La Salle 4, St. Joseph’s Prep 0

BRISTOL— Some of the actors assumed new roles in the production. But in the end the performance was more or less unaffected.

Despite fielding a lineup that had some pieces missing La Salle stayed focused on the task at hand and recorded a 4-0 win over St. Joseph’s Prep Monday night at Grundy Arena in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference semifinal. The win was La Salle’s sixth straight.

The two-time defending champion Explorers (8-4) will face regular-season champion Malvern Prep for the Founders Cup title Wednesday night at 8:00 at Ice Line.

La Salle’s big guns were as powerful as usual. Michael Casey scored a goal and assisted on two others. David Kimmel had a goal and an assist, while Keenan Schneider and Dan Whittock also scored goals.

But with only 15 skaters in uniform and several regulars missing, La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner had to play mix and match several players got more ice time than usual as a result. One of them was senior forward Michael Roman.

“Definitely it’s a big chance to step up and help the team out,” he said. “I was definitely out there more, so it was more of a way to bring my leadership as a senior.”

Roman notes its important he set an example for his teammates even though, or perhaps because he doesn’t see a lot of ice time in many circumstances.

“It’s extremely important,” he said. “My main job, if I’m not on the ice, I’m giving everyone high-fives and telling everyone ‘Good work’, telling them what to do. Just trying to keep a positive energy on the bench.

Schneider gave the Explorers a 1-0 lead just 72 seconds after the opening faceoff on a shot from the inside of the right circle that seemed to catch St. Joseph’s Prep netminder Rocco Bruno by surprise
Kimmel made it a 2-0 when he put in a rebound of Whittock’s original shot.

Whittock himself extended La Salle’s lead at the 16:41 of the second period and Casey added a fourth goal 8:21 into the third.

Muehlbronner noted that Monday’s game was a new experience for some of his players who weren’t used to the postseason environment.

“It was the first time for a lot of these guys playing in that playoff atmosphere,” he said, “and I think it showed at times. We just looked a little bit hesitant at times but I think the older guys got it going, and in the end, were certainly happy with the result.

St. Joseph’s Prep (3-9) had just 13 skaters dressed. Hawks’ coach David Giacomin said the pace of the game eventually caught up to his players.

“They played so hard the first period,” he said, “and about halfway through (the second period), maybe three quarters of the way through, that’s when they lost their legs. If they played like they did … the consistent game, we’re going to be in every game and have a chance to win. But it’s really difficult playing game in and game out with the same 10-12 kids.”

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 0 0—0

La Salle 2 1 1—4

First-period goals: Keenan Schneider (L) from Max Maddalo, 1:12; David Kimmel (L) from Dan Whittock and Michael Casey, 11:10

Second-period goals: Dan Whittock (L) from Casey, 16:41

Third-period goals: Casey (L) from Kimmel, 8:21

Shots: La Salle 35, St. Joseph’s Prep 31; Saves: Rocco Bruno (SJP) 31. Liam Gross (L) 31

SHSHL Semifinal Pairings Finalized

The matchups for Wednesday’s SHSHL semifinals are finalized, along with game sites and times.

National/Continental Division

5 Pennridge vs. 1 Pennsbury 7:20 at Grundy Arena

3 Council Rock South vs. 2 Central Bucks South 6:30 at Hatfield Ice

American Division

4 Hatboro-Horsham at 1 Wissahickon, 8:40 at Hatfield

3 Plymouth Whitemarsh at 2 Abington 9:00 at Bucks County Ice

Sites and times are subject to change

The championship games in both division are scheduled for Thursday with sites and times to be announced.

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SHSHL Playoff Recap 3-29-21

Council Rock South 7, North Penn 0

Blaize Pepe scored three goals to lead Council Rock South to a 7-0 over North Penn Monday night in a SHSHL National/Continental playoff game at Grundy Arena. Julian Wagenmann, Brennan Wright, Julian Sarne, and Jeremy all scored goals for the third-seeded Golden Hawks who will face second-seeded Central Bucks South in a Wednesday semifinal at Hatfield Ice (6:30 start).

Jimmy Sweeney earned the shutout in goal, stopping 34 shots.

Sixth-seeded North Penn (5-6-1-1) will be idle until it begins play in the Flyers Cup tournament next week.

