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Class AAA
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1. West Chester Henderson
2. Garnet Valley
3. Kennett
4. Penncrest
5. Hershey
Girls
This is the second of four sets of rankings that will be released prior to the Flyers Cup Selection Show on Sunday, February 23.
The APAC and the Intercounty League crossed paths Thursday afternoon. In a prelude to a possible Flyers Cup Tournament matchup, Holy Ghost Prep, from the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference, scored a 5-1 decision over Salesianum which was sailing under the Inter County Scholastic Hockey League banner. Ur was the Firebirds’ seventh straight win.
The result of the non-league encounter, which was played at Grundy Arena in Bristol, will be factored into the calculations the Flyers Cup Committee will use to determine the makeup and seedings for its Class AAA field.
It was the second win for the Firebirds (11-3 in less than 24 hours; they defeated St. Joseph’s Prep Wednesday night. On Thursday, they picked up where they left off although two of their big guns Brady and Chase Logue, were away on club duty.
Senior Logan Barnes started things off with a shot from the left point that got the better of Sallies goaltender Ryne Dominick and have the hosts the lead with 4:18 remaining in the opening period. Joe Spadaccino it a 2-0 game just 74 seconds later.
The second period was largely a battle of special teams; there were seven penalties called in the period, but the Firebirds got the better of it despite being two men short for 37 seconds at one point.
Brian Kinniry extended the Firebirds’ lead with 6:47 left in the second frame while the teams were skating four on four. The senior spoke of how the Firebirds bounced back after their win Wednesday night.
“I think we all came together as a team he said. “It was a tough game last night with a different atmosphere but we all pushed through.”
The Sallies (12-2) got on the scoreboard with 10:49 left in the third period when Justin Celentino got the puck past Firebird goaltender Matt Salita from in front of the net. It was 3-1 at that point but William Harmar answered for Holy Ghost Prep less than two minutes later and Joseph Kauffman added an insurance goal with 6:47 left in regulation.
“We were going toe to toe with them in the first period,” said Salesianum coach Brian LeBlanc, “but then in the second period we kind of slowed down a little bit.
“You’d think that a power play and a five-on-three would give you some advantage but we couldn’t even get a shot on goal. It was not whet we had hoped for but I think we learned a lot today.”
The Firebirds have won five straight games since returning from the National Scholastic Invitational tournament in Jamestown, New York. Assistant coach George Mundy says the tournament was a turning point.
“Since we’ve gotten back from New York the team has played really, really well,” he said. “We’re getting contributions from a lot of different players, which is good. We’re getting good goaltending our defense has been solid. So, we’re playing really good hockey right now.”
Salesianum 0 0 1—1
Holy Ghost Prep 2 1 2—5
First-period goals: Logan Barnes (HGP) from Brady Flynn, 12:42; Joe Spadaccino (HGP) from Anthony Valeriote, 13:56
Second-period goal: Brian Kinniry (HGP) from Jack Gavaghan and Nate Romer, 10:13
Third-period goals: Justin Celentino (S) from Braeden Graham and Liam Bell, 6:11; William Harmar (HGP) from Kinniry, 8:00; Joseph Kaufmann (HGP) from John Graff, 10:29
Shots: Salesianum 27, Holy Ghost Prep 38; Saves: Ryne Dominick (S) 33, Matt Salita (HGP) 26
HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—There was little to choose between Council Rock South and Pennridge Wednesday night. The contest was not decided until its final seconds.
Jeremy Rayher’s shortanded goal with three seconds left in overtime gave South a 6-5 win at Hatfield Ice Arena.
Rayher’s goal, his 16th of the season, concluded the first meeting of the year between the Golden Hawks and the Rams. The two teams split four games a year ago with South prevailing in the SHSHL National Division championship game before falling to the Rams in the Class AA Flyers Cup finale.
Ironically, Rayher and Pennridge goaltender Jacob Winton are club hockey teammates.
“I was chirping at him during [club team] practice all week,” Rayher said. “I missed him [Tuesday].
“He made a couple saves but there was no pressure. I played it like he was a regular goalie and made a move and tucked it in.”
Both teams had moments of brilliance and moments that were something less. The Hawks (11-1 overall, 10-0 in the division) used goals from Daniel Filippov and Jake Weiner to build a 2-0 lead 83 seconds into the second period but squandered their advantage by surrendering a pair of shorthanded goals to Shane Dachowski that tied the game with 9:58 remaining in the second frame.
