Holy Ghost Prep Wins AAA Flyers Cup

The evening came down to capitalizing on opportunities while avoiding mistakes. Holy Ghost Prep found the right balance Wednesday night and left Hatfield Ice Arena as the Class AAA Flyers Cup champion.

Chase Logue scored two goals and Jack Unger was superb in goal as the Firebirds bested La Salle 3-1 in front of a full house to win its first Flyers Cup title since 2017 and the fifth in the school’s history.

“It’s amazing,” Logue, a sophomore, said. “To be with those guys in the locker room is a blessing. “

Offensive opportunities were scarce early on as two teams familiar with each other were reluctant to yield space to the opposition.

The second-seeded Explorers (17-8) outshot the top-seeded Firebirds (21-4-1) 7-1 in the early going but Unger stood tall between the pipes. His big save not quite seven minutes into the first period set the tone for the night.

Logue put his team on from 1:27 into the second period when he beat La Salle netminder Jake Rossi from close range.

“I was lucky,” he said. “I just came out and shot it. I put pucks on net and it went it.”

Some 200 feet away, Unger was doing his part to keep Holy Ghost Prep in front, denying Julian Tarsi on a breakaway with 2:25 left in the middle frame to send the Firebirds into the ice cut clinging to the 1-0 lead.

The Explorers however weren’t going away and a Holy Ghost Prep turnover two-and-a-half minutes into the third period gave them an opening. Michael Esmond converted the chance when the Firebirds lost the puck in front of their own net.

But Logue responded with his second goal of the game just 15 seconds later. With 14:15 left in regulation the Firebirds were back in front but the game was still up for grabs.

It was left to Unger to reach out and seized it by the throat, which he did when the Firebird found themselves killing two penalties in the last 7:14 of regulation. The shots seemingly never stopped coming but Unger turned them all away, en route to winning the Bob Clarke Award as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. He finished the evening with 29 saves.

Unger, a senior felt that Wednesday’s game was the best of his career.

“I would say for sure,” he said. “Between the atmosphere, the intensity of the game, and what was at stake.

“I was able to lock in and then being able to get the tam to rally around me and especially during that third period.’

The closest he came faltering the stretch came when a shot from La Salle’s La Salle’s Alistair St. Hilaire from the right wing actually got behind him but slid across the crease before going wide of the far post.

“I’m not going to lie, that one really scared me,” Unger said. “But sometimes you need a little bit of luck on your side.”

Joseph Kauffman scored an empty-net goal for Holy Ghost Prep just before the final buzzer.

For La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner, whose team was trying to win its 14^th Flyers Cup the result was a disappointment but he appreciated the level of play on both sides.

“That was definitely a great high-school hockey game for sure,” he said.

Muehlbronner felt his team did a lot of good things right during its three power-play chances, except score.

“I thought we did well on the power play,” he said. “We moved the puck well. We didn’t bury many pucks, we didn’t get many bounces that we needed.

“But, I think we played a great game, I really do. We carried a large portion of it, but weren’t able to put any in.”

The Firebirds will face Penguins Cup champion Seneca Valley for the Class AAA state title Saturday in suburban Pittsburgh.
The All-Tournament Team included :

G Jack Unger Holy Ghost Prep

D Ryan Lippy Holy Ghost Prep

D Cam Ross LaSalle

F Alistair St. Hilaire

F Chase Lougue HGP

F Brady Logue HGP

La Salle 0 0 1—1

Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 2—3

Second-period goals: Chase Logue (HGP) from Joe Spadaccino, 1:27

Third-period goals: Michael Esmond (L) from Luke Baumann and Alex Gibson, 2:30; Chase Logue (HGP) from Brady Logue and John Gavaghan, 2:45; Joseph Kaufman (HGP) unassisted,16:59 (sh)

Shots: La Salle 30, Holy Ghost Prep 24; Saves: Jake Rossi (L) 21, Jack Unger (HGP) 29

Avon Grove 12 Downingtown West 11

Lily Schindler’s goal with 64 seconds left in regulation gave Avon Grove a 12-11 win over Downingtown West Tuesday night in the Girls Flyers Cup championship game at PNY Arena.

The win gave Avon Grove its first Flyers Cup girls title. Downingtown West was trying for its third straight Cup and fourth in five years.

Schindler’s goal capped a stretch that saw the top-seeded Red Devils score three times in a span of 46 seconds to take a 12-10 lead. Avon Grove trailed 7-4 entering the third period but scored eight goals in the final session.

