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

Pennridge 9 Pennsbury 1

For the first time in some time, Pennridge put all the pieces together at the same time.

After falling behind six minutes after the opening faceoff, the Rams got down to business and posted a 9-1 win over Pennsbury in a SHSHL national Division encounter at Hatfield Ice.

With the win, the Rams improved to 16-0-1 overall and 15-0-1 in divisional play. The Falcons fell to 3-12 overall and in the division. The loss eliminates Pennsbury from SHSHL playoff contention.

The contest was far more competitive than the final score indicates. The Rams but the game away with five goals in the third period but they worked for everything they got; to the immense satisfaction of their coach, Jeff Montagna.

“It was our best effort in about two months,” he said, “since the Council Rock South game.

“I told them the blueprint of how we want to play. You just wear teams down and we wore that team down.”

The Falcon took it to the Rams early on. Chris Sarver have Pennsbury a 1-0 lead 5:47 into the first frame with a splendid dash down the right wing that finished when he backhanded the puck past Pennridge goaltender Jacob Winton.

Tyler Manto and Andrew Savona answered to give Pennridge a 2-1 lead after one period. Kevin Pico and Colin Dachowski added goals in the second stanza.

It was still a contest at that point and Dachowski was impressed with the fact that he and his mates were staying focused on the business at hand.

“I think the last couple games, we haven’t been playing like that,” he said. “We haven’t been playing more like a team. Going into the playoffs in four weeks, we’ve got to be ready and I think we showed that tonight.

Shane and Colin Dachowski, Savona, Dean Venner, and Nolan Shaw all scored third-period goals for Pennridge as the falcons’ gas tank dropped toward empty.

But Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley was impressed with his team’s effort.

“I think for two periods we were right there with them,” he said. “Their goalie is good. I feel like I say that a lot but he had a great game.

Daley noted his team had a number of quality chances.

“If you were really watching that game, we really did have a lot of scoring chances,” he said. “And the puck just wasn’t finding our stick, or [Winton] made a great save, or his defensemen blocked it. They were right spots at the right time.

“But, I was happy with the way we played, I was happy with the effort.”

Pico had a five-point night that included four assists. Shane Dachowski finished with three assists.

With the results of Wednesday’s games, the field for the National Division playoffs has been finalized. The six teams include Pennridge, Council Rock South, Central Bucks South, Central Bucks East, North Penn, and Souderton. The Rams and the Golden Hawks will have byes into the semifinals.

Pennsbury 1 0 0—1

Pennridge 2 2 5—9

First-period goals: Chris Sarver (Pb) unassisted, 5:47; Tyler Manto (Pr) unassisted, 8:33; Andrew Savona (Pr) from Kevin Pico and Shane Dachowksi, 13:11

Second-period goals: Pico (Pr) from Shane Dachowski and Savona, 7:09; Colin Dachowski (Pr) from Pico, 12:45 (pp)

Third-period goals: Shane Dachowski (Pr) from Nolan Shaw and Pico, 1:20; Dean Venner (Pr) unassisted, 5;10; Shaw (Pr) from Justin Dinsmore, 10:22; Savona (Pr) from Pico and Shane Dachowski, 11:20; Colin Dachowski (Pr) unassisted, 12:29

Shots: Pennsbury 26, Pennridge 46; Saves: Aaron McDaniel (P) 37, Jacob Winton (P) 25

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

St. Joseph’s Prep 4 Holy Ghost Prep 0

Brayden Collins scored two goals to lead the Hawks to the shutout win over the Firebirds on Wednesday in an APAC matchup at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 Arena.
The win lifted the Hawks to 12-4 overall and 3-3 in conference play. The Firebirds dropped to 7-11 overall and 3-4 in conference play.

Collins’ two goals gave St. Joseph’s Prep a 2-0 lead 6:14 into the second period. Parker Tumelty and Jake Schultz added goals in the third frame.

Jacob Aranda earned the shutout in goal with a 19-save effort. His teammates supported him by denying the Firebirds on three power-play chances.

“We played a lot better on the penalty kill tonight,” said St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin. [Aranda] was sharp tonight. We really played hard in all three zones especially with our offensive forecheck.”

Holy Ghost Prep 0 0 0 —0

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 1 2—4

First-period goal: Brayden Collins (SJP) from Cole Gargon and Jake Schultz, 6:51

Second-period goal: Collins (SJP) from Schultz, 6:14

Third-period goals: Parker Tumelty (SJP) from Calum Hartnell, 9:03; Schultz (SJP) from Noah Stuhl, 15:14

Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 19, St. Joseph’s Prep 23; Saves: John Botthof (HGP) 19, Jacob Aranda (SJP) 19

