La Salle 4 St. Joseph’s Prep 1

WEST GOSHEN—A high-school hockey game features 51 minutes of playing time. Wednesday’s Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference semifinal between La Salle and St. Joseph’s Prep was decided in a window of roughly two of those minutes.

The Explorers scored three goals in a span of 1 minute 19 seconds at the start of the second period and went on to a 4-1 win over the Hawks at Ice Line.

Evan Golato scored two goals for second-seeded La Salle (8-7-1) which will face top-seeded Malvern Prep next Wednesday, February 23 at Ice Line (8 p.m. start) for the Founders Cup and the APAC championship. Third-seeded St. Joseph’s Prep (8-8-1) will be idle until the Flyers Cup tournament which begins March 7; seedings will be announced on February 27.

After a scoreless first frame, La Salle broke the game open in seemingly the blink of an eye. Golato found the back of the net 1:03 into the middle period. Ryan Desmond made it 2-0 just 18 seconds later before Golato added his second goal at 2:22.

“Our momentum shifted right when our shift got out there,” Golato said. “We saw rebounds laying around all game. We buried opportunities and we kept going.”

After La Salle’s third gal, the Hawks called timeout and made a goaltender change with Rocco Bruno taking over for Ajay White. Bruno pitched a shutout the rest of the way; La Salle’s final goal, off the stick of Max Monzo was scored into an empty net with eight seconds left in the game.

La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner expressed concern about his team’s inability to sustain its momentum after its second-period surge.

“I think we had a really great start to the second period,” he said, “The first eight minutes of the second, I thought we played our game. Other than that, I didn’t think we played a great team game.

St. Joseph Prep’s only goal came from Liam Mooney in the third period.

“They beat us in two-and-a-half minutes,” Giacomin said. “They scored three goals because we didn’t cover anybody, and after that it was up and down. Both teams had chances.”

Will Braun got the win in goal, making 33 saves.

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 0 1—1

La Salle 0 3 1—4

Second-period goals: Evan Golato (L) from Chase Hannon, 1:03; Ryan Desmond from Jackson Lindmar, 1:15; Golato from Keenan Schneider and Max Maddalo, 2:22

Third-period goals: Liam Mooney (SJP) unassisted, :39; Maddalo (L) from Hannon, 16:52

Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 34, La Salle 31

La Salle’s three second-period goals

Video courtesy of Erin Schneider

Malvern Prep 4 Holy Ghost Prep 1

WEST GOSHEN—There wasn’t much to choose between Malvern Prep and Holy Ghost Prep Wednesday night. The end result, a 4-1 victory for the Friars, was somewhat misleading.

With two minutes remaining in regulation the two teams were locked in a 1-1 standoff but Malvern Prep scored three times in a span of 1 minute, 25 seconds to emerge victorious in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference semifinal at Iceline.

The top-seeded Friars (13-3) will host Founders Cup final next week on a date and at a time to be announced. The fifth-seeded Firebirds fell to 10-11. Both teams will be part of the Class AAA Flyers Cup field next month; the Friars are the defending champions.

Jeremy Jacobs scored what proved to be the winning goal with 1:29 left in regulation in the midst of a scramble in front of the Firebirds’ net off a setup from Matt Harris and Larocque.

Harris added a goal from long range with 1:02 remaining before scoring into an empty net with four seconds left. He noted the game was up for grabs entering the final stanza.

“We knew (Holly Ghost Prep) was going to come out strong,” he said. “We knew they had beaten Hun School 9-4 (in Monday’s play-in game) so we knew we had to keep the pressure on the whole game.”

The Firebirds controlled the first minutes of the opening period but, in a prelude of things to come, couldn’t solve Anthony Perti in the Friars’ net and eventually momentum shifted Malvern Prep’s way.

Pierre Larocque gave the Friars a 1-0 just past the midway point of the opening period on a goal off an offensive-right-wing faceoff.