Schindler finished with three goals and three assists. Her teammate Skylar Greene scored five goals and added an assist. Emily Sullivan scored two goals for the winners while Brianna Register and Blaire Stoltzfus scored one goal each.

Ava Thomas scored for second-seeded Downingtown West with 29 seconds remaining to bring the Whippets within a goal. Thomas finished the game with nine goals and the tournament with 29.

Maddison Vitali scored the Whippets other two goals and contributed three assists.

Downingtown West 3 4 4—11

Avon Grove 2 2 8—12

Garnet Valley 10 WC Henderson 2

The blitz came in the late stages of the first period. Four goals in a span of 4 minutes, 19 seconds. When the sequence ended, Garnet Valley had control of the Class A Flyers Cup final. The Jaguars never let go, en route to a 10-2 win over West Chester Henderson Monday night at Ice Line.

The numbers that top-seeded Great Valley (22-2) compiled were impressive to say the least.

Nolan Stott scored three goals and won the Bobby Clarke Award as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Kevin Walton finished with three goals and two assists; he finished the tournament as its leading scorer with six goals and three assists. Aiden Delfin contributed three goals and an assist as Garnet Valley (22-2) rolled to its 13th consecutive win and into Saturday’s state championship game against Avonworth at 12:45 Saturday afternoon at the Robert Morris University Island Sports Complex..

“It’s absolutely an unreal feeling,” Stott said. “We’ve worked so hard this year and to win two cups this year (Garnet Valley also won the Central League title) is an unreal feeling.

“I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else. I love these boys and I’m so glad I got to do it with them.”

The scoring blitz began with 5:45 remaining in the first frame when Delfin beat Matt Cieslukowski in the Warrior net with a shot from the vicinity of the right faceoff circle. Walton scored a shorthanded goal with 1:16 left in the period the road became more arduous for second-seeded Henderson (16-7) when Dylan Orr and Delfin scored goals nine seconds apart in the period’s final 27 seconds.

The Warriors never recovered. Jake Platz got Henderson on the scoreboard 3:44 into the middle period but the goals kept coming from Garnet Valley, specifically from Stott who scored three consecutive goals in the second period in a span of just under 10 minutes to power the Jaguars to a 7-1 advantage.

“It was a shock to the system at the end of the first period,” said Henderson coach Tom Aughey. “Two goals in nine seconds in the final 27 seconds of the period changed the game completely.”

Aughey said the Jaguars’ greatest asset was their speed.

“They transition the puck so quickly,” he said. “And when they get to the open spot, they’ve got shooters that cam put the puck in the net.”

The third period saw period saw Walton and Delfin complete their hat tricks. At the other end of the ice. Great Valley’s Garrett Stoops had as relaxing an evening as is possible for a goaltender. He stopped 26 of the 28 shots he saw.

“I definitely think I was focused the whole time,” he said, “no matter what the score was. I always told myself ‘0-0. No matter what.’”

Moments after the final horn, Stoops was experiencing the emotion of the moment.

“It definitely feels pretty amazing,” he said. “It’s something really special, but I knew this team had it in them. We lost two games all year and we 10-0’ed the team we lost to (Haverford) in the Central League championship. I knew we’d come out here hard.”

Garnet Valley goaltender Garrett Stoops makes a save Monday night (Martin Scott photo)

Ice chips: This marked the second Flyers Cup for Garnet Valley. The first came in 1998, also in Class A …Aughey reflected on what Henderson accomplished this season despite coming up short Monday night.

“These kids in our locker room are truly special to our school and to our club,” he said. “It’s been six-plus years since we’ve had a winning season. To make it to the finals of not only the Flyers Cup but also our league playoffs, is something great. The seniors left a mark on our club that we will take forward.”

• The All-Tournament Team included:

Nathan Stott Garnet Valley MVP

Kaden Longo Garnet Valley

Dylan Orr Garnet Valley

Jake Morrow Garnet Valley

Garrett Stoops Garnet Valley

Blake Platz West Chester Henderson

West Chester Henderson 0 1 1—2

Garnet Valley 4 3 3—10

First-period goals: Aiden Delfin (GV) from Kevin Walton and Garrett Stoops, 11:15; Walton (GV) unassisted, 15:44 (sh); Dylan Orr (GV) from Kaden Longo and A.J. Tenhuisen, 16:33; Delfin (GV) from Jake Robinson 16:42

Second-period goal: Jake Platz (WCH) from Declan Dowd and Andrew Denny, 3:44; Nolan Stott (GV) from Longo, 6:08; Stott (GV) from Longo, 13:25; Stott (GV) from Tenhuisen, 16:05

