Category: Founders Cup

Malvern Prep 2 Holy Ghost Prep 1

WEST GOSHEN—In one sense, it was an unfortunate way for a hockey game to end. 

James Young scored in the second round of a shootout to give Malvern Prep a 2-1 win over Holy Ghost Prep Thursday evening at Ice Line. Young’s goal, the only one of the shootout, brought down the curtain on a splendid display of high-school hockey between two teams looking to bolster their positions for the upcoming APAC playoffs and the Class AAA Flyers Cup tournament.

Young, a freshman, noted the importance of a stuck-to-basics approach.

“We’ve got to focus on the goal,” he said. “You’ve got to keep playing and pursue what you want to do.”

The Friars (8-6, 4-3 in the APAC) did just that for 56 minutes and beyond, none more so than their goaltender Matt Crawford, who faced 43 shots and stopped 42 of them; Malvern Prep was outshot 43-27.

“Facing a lot of shots like that isn’t much to me,’ Crawford said. “It’s just a game. It’s keeping me active, it’s keeping my focus on the game.”

Crawford feels he’s more effective when he’s busy.

“As a goalie, getting a lot of shots, you’re always focusing on the next shot,” he said. “So, I feel like when there’s no pressure in the zone it’s a mental struggle.”

Jeremy Jacobs gave Malvern Prep a 1-0 lead with 2:32 left in the second period when he launched a rocket from the top of the slot that beat Holy Ghost Prep netminder Jack Unger. The goal came while the Firebirds’ Matt Cholaj was in the box serving an interference penalty.

Caiden Canale and Brady Doyle assisted on the goal.

Canale, one of six Malvern Prep seniors who were recognized Thursday night, noted that he and his teammates are comfortable in close games.

“It definitely matters,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of games like this this season and we know what it takes. So, we just went out and did everything we could to win.”

Doyle said the goal gave he and his teammates a lift they needed.

“It gave us a huge advantage the rest of the game,” he said. “Our energy was kind of bad to start the game and once we [scored] t was a lot better.”

Unger came up big for his team with 8:29 left in the third frame when he denied Jacobs on a breakaway. That set the stage for A.J. Prete’s game-tying goal with 3:26 remaining.

The Firebirds (7-12, 3-5 in conference) had additional opportunities, but couldn’t solve Crawford a second time. But their coach, John Ritchie, took a lot  of positives away from the encounter.

“I thought it was the most complete game we’ve played all year,” he said. “I think after a huge letdown in terms of our effort against St.Joe’s Prep [Wednesday night] I couldn’t have asked for any better response from our guys tonight.

“Unfortunately a couple of the bounces didn’t go our way but Malvern played just as well and kept it close.”

With one APAC game remaining and the postseason to come, Doyle says Thursday’s win will give the Friars an energy boost.

“We’ve got to get the win and carry that momentum with us,” he said.

Holy Ghost Prep 0 0 1 0 (0)—1

Malvern Prep 0 1 0 0 (1)—2

Second-period goal: Jeremy Jacobs (MP) from Caiden Canale and Brady Doyle, 14:28

Third-period goal: A.J. Prete (HGP) from Chris Marshall and Andrew Morgan, 13:34

Shootout goal: James Young

Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 43, Malvern Prep 27; Saves: Jack Unger (HGP) 26, Matt Crawford (MP) 42

La Salle 7 Hun School 1

 

Ryan Wiley and Ben Falicki each scored twice as La Salle downed the host Raiders 7-1 Wednesday afternoon in an APAC matchup at Ice Land.

The win lifted the Explorers to 16-2 overall and a perfect 7-0 in the APAC.

Wiley’s goal just 39 seconds into the first period gave La Salle the early lead; the Explorers broke the game open in the second period when Falicki (twice), Wiley, and Alistair St. Hilaire all scored goals.

Liam Donahue added a goal in the third period.

