Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference Preparing for Year Two

The start of the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference’s 2019-20 season is at hand. Here’s a look at the conference’s four member schools.

LaSalle

Coach: Wally Muehlbronner (22nd season)

Last year: 22-5, 8-0-1-0 in APAC; won league, Class AAA Flyers Cup, and state titles

Key players: Sr. Aidan McCabe (G); Sr. Nathan Benner (F); Sr. Matt Bant (G); Sr. Collin Kleiser (D); Sr. David Brunner (F); Sr. Ryan Ferry (F); Jr. Liam Gross (G); Jr. Andrew Budzynski (D); Jr. David Kimmel (F); So. Nolan Woudenberg (D).

Outlook: The Explorers have some experience back, most notably in goal, where McCabe was a first-team All-APAC choice a year ago, but there are also some holes to fill; there will be 12 new players on the varsity roster.

Muehlbronner sees his team as being in transition mode this season, but the defending APAC, Flyers Cup, and state champions should still be very dangerous.

Holy Ghost Prep

Coach: Gump Whiteside (11^th season)

Last year: 9-14, 1-5-0-3 in APAC

Key players: Sr. Sean Joyce (G); Sr. Byron Hartley (F); Sr. Dan Behr (F); Jr. Bobby Baesher (G); Jr. E.J. Pohl (F); Jr. Evan Mudrick (F); Jr. Jimmy Littley (D); So. Sean Marshall (F); So. Luke Panepresso (D); So. Colin Moore (D); Fr. Anthony Sparo (F).

Outlook: The Firebirds will feature a blend of experience and new faces. Ten seniors are gone from last year’s team but Joyce is a veteran in goal and Baesher is also solid between the pipes. Hartley, who will wear the captain’s C, will be counted on for scoring punch. Mudrick and Pohl are also experienced returnees.

Malvern Prep

Coach: Dave Dorman (seventh season)

Last year: 13-6, 5-3-1-0 in APAC

Key players: Sr. John Dewey (F); Sr. Kyle Dorman (D); Sr. Chris Blango (D); Jr. Andrew Harder (D); Jr. Ryan Sambuco (F); Jr., Jack Constabile (F); So. Harrison Campbell (D); So. Quinn Dougherty (D); So. Matt Harris (F); So. Pierre Larocque (F).

Outlook: The Friars will put a veteran team on the ice this season, particularly on the blue line where there is an abundance of experience. There is talent up front as well where Constabile and Sambuco are among the returnees. They’ll be joined Larocque, who missed last season with an injury. Several contenders are vying to start in goal.

St. Joseph’s Prep

Coach: David Giacomin (seventh season)

Last season: 8-18, 1-7-1-0 in APAC

Key players: Sr. Jimmy Craig (F); Sr. Austin Amato (F); Sr. Body Piourde (F); Sr. Ben Briskin (F) Sr. Michael Urbani (D); Jr. Ryan Newby (D); Jr. Andrew Custer (G); So. Andrew Centrella (D); So. Matt Moresco (D).

Outlook: The Hawks reached the Class AAA Flyers Cup final a year ago. This year’s team will be a fairly young group with a new starting goaltender, but Giacomin is impressed with the group’s enthusiasm and hockey IQ.

“There is a strong belief that we have some unfinished business to attend to this season,” he said.

Craig and Urbani will serve as captains. Along with Amato and Briskin, they are the most experienced of the returnees.

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APAC Names All-Conference Team

The Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference has named its inaugural All-Conference team. A total of 13 players were selected in voting by the four conference coaches.

Conference, Flyers Cup, and state Class AAA champion LaSalle had six players selected, Holy Ghost Prep and St. Joseph’s Prep three players each, and Malvern Prep one.

