Category: Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference

Flyers Cup Rankings #1

The Flyers Cup Committee has released its firsts et of rankings for the 2022-23 season. The rankings are based on won-loss records, strength of schedule, and observations by members of the committee.

Non-league games scheduled by individual teams are not factored into the rankings, but are included here where applicable.

Records listed below are based on information available through December 29.

AAA

  1. Holy Ghost Prep (APAC) 9-2
  2. La Salle College High School (APAC) 5-6-2
  3. Malvern Prep (APAC) 6-2
  4. St. Joes Prep (APAC) 9-2-2
  5. Father Judge (ICSHL PCL) 6-4

AA

  1. Council Rock South (SHSHL National) 6-1
  2. Avon Grove (ICSHL Ches-Mont) 6-1
  3. Pennsbury (SHSHL National) 7-2
  4. Conestoga (ICSHL Central) 8-1-1
  5. Neshaminy (SHSHL National) 6-2

A

  1. West Chester Rustin (ICSHL Ches-Mont) 5-3
  2. West Chester East (ICSHL Ches-Mont) 5-3
  3. Marple (ICSHL Central) 7-4-0-1
  4. Garnet Valley (ICSHL Central) 5-4
  5. Lower Dauphin (CPIHL) 9-3

NJ/DE

  1. Salesianum (ICSHL PCL) 6-0
  2. Cherokee (SJHSHL) 9-0-1
  3. Washington TWP. (SJHSHL) 4-1-2
  4. Eastern (SJHSHL) 2-3-1
  5. Moorestown (SJHSHL) 1-5

Girls

  1. Downingtown West (ICSHL National) 5-5
  2. Avon Grove (ICSHL National)  6-4
  3. Unionville (ICSHL National) 3-6
  4. West Chester Rustin (ICSHL American) 7-2
  5. Kingsway (ICSHL American) 6-2-1

St. Joseph’s Prep at Purple Puck Tournament

St. Joseph’s Prep recorded two victories Thursday at the Purple Puck Tournament in Washington, D.C.

They opened Thursday morning with a 3-2 win over Loyola Academy from Chicago. Jeffrey Hammond scored two of his team’s goals, Gareth McDonald the other.

Thursday afternoon the Hawks shut out Archbishop Spaulding 3-0. Hammond, Joey Samango, and Dante Passio scored goals Rocco Bruno earned the shutout with 15 saves.

The Hawks will face O’ Connell at 8 a.m. on Friday. if they qualify for the championship game they will take the ice at 3 p.m. Friday.

Tristan Winata scored two goals and Jeffrey Hammond and Shane O’Neil scored one goal each as St. Joseph’s Prep and Gonzaga skated to a 4-4 tie on Wednesday in the opening round of the 28th Purple Puck Tournament in Washington, D.C.

Rocco Bruno made 34 saves in goal.

The Hawks (7-2-2) are scheduled to play twice on Thursday; they’ll face Loyola at 9 a.m. and Archbishop Spaulding at 4 p.m. before the tournament concludes on Friday.

La Salle at Mount St. Charles Tournament

La Salle dropped a 4-2 decision to Austin Prep Friday afternoon in the Mount St. Charles Academy tournament. Grant LeGreca and Matt Giordano scored the Explorer goals.

“We played well,” Said La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner. “We struggled finishing opportunities.”

La Salle (5-6-2) will return to action January 9 against Portledge.

Evan Golato scored four goals and Dean Carvalho added two as La Salle defeated Mount St. Charles 6-1 Wednesday night in the second round of the Mount St. Charles holiday tournament. The Explorers (5-5-2) will face Austin (Massachusetts) Prep at noon on Thursday.

La Salle dropped its opening game in the Mount St. Charles holiday tournament Tuesday night. The Explorers dropped a 2-1 decision to Fairfield Prep. James Carpenter scored the La Salle goal.

The Explorers (4-5-2) were scheduled to face the host team, Mt. St. Charles Academy, at 4 pm Thursday.

En route to Rhode Island, La Salle fell to Bishop Hendricken on Monday. Michael Zarzycki scored the La Salle goal.

St. Joseph’s Prep Set For Return to Purple Puck Tournament

   A holiday tradition will be renewed this week after a two-year pandemic-induced layoff.

