Holy Ghost Prep at National Scholastic Invitational

Holy Ghost Prep 2 St. Joseph’s 0

Lucas Gonzalez and Brian Kinniry scored goals in the first period and Jack Botthof was percet on goal as the Firebirds recorded their second consecutive Saturday shoutout.

Holy Ghost Prep 3 Lake Forest 0

John Gavaghan. Nate Romer, and Patryk Oser all scored goals as the Firebirds bested the Scouts Saturday afternoon at the National Scholastic Invitational. Jack Unger earned the shutout in goal.

Pine Richland 5 Holy Ghost Prep 3

Alexander Verszyla and Carson Parkhill scored goals 71 second apart late in the third period to give Pine Richland, the reigning Pennsylvania Class AAA state champions a 5-3 win over Holy Ghost Prep Friday night in the opening round of the National Scholastic Invitational in Jamestown, New York.

Verszyla put his team ahead for good when he scored his second goal of the game with 2:22 remaining in the final period after Lucas Gonzalez scored two second-period goals that enable the Firebirds to overcome a 3-1 deficit.

Brian Kinniry scored for Holy Ghost Prep to give his team a 1-0 lead in the first period.

The Firebirds will face Lake Forest Illinois at noon on Saturday and St. Joseph’s Collegiate Prep from Buffalo at 6:00.

Wissahickon 7 H-H 6, OT

Hatboro-Horsham and Wissahickon got their first look at each other Thursday night, a month into the SHSHL season.

The wait was worth it.

The Trojans and the Hatters matched each other shift for shift and goal for goal for 51 minutes and beyond before Jack Raebiger’s goal 51 seconds into overtime gave Wissahickon a 7-6 win at Hatfield Ice Arena.

The third period and overtime served as a fitting climax to the evening. There were seven goals scored in the final period including three on power plays and two in shorthanded situations.

There were five penalties called in the third period, one of them a misconduct that accompanied a boarding call.

Raebiger’s winning goal, his second goal of the game came after a puck caromed out of the Wissahickon defensive zone to center ice. Raebiger, the Wissahickon captain, won a closely contested sprint for the puck and beat Hatter goaltender Eric Miller to send the Trojan fans home happy.

“I saw that puck and my legs were cramping up,” he said. “My calves were cramping up, but I did not want to lose to that team.”

The Trojans (3-2, 3-1 in the SHSHL’s American Division) took a 3-2 lead into the third frame. Ben Raebiger’s goal 2:11 into the period extended his team’s lead but Reid Rochestie and Darius Graziani scored goals for the Hatters (3-3, 3-2) 20 seconds apart to tie the game with 5:34 remaining in regulation. Graziani’s goal came during a power play.

Plenty of fireworks remained. Ben Raebiger and the Hatters’ Aidan North traded goals before Joseph Gambino’s rocket from the left wing seemingly put the Trojans over the finish line with 47.6 seconds remaining.

But Hatboro-Horsham got a last chance when a stoppage resulted in a faceoff in the circle to the right of Trojan goaltender Fletcher Lynch. The Hatters won the faceoff and the ensuing scramble near the crease and Nathan Nemchinov scored just before the final buzzer.

Jack Raebiger said he was anticipated a right game with the Hatters who returned to the American Division as a unified team this season.

“We saw their record,” he said. “We saw they beat the teams that we beat and we lost to the team that we lost against [Plymouth Whitemarsh] and we thought this was a crucial game for us.”
Thursday’s game was the first of three meetings between the Trojans and the Hatters. The next is set for December 19 and Hatboro-Horsham coach Shane Smith was not surprised with how Thursday’s game evolved.

“When we looked at the other games that we both played we kind of had similar scores,” he said. “So, we knew it was going to be a dogfight and a battle all the way through.”