“The two shorties really killed us,” said South coach Joe Houk. “Nobody ever scores shorthanded goals against us and they got two of them. It was mental breakdowns there.”
The goals came fast and furious for the reminder of the period. Jordan Sarne have the Hawks a 3-2 lead for a time but Dachowski and James Rush scored goals one minute, 14 seconds apart to give Pennridge (9-3, 8-3) its first and only lead of the night at 4-3 with 4:54 left in the period.
Weiner’s second goal of the night tied the game with 2:20 left in the second session before Jonah Weston put South in front once more 5:01 into the third. Nick Young tied the game for the Rams off a turnover with 4:45 left in regulation.
Winton and Trey Prozzillo, his South counterpart, had some difficult moments during the course of the evening but both stepped up in overtime. The Rams got a power-play chance when the Hawks’ Jagger Smith was flagged for hooking with 1:52 left in the extra session, giving the Rams a four-skaters-to-three advantage. Rayher’s game-deciding goal came an offensive right-wing faceoff and an ensuing scramble in front of the net. Houk told his team to be aggressive even though it was shorthanded.
“I told them ‘Don’t sit back,’” he said. “Because if the puck goes out of the [South defensive zone] it’s a one-on-one or two-on-two. It’s not a four-on-three. We looked like the ones who were on the power play.”
Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna celebrated his team’s effort, and the way it has rebounded from a shutout loss to north Penn si days before Christimas.
“I’m proud of the way we played tonight, he said. “All I asked of these guys before the game was to compete.
“We were outclassed [against North Penn.] I didn’t think we showed up. And to come out against our biggest rival tonight, come back from 2-0 down and play as well as we did and have opportunities to win the game, that’s all I can ask for.
• South had a 47-38 advantage in shots … The Rams’ three losses have come against Central Bucks South, North Penn and Council Rock South. Two of the three have come in overtime.
C.R. South 1 3 1 1—6
Pennridge 0 4 1 0—5
First-period goal: Daniel Fillipov (CRS) from Peter Pereborow and Jake Weiner, 13:50 (pp)
Second-period goals: Weiner (CRS) from Pereborow, 1:23; Shane Dachowski (P) unassisted, 3:10; Dachowski (P) from Jared Garber and Nick Young, 7:02 (sh); Jordan Sarne (CRS) from Jeremy Rayher and Peterborow, 8:37 (pp); Dachowksi (P) from Josh Kelly and Landon Bishop, 10:52; James Rush (P) from Kelly, 12:06; Weiner (CRS) from Wesley Mallon, 14:40 (pp)
Third-period goals: Jonah Weston (CRS) from Sarne, 5:01; Young (P), unassisted, 12:15
Overtime goal Rayher (P) from Filippov, 4:57
Shots: C.R. South 47, Pennridge 38; Saves: Trey Prozzillo (CRS) 33, Jacob Winton (P) 41
La Salle 3 Malvern Prep 0
Three different players scored goals as La Salle bested Malvern Prep 3-0 Wednesday night in the opening game of the Atlantic Prep Athletic conference doubleheader at Spring Mountain Adventures.
The game was scoreless for almost two periods. Cameron Ross put the Explorers (8-5, 4-2 in the APAC) in front with 11 seconds left in the second period. Nole Donohue extended La Salle’s lead with 6:28 remaining in regulation and Grant LaGreca completed the scoring with 1:20 remaining.
Jake Rossi earned the shutout in goal with 13 saves. Matt Crawford stopped 23 shots for the Friars, who slipped to 2-7 overall and 1-4 in conference.
Malvern Prep 0 0 0—0
La Salle 0 1 2—3
Second-period goals: Cameron Ross (L) from John Greenwalt 16:49
Third-period goals: Nole Donohue (L) from Alistair St. Hillaire, 10:32; Grant LaGreca (L) unassisted, 15:40
Shots: Malvern Prep 13, La Salle 26 Saves: Matt Crawford (MP) 23, Jake Rossi (L) 13
Holy Ghost Prep 5 St. Joseph’s Prep 1
Brady Logue scored three goals and assisted on another as Holy Ghost Prep downed St. Joseph’ Prep 5-1 Wednesday night in the second half of the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference doubleheader at Spring Mountain Adventures.
The Firebirds improved to 10-3 on the season and 4-2 in the APAC while the Hawks dropped to 8-5 overall and 4-2 in conference play.
