Hawks Take to the Road

The St. Joseph’s Prep hockey team will be spending much of the remainder of their holiday break on the ice. The Hawks will be in Washington, D.C. this weekend to compete in the 21^st annual National Capital Hockey Tournament, popularly known as the Purple Puck Tournament.

The Hawks will compete in the Prep Division of the event, which features an outstanding collection of high school and prep school teams, many from the Baltimore-Washington area and the East Coast but from elsewhere as well.

The Hawks will open play on Saturday with a 12:30 game against the Hun School from Princeton, New Jersey before seeing action twice on Sunday against Archbishop Spalding from Suburban Baltimore (9 a.m.) and St. John’s from Washington, D.C. (2:15). The tournament semifinals and finals are scheduled for Monday.

The Hawks have been competing in the Purple Puck event for roughly a decade now. The tournament is hosted by Gonzaga Prep and the two schools have a close relationship.

St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin says the weekend-long trip allows his players to spend time together off the ice and to get to know one another as people as well as hockey players.

“We try to do something in D.C. every year that is historical,” he said. “And then after that, this year I think we’re going to go to one of those escape rooms, try to have some fun with them and everything. We go out and do team dinners and lunches.
So, it’s all about the kids being together full time for three days.

Giacomin and his coaching staff see to it that the veterans on the roster mix with the underclassmen. “It really helps the younger kids get to know the older guys a lot better,” he said.

“When we do our rooming assignments, we mix up the kids so it’s not just staying with your friends; we keep everybody separated so by the end of the year, I do believe it really helps us quite a bit. Because the kids feel more and more comfortable with their teammates. They feel like they can at least speak out, especially the younger kids.”

Senior forward Austin Amato is one of the Hawks’ assistant captains. He says the experience of the trip and playing in the Purple Puck event helps build team unity.

“It gets everyone closer,” he said, “gets everyone to play with each other more which builds the team chemistry up.”

Amato stresses the importance of the veterans interacting with their younger teammates. “You’ve got to include them in everything, on and off the ice,” he said. You’ve got to ask them to eat, talk to them, make sure they feel welcome.”

Giacomin believes those sorts of interactions offer long-term rewards.

“I think it’s really important,” he said, “because the leadership group we have, they’re class individuals. They love to engage everybody. The incoming freshmen the first few weeks it’s always a thing with them, do I stand up and say something or do I sit down and be quiet?’ With these guys here, they make sure that everybody is included.

“There is no senior group sitting together in the locker room. There is no sophomore group. Everybody is intermixed and they’re all sitting there talking and everything. So everybody has a right to speak up. Everybody has their own opinion and it’s because of those kids, that they make everybody feel included. I hope going forward those kids are going to step up into a bigger role as we move down the stretch run.”

By Rick Woelfel

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St. Joseph’s Prep 5, Cardinal O’Hara 1

HAVERFORD TOWNSHIP— St. Joseph’s Prep hasn’t spent a lot of time on the ice of late because of exams and the approach of the Christmas holidays. But the Hawks put together a solid effort Monday night in a 5-1 win over Cardinal O’Hara at the Skatium.

Austin Amato scored three goals for the Hawks who closed the pre-Christmas portion of their schedule with a 5-5 record.

“I really liked how we skated today,” said St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin. “Our three lines skated hard and that’s all I can ever ask for. The other day (in a 2-1 overtime loss to Holy Ghost Prep last Friday) we didn’t skate as hard as I would have liked to have seen then but today they dug deep and played really well.”

The Hawks dominated the opening period. They opened the scoring 6:08 into the first period when Ryan Newby launched a shot from the left point.Lion goaltender Troy Percival made the save but Joseph Samango poked in the rebound.

O’Hara (7-4) got the equalizer when Shane Truax beat Andrew Custer at the 9:18 mark. It was the Lions’ first and only shot of the period.

The Hawks regained the lead at 7:52 of the second frame when Amato finished an odd-man rush with help from Andrew Centrella and Ben Briskin and extended it when Amato stole the puck at the Hawk blue line and went remaining 130 feet by himself. Amato completed his hat trick with 4:43 left in the game. Jeffrey Hammon finished the scoring with 39 seconds remaining.

Amato, who is a senior and one of the Hawks’ assistant captains, noted that a young team is beginning to mature. “In the beginning it was rough,” he said, “getting chemistry with the young guys. But everyone’s getting better. Everyone knows each other and we’re friends now so the chemistry is building.”