First Team

F Nick Martino Sr. Malvern Prep

F Sam Lipkin So. LaSalle

F Daniel Sambuco So. LaSalle

D Vinnie Borgesi Fr. St. Joseph’s Prep

D Nick Cimapitti Sr. St. Josephs Prep

G Aidan McCabe Jr. LaSalle

Second Team

F Alex D’Angelo Sr. Holy Ghost Prep

F Michael Casey So. LaSalle

F Byron Hartley Jr. Holy Ghost Prep

D Jan Olenginski So. LaSalle

D Zach Baker Sr. LaSalle

G Sean Joyce Jr. Holy Ghost Prep

G Dan McGill Sr. St. Joseph’s Prep

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LaSalle Win Class AAA State Title

By Rick Woelfel

Sam Lipkin and Michael Casey combined for five goals as LaSalle defeated North Allegheny 6-3 Saturday afternoon to win the Class AAA Pennsylvania Cup at the Robert Morris University Island Sports Center in Pittsburgh.

Daniel Sambuco scored a goal and added three assists as LaSalle won its sixth state championship, scoring three times in the third period to do it.

LaSalle’s top line of Lipkin, Casey, and Sambuco, the Explorers’ top line all season, accounted for just all six goals but four of the team’s five assists.

“The Casey, Lipkin, Sambuco line was clutch again,” said LaSalle coach Wally Muehlbronner.

Lipkin gave the Explorers (23-6) the lead just 20 seconds into the opening period on his team’s first shot of the game. Tyler Putnam tied the game for the Tigers 8:50 into the opening frame but Casey answered back just 28 seconds later to give LaSalle a 2-1 lead after one period.

Casey scored his second goal of the game at the 3:24 mark of the second period to give LaSalle a 3-1 lead but Aaron Miller scored twice for North Allegheny in a span of 2 minutes, 10 seconds to tie the game. His second goal came on a breakaway off a LaSalle turnover in the neutral zone to make it a 3-3 game with 1:40 left in the second period.

At the start of the third period, LaSalle picked up its intensity level. ““The start of the third period was key,” Muehlbronner said. “We came out hard and confident. We played a simple game in the third period. And (goaltender Aidan) McCabe was solid.”

Lipkin’s shorthanded goal at 7:39 of the period proved to be the game winner. It came while Sambuco was in the box serving a cross-checking penalty. The Tigers coughed up the puck behind their own net and Sambcuco was on hand to score on wraparound.

The sophomore completed his hat trick by scoring into an empty net with 1:07 left before Sambuco did the same thing with 18 seconds remaining.

“I’m very proud of the boys,” Muehlbronner said. “We battled hard the past three weeks (through the Flyers Cup tournament) and showed a lot of character when facing adversity.

“I’m very happy for all the players, especially our four seniors (Zach Baker, Brandon Leer, Sean Keaveney, Bryan Evans).

Notes: LaSalle’s previous state titles came in 1998, 2008, ’09, 2012, and 2015 …LaSalle’s six Class AAA Titles put it second on the all-time list in that class, behind Meadville, which has won seven … The Tigers won a state title of their own in 2007 … In Saturday’s other Pennsylvania Cup games, West Chester Rustin won a record sixth consecutive Class A title 11-3 over Montour. Pine Richland defeated Downingtown East 3-0 in the Class AA final.

LaSalle 2 1 3—6

North Allegheny 1 2 0—3

First-period goals: Sam Lipkin (L) from Daniel Sambuco, :20; Tyler Putnam (NA) unassisted, 8:30; Michael Casey (L) from Lipkin and Sambuco, 8:58.

Second-period goals: Casey (L) from Sambuco, 3:24; Aaron Miller (NA) from Haden Shimko, 13:10; Miller (NA) from Tyler Lamark and Luke Turkovich, 15:20.

Third-period goals: Lipkin (L) unassisted, 7:39, (sh); Lipkin (L) from Zach Baker, 15:53 (en); Sambuco (L) unassisted, 16:42 (en).

Shots: LaSalle 46, North Allegheny 34; saves: Aidan McCabe (L) 31, Rich Karapandi (NA) 40.

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State Championship Games

Check this link for streams of Saturday’s state championship games

tribhssn.triblive.com .