SHSHL Update 1-31-24

National Division W L T OW OL Pts

@ Pennridge (15-0-1) 14 0 1 1 0 0 29

@ Council Rock South (15-1-0) 14 1 0 0 0 28

@ Cent. Bucks South (10-5-1) 10 4 1 0 2 23

@ Central Bucks East (9-4-1) 9 4 2 0 0 19

North Penn (8-6-0) 8 6 0 0 0 16

Souderton (6-9-0) 6 9 0 4 1 13

Pennsbury (3-11-0) 3 11 0 0 2 8

Cent. Bucks West (3-11-1) 3 11 1 0 1 8

Council Rock North (2-13-0) 2 13 0 0 1 5

Neshaminy (1-11-2) 1 11 2 0 0 4

American Division W L T OW OL Pts

@ Plymouth White. (10-3) 9 1 0 0 1 19

@ Bensalem (9-3) 7 3 0 1 1 15

@ Abington (6-5-1) 5 3 0 0 0 10

Wissahickon (2-11) 2 9 0 1 4

Springfield (1-12) 1 8 0 0 0 2

@ Clinched playoff spots

National Division Scoring G A Pts

Kevin Pico (Pr) 25 36 61

Andrew Savona (Pr) 31 27 58

Maxwell Ryon (Soud) 33 18 51

Shane Dachowski (Pr) 23 27 50

Kevin Koles (CRS) 22 22 44

Jake Weiner (CRS) 23 18 41

Seth Grossman (Soud) 20 20 40

Blaize Pepe (CRS) 15 21 36

Nolan Shingle (NP) 6 22 28

Illia Mukhin (CRS) 11 16 27

American Division Scoring G A Pts

Alex Hood (Bens) 44 14 58

Alex Bazylevich (Bens) 11 19 30

David Branigan (PW) 17 12 29

Seamus Donofry (Ab) 6 22 28

Dylan Novitski (PW) 17 10 27

Tim Murphy (PW) 9 17 26

Daniel Guller (PW) 7 18 25

Owen Quinn (Sp) 13 9 22

Jason Segal (PW) 11 11 22

Michael Romano (Ab) 10 9 19

Cole Salayda (Bens) 6 13 19

APAC Update for 1-30-24

W L OTW OTL Pts GF GA

La Salle (15-2) 6 0 0 0 18 24 5

Malvern Prep (7-6) 3 3 1 1 9 13 15

Holy Ghost Prep (7-10) 3 3 0 0 9 12 14

St. Joseph’s Prep (11-4) 2 3 1 0 5 15 15

Hun School (3-8) 0 3 0 1 1 6 21

Scoring (Conference Games) GP G A Pts. PPG

Jeremy Jacobs (MP) 6 4 6 10 1.67

Dan Carvalho (L) 6 3 4 7 1.17

Jake McCaw (HGP) 6 3 3 6 1.00

William Carpenter (L) 6 1 5 6 1.00

Declan Kelly (L) 6 1 5 6 1.00

Ryan Levesque (HS) 5 1 4 5 1.00

Tristan Winata (SJP) 5 5 0 5 1.00

Patrick Brace (L) 6 3 2 5 0.83

Scoring (All Games) GP G A Pts. PPG

Jeremy Jacobs (MP) 13 16 15 31 2.38

Dan Carvalho (L) 17 9 8 17 1.00

Cole Gargon (SJP) 14 9 5 14 1.00

Caiden Canle (MP) 13 6 6 12 0.92

Brayden Collins (SJP) 15 4 9 13 0.87

Tristan Winata (SJP) 14 8 4 12 0.86

Patrick Brace (L) 17 6 8 14 0.82

Jake McCaw (HGP) 16 9 4 13 0.81

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.

APAC Annouces Playoff Dates

The historic Class of 1923 Rink on the University of Pennsylvania campus will be the venue for the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference semifinals on Wednesday, February 21st.

The semifinals will be preceded by a play-in game on a date to be determined, between the teams that finish fourth and fifth in the regular-season standings.

The Founders Cup championship game is tentatively set for Wednesday, February 28^th at the home rink of the highest seeded finalist.

Abington 10 Wissahickon 2

Call it Mission Accomplished

Abington took the ice against Wissahickon Friday night knowing a win, a tie, or an overtime loss would assure it of a slot in the SHSHL American Division playoffs.

The Galloping Ghosts went out and took care of business, posting a 10-2 win at the Bucks County Ice Sports Center.

The win lifted Abington to 5-3 in American Division play and 6-5 overall. More importantly. The Galloping Ghosts will join Plymouth Whitemarsh in the divisional playoffs on February 21 or 22 with the championship game set for February 28. The seeds of the three teams are still to be determined.

Wissahickon dropped to 2-11 overall and 2-9 in the division.

Leading 2-1 after the first frame, the Galloping Ghost broke the game open with six goals in the middle period against a young Wissahickon team that had just nine players in uniform.

Sam Abramson led the way for the victors with a four-goal effort. Shane Meltzer and Devin Bates added two goals each; Jude Large and Ben Biko also scored goals.

Abington coach Ken Brzozowski took advantage of the score line to give his younger skaters some extra ice time.

“It gave us the opportunity to play our third and fourth lines a little bit more,” he said. “It’s great to see them get some ice time. They’re working hard in practice. So, getting some real game opportunity experience is important.”

Officially earning a spot in the postseason with four regular-season games remaining will give Brzozowski’s troops a chance to refocus.

“We’re looking forward to it,” Brzoowski said. “Being able to make the playoffs again and have the opportunity to get some experience. Once you get there, you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Dryden Jaisle and Nolan Pounds scored goals for Wissahickon. Jaisle’s effort gave the Trojans a 1-0 lead 4:19 into the first period but Wissahickon was undermined by its youth and lack of manpower.

Trojan coach James Rumsey says his young team has had to grow up quickly.

“We have no seniors,” he said, “nobody graduating, so all these kids are going to be playing with us for the next two years at minimum.

“It’s definitely a young team, definitely a good group. We lost one of our guys to juniors this year and just another for the same reason. We have a little less players but a lot of heart.”

Wissahickon 1 1 0—2

Abington 2 6 2—10

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