The evening was about more than hockey. It was also an evening to call attention to the fight against breast cancer. Various fundraisers were held to raise funds for the Kevin Cain Memorial Foundation, which supports cancer patients and their families and several breast cancer patients were recognized including Rachel Craig, whose brother Jimmy Craig is one of the St. Joseph’s Prep captains, and Eileen Vice, the principal at Cardinal O’Hara.

Amato appreciated being part of the event.”It’s awesome he said, “representing my teammates, my teammates families. I know it’s important to guys like Jimmy. It’s bigger than us.”

Ice Chips—The Hawks defeated the Lions in last year’s Class AAA Flyers Cup quarterfinals. They’ll travel to Washington, D.C. this weekend for the Purple Puck tournament.

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 2 2—5
Cardinal O’Hara 1 0 0—1

First-period goal: Joseph Samango (SJP) from Ryan Newby, 6:08; ShaneTruax from Greg Diamond, 9:18.
Second-period goals: Austin Amato (SJP) from Centrella, and Ben Briskin, 7:52; Amato (SJP) unassisted, 13:19 (sh).
Third-period goal: Amato (SJP) from Andrew Centrella and Briskin, 11:17; Jeffrey Hammond (SJP) from Centrella, 15:21.
Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 26, Cardinal O’Hara 18; Saves: Andrew Custer (HGP) 17, Troy Percival (COH) 21.

Holy Ghost Prep 2, St. Joseph’s Prep 1

Braedon Baehser scored on a breakaway 1:56 into overtime to give Holy Ghost Prep a 2-1 win over St. Joseph’s Prep Friday night at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 Arena.

The win lifted the Firebirds to 2-2-1-0 in conference play and 7-3-1-0 overall.

The Hawks (4-3-0-2 overall, 3-0-0-2 in conference) opened the scoring when Brody Plourde found the back of the net 2:15 into the second period. Byron Hartley tied the game for Holy Ghost Prep at the 14:48 mark.

Bobby Baesher got the win in goal, making 12 saves. Rocco Bruno stopped 25 of 27 shots for the Hawks.

The game featured just one minor penalty.

Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 0 1—2

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 1 0 0—1

Second-period goals: Brody Plourde (SJP) from Rocco Bruno, 2:15; Byron Hartley (HGP) from Aidan Mulholland, 14:48.

Overtime goal: Braedon Baehser (HGP) unassisted, 1:56.
Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 27, St. Joseph’s Prep 13; Saves: Bobby Baehser (HGP) 12, Rocco Bruno (HGP) 25

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Central Bucks East 4, Pennridge 1

HATFIELD— Central Bucks East and Pennridge came into Friday night’s Suburban High School Hockey League matchup shorthanded. The Patriots were without leading scorer Sean Gorman who was serving a suspension. The Rams were minus goaltender Ryan Pico (3.43 GAA) who was absent.

It was East that earned the decision, 4-1 at Hatfield Ice to improve to 5-1-0-1 overall and 2-1-0-1 in SHSHL Class AA play. The Rams slipped to 4-5 overall and 1-4 in league play. It was their second loss in a 24-hour span; they dropped a 5-1 decision to Council Rock South on Wednesday.

Pennridge actually had a 36-31 edge in shots but junior Chris McIntyre was sharp in the East net.

“I think he’s the best in the league,” said Central Bucks East assistant coach Mike Capps. He works very hard at it. He keeps us in every game.”

The Patriots gave McIntyre some breathing room when Bogen Borodenko beat Pennridge netminder Jacob Gilbert at the 6:31 mark of the first period. Aiden Schmidt, Phil McIntryre, and Borodenko added goals in a span of 4:45 to give East a 4-0 lead with 6:17 left in the second session.

None of the goals were Gilbert’s fault. The freshman was making his first varsity appearance and more than acquitted himself well by stopping 27 shots.

“I thought he would play well,” said Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna. “I didn’t know if (the setting) would be too big for him. They were legit goals, there were no softies.”

The Rams had two big opportunities to get back in the game. The first occurred with 1:18 left in the second period when the Patriots’ Connor Keiser drew a five-minute major penalty plus a game misconduct for a hit on Pennridge’s Dane Fichett. The Rams’ power play sputtered however and they never mounted a serious threat during the man advantage.

Pennridge got another chance at the 4:28 mark of the third period when the Patriots’ Max Ermigiotti received a major penalty for head contact plus a game misconduct. The Rams scored a goal during the subsequent power play when Jack Lowery found the net at the 6:25 mark but that was his team’s only serious chance during two extended power plays.

“With a lot of new guys, we really haven’t had a chance to work on that with a lot of the things we’ve had to do,” Montagna said, “I just told them, we’ve got to be better. For as well as we played, we just gave away opportunities there.”