Game Times

11:00 Class A West Chester Rustin 11, Montour 3 —West Chester Rustin has now won six consecutive Class A Pennsylvania Cups. That is a record in any classification.

1:30 Class AA Pine Richland 3, Downingtown East 0—Third state title for Pine Richland. Its previous wins came in 2006 and ’07.

4:00 Class AAA LaSalle 6, Allegheny 3—San Lipkin and Michael Casey combined for five goals as the Explorers captured the Pennsylvania Cup for the sixth time. Details coming soon.

Penguins Cup

Pine-Richland defeated Upper St. Clair 7-5 Monday night to win the Class AA Penguins Cup championship.

Two other finals are set for Tuesday night

Class A

Montour 6 South Fayette 3

Class AAA

North Allegheny 3, Peters Township 0

Saturday Pennsylvania Cup Games at Robert Morris University Island Sports Center

11:00 Class A West Chester Rustin vs. Montour

1:30 Class AA Downingtown East vs. Pine Richland

4:00 Class AAA LaSalle vs. North Allegheny

Flyers Cup Finals on You Tube

The webcasts of Sunday’s Flyers Cup finals are now available on You Tub as listed below

A Final – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYMFTLLkMi4

AA Final – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkGl31ugH6k

AAA Final – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL2cxIEr7ks

Enjoy!!

The Grundy Skate Shop is a full service hockey pro shop inside the Grundy Arena, offering a great selection of equipment, brands and various services. We do a range of repairs as well as offer custom hockey jerseys. We recently celebrated our 5th year at the shop but owner, Bill Keyser, has over 25 years experience in the industry and specializes in skate sharpening, including profiling. Please visit our Facebook page or stop in and check us out!

LaSalle 5, St. Joseph’s Prep 2

PHILADELPHIA— Sunday’s Class AAA Flyers Cup final could be divided into two distinct segments; the first 6 minutes, 52 seconds and all that happened thereafter.
LaSalle built a 3-0 lead over St. Joseph’s Prep in the opening phase of the game. From that point on, the two Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference rivals played on more or less even terms. But the Explorers’ opening surge proved decisive in a 5-2 victory before a large and enthusiastic audience at the Wells Fargo Center that gave them the Flyers Cup for the 11th time, but for the first time since 2016

“We got we are becasue of everybody in that locker room,” said LaSalle defenseman and captain Zach Baker, especially our goalkeeping.

Top-seeded LaSalle (22-6) got off to a fast start be scoring on three of its first four shots. Brandon Leer, Ryan Ferry, and Michael Casey all found the back of the net to put their team up 3-0 with 10:08 still to go in the first period, prompting St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin to make a goaltender change, with Dan McGill replacing Troy Stefano.

The sixth-seeded Hawks (8-17) continued to battle however. Vincent Borgesi’s power-play goal with 50 seconds left in the period served notice that he and his mates weren’t quite willing to relinquish their status as defending Flyers Cup champions. Andrew Centrella made it a one-goal game when he scored a power-play goal of his own, beating LaSalle netminder Aidan McCabe inside the right post at the 4:19 mark.
Meantime, McGill was sharp at the other end of the ice. Heading into the third period it was still 3-2 and the result was still up for grabs.

At that point, Sam Lipkin stepped up for LaSalle, making a move down the left wing and beating McGill to extend his team’s lead just 38 seconds into the period. Two minutes and change later LaSalle had an apparent goal disallowed (the puck was played with a high stick) and went on to dictate play in the the third period.
Ryan Sambuco finished the scoring with an empty-net goal with 1:27 remaining.

“A tough start,” Giacomin said. “We gave up those three goals the way we did but I was proud of the way we battled back and got the game tight. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the greatest start in the third period.”

LaSalle Wally Muehlbronner said his team had a good attitude at the start and got it back at the start of the third period. “The message was ‘Let’s relax and let’s play the way we’re capable of playing,” he said, ‘and I think they did that.”

Casey who assisted on Lipkin’s goal in addition to scoring his own, was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. “I couldn’t do it without my linemates,” the sophomore said. “People behind me, coaches pushing me every shift. It’s obviously something special.”