Logue scored his first goal with one second remaining in the first period to give Holy Ghost Prep the lead. Patryk Oszer made it a 2-0 game 3:37 into the second period before Logue extended his team’s lead with a power-play goal with 43 seconds remaining.
Logue completed his hat trick 32 seconds into the third period and Joe Spadaccino made it a 5-0 game with 12:33 left in regulation.
Cole Gargon scored for St. Joseph’s Prep with 10:13 remaining.
Jack Unger earned the shutout in goal for Holy Ghost Prep by stopping 23 shots.
“It’s always difficult to judge the quality of a game when there are external factors like rink size and weather affecting the outcome,” said Holy Ghosy Prep coach John Ritchie, “but our guys had fun and it was good to get a win for eding decision down the road.
“The conditions were most difficult for the goalies. I was happy with how Unger handled the condtions.”
Holy Ghost Prep 1 2 2—5
St. Joseph’s Prep 0 0 1—1
First-period goal: Brady Logue (HGP) unassisted, 16:59
Second-period goals: Patryk Oszer (HGP) from Nathan Romer, 3:37; Logue (HGP) from Anthony Valeriote and Joe Spadaccino, 16:17
Third-period goals: Logue (HGP) from Joseph Kauffman, :32 (pp); Spadaccino (HGP) from Logue and Lucas Gonzalez, 4:27; Cole Gargon (SJP) from Frankie Ely, 6:47
Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 24, St. Joseph’s Prep 23; Saves: Jack Unger (HGP) 23, Bruno Mainardi (SJP) 19
National Division W L T PTS OTW OTL
C.R. South (10-1) 8 0 0 34 2 0
Pennridge (9-2) 8 2 0 33 0 1
North Penn (9-2) 8 2 0 33 0 1
C.B. South (8-3) 8 2 0 29 3 0
Pennsbury (4-7) 4 6 0 18 0 2
C.B. East (4-6) 4 5 0 16 0 0
Souderton (3-7) 3 6 0 12 0 0
C.R. North (3-9) 3 9 0 12 0 0
Neshaminy (3-7) 2 7 0 9 0 1
C.B. West (0-10) 0 10 0 0 0 0
American Division W L T PTS OTW OTL
Plymouth Whitemarsh (7-0) 8 0 0 32 0 0
Hatboro-Horsham (5-4) 5 4 0 20 1 1
Wissahickon (5-3) 5 4 0 19 1 0
Springfield (2-5) 2 5 0 9 0 1
Abington (0-9) 0 8 0 0 0 0
National Division Scoring G A Pts
Shane Dachwski Pr 22 20 42
Jackson Accardi CRN 21 14 35
James Rush Pr 17 18 35
Jeremy Rayher 15 16 31
Cole Pluck NP 11 20 31
Jake Weiner CRS 21 9 30
Samuel Norton NP 10 19 29
Nolan Shingle NP 15 11 26
Ivan Bondra CRN 16 9 25
Jordan Sarne CRS 8 16 24
Landon Bishop Pr 9 14 23
Sean Cutter CBS 9 11 20
James Boyle NP 8 12 20
Shane Hicks Pb 8 12 20
Nick Smith Soud 15 4 19
Jacob Sarver Pb 10 9 19
Fewest Goals Allowed GP GA GPG
Pennridge 11 19 1.72
North Penn 11 22 2.00
C.R. South 11 28 2.55
C.B. South 11 39 3.55
American Division Scoring G A Pts
Vincent Graziani HH 9 15 24
Nathan Nemchinov HH 12 10 22
Dan Guller PW 9 13 22
Darius Graziani HH 8 10 18
Ben Raebiger Wiss 14 3 17
Victor Wilkins HH 13 4 17
Cooper Kanze PW 8 6 14
Owen Quinn Sp 8 6 14
Logan Honeycutt 10 3 13
Blake Ambler PW 7 6 13
Fewest Goals Allowed GP GA GPG
Plymouth Whitemarsh 8 20 2.50
Springfield 7 26 3.71
Wissahickon 9 39 4.33
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WARWICK TOWNSHIP—Nether Springfield or Abington are in contention for the SHSHL American Division title but that did not diminish either side’s enthusiasm for the game of hockey.
When the Spartan and the Galloping Ghosts took the ice Friday night at the Bucks County Ice Sports Center, that enthusiasm was on display for all who cared to look.