Wissahickon 0 3 3 1—7

Hatboro-Horsham 1 1 4 0—6

First-period goal: Vincent Graziani (HH) from Darius Grazianai, 7:58

Second-period goals: Jack Raebiger unassisted, 2:15; Evan McCutcheon unassisted, 7:47; Victor Wilkins (HH) from Nathan Nemchinov and Joseph MaGinn, 8:50; Logan Honeycutt from John Kuffner, 16:54

Third-period goals: Ben Raebiger from Jack Raebiger, 2:11 (pp); Reid Rochestie (HH) from MaGinn, 11:06; Vincent Graziani (HH) from William Moffa and Darius Graziani, 11:26 (pp); Ben Raebiger from Honeycutt and Aiden Brooks, 12:20 (pp); Aidan North (HH) from Vincent Graziani, 15:27 (pp); Joseph Gambino from Jack Raebiger, 16:13 (sh); Nemchinov (HH) from North and Darius Graziani, 0:00

Overtime goal: Jack Raebiger (W), :51

Shots: Wissahickon 25, Hatboro-Horsham 35; Saves: Fletcher Lynch 29, Eric Miller (HH) 18

C.B. East 10 C.R. North 6

Central Bucks East and Council Rock North had quite a shootout Wednesday night. The two teams combined for seven goals in the first period and 16 in the game before the Patriots left Grundy Arena with a 10-6 in the SHSHL National Division matchup.

Alex Wilson scored two goals for the Patriots, (3-4 overall, 3-3 in the division) who have won three of their last four divisional starts and moved into the top half of the National Division standings with the win. Eight other players scored one goal each while Cole Kleindienst contributed three assists.

Jackson Accardi scored three goals for the Indians who dropped to 2-5 overall and in divisional play. Accardi leads the entire SHSHL in scoring; through Wednesday night he had scored 16 goals and added nine assists for 25 points. Ivan Bondra added two goals and two assists. Bondra is tied for fourth in the league in scoring through Wednesday with 12 goals and six assists for 18 points.

The shootout started 2:38 into the first period when North’s Danial Maglathlin scored the game’s first goal. Wilson tied the game at the 4:19 mark before Accardi have North the lead for the second time at the 7:26 mark.

Before the first period ended, both Accardi and Wilson had recorded additional goals and North had a 4-3 lead.

The Patriots broke the game open in the second period by scoring five unanswered goals in a span of 12 minutes, 54 seconds. Samuel Gottesman, Jack Kochan, Morris Ostrobrood, Jaden Young, and Joseph Walter all scored in that span.

“This game was a great display of our team’s depth and resilience,” said Easy coach Jeff Mitchell. “We knew Council Rock North would come out strong, and they did. We saw a lot of back-and-forth action. Each period was a battle, . The second period was where we really took control. Our offense was firing on all cylinders.”

The teams traded two goals apiece in a third period that was highlighted by Accardi’s completing his bid for a hat trick when he scored 71 seconds in, giving him 100 points for gis high-school career.

“it’s really great to see Jackson get his 100th high school point,” said North coach Shawn Dorsey. “It’s a great milestone that not alot of people get to accomplish. Jackson is an excellent talent, and he’s also an excellent leader and teammate.

The Patriots outshot the Indians 29-20. Cameron Young got the win in goal in his varsity debut.

C.B. East 3 5 2—10

C.R. North 4 0 2—6

First-period goals: Danial Maglathlin (CRN) unassisted, 2:38; Alex Wilson (CBE) unassisted, 4:19; Jackson Accardi (CRN) unassisted, 7:26; Benjamin Dempsey (CBE) from Evan Asimakopoulos, 8:28; Accardi (CRN) from Maglathlin and Ryan Bondra,13:25; Bondra (CRN) from Accardi and Sean Davies, 13:51; Wilson (CBE) from Charlie Keiser, 16:44

Second-period goals Samuel Gottesman (CBE) from Cole Kleindienst, 4:01; Jack Kochan (CBE) from Kleindienst, 7:25; Morris Ostrobrood (CBE) from Kleindienst and Kochan, 14:12; Jaden Young (CBE) unassisted, 16:43; Joseph Walter (CBE) from Keiser, 16:55

