan Golato, 15:29

Shots: Hun School 21, La Salle 37; Saves: Julian Arsenault (HS) 34, Aries Carangi (L) 20

La Salle 7 Malvern Prep 2

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—A hockey game encompasses three periods. But Monday’s APAC game between host La Salle and Malvern Prep was settled seemingly in the blink of an eye.

The Explorers built a three-goal lead in just over five minutes and rolled on to a 7-2 win over the Friars at Hatfield Ice. The win squared La Salle’s overall record at 3-3-1 and (2-1 in the APAC)).

It didn’t take long for the offensive surge to get started. Ryan Warner found the back of the net just 49 seconds after the opening faceoff and the Explorers were off and running.

Chase Hannon and Dean Carvalho followed with goals in quick succession and just 5:03 into the game La Salle had a 3-0 lead.

Warner spoke to the significance of his team’s fast start. “That was really important for us,” the senior said. “We kind of built our momentum off that. The team was really buzzing. We were getting pucks in deep, working hard, and we really built off that.”

Following Carvalho’s goal, Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan made a goaltender switch, lifting starter Brandon Novabilsky for Matt Crawford.

Caiden Canale got the Friars on the scoreboard with seven minutes left in the opening session but Hannon answered back for La Salle with 3:31 left and for most of the rest of the game the Friars (5-2, 1-2 in conference) seemingly were skating uphill.

“The last time we played La Salle (a 4-3 Explorer win on Thanksgiving Eve) they jumped on us early,” Friar coach Bill Kenan pointed out. “Today, they jumped on us early. It’s hard to battle back when you’re down 3-0 in the first five minutes.

“We had a good second period, we outshot them, but it’s really hard to get those guys’ mentality back once you go down.”

Malvern Prep’s Jeremy Jacobs and La Salle’s Charlie Kennedy traded goals in the second frame before Carvalho and James Carpenter added goals for La Salle in the third.

Jake Rossi got the win in goal. The sophomore made 34 saves despite leaving the game for a four-minute stretch in the second period because of an equipment issue.

The Explorers are playing their best hockey of the season of late; over the course of their last three starts they’ve compiled a 2-0-1 record while scoring 15 goals.

“We’ve been playing hard,” Warner said. “The team’s been finding our way, and how to work together. I think we’ve really been doing good.”

La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner spoke to his team’s depth and balance. “If we keep the shifts short, we’re a tough team to play against,” he said. “There’s four lines that can move.

“We did I think a really good job of that in the first period.”

For Keenan, Monday’s game was another step his team’s maturation. “The past two years we’ve graduated a lot of seniors,” he said. “We have six freshmen on this team. They’re still finding their way with high-school hockey in a tough division like the APAC. So, for the guys that are experienced, they’ve got to step up, they’ve got to fill in the gaps that graduated and for the younger guys, they’ve just got to find their footing.

“I have faith in this team, I think they’ll bounce back.

Malvern Prep 1 1 0—2

La Salle 4 1 2—7

First-period goals: Ryan Warner (L) from Dean Carvalho. :49; Chase Hannon (L) from Will Gregorio, 3:38; Carvalho (L) from James Carpenter, 5:03; Caiden Canale (MP) from Jeremy Jacobs, 10:00; Hannon (L) unassisted, 13:29 (pp)

Second-period goals: Jacobs (MP) from Teague Murray, 9:57; Charlie Kennedy (L) from Liam Donahue, 11:36

Third-period goals: Carvalho (L) from Carpenter and Gregorio, 12:59; Carpenter (L) from Carvalho and Patrick Brace, 16:11

Shots: Malvern Prep 40, La Salle 36; Saves: Brandon Novabilsky (MP) 4 and Matt Crawford (MP) 25; Jake Rossi (L) 34 and Aries Carangi (L) 4

CLICK HERE to learn more about La Salle College High School

CLICK HERE to learn more about Malvern Prep

Our latest Hockey Happenings podcast is now LIVE

APAC Standings 11 PM 12-21-22

Won Lost OTW OTL Points GF GA

Holy Ghost Prep (9-2) 3 0 0 1 10 21 12

La Salle (4-3-1) 3 1 0 0 9 16 12

Malvern Prep (6-2) 1 2 0 0 3 9 12

Hun School (4-6) 1 3 0 0 3 14 13

St. Joseph’s Prep (7-2-1) 0 2 1 0 2 4 13

Scoring GP G A Pts

Brady Baehser (HGP) 4 5 5 10

Justin Laplante (HS) 4 5 3 8

Elian Estulin (HS) 2 2 5 7

Jeremy Jacobs (MP) 3 2 5 7

Caiden Caniale (MP) 3 5 1 6

Kieram Mulholland (HGP) 4 6 0 6

John Seravalli (HGP) 4 0 6 6

Dean Carvalho (Ls) 4 3 3 6

Scoring includes conference games only

Hockey Happenings is looking for interested individuals to shoot video of APAC games. For more information, e-mail us at rwoelfel23013@gmail.com.

YouTube TV Package Another Step in the Growth of High School Hockey

Monday’s APAC game between Malvern Prep and La Salle will be streamed live from Hatfield Ice Arena on the Flyers Cup YouTube channel.

Monday’s game is the first of a 10-game Game of the Week package that will air between now and mid-February and feature games from each scholastic league in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

The YouTube package provides a vehicle for exposing high-school hockey to a wider audience, potentially including those who have not witnessed hockey at the high-school level before.
It’s not the first time that TV has been used as a medium to draw new fans to the sport.