C.B. East 1 3 0—4

Pennridge 0 0 1—1

First-period goal: Bogen Borodenko (CBE) from Matt Cipriano and Aiden Schmidt, 6:31.

Second-period goals: Schmidt (CBE) from Phil McIntyre (CBE) and Tyler Godown, 4:58; McIntyre (CBE) from Schmidt and Ian Treger, 7:37; Borodenko (CBE) from Schmidt and McIntyre, 9:43.

Third-period goal: Jack Lowery (P) from Conrad Frisch, 6:25 (pp).

Shots: Central Bucks East 31, Pennridge 36; Saves: Chris McIntyre (CBE) 35, Jacob Gilbert (P) 27

Elsewhere:

Holy Ghost Prep 2, St. Joseph’s Prep 1 OT—Brady Baesher scored in overtime to give the Firebirds the win over the Hawks at the Class of 1923 Arena. The two teams traded goals in the second period.

Flyers Cup Dates Set

By Rick Woelfel

Dates have been set for the 2020 Flyer Cup tournament. The 41^st edition of the tournament will be contested from March 2 through March 19 and feature the top high school teams in Eastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey, and Delaware.

Champions will be crowned in five divisions, including Class AAA, Class AA and Class A in Pennsylvania, as well as a girls’ division plus a separate championship for teams from South Jersey and Delaware.

The size of the tournament field is expected to be slightly reduced in 2020. The Class AAA field will be include a maximum of eight teams and the girls’ division will once more feature four schools. The Class AA and Class A fields however are expected to be capped at a maximum of 16 teams each. The size of the NJ-Delaware field is undetermined.

First-round games are set to begin on Monday, March 2 with championship games tentatively set for March 17, 18, and 19. The three Pennsylvania boys’ champions will face their counterparts from Western Pennsylvania in state championship games on Saturday, March 21.

The defending champions are as follows:

Class AAA La Salle

Class AA Downingtown East

Class A West Chester Rustin

Girls Unionville

SJ/Delaware Eastern Regional

The Flyers Cup was first played in 1980 and featured a four-team field. In the years since, it has been recognized as the premier event on the scholastic hockey schedule.

North Penn 12, William Tennent 2

WARWICK—If there is a single word or phrase that would best describe North Penn’s performance Wednesday night it would be workmanlike. The Knights did a lot of things well against William Tennent. They moved the puck well in the offensive zone, worked hard inside their own blue line, and supported a goaltender making his first varsity start.
The result was a 12-2 win that kept the Knights unbeaten in Suburban High School Hockey League Class AA league play (5-2) overall. Josh Kaufhold scored five goals and assisted on two others and Tyler Greenstein scored one goal and provided six assists before the game was called with 6:57 remaining in the third period.

The Knights score two power-play goals and added another while shorthanded. Kaufhold was pleased with the way he and his teammates moved the puck.

“Hopefully I’ll move the puck and get everyone involved,” he said. “Obviously, we don’t want everyone just doing it by themselves, so it’s good to include everyone. “

The Knights used two goals from Kaufhold and goals from Greenstein and Jeremy Porubski to take a 4-0 lead at the 11:53 mark of the first period and were in full control thereafter.

North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis was pleased his team maintained its focus. “We continued to play for the entire game all the way to the very end,” he said. “That’s what we wanted to do. We had a similar game last week against Abington (an 11-1 win) and one tonight where I said to the guys ‘From start to finish, we’ve got to play to the very end. Whether it’s a 3-2 game or a game that ends early, that’s what we’ve got to do.’”

Justin Carrilelli scored for Tennent (3-6, 1-5) with 2:17 left in the first period and then again 57 seconds into the second to make it a 4-2 game. But North Penn responded with eight unanswered goals before the contest was halted.

The scoreline should in no way diminish the work of Tennent goaltender Thomas Lomas. The sophomore saw 50 shots in 41 minutes and 3 seconds of play and turned aside 38 of them. Many of his saves were difficult, several were nothing short of spectacular.

“He battled,” said Tennent coach Nick D’Aurizio. “We’re young. With that comes defensive deficiencies. We gave up (50) shots. For a sophomore to take that kind of onslaught; they were all quality chances. He played really well.

At the other end of the ice, North Penn junior, John Boyles made his first varsity appearance in goal and stopped eight of 10 shots.

“He came in and stopped the puck,” Vaitis said. “He did the things that we needed him to do and it was one of those things where all we needed him to do as make the saves that we would want him to make. He didn’t need to make any spectacular saves. I told all the guys in front of him that they had to elevate their games and help support him in his first start.”

