La Salle 7 St. Joseph’s Prep 0

La Salle is unmistakably in postseason mode. The Explorers scored pocketed two goals in the opening eight minutes Wednesday afternoon and went on to a 7-0 win over St. Joseph’s Prep in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference semifinal at Grundy Arena.

Second-seeded LaSalle (17-4) the two-time defending APAC and Class AAA Flyers Cup champion, will face Holy Ghost Prep, a 4-1 winner over Malvern Prep for the APAC title next Wednesday at Grundy Arena (5 p.m. start). Third-seeded St. Joseph’s Prep will learn Sunday evening where it is seeded for the upcoming Class AAA Flyers Cup.

La Salle’s performance in the semifinal was a study in precision.

Will Gregorio got things started for the Explorers just 4:30 into the first period after the Hawks coughed up the puck inside their own zone allowing Gregorio and open look from the left circle. Luca Staffani made it 2–0 at the 7:55 mark when he put in a rebound of Michael Zarzycki’s shot from the left wing. Grant LaGreca made it 3-0 on a tip-in with 1:10 left in the period.

“I think the boys were really ready to get out here,” Gregorio said. “This was I think the first time we’ve had a full roster; the full team playing. I think we were excited and we were ready to play.”

Nole Donohue extended La Salle’s lead with 5:25 left in the second period. Julian Tarsi added another goal 4:20 into the third period after Donohue’s shot from the left circle was blocked. Daniel Burke and Donohue added additional goals.

The Hawks (10-9) never really got started.
“They totally outplayed is from the start to the finish,” said St. Joseph’s coach David Giacomin. “We didn’t cover anybody in the beginning and got down two or three goals right away. “We’re not built for coming back from three or four-goal deficits. We’re not that type of team.”
The third period was marred by an assortment of eight penalties, four against each team including three misconducts, adding up to 40 minutes. An additional misconduct penalty was rescinded.

La Salle assistant coach P.J. Quinn stressed the importance of maintaining discipline.

“I thought we came out and got the puck deep and low in their end,” he said. “Pressuring their {defense}. “Our guts performed the first two periods really good; the third period we got a little undisciplined. Which is out of character for us.”

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 0 0—0

La Salle 3 1 3—7

First-period goals: Will Gregorio (L) from Grant LaGreca, 4:30; Luca Staffani (L) from Michael Zarzycki and Jake Warner, 7:55; LaGreca (L) from Daniel Burke and Staffani, 15:50

Second-period goal: Nole Donohue from Julian Tarsi and Alex Gibson, 11:25

Third-period goal: Tarsi (L) from Donohue, 4:20; Burke (L) from Declan Kelly, 8:43; Donohue (L) from Alastair St. Hilaire

Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 21, La Salle 25; Saves: Declan Geary (SJP) 18, Jake Rossi (L) 21

Malvern Prep 4 Hun School 0

The postseason is a time for a fresh start. Malvern Prep took advantage of the opportunity Monday afternoon. House Young scored two goals and Matt Crawford delivered a shutout in goal as the Friars bested The Hun School 4-0 in the APAC’s Founders Cup play-in game at Ice Line.

Fourth-seeded Malvern Prep (5-9) will face top-seeded Holy Ghost Prep in one half of a semifinal doubleheader on February 19 and will be part of the Flyers Cup tournament after that. Fifth-seeded Hun School (5-16-2) will conclude its schedule with two non-league games; the Raiders are bypassing the Flyers Cup.

For the Friars, who have beaten Hun School three times in 20 days, it’s been something of a new beginning.

“We’re starting to hit our stride,” said Malvern Prep Bill Keenan. “Finishing out the [APAC schedule], going into the APAC playoff and the Flyers Cup. We want to find out stride and we’re just continuing to build right now.”

The Friars had the upper hand from the outset; they outshot the Raiders 14-6 in the opening period but it took time to find the back of the net. It was 5:32 into the second frame before Andrew Starck put his team in front by going top shelf against Hun School goaltender Elliot Wong. Gabe Bedwell made it 2-0 at the 7:24 mark when he put a bullet inside the left post.

“We definitely got off to a quick start,” Bedwell said. “That’s what we need every game, a quick start, we need everybody firing, everybody going.’