Third-period goals: Accardi (CRN) from Bondra, 1:11; David Brown (CBE) unassisted, 2:29 (sh); Bondra (CRN) unassisted, 4:35; Colton Dreyfus (CBE) unassisted, 14:25 (pp)

Shots: C.B. East 29, C.R. North 20; Saves: Cameron Young (CBE) 14, Michael Jacoby (CRN) 19

La Salle 6 Hun School 0

The La Salle Explorers went about their business one step at a time Wednesday afternoon. The results were impressive, a 6-0 win over The Hun School in an APAC matchup at Hatfield Ice Arena.

Grant LaGreca and Michael Zarzycki scored two goals each as La Salle improved to 5-2 on the season and 3-1 at the midway point in its APAC campaign.

LaGreca, a senior, cited the Explorers’ stick-to-basics approach.

“We’re just trying to focus on playing the right way,” he said. “Focusing on the D-zone, not cheating the game. Just kind of letting the hockey gods reward us with goals and playing good.”

It was LaGreca who got things started when he beat Raider netminder Patrick Donoghue just 45 seconds into the opening period. Zarzycki provided the setup before initiating a three-goal blitz with a shorthanded effort 69 seconds into the second frame. LaGreca followed up with a power-play effort at 4:57 before Zarzycki scored his second goal the game with 1:35 left in the middle period.

Hun School coach Eric Szeker the Raiders (0-2-1, 0-1 in the APAC) was hurt by a slow start.

“We were kind of running in quicksand for a bit there,” he said. “It was only 1-0 after the first. We just couldn’t find our game.

“It is what it is. We’re three games onto the season, we’ve got a young team [there were five underclassmen in the Hun School lineup) so, a lot to learn. We get to play again Friday, so we’re going to reset and look forward to that one.”

Because of school policy and NJSIAA regulations the Raiders start their season later than the other four APAC schools. But Szeker refused to cite scheduling issues as contributing to Wednesday’s result.

“We’ve been on the ice a couple weeks,” he said, “so, we should have a pretty good idea of what we want to do.

“I think of lot of credit goes to La Salle and [Coach Wally Muehlbronner] and what they have going on over there. They’ve got several lined that can play, they have a lot of good defensemen and a good goalie. We just ran into a good team today.”

Muehlbronner himself gave his team high marks.

“I thought we played well,” he said. “We came out hard, moved the puck well, all four lines played well, the D played well.”

LaGreca said efforts like Wednesday’s allow the veterans on the roster to set a standard for their teammates to emulate.

“All the returning seniors just want to show the younger guys and the new guy how to play the game and how to play the right way,” he said. “Because we’ve been there before.

• Jake Rossi earned the shutout in goal with 20 saves.

Hun School 0 0 0—0

La Salle 1 4 1—6

First-period goals: Grant LaGreca (L) from Michael Zarzycki, :45

Second-period goals: Zarzycki (L) unassisted, 1:09 (sh); LaGreca (L) from Zarzycki, 4:57 (pp); Zarzycki (L) from Tristan Mitchell and Declan Kelly, 15:25; Alastair St. Hilaire (L) from Noel Donohue and Luca Staffieri 16:58

Third-period goal: Julian Tarsi (L) from Staffieri and Donohue 10:50

Shots: Hun School 20, La Salle 54; Saves: Patrick Donoghue (HS) 48, Jake Rossi (L) 20

Warner Finds a Good Fit at La Salle

By all accounts, Jacob Warner and La Salle College High School have been a good fit.

Warner, senior, is in his first season at the varsity level. He was originally listed on the roster as a defenseman but Coach Wally Muehlbronner moved him up front. Warner has responded with two goals and an assist through the Explorers’ first three APAC games, including the winning goal in his team’s 3-2 win over Malvern Prep on Thanksgiving Eve.

Muehlbronner commends Warner on his work ethic and willingness to learn.