North Penn 0 0 0—0

C.R. South 2 3 2—7

First-period goals: Blaize Pepe (CRS) from Kyle Schneider, 3:22; Jeremy Purcell (CRS) from Kyle Boss and Julian Sarne, 9:59

Second-period goals: Julian Wagenmann (CRS) from Andrew Darling, 6:25; Pepe (CRS) from Chase Tovsky and Doug Lopez, 8:40; Nrennan Wright (CRS) from Kevin Koles and Tovsky, 12:05

Third-period goals: Sarne (CRS) from Lopez and Sam Cherkassky 9:13; Pepe (CRS) from Purcell, 13:49

Shots: North Penn 34, C.R. South 33; Saves: Jon Boyles (NP) 26, Jimmy Sweeney (CRS) 34

Pennridge 4, Neshaminy 2

Four different Pennridge players scored goals as Pennridge downed Neshaminy 4-2 Monday night in a SHSHL first-round National/Continental playoff game at Hatfield Ice.
Andrew Savona’s goal with 1:52 gone in the opening period gave Pennridge (8-4) a 1-0 lead). Jacob Hems tied the game for Neshaminy (6-6-1) with 6:18 left in the period.

The Rams took the lead for good in the second period on goals from Jeff Manto and Aeryk Lehrhaupt.

Mike Duke scored a power-play goal for the ‘Skins 1:28 into the third period, but Jack Lowery provided insurance for the Rams with 5:42 remaining in regulation.

Neshaminy outshot the Rams 50-41. Pennridge goaltender Ryan Pico was credited with 48 saves.

Pennridge will face top-seeded Pennsbury on Wednesday in the semifinals (7:20 at Grundy Arena).

Neshaminy 1 0 1—2

Pennridge 1 2 1—4

First-period goals: Andrew Savona (P) from Kevin Pico, 1:52; Jacob Helms (N) unassisted, 9:42

Second-period goals: Jeff Manto (N) from Aeryk Lehrhaupt, 5:44; Lehrhaupt (P) from Aidan Boyle and Manto, 11:01

2021 Flyers Cup Selections

A total of 40 teams will take part in the 42nd annual Flyers Cup tournament. The field for the scholastic hockey showcase was announced Sunday evening. Then tournament is scheduled to begin on Monday, April 5.

Malvern Prep, the regular-season champion of the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference, is the top seed in the eight-team Class AAA bracket. Downingtown West will be on top of the Class AA bracket, which will feature 16 teams. The 10-team Class A bracket is headed by West Chester East, while Downingtown West will head the six-team girls’ bracket.

The Class AA tournament begins on April 6 with eight first-round games.

1 Downingtown West vs 16 Ridley 6:15 at Ice Line

8 Perkiomen Valley vs 9 Neshaminy 6:45 at Ice Line

4 Spring Ford vs. 13 Downingtown East 8:45 at Ice Line

5 Council Rock South vs. 12 Avon Grove 6:30 at Hatfield Ice

3 Haverford vs. 14 North Penn 8:15 at Ice Line

6 Central Bucks South vs 11 Owen J. Roberts 8:10 at Hatfield Ice

7 Central Bucks East vs 10 Pennridge 6:00 at Hatfield Ice

2 Pennsbury vs 15 Hatfield 8:40 at Hatfield Ice

The Class AA quarterfinals are set for Thursday, April 8, the semifinals for Wednesday, April 14 and the championship game for Tuesday, April 20.

The Class A Tournament will also commence on Monday, April 5 with two play-in games

8 Pencrest vs 9 Plymouth Whitemarsh 7:00 at Aston Ice Works

7 Radnor vs. 10 West Chester Bayard Rustin. 8:45 at Aston Ice Works

Monday’s winners will advance to the quarterfinals on Thursday, April 8

1 West Chester East vs. Pencrest/Plymouth Whitemarsh 6:15 at Ice Line

4 Springfield-Delco vs. 5 Sun Valley. 8:50 at Ice Works

3 Wissahickon vs 6 West Chester Henderson. 7:10 at Hatfield

2 Strah Haven vs Radnor/West Chester Rustin 8:50 at Ice Works

The semifinal round is scheduled for Tuesday, April 13 and the finals for April 20.

The Class AAA tournament kicks off on Thursday, April 8 when third seed Holy Ghost Prep face sixth-seeded Cardinal O’Hara. The rest of the quarterfinal round is set for Tuesday, April 13

1 Malvern Prep vs 8 Salesianum 6:15 at Ice Line

4 St. Joseph’s Prep vs 5 Roman Catholic 8:15 at Ice Line

3 Holy Ghost Prep vs 6 Cardinal O’Hara 8:40 at Hatfield (on 4-8)

2 La Salle vs 7 Father Judge 6:30 at Hatfield

The Class AAA semifinals are set for April 15 and the championship game for April 19

The girls’ tournament begins on Monday, April 12 with two first-round games

4 Avon Grove vs. 5 West Chester Bayard Rustin 6:30 at Ice Line

3 West Chester Henderson vs 6 West Chester East 8:30 at Ice Line

The semifinals are scheduled for Wednesday, April 14

1 Downingtown West vs. Avon Grove/West Chester Rustin 6:30 at Ice Line

2 Bux-Mont vs. WC Henderson/WC East 8:30 at Ice Line

The championship game for the following Wednesday, April 21

The champions in the three boys’ divisions will travel to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins Cup winners in the state championship games on Saturday, April 24.