It was the Spartans who prevailed by a count of 7-0 to record their second win of the year in seven starts, all in divisional play. Gavin McManus scored twice for Springfield while Owen Quinn, Christopher Cahill, Gavin McManus, and Grayson Quinn contributed one goal each.
“I think was our best team game so far,” said Springfield coach Don Quinn. “They really wanted to come out after the New Year and have a strong team effort. We’ve had some individual efforts. But we wanted to really kind of piece it together. We preach about five guys playing offense and five guys playing defense.”
Owen Quinn and Christopher Cahill scored goals in a span of just over three-and-a-half minutes to give the Spartans a two-goal lead with 7:18 left in the first period.
McManus added a goal early in the second period and another early in the third. The junior noted the Spartans’ cohesiveness on the ice.
“We just played as a team tonight,” he said. “We’ve been practicing that a lot. Like passing the puck around a lot, trying to find an open guy.
“And then really improved it tonight by keeping the pressure in the offensive zone most of the game.
Grayson Quinn, Mathilde Boccella, and Kellen Warmen added third-period goals for Springfield. Liam Baskin and James Sarsfield split the shutout in goal.
The Spartans limited their foes to just five shots on goal. The Galloping Ghosts (0-9, 0-8 in divisional play) field perhaps the youngest lineup in the SHSHL. They’ve been shut out six times and 13 if their 16 skaters on Thursday night were underclassmen. But Abington coach Ken Brzozowski is seeing signs of progress.
“We’re getting there,” he said. “We’re going to keep working hard., both in practice and in games. We’ll get there.”
A strong case could be made that Abington goaltender Matt Evangelist, himself a sophomore, was one of the premier performers on the ice. He finished with 36 saves.
“He goes out every night and he plays hard,” Brzozowski said. “He’s seeing 40-50 shots a night.
“I really applaud him for keeping his head in the game and keeping his cool. We’re not giving him a whole lot of support on the scoreboard. We’re giving him encouragement in other ways.”
Springfield 2 1 4—7
Abington 0 0 0—0
First-period goals: Owen Quinn (S) from John Barr and Grayson Quinn, 6:03; Christopher Cahill (S) from Owen Quinn and Hunter Stock, 9:42
Second-period goal: Gavin McManus (S from John Barr, 2:57
Third-period goal: McManus (S) from Owen Quinn, 2:39; Grayson Quinn (S) from Keegan McClary, 9:10 Mathilde Boccella (S), 10:11; Kellen Warman (S) unassisted, 12:29
Shots: Springfield 43, Abington 5; Saves: Liam Baskin (S) 1 and James Sarsfield (S) 4; Matthew Evangelist (S) 36
HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—Coaches in all sports talk a lot about remaining disciplined. Plymouth Whitemarsh was in a winner in that department Thursday night and eventually prevailed on the scoreboard.
Blake Ambler scored two goals and assisted on another as the Colonials prevailed over Wissahickon 6-2 in a SHSHL American Division matchup at Hatfield Ice Arena.
The win kept Plymouth Whitemarsh unbeaten at 8-0 overall and most importantly, head and shoulders above the rest of the division with a 7-0 mark.
The key moment of the game came with 4:49 left in the second period just moments after Logan Discus scored a goal to left the Trojans (5-4, 5-3 in the division) into a 1-1 tie.
Discus and one of the Colonials exchanged pleasantries and what began as pushes and shoves evolved into a skirmish in front of the Plymouth Whitemarsh bench. When the dust had settled, the Trojans found themselves without Aiden Brooks and Joseph Gambino, two of their top four scorers. The Colonials were minus Charles Spause but also were granted a five-minute power play.
Ambler’s first goal of the night came with 49 seconds left in the second frame when he carefully put the puck to the right of Wissahickon netminder Fletcher Lynch to give his team a lead it would hold for the balance of the evening.
Ryan Jagher made it a 3-1 game 2:39 into the final period. Logan Honeycutt scored for the Trojans two minutes and change later to make it a one-goal game once more but the Colonials answered emphatically with three goals in a span of 4 minutes, 41 seconds and left their opponents in their wake.
“With the holiday break you could tell there was a little bit of rust, aid Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Vince Forti. “But, I think halfway through the second, we started picking it up and getting back to our game. And, I think it showed by the end result.
Forti credited his team for the way it moved the puck.