That was all the scoring there was until Kieran Mulholland tied the game for Holy Ghost Prep 2:54 into the final period.

It was a testament to both goaltenders that there wasn’t more scoring; both came up big. Perti stopped 31 of the 32 shots he saw. His counterpart, Jason Soule made 36 saves including a stop on a backhander from Harris that kept the score 1-0 at the time.

Harris lauded Perti’s work. “It meant a lot,” he said. “Our goalie has ben playing phenomenal. During this last stretch it’s pretty much win or go home. The goalies have to be hot.”

Firebird coach Gump Whiteside felt his team deserved better. “A credit to Malvern Prep,” he said. They had our number tonight, they’ve had our number all year. (But) we have the Flyers Cup to look forward to.”

Holy Ghost Prep 0 0 1

Malvern Prep 1 0 3—4

First-period goal: Pierre Larocque (MP) from Brayden Baum and Hayden Campbell, 8:27

Third-period goals: Kieran Mulholland (HGP) from Dominic Lombardo and Brandon Barger, 2:54; Jeremy Jacobs (MP) from Matt Harris and Larocque, 15:31 Harris (MP) unassisted, 15:58; Harris (MP) unassisted 16:56

Shots: Malvern Prep 40, Holy Ghost Prep 32; Saves: Jason Soule (HGP) 36, Anthony Perti (MP) 31

Holy Ghost Prep 9 The Hun School 4

Hamilton Township, N.J.— It is often said that the postseason marks a new beginning. So it was for Holy Ghost Prep Monday afternoon. The Firebirds produced their best offensive output of the season over the course of a 9-4 win over The Hun School in the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference play-in game at Iceland in front of an audience that included as substantial number of Holy Ghost Prep supporters.

Brady Baehser scored three goals and assisted on two others for fifth-seeded Holy Ghost Prep (10-10).

The Firebirds move on to face top-seeded Malvern Prep in a Founders Cup semifinal game Wednesday night at Ice Line (6:45 start). Seth Kaplan scored three goals for fourth-seeded Hun School, which finished its season at 8-9.

Wednesday’s result comes less than 72 hours after the Raiders handed the Firebirds a 2-1 loss in Friday’s regular-season finale.

But Baehser said he and his teammates have refocused of late. “Over the past two weeks, after the losing streak, we kind of regrouped,” he said. “Our coaches gave us a new plan for practice. I think Friday we came out and played well, we just couldn’t score. Today, we just found the back of the net a lot more.”

Six different Firebirds scored goals on Wednesday, a total of 12 were listed on the scoresheet.

“It was nice to see Point Night for the Firebirds finally,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside. “It was a great effort. We never gave up on our guys. It’s attribute to them, the way they played three solid periods.”

Baesher scored one goal and assisted Dominic Lombardo’s effort as Holy Ghost Prep took a 2-1 first-period lead.

Perhaps the biggest surprised of the afternoon came after Sean Marshall scored the first of his two goals 7:41 into the second frame. At that point, Hun School coach Ian McNally made a goaltender change, inserting Stephen Chen in place of starter Jack Borek who surrendered three goals on 10 shots

Riley Frost scored for the Raiders at the 10:04 mark to make it a one-goal game but the Firebirds responded with three unanswered goals to take a 6-2 lead 2:24 into the third period and were more or less in control thereafter.

Borek returned to the net for the start of the third period after Chen allowed two goals on 11 shots.

“Once we’d score, we were never able to build on it,” McNally said. “They’d score seconds later and you could never keep any momentum going.”

While Monday brought the Hun School season to an end, it was a season that saw the Raider hockey program get back on track; the 2020-21 season was limited to three games because of Covid issues. This season, Hun School participated in the APAC for the first time, which assured the Raiders of a postseason to point toward.

“I think it’s been great,” McNally said. “We don’t have a state tournament because there aren’t enough teams of like size or teams that want to participate.

“This kind of gives us a taste of what it can be like to finish our season with games that mean something and the potential to host games, so we’re very happy.”