“That will bring us to the Flyers Cup. I think we all just need to work together and jut get on it from the jump.”

Young scored his first goal with 4:01 left in the period. His second effort of the night came with 4:37 left in the third period. By that point the Raiders, who had just 13 skaters available, were using up their energy reserves.

“It’s been one thing or the other this year,” said Hun School coach Eric Szeker. “I give a lot of credit to our guys. They worked hard, they battled.

“Malvern played a great game too so you’ve got to give a lot of credit to the other side.”

The Friars outshot the Raiders 50-16. Matt Crawford earned the shutout in goal for Malvern Prep. His best save came when he denied Matt Trawinski from point-blank range just past the midway point of the second period. Wong made 46 saves at the other end of the ice.

“An unbelievable performance,” Szeker said. “He’s been light’s out the whole season. He’s been one of our best players so to see him have another performance like that is not too surprising.”

Hun School 0 0 0—0

Malvern Prep 0 3 1—4

Second-period goals: Andrew Starck (MP) from Peter Narog, 5:39; Gabe Bedwell (MP) from Pax Hoishik and Cole Scarbinsky, 7:24; House Young (MP) from Jake Winegartner and Hoishik, 12:59

Third-period goal: Young (MP) from Winegartner and Matt Barbacane, 11:23 (pp)

Shots: Hun School 16, Malvern Prep 50 Saves: Elliot Wong (HS) 46, Matt Crawford (MP) 16

Holy Ghost Prep 3 St. Peter’s Prep 1

Ryan Lippy, Brian Kinniry, and Colin Bara scored goals as the Firebirds won the non-league game on Monday. Jack Unger got the win in goal.

Flyers Cup Rankings 2-10-25

Class AAA

Holy Ghost Prep
La Salle
St. Joseph’s Prep
Malvern Prep
Salesianum

Class AA

Council Rock South
North Penn
Downingtown East
Haverford High
Central Bucks South

Class A

Garnet Valley
Kennett
West Chester Henderson
Penncrest
West Chester East

Girls

Avon Grove
Downingtown West
Conestoga
West Chester Henderson
Radnor

This marks the final set of Flyers Cup rankings prior to the Flyers Cup Selection Show on Sunday, February 23. The show will air at 8 PM that evening on the Flyers Cup You Tube Channel.

APAC Update 2-9-25

Regular Season Standings W L Pts OTW OTL

Holy Ghost Prep (12-4-1) 5 2 15 0 0

La Salle (11-6) 5 2 14 1 0

St. Joseph’s Prep (8-7) 3 3 10 0 1

Malvern Prep (3-8) 2 4 6 0 0

Hun School (5-15-2) 0 4 0 0 0

Scoring (Conference Games) GP G A Pts PPG

Brady Logue HGP 8 10 11 21 2.63

Cole Gagron SJP 7 8 1 9 1.29

Noel Donohue La 8 5 5 10 1.25

Grant LaGrrca La 8 8 1 9 1.13

Michael Zarzycki La 8 6 3 9 1.13

Frank Ely La 8 2 6 8 1.00

Chase Logue HGP 7 3 4 7 1.00

Anthony Valeriote HGP 8 5 3 8 1.00

Joe Spadaccino HGP 6 3 3 6 1.00

Save Percentage GP Shots GA Save %

Jake Rossi La 6 225 14 .938

John Botthof HGP 2 64 5 .922

Declan Geary SJP 7 190 15 .921

Matt Crawford MP 6 176 14 .920

Jack Unger HGP 3 79 8 .899

Patrick Donoghue HS 2 109 10 .908

Goals Against MP GA GAA

Jake Rossi La 394 14 1.81

Matt Salita HGP 153 6 2.00

Declan Geary SJP 364 15 2.10

Matt Crawford MP 208 14 2.20

John Botthof HGP 102 5 2.50

Jack Unger HGP 153 8 2.67

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St. Joseph’s Prep 7 Hun School 2

St. Joseph’s Prep exploded for five goals in a 10-minute span of the third period to pull away from The Hun School and go on to a 7-2 win Friday night at The Skatium to bring down the curtain on the APAC regular-season.

Noah Stuhl scored two goal and delivered two assists for the Hawks who closed their regular season at 10-8 an 5-3 in the APAC.