In 1967, the National Hockey League expanded from six teams to 12. That’s when the Philadelphia Flyers came into existence, along with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the St. Louis Blues, the Minnesota North Stars (now the Dallas Stars), the Los Angeles Kings, and the California Seals (now defunct).

That same year, CBS launched a Game of the Week telecast which gave many American sports fans their first exposure to the National Hockey League.

The upcoming series of high-school games on YouTube will serve the same function.

The games will be streamed HERE

The schedule is as follows

Monday 12-12 5:15 La Salle vs. Malvern Prep

Friday 12-16. 8:45 Lower Dauphin vs. Hershey

Thursday 12-22 7:00 Conestoga vs. Penncrest

Thursday, January 5 7:10 Plymouth Whitemarsh vs. Abington

Friday, January 13 6:30 Radnor vs. Owen J. Roberts

Friday, January 20 9:00 Eastern vs. Washington Township

Friday, January 27 6:30 Father Judge vs. Salesianum

Wednesday, February 1 7:20 Pennridge vs. Council Rock South

Friday, February 10 6:30 West Chester East vs. Avon Grove

Monday, February 13 9:00 West Chester Rustin vs. Conestoga Girls

Hockey Happenings is looking for interested individuals to shoot video of Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference games. We’re seeking students, parents, and hockey enthusiasts who have experience shooting/editing video.

For more information contact us at rwoelfel2013@gmail.com

Holy Ghost Prep 7 Hun School 3

Brady Baehser scored four goals as Holy Ghost Prep overcame an early 3-1 deficit to defeat The Hun School 7-3 Friday evening in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference game at Ice Land.

The Firebirds now stand at 7-2 overall and 2-0-0-1 in the APAC while the Raiders dropped to 4-4 and 1-1.

Baehser gave Holy Ghost Prep a 1-0 lead exactly halfway through the first period but Scott Richmond and Justin Laplante scored goals 51 seconds apart to put Hun School in front with 30 seconds left in the period.

Laplante scored his second goal of the game 3:29 into the second frame but Holy Ghost Prep took over from there. Baehser tied the game at the 8:37 before the Firebirds scored three times in a span of 100 seconds to race out to a 5-3 lead with 1:12 left in the second frame. Kieran Mulholand scored twice in the flurry before Baehser completed a hat trick.

Baehser and Zach Pers scored in the third period.

Holy Ghost Prep 1 4 2—7

Hun School 2 1 0—3

First-period goals: Brady Baehser (HGP) unassisted, 8:30; Scott Richmond (HS) from Ryan Levesque and Justin Laplante, 15:39; Laplante (HS) from Elian Estulin and Levesque, 16:30.

Second-period goals: Laplante (HS) from Estulin and Levesque, 3:29; Baehser (HGP unassisted, 8:37; Kieran Mulholland (HGP) from Shaun Moore and John Seravalli, 14:09; Mulholland (HGP) from Seravalli, 14:48; Baehser (HGP unassisted, 15:48.

Malvern Prep 3 Archbishop Spalding 0

Jimmy Jacobs scored two goals and Pax Hoishik scored the first varsity goal of his career as Malvern Prep shut out Archbishop Spalding 3-0 on Thursday in a non-league encounter at Ice Line.
Matt Crawford got the shutout in goal, making 29 saves.

The win lifted the Friars to 5-1 on the season.

Archbishop Spalding 0 0 0

Malvern Prep 0 2 1—3

Second-period goals: Jimmy Jacobs (MP) from Jeremy Jacobs and Jonathan Holt, :55; Jacobs (MP) from Pax Hoishik, 5:14

Third-period goal: Hoishik (MP) from Jimmy Jacobs and Jack Sharer, 4:33.

La Salle 6 Morristown Beard 1

By Matt Millevoi

The La Salle College High School Explorers skated away with a six to one victory over Morristown Beard Wednesday afternoon at Hatfield Ice. La Salle entered the afternoon coming off a tie the night before against Del Barton and was looking to get back on track. Starting the season with a disappointing 1-3-1 record going into Wednesday’s matchup, the Explorers knew they had to make a statement.

From start to finish, La Salle was dominant. La Salle had a season high 48 shots on net compared to Beard’s 23. The commanding shot differential led to an end of gave score of 6-1 in the Explorers’ favor.

“It’s a sign that we are starting to play the right way” Explorers head coach Wally Muehlbronner said. They controlled every facet of the ice. Whether it was faceoffs, or keeping the puck in the offensive zone, Beard could not keep up.”

All players for the Explorers played well, but it was the seniors that shined brighter than the rest. Four of their six goals came off the sticks of seniors including two from Chase Hannon while also tallying an assist. The senior line of Evan Golato, Ryan Desmond and Chase Hannon rarely spent time in their own zone and constantly creating golden opportunities for the Explorers.

Even though they lost the game, Morristown Beard had plenty of scoring opportunities including nine minutes and 23 seconds with a man advantage. With all this time on the power play, Beard could not get the puck by senior goaltender Aries Carnagi who stood on his head the whole game. Carnagi recorded 22 saves on 23 shots. Another reason that Morristown struggled on the power play was La Salle’s demanding pressure and perseverance in their defensive zone. This pressure led to a shorthanded goal by senior forward Ryan Desmond with 4:52 left in the first period.

“We had a tough game yesterday against Del Barton as we tied, but we were in our d-zone a lot and we are playing much better in our defensive zone,” Muehlbronner said.

La Salle’s next tilt is against rival school Malvern Prep on Monday, December 12^th at 5:15 P.M. at Hatfield Ice. Last time these teams played it was La Salle coming out on top with 4-3.