Holy Ghost Prep 2 3 4—9

Hun School 1 1 2—4

First-period goals: Seth Kaplan (SH) from Elian Estolin and Christian Clover, 11:13; Brady Baehser (HGP) from Landon Stout, 11:40; Dominic Lombardo (HGP) from Baehser 13:27 (pp)

Second-period goals: Sean Marshall (HGP) from Brian Butler, 7:41; Riley Frost (HS) from Josh Oullette, 10:04; Baehser (HGP) from Shaun Moore, 12:31; Kieran Mulholland (HGP) from Baehser 14:59 (pp)

Third-period goals: Baehser (HGP) from Landon Stout, 2:24; Kaplan (HS) unassisted, 6:59; Marshall (HGP) from John Seravalli and Colin Moore, (pp); Shaun Moore (HGP) from Mulholland, 9:46; Kaplan (HS) from Estulin and Frost, 11:55 (pp) Logan Barnes (HGP) from Brandon Barger and Michael Holt , 15:37

Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 33, Hun School 32; Saves: Jason Soule (HGP) 28, Jack Borek (HS) 15 and Stephen Chen (HS) 9

For more information about The Hun School CLICK HERE

For more about Holy Ghost Prep CLICK HERE

Flyers Cup Rankings for 2-14

The latest set of Flyers Cup rankings have been released. The rankings are determined based on won-loss records, strength of schedule, and observations by members of the Flyers Cup Competition Committee.

AAA

Malvern Prep (APAC)
La Salle College High School (APAC)
St. Joes Prep (APAC)
Holy Ghost Prep (APAC)
Cardinal O’Hara (ICSHL PCL)

Pennridge (SHSHL Continental)
Haverford High (ICSHL Central)
Council Rock South (SHSHL National)
Avon Grove (ICSHL Ches-Mont)
Pennsbury (SHSHL National)

West Chester East (ICSHL Ches-Mont)
Springfield (ICSHL Central)
West Chester Rustin (ICSHL Ches-Mont)
Hershey (CPIHL)
Palmyra (CPIHL)

NJ/DE

Salesianum (ICSHL PCL)
Eastern (SJHSHL)
Shawnee (SJHSHL)
Moorestown (SJHSHL)
Kingsway (SJHSHL)
Cherokee (SJHSHL)

Girls

West Chester Henderson (ICSHL National)
Avon Grove (ICSHL National)
Downingtown West (ICSHL National)
Unionville (ICSHL American)
Kingsway (ICSHL American)

The tournament field will be announced on Sunday, February 27. There are no automatic bids.

The Grundy Skate Shop is a full-service hockey pro shop inside the Grundy Arena, offering a great selection of equipment, brands and various services. We do a full range of repairs as well as offer custom hockey jerseys. Owner Bill Keyser, has over 25 years experience in the industry and specializes in skate sharpening, including profiling. Please visit our Facebook page or stop in and check us out!

If you’re looking for someone to clean your home, apartment, or business, contact Mother Sparkles Cleaning. They’re based in King of Prussia and serve the Greater Philadelphia area. Call 215-233-8069 for more information.

Hun School 2 Holy Ghost Prep 1

BRISTOL—Holy Ghost Prep and The Hun School left everything they had on the ice Friday night. There was little to separate the two teams, save for Josh Ouelette’s goal 21 seconds into the third period that gave the Raiders a 2-1 win in the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference’s regular-season finale at Grundy Arena.

The two teams will do it all over again Monday afternoon at 4:00 at Ice Land in the play-in game that will kick off the postseason. The Raiders (8-8, 3-4-1-0 in conference) tied St. Joseph’s Prep for third place in the regular-season standings but lost a tiebreaker for the third slot on goal differential and are seeded fourth for the APAC playoffs. The Firebirds (9-10, 1-5-1-1 in the APAC) are seeded fifth.

The winning goal came off a faceoff in the Raiders’ offensive right wing circle.