“I would say that’s been one of our strengths all season,” he said. “Our puck movement has been great. We try to work on it a lot at practice but {the players} deserve a lot of credit too because they’ve been really good about that.”
Wissahickon coach James Rumsey said the altercation impacted his team’s cohesion.
“We have too small a team to lose two people,” he said. “Especially key people. That hurt us a lot. But we felt good for the time we were playing. We had a close game the whole time up until then.”
Ambler noted the importance of the Colonials maintaining their composure following the altercation.
“If we started brawling and fighting everyone, then it would just turn into penalty after penalty, after penalty” he said. “You wouldn’t be able to do anything, you wouldn’t be playing hockey. You’ve just got to play hockey if you want to go out and win.”:
Plymouth Whitemarsh 1 1 4—6
Wissahickon 0 1 1—2
First-period goals Daniel Molony (PW) from Daniel Guller, 13:51
Second-period goals: Logan Discus 
unassisted, 12:11; Blake Ambler (PW) from Luke Smith and Chris Londen, 16:11 (pp)
Third-period goals: Ryan Jagher (PW) from Londen, 2:39; Logan Honeycutt unassisted, 4:54; Guller (PW) from Smith and Ambler, 9:16; Cooper Kanzee (PW) unassisted, 9:30; Ambler (PW) from Londen and Kanzee, 13:57
Shots: Plymouth-Whitemarsh 49, Wissahickon 26; Saves: Julian Lucks (PW) 24, Fletcher Lynch 40
Purple Puck Tournament Final
Sam Elwell scored two goals and assisted on a third as St. Ignatius downed St. Joseph’s Prep 4-3 Sunday evening in the Prep Division championship game of the Purple Puck Tournament in Springfield, Virginia.
Noel Ignacio and Kyle Rucinski also scored for St. Ignatius, which won all five of its tournament games over the course of the weekend.
Rucinski’s goal with 3:11 left in the second half was the game winner.
Cole Gargon scored twice for St. Joseph’s Prep, which went 2-3 over the weekend and was trying for its third straight division championship. Michael Washlick also scored for the Hawks, who now stand at 8-4 overall.
Elwell and Gargon traded goals in the first 25-minute half before Ignacio Have St. Ignatius a 2-1 lead with 6:11 remaining in the half.
Elwell extended his team’s lead 9:20 into the second half. Gargon’s power-play goal with 7:59 left in regulation drew the Hawks closer but Rucinski answered four-and-a-half minutes later.
St. Joseph’s Prep had a 34-24 edge in shots on goal. Dominic Filizetti got the win in goal with 31 saves
• Elwell and Ignacio led the tournament in scoring. Each finished with seven goals and three assists … St. Joseph’s Prep goaltender Declan Geary finished the tournament with a .902 save percentage and a 2.44 GAA.
St. Joseph’s Prep 1 2—3
St. Ignatius 2 2—4
First-half goals: Sam Elwell (SI) from Preston Forsythe and Cade Bradley, 5:11; Cole Gargon (SP) from Ben Kursen and Frankie Ely, 11:09; Noel Ignacio (SI) from Patrick Rose and Charlie Banaszak, 18:49
Second-half goals: Elwell (SI) unassisted, 15:40; Gargon (SJP) from Caden Kelly, 17:01 (pp); Kyle Rucinski (SI) from Elwell and Gavin Marziani, 21:49; Michael Washlick (SJP) from Jai Perry-Pereira, 22:01
Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 34, St. Ignatius 24 Saves: Declan Geary (SJP) 20, Dominic Filizetti 31
St. John’s scored twice in the first period and went on to the shutout win Sunday afternoon at Ice Line. in a non-league matchup.
St. John’s College High 2 0 1
Malvern Prep 0 0 0—0
First-period goals: Calvin Johnson (SJ) unassisted, 2:57; Beaudy Hummer (S) unassisted, 4:44
Third-period goal: Colin Doherty (SJ) unassisted, 11:11
Shots: St. John’s College 30, Malvern Prep 28; Saves: Jack Faricy (SJ) 28, Matt Crawford (MP) 27
Five different players scored goals as La Salle concluded its holiday trip with a 5-2 win over Fairfield Academy Sunday afternoon in New Haven, Connecticut.
Alistair St. HIlaire, Michael Esmond, Grant LaGreca, Nole Donohue and Julian Tarisi all scored goals for La Salle (7-5 overall). Jake Rossi got the win in goal.
Hockey Happenings 