Flyers Cup Selection Show 2021

The 2021 Flyers Cup Selection Show can be accessed here at 7:30 Eastern Time tonight.

Click Here to access the Flyers Cup YouTube Channel

Following the completion of the program we will post information related to the tournament, including seedings and first-round matchups.

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APAC Update 3-27

Final Regular Season Standings. W L OW OL Pts

Malvern Prep (11-1) 5 1 3 0 21

La Salle (7-4) 6 3 0 0 18

Holy Ghost Prep (5-6) 3 3 0 3 12

St. Joseph’s Prep (3-8) 1 8 0 0 3

Playoff Schedule

Monday 3-29 St. Joseph’s Prep vs. La Salle 7:30 at Grundy

Wednesday 3-31 Monday’s winner vs. Malvern Prep 8:00 at Ice Line

La Salle 5, St. Joseph’s Prep 1

Michael Casey scored two goals and assisted on another as La Salle bested St. Joseph’s Prep 5-1 at the Skatium Friday night in the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference’s regular-season finale. David Kimmel added a goal and two assists as the Explorers closed the regular season at 7-4 and 6-3 in the APAC. They won their last five games and six of their last seven.

The Hawks finished at 3-8 overall and 1-8 in conference.

The two teams will have a rematch on Monday night at 7:30 at Grundy Arena in a Founders Cup playoff semifinal. The winner will face Malvern Prep on Wednesday in the final. Holy Ghost Prep withdrew from the playoffs.

La Salle 2 1 2—5

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 1 0—1

First-period goals: Michael Casey (L) from David Kimmel, 1;54 (sh); Kimmel (L) from Casey, 4:06; Connor Burman (SJP) from Jeffrey Hammnd and Nick Storti, 14:12 (pp)

Second-period goal: Casey (L) from Kimmel, 1:57

Third-period goals: Chase Hannon (L) from Keenan Schneider, 9:00 (sh) Michael Roman (L) from Jake Hannon, 11:42 (pp)

Shots: La Salle 40, St. Joseph’s Prep 28; Saves: Liam Gross (L) 28, Rocco Bruno (SJP) 35

C.B. South 2, Neshaminy 0

HATFIELD— It was a game that crackled with playoff-like intensity. Which was fitting because Friday’s regular-season final between Central Bucks South and Neshaminy had enormous postseason implications.

Aydin Thierolf scored a power-play goal with 4:15 left in regulation and added an empty-net goal with 26 seconds remaining to give the Titans a 2-0 win at Hatfield Ice.
The win assures the Titans (7-5-1, 6-2 in divisional play) of the second seed and an opening-round bye when the SHSHL playoffs get underway next week. Neshaminy (6-5-1, 5-3) will be seeded fourth.

The winning goal came after the ‘Skins J.H. Hathaway was sent to the penalty box for knocking down a South player after the whistle near the Neshaminy net.
Thierolf’s goal came on a rebound after Neshaminy netminder Brian Nelson stopped his original shot.

Nelson and South’s Mason Moyer were in top form, making 31 saves each in the 48-minute game. Moyer noted the bond of familiarity that exists between himself and his defense corps.
“If the guys are comfortable with me, I’m comfortable with them,” he said. “I’ve been playing with them for years and we just build that trust over time.”

South coach Shaun McGinty praised the support the Titan defense gave their goaltender. “Defensively, the nucleus back there played very well,” he said. “As a whole, we. We’re blocking shots, the forwards were doing the job too.”

The game featured 15 penalties. The Titans lost Aidan Gaffney at the 8:54 mark of the second period when he drew a major penalty plus a game misconduct for a check from behind but Neshaminy was unable to take advantage of the extended power play.

Neshaminy coach Matt DeMatteo tried to take some positives away from the evening. “It was a really tight game,” he said. “The boys played really well. Our goalie played really well.They just finished one more chance than we did.”

Moyer feels Friday’s game offered a preview of the postseason to come. “Every team here has a chance to win it,” he said, “and if we just keep playing how we’re playing, I think we can go far.”