North Penn 4 6 2—12

William Tennent 1 1 0—2

First-period goals: Jeremy Porubski (NP) from Ryan Cunningham and Zachery Kline, 5:51; Josh Kaufhold (NP) from Tony Tuozzo, 8:52; Tuozzo (NP) from Tyler Greenstein and Thomas Boyle, 9:33; Kaufhold (NP) from Greenstein, 11:53 (pp); Justin Carrilelli (WT) unassisted, 13:43.

Second-period goals: Carrilelli (WT) from Mason McKeever and Matthew Castan, :57; Kaufhold (NP) from Greenstein and Tuozzo, 2:22; Kaufhold (NP) from Greenstein, 3:29 (sh) Boyle (NP) from Kaufhold and Greenstein, 5:58 (pp); Boyle (NP) from Luke Van Why and Cunningham, 10:38 (pp); Greenstein (NP) from Kaufhold, 13:46; Cline (NP) from Porubski, 15:19.

Third-period goals: Kaufhold (NP) from Van Why and Tuozzo, 1:50; Cline (NP) from Van Why, 9:03.

Game called at 9:03 of the third period.

Shots: North Penn 50, William Tennent 10; Saves: John Boyles (NP) 8, Thomas Lomas (WT) 38.

SHSHL Update for 12-15-19

SHSHL Standings Through Friday 12-13

Class AA W L OTW OTL/T Pts

Neshaminy (6-2-0-0) 5 1 0 0 10

C.B. South (6-0-0-1) 4 0 0 0 8

C.B. West (6-0-0-1)) 3 0 0 0 6

North Penn (4-2-0-0) 3 0 0 0 6

Pennsbury (5-2-0-0 3 2 0 0 6

C.R. South (2-3-0-0) 2 0 0 0 4

C.B. East (4-1-0-1) 1 1 0 2 4

Quakertown (0-4-0-0) 0 1 0 0 0

William Tennent (3-5-0-0) 1 4 0 0 2

Abington (1-4-1-0) 0 2 1 0 2

Souderton (0-6-0-1) 0 4 0 2 2

Pennridge (4-3-0-0) 1 2 0 0 2

Council Rock North (1-5-0-0) 0 4 0 0 0

Class A W L OTW OTL/T Pts

Plymouth Whitemarsh (6-1-0-0) 3 0 0 0 6

Wissahickon (3-4-0-0) 2 2 0 0 4

Hatboro-Horsham (6-2-0-0) 1 2 0 0 2

Lower Moreland (1-4-0-0) 1 1 0 0 2

Truman (0-6-0-0) 0 2 0 0 0

Standings are calculated as follows

2 points for a win whether in regulation or OT

1 point for a tie or overtime loss

If a game is tied at the end of regulation there will be five minutes of three-on-three overtime, similar to the NHL.

If the game is still tied it will be recorded as a tie game.

The shootout will not be used

Scoring

Class AA G A Pts

Jake Lang (CBW) 19 15 34

Chris Trefz (CBW) 9 19 28

Robert Seewagen (Nesh) 16 11 27

Sean Gorman (CBE) 12 1 13

Dominic Patrone (CBS) 8 9 17

Colin Abbonizio (CBS) 9 6 15

Joey DeMatteo (Nesh) 10 5 15

Jack Lowery (Pr) 10 4 14

Keith Orlando (CBW) 6 8 14

Beau Brusius-Yedman (Pb) 6 7 13

Justin Carelli (WT) 8 5 13

Sean Gorman (CBE) 12 1 13

Class A G A Pos

Aidan Keogh (PW) 12 11 23

Jake Weikel (PW) 9 10 19

Seth Lerner (HH) 9 7 16

Luke Weikel (PW) 7 9 16

Alex Howieson (HH) 9 10 19

Dean Keller (PW) 6 9 15

Colin Franzoni (PW) 6 4 10

Tarek Elsabbagh 6 4 10

Holy Ghost Prep 7, Malvern Prep 4

BRISTOL— Winning hockey games is much easier if a team starts out three goals to the good. That’s what happened to Holy Ghost Prep Wednesday afternoon.

The Firebirds scored three first-period goals in span of just under eight minutes and went on to a 7-4 Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference win at Hatfield Ice.
Byron Hartley scored four goals for the Firebirds, who improved to 7-3 overall and 2-2 in the APAC.