“I was surprised that I even scored right off the faceoff,” Ouelette said. “I just put it in.”

Ouelette embraced the atmosphere in the building in what was the Firebirds’ Senior Night. “The whole crowd was electric,” he said.

Prior to Hun School joining the APAC this season, Head Coach Ian McDonald regularly brought the Raiders to Grundy Arena for non-league games.

“We’ve been coming here for eight or nine years, playing Holy Ghost in this rink,” he said. “The game is always awesome, close, up and down the ice, scoring chances each way.”

Holy Ghost Prep, which was trying to end an eight-game losing streak, had much the better of a scoreless first period, but was unable to solve Stephen Chen in the Raider net; the junior made 14 saves in the opening 17 minutes.

Kieran Mulholland gave the Firebirds a 1-0 lead 2:53 into the second session when scored a shorthanded goal on a scramble in front of the Raider net.

Hun School drew even at 7:10 when Brendan Marino hit Ryan Croddick in full stride, allowing the latter to move in on Firebird goaltender Jason Soule. Soule made a quality save but Crodddick put in the rebound.

Four-and-a-half minutes later Croddick was excused for the evening after a disagreement with Holy Ghost Prep’s Brendan Schultz. Schultz drew a roughing minor but Croddick was accessed a five-minute major for head butting plus an automatic game misconduct, meaning he’ll be suspended for Monday’s playoff game.

That was the end of the fireworks until the winning goal.

Holy Ghost Prep captain Sean Marshall praised the efforts of his teammates, despite the loss. “Just from the way we’ve been playing the last couple months, we knew we had to have a great game here,” he said. “I thought we played great. I thought we won pretty much every 50-50 battle in the corners. “We had tons of chances, we just, I don’t know, ran into a hot goalie.”

Firebird coach Gump Whiteside thought his team deserved a better fate. “I thought the boys deserved better,” he said, “But that’s why you play three periods. I thought we played really well today.”

Hun School 0 1 1—2

Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 0—1

Second-period goals: Kieran Mulholland (HGP) unassisted, 2:53 (sh); Ryan Croddick (HS) from Brendan Marino, 7:10

Third-period goal: Josh Ouellette (HS) from Simon Gregoire, :21

Shots: Hun School 26, Holy Ghost Prep 33; Saves: Stephen Chen (HS) 32, Jason Soule (HGP) 24

Playoff Ponderings

The Founders Cup playoff schedule is as follows

Monday, February 14 Play In

(5) Holy Ghost Prep at (4) Hun School 4 p.m. at Ice Land

Wednesday, February 16

Monday’s winner vs (1) Malvern Prep 6:45 ay Ice Line

(3) St. Joseph’s Prep vs (2) La Salle 8:45 at Ice Line

Founders Cup final will be played February 23 or 24 and hosted by the highest-seeded finalist.

St. Augustine 3 Holy Ghost Prep 2

Jackson Vaites’s goal with 2:42 remaining in the third period proved decisive as host St. Augustine edged Holt Ghost Prep 3-2 Wednesday afternoon in a non-league game. Four of the game’s five goals came in the third period.

Vaites’s goal gave the hosts a 3-1 lead. Michael Holt scored for the Firebirds with 1:10 remaining in regulation but it wasn’t enough.

Kieran Mulholland also scored for Holy Ghost Prep, which dropped to 9-9 overall

Holy Ghost Prep 0 0 2—2

St. Augustine 0 1 2—3

Malvern Prep 4 The Hun School 1

Matt Harris scored two goals to lead Malvern Prep to a 4-1 win over The Hun School Wednesday afternoon at Iceland. The win officially clinched the APAC regular-championship for the Friars (12-3 overall, 5-1-2-0 in conference).

Jimmy Jacobs and Jeremy Jacobs also scored goals for Malvern Prep, which will be the top seed for next week’ Founders Cup playoffs and is favored to be the top seed for the upcoming Class AAA Flyers Cup tournament.