“He’s just been a sponge in practice,” Muelhbronner said. “He wants to learn, wants to do well, and works really, really hard. He’s done a good job and he’s earning his ice time.”

Muehlbronner is quick to point out Warner’s willingness to step in wherever he’s needed.

“He’s had that attitude of ‘Whatever it takes, wherever he’s going to be able to play’” he said. “He wants to be on the team and and play; that’s where he can help us the most.”

A native of suburban Chicago, Warner was first exposed to La Salle when his family moved to the Philadelphia area prior to him starting seventh grade.

“We were looking for schools in the area,” he said. “My mom grew up around here and she went to [Mount St. Joseph] so she knew about La Salle and St. Joe’s.

“So, I came here seventh grade; I toured La Salle and I really liked it. I came back, I toured it again to see what it was like. I had a great time there, a great experience. I really liked the school, I felt it had a lot to offer for me.

“I wanted to play hockey at La Salle because I knew how solid their program was but I think just going in the school building it felt like a really good learning environment for me, for me at least, where I could thrive.”

Jacob Warner (Rick Woelfel photo)

Warner strives to strike the proper balance between academics and hockey but admittedly finds it difficult on game days.

“It’s tough, especially when you’re starting off the season,” he said. “Then when you get to playoffs there’s a different type of buzz around the school for the team.

“But, I think it’s mainly in school, you want to be thinking about that game, you don’t want to completely take your mind off it but it’s easy to let your mind roam. For me at least, I try to stay dialed in; from 8:00-2:40 I’m dialed in on school. if we have a game right after that when that bell rings at 2:40 my mind just shifts and I’m on that game.”

Click for more about La Salle College High School

SHSHL Recap 12-3-24

National Division W L T PTS OTW OTL

C.R. South (6-1) 5 0 0 19 1 0

Cent. Bucks South (5-2) 5 1 0 17 3 0

Pennridge (4-1) 3 1 0 13 0 1

North Penn (4-2) 3 2 0 13 0 1

Souderton (2-3) 2 2 0 8 0 0

Neshaminy (3-2) 2 2 0 8 0 0

C.B. East (2-4) 2 3 0 8 0 0

C.R. North (2-4) 2 4 0 8 0 0

Pennsbury (1-5) 1 4 0 6 0 2

C.B. West (0-6) 0 6 0 0 0 0

American Division W L T PTS OTW OTL

Hatboro-Horsham (3-2) 3 1 0 11 1 0

Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-0) 2 0 0 8 0 0

Wissahickon (2-2) 2 1 0 8 0 0

Springfield (1-3) 1 3 0 5 0 1

Abington (0-3) 0 3 0 0 0 0

National Division Scoring G A Pts

Shane Dachwski Pr 13 10 23

Jackson Accardi CRN 13 8 21

James Rush Pr 8 9 17

Samuel Norton NP 6 10 16

Jake Weiner CRS 11 4 15

Jeremy Rayher 7 8 15

Cole Pluck NP 5 10 15

Ivan Bondra CRN 10 4 14

Zane Sanders CBW 4 10 14

Nolan Shingle(NP) 9 4 13

Anthony Dowd CBW 7 6 13

James Boyle NP 6 7 13

American Division Scoring G A Pts

Victor Wilkins HH 8 2 10

Dan Guller PW 1 8 9

Cooper Kanze PW 7 1 8

Ben Raebiger Wiss 6 2 8

Nathan Nemchinov HH 4 4 8

Hockey Happenings is looking for interested individuals to assist with our coverage of scholastic ice hockey in the Greater Philadelphia area. Interested individuals should have writing experience, be knowledgeable about ice hockey, and be capable of meeting deadlines.

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Owen J. Roberts 3 Perkiomen Valley 2

OAKS—A strong work ethic created opportunities that led to a victory for Owen J. Roberts Monday night. Down a goal entering the third period, the Wildcats scored two power-play goals 29 second apart and left Oaks Center Ice with a 3-2 win over Perkiomen Valley

Maximillian Cornell’s power-play goal with 9:38 left in regulation was the game winner as O.J. Roberts improved to 3-4 overall and 3-2 in Pioneer Athletic Conference play.