Third-period goals: Walton (GV) unassisted, 3:41 (pp); Walton (GV) from Robinson and Delfin, 5:54; Nick Denadi (WCH) from Cole Navazio, 11:38 (pp); Delfin (GV) from Walton and Robinson, 13:33 (pp)

Shots: WC Henderson 28, Garnet Valley 46; Saves: Matt Cieslukowski (WCH) 36, Garrett Stoops (GV) 26

Flyers Cup Class A Finals Peview

It’s no surprise that Garnet Valley and West Chester Henderson reached Class A Flyers Cup final (7:00 Monday) at Ice Line. The Jaguars and the Warriors were the top two seeds. Here’s a look at how they got there.

1 Garnet Valley (21-2)

Coach: Stephane Charbonneau

Players to watch: Kevon Walton 36 goals, 23 assists, 59 points, inc. 3 goals and 1 assist in the tournament; Jake Robinson 21-25-46; 2-1-3 in the tournament; Nolan Stott 24-18-42, 1-3-4 in the tournament; Garrett Stoops .909 save percentage, 1.59 GAA

How they got here: Defeated Plymouth Whitemarsh 10-0 in the quarterfinals and West Chester East 2-1 in the semifinals.

2 West Chester Henderson (16-6)

Coach: Tom Aughey

Players to watch: Blake Platz 31 goals, 18 assists 49 points inc. 3 goals and 2 assists in the tournament; Hunter Haas 26-43-49; 4-3 in the tournament; Andrew Dent 4-2-6 in the tournament; Matt Cieslukowski 2.81 GAA, .884 save percentage

How they got here: Defeated Marple-Newtown 7-6 in the quarterfinals and Hershey 7-4 in the semifinals.

Ice chips: The two teams met once during the regular season with Garnet Valley taking a 5-2 bwin on January 31. Nolan Stott paced the Jaguars with two goals and an assist …Garnet Valley won the Class A Flyers Cup in 1998. Henderson claimed the title in 2007. The Jaguars are taking a 12-game winning streak into the finals. The Warriors have won three of their last four.

North Penn 4 Downingtown East 3

It was a contest of championship final caliber. Over the course of 51 minutes at Hatfield Ice Arena Thursday night, North Penn and Downingtown East both proved themselves worthy of playing for a Flyers Cup championship.

But only the Knights will get that opportunity.

Nolan Shingle’s goal with 3:43 left in regulation, his second goal in a span of 88 seconds, got the Knight past the Cougars 4-3 in a Class AA semifinal. The goal was Shingle’s third of the game and put the second-seeded Knights (19-3) into net Wednesday’s final against top-seeded Council Rock South (8:45 at Hatfield Ice). The third-seeded Cougars close their season at 15-7.

In the parlance of pugilism, both team got off the canvas. North Penn took a 2-0 lead into the third period on the strength of a power-play goal from Cole Pluck 11:49 into the first-period, which was followed by Shingle’ first goal of the night 7:48 into the second frame

But the Cougars survived those heavy blows and counterpunched. Ryan Nichols got Downingtown East on the scoreboard 4:19 into the third period and Anderson Frain tied the game with 6:44 left in regulation.

When Nichols scored his second goal of the game with 4:36 left in regulation the Cougars appeared to have the upper hand.

Shingle however did not agree with that line of reasoning. He tied the game 3:43 left on the clock before delivering the game winner that started out as a breakaway. Downingtown East goaltender Lucas Fleuty made the initial save on Sam Norton before Shingle followed up.

“Downingtown East is a great hockey team,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “Hats off to them, they’re well coached. We knew, going into the third, up 2-0 that it probably wasn’t going to end 2-0. I didn’t necessarily want to get down 3-2 but I’m proud of the boys. They continued to work, continued to battle.”

Downingtown East coach Mark Bobko praised his team’s resilience.

“Our guy showed a lot of heart,” he said. “Being down 2-0 going into the third, fighting back, and getting a lead.

“What I was telling them in the locker room was in games of this magnitude the margin of error is so tight that if you don’t expend every ounce of energy and focus it can tip the other way just as easily and that’s kind of what we saw here tonight.”

Downingtown East 0 0 3—3

North Penn 1 1 2—4

La Salle 7 Father Judge 2

La Salle’s success this season has been based on the concept of getting contributions from a variety of sources.

Such was the case Thursday night. Grant LaGreca and Noel Donohue each scored two goals and three other players scored on goal each as the Explorers downed Father Judge 7-2 in a Class AAA Flyers Cup semifinal at Hatfield Ice Arena.