Brendan Marino scored for Hun School which dropped to 7-8 overall and 2-4-1 in conference.

Harris scored the only goal of the first period, a shorthanded effort at the 6:26 mark. He added his second goal 27 seconds into the second period to give his team a 2-0 lead before Marino cut the lead in half at the 6:26 mark

Jimmy Jacobs extended the Malvern Prep lead with a power-play 10:26 into the third period; Jeremy Jacobs completed the scoring into an empty net.

Brandon Novabilski earned the win in goal with 30 saves.

Malvern Prep 1 1 2—4

Hun School 0 1 0—1

First-period goal: Matt Harris (MP) from Quinn Dougherty, 6:26 (sh)

Second-period goals: Harris (MP) from Jimmy Jacobs and Aidan Kelly, :27; Brendan Marino (HS) from Elian Estulin and Nick Dimatos, 6:35

Third-period goals: Jimmy Jacobs (MP) from Pierre Larocque and Dougherty, 10:26; Jeremy Jacobs (MP) from Jimmy Jacobs, 13:54 (en)

Shots: Malvern Prep 34, Hun School 31; Saves: Brandon Novabilski (MP) 30, Jack Borek (MP) 31

La Salle 3 St. Joseph’s Prep 1

HATFIELD— The supporting cast stepped into feature roles for La Salle on Wednesday afternoon. With several players sidelined because of suspensions and injury, the Explorers had to juggle the lineup. The revisions proved fruitful. La Salle scored three times in the third period to post a 3-1 win over St. Joseph’s Prep at Hatfield Ice.

The Explorers concluded the regular season at 7-7-1 and the APAC campaign in second place at 4-3-0-1. The Hawks will head to the post season at 8-7-1 and 3-3-0-2 in the APAC; they’re slotted third in the conference at present.

La Salle senior Gavin O’Connell said it was a game when some of LaSalle’s less-heralded performers needed to step up and they did. “Especially since we were missing some of our key players,” he said. “We needed the guys that don’t get as many minutes to step up and everyone was chipping in. Everyone was getting minutes they don’t usually get.”

The only goal of the first two periods was the ultimate bad goal. The Hawks’ Tristan Winata moved through center ice, moved to his left and sent a puck in the direction of the La Salle net from the left face-off circle’ it ended up in the back of the net, behind Explorer netminder Aries Carangi.

The Hawks had the better of the opening period, outshooting their foes 15-6. Momentum started shifting La Salle’s way in second period but the Hawks still led 1-0 as the teams headed to their dressing rooms at period’s end.

“I thought we played really well in the second,” said La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner. “We just couldn’t score any goals. But we had good opportunities, we were playing the way we’ve been playing of late down low, working hard and creating some opportunities.”

Keenan Schneider broke the La Salle scoring drought 70 seconds into the third period off a Hawk turnover. Jackson Lindmar poked in a loose puck at 8:41 to put La Salle in front for good. Patrick Brace finished the scoring at 12:19.

St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin felt the Explorers had more energy in the third period. “Whether our kids did not have their legs, or whether they didn’t feel the need to compete, obviously, La Salle wanted it more,” he said. “Those kids really busted their butts, they played great.”

O’Connell says the Explorers have been getting contributions from a variety of sources in recent weeks. “I think we’ve seen guys who we haven’t seen much of before,” he said. “Maybe they’ve been playing a lot more and we’ve been seeing what they can truly do. “So we’ve definitely had more depth than we thought and we can do a lot more things.”

Tristan Winata scores the game’s first goal

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 0 0—1

La Salle 0 0 3—3

First-period goal: Tristan Winata (SJP) unassisted, 7:16

Third-period goals: Keenan Schneider (L) from Evan Golato, 1:10; Jackson Lindmar (L) from Gavin O’Connell, 8:41; Patrick Brace (L) from Schneider, 12:19

Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 29, La Salle 37; Saves: Rocco Bruno (SJP) 34, Aries Carangi (L) 28

Video provided by Erin Schneider

St. Joseph’s Prep 5 Cardinal O’Hara 1

St. Joseph’s Prep 5, Cardinal O’Hara 1

Five different players scored goals as the Hawks downed the Lions 5-1 Wednesday night in a none-league matchup under the lights at the Spring Mountain ski area.