Bradan Fisher provided a goal and two assists for the Hawks. Frank Ely, Jai Perry-Pereira, Cole Gargon, and Patrick Sweeney also scored goals.

Nate Trawinski and Jake Beck scored for the Raiders (5-15-2, 0-8).
Perry-Pereira’s goal, which came 90 second into the second period, was the only goal in the game’s first 34 minutes. But the hosts found another gear at the start of the third frame.

Fisher scored just 51 seconds into the period and Sweeney made it a 3-0 game at the 2:52 mark. Ely, Gargon, and Stuhl followed; Stuhl’s goal, which came during a power play, put the Hawks up 6-0 with 6:13 remaining in regulation.

Beck broke the streak with a power-play goal of his own with 5:21 remaining. Trawinski followed just over two minutes later before Stuhl finished the scoring with 34 seconds left.

Declan Geary got the win in goal, making 34 saves along the way.

Both teams will now look ahead to the Founders Cup playoffs. The Raiders, who reseeded fifth, will take on fourth-seeded Malvern Prep on Monday at Ice Line in a play-in game. The third-seeded Hawks will take on second-seeded La Salle in a semifinal game on Wednesday, February 19 at Grundy Arena as part of a doubleheader. The Malvern Prep-Hun School winner will face top-seeded Holy Ghost Prep in the other semifinal.

Hun School 0 0 2—2

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 1 6—7

Second-period goal: Jai Perry-Pereira (SJP) from Tristan Winata and Ben Kersun, 1:30

Third-period goals: Bradan Fisher (SP) from Noah Stuhl and Thomas Ely, :51; Patrick Sweeney (SJP) from Michael Washlick, 2:52; Frank Ely (SJP) from Stuhl, 6:19; Cole Gargon (SJP) from Adam Charrafi 6:50; Stuhl (SP) from Fisher, 10:47 (pp); Jake Beck (HS) from Luca Jean, 11:39 (pp); Nathanial Trawinski (HS) from Beck and Andrew Darst, 12:49; Stuhl (SJP) from Fisher, 16:26

Shots: Hun School 36, St. Joseph’s Prep 40; Saves: Patrick Donoghue (HS) 33, Declan Geary (SJP) 34

Malvern Prep 4 The Hun School 2

Malvern Prep overcame an early 1-0 deficit by scoring three times in the first period and going on to a 4-2 APAC win over The Hun School Wednesday afternoon at Ice Land.

The Friars concluded APAC play at 3-5, they stand at 4-10 overall. Then Raiders, who are winless in seven conference starts, stand at 5-14-2 overall.

Luca Jean opened the scoring for Hun School 3:34 into the first period. Ryan Behrle, Gabe Bedwell, and Logan Love responded for the Friars with the goals coming in a span of 7 minutes, 10 seconds to give the visitors a 3-1 advantage with 4:38 left in the opening session.

Connor Mulligan scored for the Riders to make it a one-goal game with 4:16 left in regulation but Cole Scarbinsky answered for Malvern Prep with 3:04 remaining.

Hun School will face St. Joseph’s Prep Friday night at the Skatium to close out the APAC regular season before squaring off with the Friars once more on Monday at Ice Line (3:30 start) in the Founders Cup playoffs play-in game.

Malvern Prep 3 0 1—4

Hun School 1 0 1—2

First-period goals: Luca Jean (HS) from Jake Beck, 3:34; Ryan Behrle (MP) from Quinn Riley and Peter Narog, 5:12; Gabe Bedwell (MP) from Staton Johnson and Andrew Starck, 8:37; Logan Love (MP) from Starck and Johnson, 12:22

Third-period goals: Conor Mulligan (HS) from Evan Koserowski and Bailey Cook, 12:44; Cole Scarinsky (MP) unassisted, 13:56

Shots Malvern Prep 35, Hun School 26: Saves: Riley Doyle (MP) 24, Elliot Wong (HS) 31

APAC Playoff Dates Announced

The Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference has announced the schedule for the Founders Cup playoffs, which will commence with the play-in game on Monday, February 10 an continue with the semifinals on Wednesday, February 19 and the Founders Cup final on Wednesday, February 26.

La Salle is the two-time defending champion.