  St. Joseph’s Prep will be one of five private schools competing for the Prep Division title when the 28th annual National Capital Hockey Tournament, popularly known as the Purple Puck Tournament, gets underway Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

The Hawks, who are 7-2-1 on the season, will face Gonzaga in their tournament opener at 1:00 Wednesday afternoon. The five-team field will also include Archbishop Spalding, O’ Connell, and Loyola. The round robin format will see each team play four games over two-and-a-half days before the championship game is played at 3:00 Friday afternoon.

St. Joseph’s Prep has been a regular participant in the tournament in years past. Senior goaltender Rocco Bruno was in uniform in 2019, the last time the tournament was played. He recalls it as a highly competitive event and is expecting more of the same this time around.

“It was really competitive bracket that we were in,” he said of his freshman-year experience. “Most of the games weren’t blowouts. They were one, two-goal games. I don’t know what a lot of those teams are about this year but I’m expecting tough competition.”

Bruno is looking forward to being on the road with his teammates, all but one of whom, other than himself, will be skating in the tournament for the first time.

“It’s just a lot of fun, being on the road with everybody at these tournaments,” he said. “We did one in Florida my freshman year too. It just is a whole bunch of fun.”

The time on the road and between games allows the players to do some strategizing.

“Everybody’s focused on the weekend,” Bruno said, “and we get to spend time together to go over some things, plan out our games together as team. Just have a greater overall awareness for our next opponent.”

The tournament schedule does allow time for players to play tourist however, and enhance the educational value of the trip. Bruno recalls doing some sightseeing on his last trip to the Purple Puck Tournament.

“Me and a couple of my buddies on the team, we went up to Capitol Hill and the White House and saw everything,” he said. It was pretty cool. “You don’t get to do sightseeing a lot when you’re on hockey trips because usually games take up most of your time, but it was definitely cool to see some of the monuments and landmarks.”

St. Joseph’s Prep Schedule

Wednesday, 12-28  Gonzaga 1:00

Thursday, 12-29   Loyola  9:00

                               Spalding 4:00

Friday 12-30     O’Connell  8:00

                         Championship Game 3:00 If Necessary

La Salle Headed North

 The La Salle Explorers are getting a break from school this week, but will be as busy as ever on the ice. The Explorers will make their traditional trip to Woonsocket Rhode Island for the Mount St. Charles Academy Tournament. La Salle will play its first-round game on Tuesday against Fairfield Prep.

The Explorers customarily compete in the tournament on an annual basis, but the event has been cancelled the last two seasons because of the pandemic. Coach Wally Muehlbronner says the tournament provides his players with the opportunity to get closer as a group.

“I think the bonding is going to be the biggest thing,” he said. “The past two years, this event got cancelled so we’re really looking forward to getting back. We’ve only got a couple kids that have ever made the trip so I think it’s going to really help us. Hopefully, we play well.”

A lot of the guys know each other pretty well (but) we have never spent three or four days together and traveled on a bus. You learn a lot about your teammates in that amount of time together.”

Malvern Prep10 Haverford School 0

Malvern Prep scored four times in the first period and went on to a 10-0 shutout of The Haverford School Thursday night in a non-league game at Ice Line. that celebrated Senior Night.

Jeremy Jacobs and Jack Sharer each scored twice for the Friars. Steven Getsie, Aidan Kelly, Gavin Wilson, Emmy Jacobs, Pax Hoishik, and Ryan Clark also scored goals.

Haverford School 0 0 0—0

Malvern Prep 4 2 4—10

Holy Ghost Prep 7, Pennridge 3

Kieran Mulholland and Zach Pers each scored twice as Holy Ghost Prep built a 5-0 lead en route to a 7-3 win over Pennridge Wednesday night in a non-league game at Grundy Arena. Shaun Moore Brady Baehser and John Seravalli also scored for Holy Ghost Prep, which advanced to 9-2 on the season.

Kevin Pico, Andrew Savona, and Shane Dachowski scored for Pennridge (4-3).

Two goals from Pers and goals from Mulholland, Baehser, and Moore put the Firebirds up 5-0 seven minutes into the second period.

Pico and Savona scored for the Rams before the period ended and Dachowski’s goal made it a 5-3 game with 10:51 left in regulation, before Mulholland gave the Firebirds some insurance with 1:42 remaining. Seravalli added an empty-net goal with one minute left in regulation.

Six of the game’s 10 goals came on power plays. The game featured 16 penalties for 72 penalty minutes.

Pennridge 0 2 1—3

Holy Ghost Prep 4 1 2—7

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 47th 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 (10th 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.