Category: Founders Cup

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. 

La Salle 4 St. John’s College 2

Ryan Wiley scored two goals and assisted on a third as the Explorers claimed the non-league victory on Wednesday at the Wissahickon Skating Club. Ben Falicki and Charlie Kennedy also scored for La Salle (11-1).

St. John’s 0 1 1—2

La Salle 2 2 0—4

First-period goals: Ryan Wiley (L) from Charlie Kennedy and Patrick Brace, 10:13; Wiley (L) from Brace and Kennedy, 10:54

Second-period goals: Colin Doherty (StJ) from Thomas Lynott, 5:10; Ben Falicki (L) from Michael Esmond and Will Gregorio, 12:49; Kennedy (L) from Wiley, 13:18

Third-period goal: Carter Johnson (StJ) from Adam Urbancic, 1:17

Shots: St. John’s 31, La Salle 41; Saves: Chase Blackburn (StJ) 37, Jake Rossi (L) 29

APAC Update 12-26-23

                                               W     L    OTW  OTL Pts  GF     GA

La Salle (10-1)                       4     0       0        0    12    16     3  

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

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

Holy Ghost Prep (3-9)         1      2      0       0     3      5        7

Hun School (2-4)                  0     3      0        1     1      4       16

Scoring (All Games)                      GP        G     A     Pts.   PPG

Jeremy Jacobs (MP)                      10        13   12    25     2.50

Alistair St. Hilaire (L)                     5          6    2      8       1.60 

Dan Carvalho (L)                            11         7     6     13     1.18

Caiden Canale (MP)                      10         6     5     11     1.11

Tristan Winata (SJP)                    7         6     1         7       1.00

Julian Tarsi (L)                                11         2     8     10    0.90

Patrick Brace (L)                            11         4     5      9     0.82

William Carpenter (L)                  11         1     8      9    0.82

Aidan Kelly (L)                               10        3     5      8    0.80

Anthony Prete  (HGP)                  12        5    3      8    0.75

Will Gregorio (L)                          10         3    4      7  0.70

Declan Kelly (L)                            10        1      6     7  0.70

Scoring (Conference Games)       GP        G     A     Pts.   PPG

Dan Carvalho (L)                            4         3       3     6       1.50

Jeremy Jacobs (MP)                      4          2        4    6     1.50

Declan Kelly (L)                              4          1      4      5     1.25

Tristan Winata (SJP)                     4          5       0      5     1.25

Will Carpenter (L)                         4          1       3      4     1.00

Will Gregorio (L)                          4          1       3      4       1.00

Jake Schultz (SJP)                        3         2       1      3       1.00

Justin Laplante (HS)                   3         1       2      3      1.00

Ryan Levesque (HS)                   3        1       2      3       1.00

Patrick Brace (L)                          4         2       1      3      0.75

Julian Tarsi (L)                             4         2       1      3      0.75

Aidan Kelly (MP)                         4         2       1      3.  0.75

Levesque’s Role at Hun School Extends Beyond the Ice

 At the start of what was to be his senior year of high school, Ryan Levesque made a big decision. Instead of completing his secondary education at Hunterdon Central High, the Reddington, New Jersey resident chose to enroll at The Hun School instead and repeat his junior year.

That was prior to the 2022-23 school year.

“I heard about [Hun School] through friends that had played hockey there,” Levesque recalls. “They’re older now, they’re in college. Then I heard about it from a friend at [Princeton Day School] which is actually surprising because he didn’t go to Hun, but his mother and my mother talked about it and she hard great things. We found that it was a good match for me.

“It’s been a great experience.”

Levesque (#15) takes his leadership role seriously

Now a senior at Hun School, Levesque acknowledged he had some adjustments to make when he first arrived on campus.

“I would say the first week or so was pretty tough,” he said, “trying to gauge the different education level, how they treated their students, how their classes were commenced.

“It was definitely a tough change at first, but once I got really settled in everything really just became a routine and it started to just come to me naturally.

“I never had a problem with meeting new people, but I would say breaking the ice was definitely the biggest part. I kind of had to get over that little hump, I would say. Because I didn’t know anyone going into the school so it was a definitely a big adjustment in that aspect, but now I have a lot of friends there. I keep in touch with them not only in school but out of school and I would say that was the biggest adjustment.”

Lavesque says his passion for hockey accelerated the transition process.

“I feel like the ice is a different home for me,” he said. “I’ve always felt it feels so natural to me. All my problems go away as soon as I hit the ice. It really doesn’t matter where I touch down but I feel as if I really jelled with the guys on the team last year and this year.

“For me personally, it was definitely a big step from transferring from a public to a private setting but I definitely felt as soon as I touched the ice I’d fit in right away.”

As a senior on a young team, Lavesque takes his leadership responsibilities seriously. He stresses the importance of being a positive influence for his teammates on the ice and elsewhere.

I definitely hope to produce my best for this team, on and off the ice,” he said. “I look to be a guy the younger kids on the team playing varsity for the first time, cam look up to, not only as a teammate but as a person on and off the ice.

“I’m definitely excited to take a leadership role just to be a guy people can turn to on and off the ice; if they need anything.”

St. Joseph’s Prep 7 Hun School 2

A six-goal explosion over portions of the second and third period periods propelled St. Joseph’s Prep to a 7-2 win over Hun School Tuesday afternoon in an APAC game at Ice Land.

Tristan Winata provided three goals as the Hawks overcame a 2-1 second-period deficit to improve to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the APAC. Jake Schultz added two goals and an assist. John Lynch and Calum Hartnell also scored goals.

Ryan Levesque and Jake Beck scored for the Raiders (2-3, 0-2).

Winata’s goal with 2:28 left in the first period have St. Joseph’s Prep a 1-0 lead. Levesque and Beck scored goals five minutes apart to put the Raiders up 2-1 with 7:33 left in the middle session.

Lynch tied the game for the Hawks with 1:02 left in the second frame and Shultz put his team ahead for good just 32 seconds later.

The Hawks broke the game open by scoring four goals in the third period over a span of 9 minutes, 23 seconds. Winata scored two of those goals and completed his hat trick with 4:22 remaining. The junior has scored four goals in three conference games.

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 2 4—7

Hun School 0 2 0—2

First-period goal: Tristan Winata (SP) from Shane O’Neill, 14:32

Second-period goals: Ryan Levesque (HS) from Justin Laplante and Jake Beck, 4:30 (sh); Beck (HS) from Levesque and Laplante, 9:27 (pp); John Lynch (SJP) from Jake Schultz, 15:58; Schultz (SJP) from Parker Tumelty, 16:30

Third-period goals: Calum Hartnell (SJP) from O’Neill, 3:15 (pp); Winata (SP) from Frankie Ely and Patrick Sweeny, 6:58; Schultz (SP) from Ely, 8:03; Winata (SJP) unassisted, 12:38