Notes—The SHSHL National/Continental playoffs begin Monday with third seed Council Rock South facing sixth seed North Penn and fourth seed Neshaminy facing fifth seed Pennridge. The sites and times of those games have yet to be announced.
.

Neshaminy 0 0 0—0
C.B. South 0 0 2—2
Third-period goals: Aydin Thierolf (CBS) from Owen Mendham, 11:45 (pp); Thierolf (CBS) unassisted, 15:34 (en)
Shots: Neshaminy 31, C.B. South 33; Saves: Brian Nelson (N) 31; Mason Moyer (CBS) 31

Holy Ghost Prep Withdraws from APAC Playoffs

Holy Ghost Prep will not participate in the upcoming Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference Founders Cup playoffs. APAC Commissioner Jim Britt released a statement Friday evening.

Holy Ghost Prep’s leadership team made the decision today to pause in-person instruction and extra-curricular activities for all HGP students for 10 days, with an anticipated return to a more normal routine on Tuesday, April 6th. This impacts the scheduled APAC semi-finals and championship games planned for Monday & Wednesday of next week.

Holy Ghost Prep students were scheduled to be off for their Easter break this coming Thursday and Friday, April 1 and 2, and then for the school’s traditional spring break the week of April 5.

Bill Doherty is Holy Ghost Prep’s director of communications. “Because of an uptick in positive COVID-19 cases within our student body and given the proximity to the start of Easter break, we felt it was the right decision to shift to online instruction and to cease all extracurricular activities and sports effective immediately and for the next 10 days—meaning that all activities won’t start up again until Tuesday, April 6,” he said.

La Salle will now play St. Joseph’s Prep in an APAC semifinal on Monday night at 7:30 at Grundy Arena. The winner will face top-seeded and regular-season champion Malvern Prep in the Founders Cup final Wednesday night at 8:00 at Ice Line.

The results of the playoffs will not impact the seedings and pairings for the Class AAA Flyers Cup. They are scheduled to be announced Sunday evening.

The Flyers Cup tournament is scheduled to begin Monday, April 5.

C.B. South 2, Pennridge 0

BRISTOL— A cohesive defensive effort plus a solid performance in goal formed a winning combination for Central Bucks South Wednesday night. The result was a 2-0 win over Pennridge in a Suburban High School Hockey League National/Continental matchup that brought the SHSHL’s playoff puzzle a step closer to being solved.

Dan Kvecher scored both goals for the Titans (6-4-1 overall, 5-2 in divisional play) who still have hopes of claiming the second seed in the upcoming SHSHL playoffs via a win over Neshaminy Friday night.

Pennridge, which was playing its first league since March 1 due to Covid issues, dropped to 6-4 overall and 4-3 in divisional play.

The Titans were outshot 40-26 but did all they could to support goaltender Mason Moyer, and many of the Rams’ shots came from outside the faceoff dots.

“Obviously, it’s not the amount of shots you want to give up,” said senior defenseman Owen Mendham, “but we have Moyer back there to help us out. We did a good job of tying people up and chipping pucks out into the corners and not giving up high-scoring chances.”

South coach Shaun McGinty praised Moyer’s effort between the pipes. “Giving up 40 shots, I would have hoped we would have had better defense,” he said, “but obviously, the back end of that defense is Moyer. I’ve been saying this game in and game out, he’s the cornerstone of the team. He did his job tonight.”

The Titans got on the scoreboard when Kvecher beat Ryan Pico from close range off a feed from Aidan Gaffney at the 12:55 mark of the opening period. At the other end of the ice, the Rams fired 11 shots at Moyer but came up empty, a pattern that repeated itself all night.

Moyer made his best save of the game on Richie Shanks with 10:15 left in the game during a Pennridge power play.

Kvecher added an empty-net goal with 21 second left in regulation.

“It was a very frustrating evening,” said Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna. “I thought that in the third period, we generated a lot more chances.

“I thought in the first period we made it really on (Moyer). A lot of eye-level stuff that he could see.”

Despite the loss, Montagna took away some positives from the evening. “I thought that was our best game in a long time,” he said. “we played a great defensive game, we had a ton of offensive-zone time. We’ve got to find a way to break though on that and I thought we were a little soft in the offensive end getting around the net.”

C.B. South 1 0 1—2

Pennridge 0 0 0—0

First-period goal: Dan Kvecher (CBS) from Aidan Gaffney, 12:05

Third-period goal: Kvecher (CBS) unassisted, 15:39 (en)

Shots: C.B.South 26, Pennridge 40; Saves: Mason Moyer (CBS) 40, Ryan Pico (PR) 24