Second-seeded La Salle (17-7) will face Holy Ghost Prep next Wednesday at this same venue in a bid to win its third consecutive Flyers Cup, a feat the Explorers last accomplished in 2014 when they claimed the Cup for a fourth consecutive year. Sixth-seeded Father Judge closed the season at 16-6.

The game was closer than the final score seemingly indicted. Judge trailed 2-1 after one period was close enough to be a threat, trailing 4-2 early in the third before the Explorers put the game away.

Michael Zarzycki got thing started for La Salle when he beat Crusader goaltender Christian McDonald 3:32 into the first period. But Chris Ferrero responded for Judge with a power-play goal at the 8:49 before Donohue’s effort with 1:14 remaining put La Salle in front for good.

The Explorers extended their lead in the second period on goal from Declan Kelly and Alex Gibson.

Jake Pound made thing more interesting when he scored for Judge just 14 seconds into the final period but LaGreca answered at the 2:21 mark.

Donohue and LaGreca once more added additional goals.

“We started slow,” LaGreca said, “but we stuck to our system, listened to what our coaches had for the game plan, but we played the right way in the end.”

LaGreca said the Explorers stayed patient when it counted.

“We know we can’t look past anyone.” he said. “We’ve got to stay patient and keep shooting pucks on net.”

• The Explorers had a 30-19 edge in shots.

Father Judge 1 0 1—2

La Salle 2 2 3—7

CR South 7 Spring-Ford 2

Council Rock South got off to a fast start Thursday night and never really slowed down.

Jeremy Rayher scored twice in the first period and the Golden Hawks went on to a 7-2 win over Spring-Ford Thursday night at Hatfield Ice Arena. Top-seeded South (22-2) will try to win its fourth Flyers Cup next Wednesday night when it faces North Penn (8:45 at Hatfield Ice).

Spring-Ford, the 12^th and last seed in the tournament, closed its season at 12-10-1 after winning two games to reach the semifinal round.

Rayher got his team on the scoreboard with 3:23 left in the opening and added a second goal with 57 second left. Those goals, his third and fourth of the tournament, set tone for the evening.

Rayher, a senior, spoke to the importance of the fast start.

“We all knew what my sophomore year with Pennsbury,” he said (the Hawks lost to the Falcons in the Flyers Cup semifinals).

“I just want that ring, everyone on the team wants that ring, so we all just came out hard, we came out with a mindset to win this game.

“We all just took it to them. We hit hard, we got a lot of shots on net. The goalie gave up lots of rebounds and we capitalized on them.”

Koen Gregg scored for the Rams 3:25 into the middle period to make it a 2-1 game but Daniel Filippov answered of South at the 6:34 mark.

The Hawks broke the game open when Jonah Weston, Rayher, and Jackson Mosley all scored goals in a span of 2 minutes, 39 seconds early in the third period. The balance of the period saw Spring-Ford’s Nathan Riley and the Hawks’ Peter Pereborow trade goals.

“We got a little rocky in the second period,” said South coach Joe Houk. “We let them get a real crappy goal, but o thought all in all our puck pursuit was there.

“Maybe a little too much individual play. We got away from our game plan a little bit there.”

But Houk was able to get his troops refocused during the break for the post-second period ice cut.

“I thought we outplayed them from start to finish,” hGoukouk Houk said. “We really didn’t give them much room to breathe.”

Spring-Ford coach Tom Kisela reflected on his first season behind the Rams’ bench.

“For me, this whole season begins and ends with the players,” he said. As a first-year head coach, sometimes ir can take time to establish a culture, but not with these guys. Right from the start, I knew these wanted someone to come in and push them to get better every day.

“For us, having the incredibly successful season we had is a combination of diversity and the lessons learned throughout the year.”

Spring-Ford 0 1 1—2

C.R. South 2 1 4—7

Holy Ghost Prep 5 Salesianum 2

The final numbers on the scoreboard were misleading. True enough, Holy Ghost Prep prevailed over Salesianum 5-2 Thursday night in a Class AAA Flyers Cup semifinal at Hatfield Ice Arena.

The top-seeded Firebirds (20-4-1) earned a place in next Wednesday’s final (6:00 puck drop at Hatfield Ice) against La Salle.

Thursday’s matchup was the second meeting of the season between the two schools. The Firebirds won the first 5-1 on January 9^th.

But on this night, for two periods, the fifth-seeded Sallies gave Holy Ghost Prep all it could handle and going into the third frame the teams were deadlocked at 2-2. The Firebirds put the way by scoring three goals in the third period.