Grady Jones scored two goals for the Wildcats but it could be argued the senior did his best work at the other end of the ice killing penalties. He had ample opportunity. O.J. Roberts was whistled for eight of the game’s 14 minor penalties, including the first four of the game’s first five and five of the first six over the first two periods. At the end of that span Perkiomen Valley (2-4, 0-2 PAC was holding a 2-1 advantage.

“[Killing penalties] is really important,” Jones said. “And making sure we’re staying off he kill. The kill is what kills us. They had two power play goals. If we didn’t play well on the kill tonight it could have hurt us.”

Wildcat coach Chuck Gorman is aware of the danger of too many trips to the penalty box.

“We’ve been inconsistent in that area,” he said, “taking too many penalties. “It’s something we’ve been working on, week in and week out.”

Each of the game’s five goal came in special-teams situations. Lewis Forth got the Vikings on the scoreboard with 9:35 left in the opening period when he tipped Robert Lynn’s shot from the right point past Wildcat goaltender Josh Burnheimer.

The Wildcats responded two minutes later when the Vikings lost the puck in the neutral zone to set Jones up for a breakaway goal that tied the game.

Mason McCabe put Perkiomen Valley in front with his own power-play goal with 2:38 left in the middle period.

In the third frame, O.J. Roberts had all its gun blazing, outshooting the Vikings 16-6. But Viking goaltender Carson Moscariello was in top form and kept the Wildcats at bay.

“I’ve been coaching him now for three years, said Viking coach Dylan Nassoiy. “He’s a great kid, he has a great head on his shoulders. I can’t say anything bad about him.”

Jones scored the tying goal with 10:07 left in regulation on a forehander from the right faceoff circle during a five-on-three situation. Cornell’s game-winner came just 22 seconds later directly of an offensive right-circle faceoff.

The Vikings battled to the final buzzer but hurt their cause by taking three penalties down the stretch.

“They’re three-peat PAC champs,” Nassoiy said, “so I knew it was going to be a tough game going into it but I like the way my boys battled. I know we’re going to be seeing them again.”

• Both teams have been classified Class AAA by the Flyers Cup Committee. They are the only pulic-school teams among potential Class AAA invitees.

Perk Valley 1 1 0—2

O.J. Roberts 1 0 2—3

First-period goals: Lewis Forth (PV) from Robert Lynn and Declan Marks, 7:25 (pp); Grady Jones (OJR) from Franklin Hartman, 9:34 (sh)

Second-period goal: Mason McCabe (PV) from Jacob Edelstein and Lynn, 14:22 (pp)

Third-period goals: Jones (OJR) from Colin Daugherty, 6:53 (pp); Maximillian Cornell (OJR) from Colin Costello, 7:22 (pp)

Shots: Perk. Valley 31, OJR 41; Saves: Carson Moscariello (PV) 38, Josh Burnheimer 29

Flyers Cup Eligible Announced

The Flyers Cup Committee has released a list of 54 teams who are eligible for invitations to the 46^th annual Flyers Cup Tournament.

The 54 teams will skate in four divisions.

The list of eligible teams is as follows.

Girls (7)

Avon Grove

Conestoga

Downingtown West

Pennridge

Radnor

West Chester East

West Chester Henderson

Class A (19)

Council Rock North

Garnet Valley

Harriton

Hatboro-Horsham

Hershey

Kennett

Marple Newtown

Moorestown

Palmyra

Penncrest

Plymouth Whitemarsh

Radnor

Springfield-Delco

Springfield Montco

Strath Haven

Unionville

WC East

WC Henderson

Wisshickon

Class AA (18)

Abington

Avon Grove

Boyertown

Central Bucks East

Central Bucks South

Central Bucks West

Conestoga

Council Rock South

Downingtown East

Downingtown West

Haverford

Kingsway

Lower Merion

North Penn

Pennridge

Pennsbury

Souderton

Spring-Ford

Class AAA (10)

Devon Prep

Father Judge

Haverford School

Holy Ghost Prep

La Salle

Malvern Prep

Owen J. Roberts

Perkiomen Valley

Salesianum

St. Joseph’s Prep

The size of the Flyer Cup field will be at the committee’s discretion. There are no automatic bids.