Justin Laplante scored a third-period goal for Hun School (3-9, 0-6)

La Salle 1 4 2—7

Hun School 0 0 1—1

First-period goals: Ryan Wiley (L) unassisted, 0:39

Second-period goals: Ben Falicki (L) from Dean Carvalho, 1:09; Wiley (L) from Charlie Kennedy and Patrick Brace, 1:54 (pp); Falicki (L) from Cameron Ross and Will Gregorio, 4:07 (sh); Alistair St. Hilaire (L) from Julian Tarsi and Gregorio, 16:08

Third-period goals: Liam Donahue (L) from Alex Fusaro and Falicki, :28; Justin Laplante (HS) from Anders Van Raalte, 2:33; Carvalho (L) unassisted, 5:17

Shots: La Salle 43, Hun School 19; Saves: Jake Rossi (L) 18, P.J. Angotti (HS) 36

Seton Hall Prep 4 Malvern Prep 2

 Three first-period goals propelled Seton Hall Prep to a 4-2 won over visiting Malvern Prep in a non-league encounter on Monday.

Christopher McIntyre scored twice in the opening period for the winners while Andrew Tralongo also scored. Matthew Smith added a goal in the third period.

Jeremy Jacobs and Brady Doyle scored for the Friars who stand 7-6 on the season.

Malvern Prep Seniors Committed to Giving Back

Ideally, A hockey team will evolve and mature as the season progresses, on and off the ice. So, it has been at Malvern Prep.

After a 3-4 start that included a three-game losing streak the Friars have rebounded to take four of their last six starts. They’ll take a 7-6 record into an APAC matchup with Holy Ghost Prep on Thursday.

With the Friars fielding a young lineup in spots, the role of the veterans on the roster has been important, not only for their on-ice performance but also for how they have embraced their roles as mentors to their younger teammates.

Jeremy Jacobs leads the APAC in scoring but he embraces his role as his team’s captain as much as he does his on-ice accomplishments. Jacobs, a senior says he’s following the path that was forged by those who came before him.

“I’ve got to be there for my underclassmen and teach them,” he said,” “and teach them the way, because I had great senior leadership when I was younger. “I’m just trying to give it all to my underclassmen so they can learn and get better every day. That’s definitely the mentality here, we’ve got to keep that up.”

Jonathan Holt, who, like Jacobs, is a senior, points out that providing support to younger teammates is in keeping with the philosophy of the school.

“When we were younger, we had seniors that taught us the way and brought us under their wing,” he said.

“So I think just learning from them and seeing how they do it and remembering how we felt is our primary focus. Being able to take guys under our wing and just develop a brotherhood. Honestly, our school staple is ‘Develop a brotherhood with Everybody.’ I think within a team setting, it’s even easier to develop that aspect.”

Jacobs points out there are other factors that have contributed to Malvern Prep’s recent success on the ice.

“At the start of the season we didn’t start too hot,” he said, “and we kind of had to change our mindset a little bit, and ever since we changed our mindset and focused on energy, the simple stuff.

“We’ve had guys hurt all year and how, there’s guys starting to come back we’re starting to develop true lines. Our lineup was always mixing and matching, it was and now it’s starting to become more solidified, and the more we have that chemistry, the more we can go out on the ice and produce.”

Holy Ghost Prep 2 Hun School 0

Joe Spadaccino and Jake McCaw scored third-period goals as Holy Ghost Prep bested The Hun School 2-0 Friday night in an APAC matchup at Grundy Arena.

With the win, the Firebirds improved to 3-3 in APAC play and 7-10 overall; they’ve won three of their last four starts. Hun School slipped to 0-5 in conference play and 4-7 overall.

The two goals were the difference in a battle between the goaltenders. The Firebirds’ Jack Unger turned aside 19 shots while the Raiders’ Julian Arsenault finished with 29 saves.

Spadaccino’s goal came with 4:57 left in regulation off a feed from McCaw, who added an insurance goal during a power play with 41 seconds left.

“Today was a total team effort,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach John Ritchie, “with a lot of guys stepping up. I think again we did a really good job of controlling possession, getting shots to the net and ultimately we were able to wear them down, but their goaltender again, played really really strong.

“It’s very difficult to beat a team twice in one week period. So I’m proud that my guys are starting to figure out ways to get some wins. As always we need to get better in a couple other areas, but for tonight I’m very happy with the effort and I’m very proud of the win.”