Monday, February 10 at Ice Line

(4) Malvern Prep vs. (5) Hun School 3:30

Wednesday, February 19 at Grundy Arena

(2) La Salle vs. (3) St. Josephs Prep 3:10

Play-in Winner vs, Holy Ghost Prep 5:20

Wednesday, February 26 Site and time TBD

Founders Cup Final hosted by highest seeded finalist

St. Joseph’s Prep 2 Malvern Prep 1 OT

The APAC playoffs are still a ways off, but fans who took in Thursday’s matchup between St. Joseph’s Prep and Malvern Prep got a taste of the postseason atmosphere. Cole Gargon’s goal 2:37 into overtime gave the Hawks a 2-1 win that put a damper on the Friars’ Senior Day.

The result assures St. Joseph’s Prep (9-7, 4-3 in the APAC) of a third place in the conference standings with one regular-season conference game remaining against Hun School next Friday. By virtue of the point acquired in the overtime loss, Malvern Prep (3-9, 2-5) will finish fourth, regardless of the result of their regular-season league finale next Wednesday, also against Hun School.

Gargon’s winning goal concluded an overtime session that for most of two minutes played out in the Malvern Prep offensive zone. But a turnover in the neutral zone gave the Hawks their opportunity. They patiently cycled the puck before Frankie Ely deposited it on Gargon’s stick and the sophomore put a shot past Friar goaltender Matt Crawford.

“In overtime, like anything else, it’s a possession game,” said St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin. “and they possessed it.

“You don’t want to overcommit, you want that one turnover so you can start possessing the game. And, if you watched that play develop, he took the puck out of the (Hawks’) offensive zone; they had a little bit of tired legs and all it needs is one move around a guy and we’re walking in and getting shots.”

The two regulation goals came late in the first period. Jake Weingrtner put the hosts in front when he beat Declan Geary in the Hawk net with 4:03 left in the opening session. The goal came when Michael Castelli was in the box serving a roughing infraction, one of eight penalties called in the first period.

The Hawks responded with an even-strength goal from Bradan Fisher, who beat Crawford from the low slot with 1:27 remaining.

From there. The game evolved into a goaltending dual between Geary and Crawford who between them made 48 saves. Both netminders needed to be in top form.

“It’s always fun playing against {Crawford} Geary said. “We’ve practiced with goalie coaches before. It’s a fun environment with Senior Night. It’s a big one.”

Geary said the pressure of a big game sharpens his focus.

“It’dun,” he said. “I don’t like high-scoring game. I like the low-scoring ones here it’s tight and all that. It’s just fun to compete.”

Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan said his team was looking to keep the momentum going after defeating Hun School two days ago.

“We knew it would be a tough battle with St. Joe’s,” he said. “They’re a physical team, they move the puck well.
“Our guys matched it, our intensity was high, we came up a little short.”

The Friars are assured of hosting the postseason play-in game against Hun School sometime prior to February 19 when the semifinal are scheduled. The winner will face Holy Ghost Prep in one semifinal. St. Joseph’s Prep will face La Salle in the other. Both semifinal games will be played at Grundy Arena. The highest seeded finaliat will host the Founders Cup championship game.

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 0 0 1—2

Malvern Prep 1 0 0 0—1

First-period goals: Jake Weingartner (MP) from House Young, 12:57 (pp); Ben Kersun (SJP) from Bradan Fisher, 15:33

Overtime goal: Cole Gargon (SJP) from Frank Ely, 2:37

Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 28, Malvern Prep 23 Saves: Declan Geary (SJP) 22, Matt Crawford (MP) 26

The start of the scholastic hockey playoffs is fast approaching. Contact us here at Hockey Happenings for information on how to promote your product or service.

Holy Ghost Prep 4 Pringy 2

Holy Ghost Prep overcame a 2-0 first-period deficit to record a 4-2 won over Pingry School Monday afternoon at Grundy Arena.

Tyler Jones and Ethan Cowan scored for Pingry to put the visitors up 2-0 with 6:39 left in the first period.

Brian Kinniry cut the deficit in half for the Firebirds (14-4-2) with 5:45 left in the first frame. Joe Spadaccino and Joseph Kauffmann scored in the second period before William Harmar added a goal in the third.

Matt Salita got the win in goal with 19 saves.

Pingry School 2 0 0—2

Holy Ghost Prep 1 2 1—4