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St. Joseph’s Prep 5 Gonzaga 4

Joseph’s Prep built a 5-0 third-period lead and hung on for a 5-4 non-league win over Gonzaga College High at the Class of 1923 Rink Friday afternoon in the two schools’ traditional post-Thanksgiving matchup.

Frank Ely scored twice for the Hawks, who improved their record to 2-1 overall. Cole Sullivan, Cole Gargon and Tristan Winata scored one goal each. Gargon and Michael Castelli each had two assists.

Quinten O’ Connor scored two goals for Gonzaga, which didn’t get on the scoreboard until 4:21 remained in the third period, Roman Villega and Lucas Abrantes added additional goals.

“We played really well for two-and-a-half periods,” said St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin,” then we stopped skating and they took it to us. It was a good lesson to play until the final buzzer.”

Declan Geary got the win in goal after a 38-save effort; the Hawks were outshot 42-21.

Gonzaga 0 0 4—4

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 3 1—5

First-period goals: Cole Sullivan (SJP) from Patrick Sweeney, 2:18 (pp)

Second-period-goals: Cole Gargon (SJP) from Michael Castelli and Caden Kelly, 4:41; Frank Ely (SJP) from Gargon, 7:08; Tristan Winata (SJP) from Michael Washlick and Jai Perry- Pereira, 9:03 (pp)

Third-period goals: Ely (SJP) from Waslick and Gargon, 9:51; Quinten O’Connor (G) from Brendan Rossello and Edwin Siembeida, 12:39; Roman Villega (G) from Lucas Abrantes and Jack Gardner, 14:48; O’Connor (G) from Villega and Matt Shay, 16:54; Abrantes (G) unassisted, 16:59

Shots: Gonzaga 42, St. Joseph’s Prep 21; Saves: Parker Amico (G) 8 and Claude Engle Kes G 8; Declan Geary (SJP) 38

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La Salle 3 Malvern Prep 2

Jacob Warner’s goal with 8:28 left in regulation proved decisive as La Salle topped Malvern Prep 3-2 Wednesday night in an APAC game at Ice Line.

Grant LaGreca and Nole Donohue also scored goals for the Explorers who improved to 2-1 in conference play and 3-1 overall.

LaGreca’s goal gave La Salle a 1-0 lead with eight seconds remaining in the opening period. Henry Tesoriero tied the game for the Friars (2-2, 1-1 in conference) with 3:40 remaining in the middle period.

Donohue’s goal came with 13:20 left in regulation time off a feed from Declan Kelly and gave the Explorers the lead for good. Warner’s goal extended his team’s lead but Teague Murray scored a power play goal with 6:04 remaining while Alistair St. Hilaire was in the box serving a roughing minor.

From that point on, La Salle goaltender Jake Rossi was resolute in goal despite being under pressure; he made 19 saves in the third period.

La Salle 1 0 2—3

Malvern Prep 0 1 1—2

First-period goal: Grant LaGreca (L) unassisted, 16:52

Second-period goal: Henry Tesoriero (MP) from Gabe Bedwell and Logan Love, 13:20

Third-period goals: Nole Donohue (L) from Declan Kelly, 3:49; Jacob Warner (L) from Michael Zarzycki, 8:32; Teague Murray (MP) from Cole Scrabinsky, 10:56 (pp)

Shots: La Salle 31, Malvern Prep 40; Saves: Jake Rossi (L) 38, Matt Crawford (MP) 28