Hun School 0 0 0—0

Holy Ghost Prep 0 0 0—2

Third-period goals: Joe Spadaccino (HGP) from Jake McCaw, 12:03; McCaw (HGP) unassisted, 16:19 (pp)

Shots: Hun School 19, Holy Ghost Prep 31; Saves: Julian Arsenault (HS) 29, Jack Unger (HGP) 19

Malvern Prep 4 St. Joseph’s Prep 1

PHILADELPHIA—Malvern Prep took a back-to-basics approach Wednesday evening, and got the result it wanted.

Power-play goals in each of the first-two periods fueled what became a 4-1 win over St. Josephs Prep at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 Rink in a game that was originally slated to be part of the APAC Winter Classic on January 10.

The Friars, who were playing just their second game since the holiday break, improved to 7-5 overall and 3-3 in the APAC. St. Joseph’s Prep, which was playing its first game in 19 days, saw a seven-game winning streak snapped; the Hawks now stand at 11-3 overall and 2-3 in conference play.

The Friars took advantage of their power-play chances. Jonathan Holt scored the game’s first goal with 1:22 left in the opening period when he tipped in a shot from Jeremy Jacobs. The goal came while the Hawks’ Noah Stuhl was in the penalty box serving a tripping minor.

Teague Murray made it 2-0 on a similar play late in the second frame, he tipped Jacobs’ original shot past St. Joseph’s Prep goaltender Jacob Aranda with eight-tenths of a second showing on the clock. while the Hawks’ Patrick Sweeney was in the box.

Holt noted the Friars have had some additional practice time of late and says the extra work has paid off.

“We’ve been working structure-wise a lot in practice,” the senior said. “We’ve been moving the puck well. We’ve been shooting a lot of shots and getting traffic in front of the net. We’ve been grinding a lot.”

With a lighter game schedule since the Christmas break, the Friars have been able to do some fine tuning.

“We’ve been able to develop line chemistry with everybody,” Holt said. “It’s been a good experience.

“And, working on the power play, shots from the point. We struggled a little bit with that early in the season. We’ve been getting after that, which is good.”

St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin felt his team was impacted by its lengthy layoff.

“We shot our self in the foot with our penalties and penalty kills,” he said. “I think our layoff really hurt us today.”

Jacobs extended Malvern Prep’s lead when he scored on a shorthanded breakaway 8:19 into the third period.

Ben Kerson for the Hawks on a power-play effort with 7:26 left in regulation before Jacobs scored his second goal of the game with 51 seconds remaining.

Jacobs has scored four goals and collected six assists for 10 points in six conference games which puts him atop the APAC scoring race. In all competitions, he’s accumulated 15 goals and 14 assists for 29 points.

Jacobs spoke to how the Friars’ chemistry has improved since the early going.

“At the start of the season, we didn’t start too hot,” he said. “We kind of had to change our mindset a little bit. And ever since we started changing our mindset, focusing our energy, the simple stuff, we started striving more. So, it’s been helping us.”

Malvern Prep 1 1 2—4

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 0 1—1

First-period goal: Jonathan Holt (MP) from Jeremy Jacobs and Brady Doyle, 15:38 (pp)

Second-period goal: Teague Murray (MP) from Jacobs and Doyle, 16:59 (pp)

Third-period goals: Jacobs (MP) from Caiden Canale, 8:41; Ben Kersun (SJP) from Thomas Ely, 9:34 (pp); Jacobs (MP) from Doyle, 16:09

Shots: Malvern Prep 33, St. Joseph’s Prep 26; Saves: Matt Crawford (MP) 25, Jacob Aranda (SJP) 29

APAC Update for 1-16

                                           W    L OTW  OTL    Pts    GF    GA

La Salle (14-2)                   5    0    0      0         15     21      5

Malvern Prep (7-4)          2    2    1      1         6        9       11

St. Joseph’s Prep (11-2)   2   2    1      0         5        14   11

Holy Ghost Prep (5-10)   1   3     0     0         3        7       12

Hun School (3-6)             0   3    0     1         1         4        16

* Scoring                     GP    G   A    Pts    PPG

Jeremy Jacobs (MP)   4      4    2     6      1.50

Tristan Winata (SJP   4      5    0     5       1.25

Will Carpenter (Ls)     5      1    5     6      1.20

Declan Kelly (Ls)         5       1    5    6       1.20

Dean Carvalho (Ls)     5      3    3     6     1.20

Will Gregorio (Ls)       5      1    3     4      0.80

Julian Tarsi (Ls)           5       3    1    4       0.80

Patrick Brace              5       2     2    4      .080

conference games only

La Salle 5 Holy Ghost Prep 2

SCHWENKSVILLE—LaSalle tightened its hold on the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference lead Wednesday night. The Explorers scored twice before the game was two-and-a-half minutes old and went on post a 5-2 in over Holy Ghost Prep in the APAC Winter Classic before an engaged but subdued audience at the Spring Mountain resort.