Michael Ahearn, Jeffrey Hammond, Joey Samango, Gareth McDonald, and Shane O’Neill all scored for Sr. Joseph’s Prep, which improved to 8-6-1 overall.
Patrick Toney scored for Cardinal O’Hara.

Cardinal O’Hara 0 1 0—1

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 2 2—5

The Hawks and the Lions played under the lights Wednesday night

Hawks and the Lions battle (video courtesy of St. Joseph’s Prep)

Stephen Chen’s Remarkable Hockey Journey

Like many high-school hockey players, Stephen Chen is looking forward to the Olympic tournament.

The U.S. men will see their first action of the Olympic Games Thursday morning against China. Game time is set for 8:10 a.m. Eastern Time but Chen, a junior goaltender at The Hun School, is hoping to follow the action in some way, shape, or form.

A native of Beijing, Chen is looking forward to seeing the Chinese national team make history.

“It’s definitely a special feeling,” he said, “especially considering this is the first time the men’s team has ever competed in the Olympic Games. Even if the Chinese national team can’t squeak out a win, even scoring a goal would be a very special moment.”

Chen started playing hockey at the age of 5 ½. He’s been a goaltender from the start.

“When I started my coaches said ‘This kid’s pretty chubby so he can fill the net,” he recalls “but I fell in love with the position since then.

Chen emigrated to Southern California at age 10 and continued his hockey career there. When it came time for high school he sought a school on the East Coast that was strong academically and would allow him to pursue his hockey ambitions. He applied to a number of schools before being accepted at and enrolling at The Hun School (An older brother is a college graduate and living in California).

Chen has returned to China twice in the years since, most recently in the summer of 2019 to tend goal for a team that represented Beijing and won the 18-and-under division of the Chinese national championship tournament.

“Representing my hometown, it was a special feeling,” he said, “because you’re playing a sport you love, but also getting to represent the people you grew up with in your city and all the ideals your city represents and what you believe your city represents as well.

“Playing for that was a special feeling and being able to win the tournament at the end was beyond amazing.”

Chen, who is 16, notes that hockey has grown in popularity in his homeland during his lifetime.

“Obviously, it cannot be compared to the very developed systems and teams and whatnot in North America,” he said. “But, I think it’s a definitely growing market. There’s a lot talented young kids that are just getting to the game of hockey in China.

“Although hockey is a very old game I would have to say that I am one of the earlier generations of hockey players in China recent years.

“It’s definitely a developing market. It’s not as complete as other countries but I think there is already a certain skill level there.”

Chen notes that Beijing is home to the Kunlun Red Star, which competes in the Russia-based Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), although the team relocated to Russia to ease travel in preparation for the Olympics. Red Star players makes up the bulk of the Chinese Olympic roster, which included three Americans and 10 Canadians.

Besides watching the Olympic tournament as a fan, Chen will be watching each team’s goaltenders and hoping to pick up traits to add to his own game.

“I definitely watch out for some technical details that goaltenders really focus on and normal people wouldn’t,” he said. “The depth a goaltender takes when it’s a two on one or two on two, odd man rushes, those kind of small things are what I notice.

“But, other than that, I definitely still enjoy the game just from the average fan’s viewpoint.”

Unsurprisingly Chen would like to represent his homeland in international completion one day.

“I think it’s every kid’s dream to represent their country,” he said, “and I’m no exception. It’s a wish to represent the country at the highest level someday in the future.

“I’m already part of the U-20 China national team, so that’s a pretty good start for me already but yeah I definitely look forward to one day wearing that sweater and playing for all the people I love back home.”