LaSalle’s Sam Lipkin in white vs St. Joseph’s Prep’s Dan McGill (photo by Kathy Leister)

LaSalle will move on to the state championship game next Saturday in Pittsburgh against the Penguins Cup champion … The Explorers had a 38-22 edge in shots … Lauren Hart gave a live rendition of the national anthem prior to the opening faceoff.

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 10—2
LaSalle 3 0 2—5
First-period goals: Brandon Leer (L) from Ryan Walsh and Nolan Woudenberg, 4:03; Ryan Ferry (L) from Zach Baker and Eric Ford, 5:52 (pp): Michael Casey (L) from Sam Lipkin and Fabrizio Mazzarelli. 6:52; Vincent Borgesi (SJP) from Andrew Centrella and MIke Urbani 16:10 (pp).
Second-period goal: Centrella (HGP) from Dan McGill and Borgesi, 4:19 (pp).
Third-period goals: Lipkin(L) from Casey, :38; Ryan Sambuco (L) unassisted, 15;33.
Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 22, LaSalle 38; Saves: Troy Stefano (SJP) 1 and Dan McGill (SJP) 32; Aidan McCabe (L) 20

Downingtown East 7, Downingtown West 2

Ryan Prestayko scored four goals to lead Downingtown East to a 7-2 win over Downingtown West in Sunday’s Class AA Flyers Cup final at the Wells Fargo Center. Michael Bolger added three assists for the Cougars, who captured their third straight Cup, matching the record in Class AA. Bolger was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

Prestayko scored twice to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead with 4:13 left in the first period. David McQuiston scored the Whippets to make it a 2-1 game after the first frame.
Andrew Ceglia, Theo Velia, and Chris Boyd scored for the Cougars in the second period to break the game open.

Matt Flinn scored for Downingtown West early in the third period before Prestayko added two additional goals.
Downingtown East is the third Class AA team to win three consecutive Flyers Cups, joining Archbishop Carroll (2000-’02) and Haverford High (2005-’07)

Downingtown West 1 0 1—2
Downingtown East 2 3 2—7

More Flyers Cup History

The first Flyers Cup tournament was played in 1980. It featured just four teams.

All games were played at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 rink, which was less than a decade old at the time and was home to the university’s NCAA Division I hockey team.

Semifinals;

Archbishop Carroll def. Archbishop Ryan

Malvern Prep def. Germantown Academy in overtime

The winners advanced to a best-of-three final

Game 1 – Malvern 6, Carroll 5

Game 2 – Carroll 7, Malvern 3

Game 3 – Carroll 6, Malvern 2

Our thanks to Rob Bear of the Philadelphia Flyers for providing this information

MVP: Scott Chamness, Carroll (four hat tricks in four games)

Flyers Cup Superlatives

LaSalle which will face off against St. Joseph’s Prep in Sunday’s Class AAA final, holds the record for the most Flyers Cup titles with 10. Malvern Prep is next with 9. West Chester Rustin, which faces Hershey for the Class A title on Sunday, has won eight. The Unionville girls have also won eight. Unionville will face West Chester Rustin for the girls title Sunday.

LaSalle (10)— Class AAA in 1996, ’98, 2008, ’09, 2011-14, 2016

Class AA in 1999.

Malvern Prep (9)— Class AAA in1987, 1992, ’93, ’97, 2001-05

West Chester Bayard Ruston (8)—Class A in 2009, ’10, ’12, 14-18

Unionville Girls (8)— 2010-13, 20015-18

Malvern Prep (2001-05) and West Chester Rustin (2014-18) share the record of five consecutive Flyers Cup titles

Sunday Schedule:

9:45 Girls Final West Chester Rustin vs. Unionville

2:00 Boys Class A Final Unionville vs. Hershey

4:30 Boys Class AA Final Downingtown East vs. Downingtown West

7:00 Boys Class AAA Final LaSalle vs. St. Joseph’s Prep

The three boys’ games will be available for viewing HERE on Sunday