Brady Logue, who paced the Firebirds with a three-goal effort, started the scoring 7:27 into the first period. It was the only goal of the opening frame.

Salesianum (18-4) tied the game on a goal from Jerry DiStefano 8:34 into the middle period Logue answered with his second goal of the game with 4:19 left in the period but when Sean Albert found the back of the net 80 seconds later, the two team were deadlocked once more.

“They did a good job of taking us out of our game,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach John Ritchie. “So, we made some adjustments. I think we got back to what’s worked for us in the third period.”

Once the final period commenced, the Firebirds did their best to make up for lost time. Chase Logue extended his team’ lead 5:17 into the period. Lucas Gonzalez made it a 4-1 at the 7:05 mark before Brady Logue completed his hat trick with 53 seconds remaining.

“Once {Salesianum} scored {their first goal} the momentum kind of changed” said Holy Ghost Prep captain Ryan Lippy. “The kind of stopped our momentum.

“And then we kind of realized that we needed to pick it up but we didn’t start picking it up until the third.”

Holy Ghost Prep enjoyed a 34-20 edge in shots.

Lippy said he and his teammates entered the third period refocused.

“We decided to put the emotion aside,” he said. “And just play our game, play how we should play.”

Salesianum coach Brian LeBlanc celebrated what his team accomplished this season.

“The team executed on every aspect of our game,” he said. “It was a special group of players who played for each other; our family. I’m very proud of what they accomplished this year. Unfortunately injuries during the last two weeks took down some firepower.

“Thank you to the Flyers Cup committee who worked hard to organize a great tournament for these young men.”

• Holy Ghost Prep last won a Flyers Cup in 2017. Salesianum won three Cups in the now-defunct New Jersey/Delaware Division, most recently in 2023, the last year that division existed.

Salesianum 0 2-0—2

Holy Ghost Prep 1 1 3—5.

First-period goal: Brady Logue (HGP) unassisted, 7:27

Second-period goals: Jerry DiStefano (S) unassisted, 8:34; Brady Logue (HGP) from Joe Spadaccino and Santino Tibero, 12:41; Sean Albert (S) from MIchael Cellucci and Braeden Graham, 14:01

Third-period goals: Chase Logue (HGP) from William Harmr, 5:17; Lucas Gonzalez (HGP) from Colin Bara and Brian Kinniry, 7:05; Brady Logue (HGP) unassisted, 16:07

Shots: Salesianum 20, Holy Ghost Prep 34: Saves: Gavin Needs (S) 29, Jack Unger (HGP) 18

Flyers Cup Schedule Thursday 3-13

Class AAA Semifinals at Hatfield Ice Arena

Holy Ghost Prep 5 Salesianum 2

La Salle 7 Father Judge 2

Class AA Semifinals at Hatfield Ice Arena

6:15 1 Council Rock South 7 Spring-Ford 2

8:45 2 North Penn Downingtown East 3

Finals Schedule

Class A Monday, March 17

TBD Garnet Valley vs WC Henderson at Ice Line

Girls Tuesday, March 18

6:00 Avon Grove vs Downingtown East at PNY Arena

Class AA Wednesday, March 19 at Hatfield Ice

8:45 North Penn vs Council Rock South

Class AAA Wednesday, March 19 at Hatfield Ice

6:00 Holy Ghost Prep vs La Salle

Flyers Cup Schedule Wednesday 3-12

Girls Semifinals

Avon Grove 11 West Chester Henderson 1—Lily Shindler, Emily Sullivan, and Skylar Greene combined for seven goals and four assists as the Red Devils downed the Warriors Wednesday night at PNY Arena in a semifinal game that was terminated with 10:23 left in the third period. Shindler finished with three goals and two assists while Sullivan Greene contributed two goals and an assist.

Brenanna Regester, Blaire Stoltzfus, Miranda Post and Molly Tursi also scored for top-seeded Avon Grove.

Paige Muetterties scored fourth-seeded Henderson’s only goal in the second period.

West Chester Henderson 0 1 0

Avon Grove 6 4 1—11

Downingtown West 13 Conestoga 3—Ava Thomas scored 10 goals and assisted on two others as the second-seeded Whippets advanced to the championship game. Madison Vitali, Isabel Nolan, and Mia D’Innoceno also scored for the Whippets before the game was halted with 8:58 remaining in the third period.

Darcy Malik, Sofia Kaiser, and Audris Tsai all scored for third-seeded Conestoga.

Conestoga 0 3 0—3

Downingtown West 5 4 4—13