It was a big win for Holy Ghost Prep on a number of levels. It was the Firebirds’ first start since reaching the semifinals of the National Scholastic Invitational Showcase cover the weekend. It was also the first meeting between the two schools since the Friars (3-4, 2-2-0-1 in the APAC) scored four times in the third period to post a 5-4 win on November 11.

“This was huge win,” Hartley said, “this was a statement win that the first game was just a fluke. We have lines one through four that are able to score and play defense. We’re very happy with ourselves but we’re not done yet.”

Holy Ghost Prep’s number-one line, Hartley, Evan Mudrick, and Anthony Sparo, took on much of the offensive load. Together the trio accumulated 13 points. Hartley had two assists to go with his four goals. Mudrick provided two goals and two assists while Sparo contributed three assists.

Hartley got things started at the 3:25 mark of the opening period with help from Mudrick and Dan Behry before making it a 2-0 game by himself just 16 seconds later. Mudrick scored off assists from his two linemates at 11:23 to give his team a three-goal lead.

After Brady Baesher made it 4-0 3:32 into the second frame, the Friars got on the board with goals from Jack Constabile and Matt Harris to make it a 4-2 game with 4:05 left in the period.

Malvern Prep’s Jack Constabile (in blue) and Holy Ghost Prep’s Byron Hartley (in white) take a faceoff in Wednesday’s APAC game. Photo by Gracie Cleveland.

But Hartley completed his hat trick 4:09 into the third and his team went on to score two additional goals to put the game out of reach.

““It’s never good when a team goes down 3-0,” said Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan. “We’ve been put in that position a lot this year and it’s hard to come out of it. It was nice to see our boys get a couple in response, but It’s hard to win games when you get put in hole like that.”

Junior Bobby Baehser got the win in goal.

“He played great,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside. Booby Baehser is a great teammate, and just a solid effort tonight between the pipes.”

Malvern Prep 0 2 2—4

Holy Ghost Prep 3 1 3—7

First-period goals: Byron Hartley (HGP) from Evan Mudrick and E.J. Pohl, 3:25; Hartley (HGP) unassisted, 3:41; Mudrick (HGP) from Hartley and Anthony Sparo, 11:23.

Second-period goals: Brady Baehser (HGP) from Colin Moore, 3:32; Jack Constabile (MP) from Quinn Dougherty, 4:05; Matt Harris (MP) from Constabile, 11:55.

Third-period goals: Hartley (HGP) from Mudrick and Sparo, 4:09; Kyle Dorman (MP) from Constabile, 6:19; Mudrick (HGP) from Hartley and Sparo; Harrison Campbell (MP) unassisted, 15:10; Harley (HGP) unassisted, 15:49 (pp).

Shots: Malvern Prep 22, Holy Ghost Prep 30; Saves: Anthony Perti (MP) 23, Bobby Baeher (HGP) 18.

Other Wednesday scores

C.B. West 4, Pennridge 3

Hatboro-Horsham 8, Wissahickon 2

Council Rock South 10, Souderton 0

Pennsbury vs. Quakertown

Neshamainy vs. William Tennent

Holy Ghost Prep Falls in Jamestown Finale

Holy Ghost Prep fell to Culver (Ind.) Academy 5-1 Sunday morning in the semifinal round of the National Scholastic Invitational Showcase in Jamestown, New York.

Braedon Baehser gave the Firebirds (6-3) a 1-0 first period lead before Patrick Brandeberg and Andrew Douglass scored second-period goals for Culver Academy. Michael Sobaski extended Culver Academy’s lead with a goal in the third period before Matthew Peterson added two additional goals.

Culver Academy went on to the championship game and fell to Erie Cathedral Prep 4-3.

Holy Ghost Prep Wins in Jamestown

Four different players scored goals as Holy Ghost Prep defeated University School (Ohio) 4-0 Saturday evening in the National Scholastic Invitational Showcase in Jamestown, N.Y.

Braedon Braehser,Sean Marshall, Evan Mudrick, and Eric Pohl scvcored the goals as the Firebirds prevailed for the third time in two days. Sean Joyce earned the win in goal by stopping all 32 shots he faced.

The Firebirds (6-2 overall) will play a semifinal game Sunday morning and possibly a championship game in the afternoon.

Brandon Baesher scored twice as Holy Ghost Prep defeated Bethel Park (Pa.) 6-0 Saturday afternoon in the second round of the National Scholastic Invitational Showcase in Jamestown, N.Y.

The Firebirds have won their first two starts on the trip.

Byron Hartley, John Connelly, Anthony Sparo, and Landon Stoudt also scored goals.

Bobby Baehser earned the shutout in goal by stopping 16 shots.