The win kept La Salle perfect in APAC play at 5-0 and improved its overall mark to 14-2; the Explorers have won seven of their last eight starts,

The Firebirds dropped to 5-10 overall an 1-3 in the APAC.

The Explorers took command early on. Ryan Wiley beat Firebird goaltender John Botthof just 81 seconds after the opening faceoff. Ben Fralicki made it a 2-0 game 59 seconds after that on what appeared to be a harmless flick from the right faceoff circle that Botthof appeared to lose sight of.

For the remainder of the first period and all of the second the Explorers never looked back. Grant LaGrecca and Julian Tarsi added second-period goals to send Bottoff to the bench while La Salle netminder Jake Rossi and his defense corps kept the Firebirds at bay, limiting then to just seven shots over two periods. One of them, from Patrick Slook, found the back of the net with 5:38 left in the second session.

Holy Ghost Prep started the final period with a 1minute, 28-second man advantage but couldn’t capitalize on it. the power-play chance did set the tone for the third period however Emotions boiled over, keeping the referees busy; they called nine penalties in the final 17 minutes six of them against La Salle.

Brian Kinniry drew the Firebirds closer when he scored with 7:40 remaining while his team was enjoying a two-man advantage. But Holy Ghost Prep couldn’t get any closer.

Liam Donahue finished the scoring for La Salle with an empty-net goal with eight seconds remaining.

“I think we did a pretty good job killing penalties,” said Explorer head coach Wally Muehllbronner. “I’ll leave it at that.”

The Explorers have played seven games since December 21 leaving virtually no time for practice. With just two games scheduled the rest of January, Muehlbronner is looking forward to doing some fine tuning with his players.

“We’re going to get into a good stretch where we’re going to have quite a few more practices,” he said. “Honestly, we haven’t had a practice on probably a month.”

Holy Ghost Prep finished with just 17 shots on goal.

Firebird coach John Ritchie was straightforward when accessing his team’s performance.

“I was very disappointed in the effort and the attitude of our team today,” he said.

Ice chips—The first game of the scheduled doubleheader between St. Joseph’s Prep and Malvern Prep was postponed. That game has been rescheduled for February 5 at Spring Mountain.

La Salle 2 2 1—5

Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 1—2

First-period goals: Ryan Wiley (L) from Patrick Brace and Charles Budd, 1:21; Ben Falicki (L) from Liam Donahue and Declan Kelly, 2:20

Second-period goals: Grant LaGreca (L) from Cameron Ross and Will Carpenter, 3:12; Julian Tarsi (L) from Carpenter, 9:37 (pp); Patrick Slook (HGP) from Ryan Lippy and Anthony Valeriote 11:22

Third-period goals: Brian Kinniry (HGP) from Patryk Oszer and Joseph Kaufmann, 9:20 (pp); Liam Donahue (L) unassisted, 16:52 (en)

Shots: La Salle 27, Holy Ghost Prep 17; Saves; Jake Rossi (L) 15, John Botthof (HGP) 20 and Jack Unger (HGP) 3

Hawks Defend Purple Puck Title

St. Joseph’s Prep successfully defended its championship at the Purple Puck Tournament in Springfield Virginia Friday night.

The Hawks bested Gonzaga’s second team 7-1 in the semifinal round before defeating the host’s number-one team 2-1 in the championship game.

St. Joseph’s Prep, now 10-4 on the season, went a perfect 5-0 during the tournament.

Preliminary Round

Wednesday, 12-27 def. Gonzaga 2 4-1

Thursday, 12-28     def. Archbishop Spalding 5-2

                                  Def. Gonzaga 1 5-2

Friday, 12-29

Semifinal               def. Gonzaga 2 7-1

Final                       def. Gonzaga 1 2-1

The Hawks stand at 9-4 on the season. Their next outing will come next Friday against Haverford School at the Skatium.