Pennridge 10 Bensalem 2—The top-seeded Rams broke the game open with four goals in the second period. Kevin Pico scored three goals for the winners while Andrew Savona added two goals and two assists. Alex Hood and Lucas Gonzalez scored for the 16^th-seeded Owls. Downingtown East 3 Central Bucks East 2—Ninth-seeded Downingtown East built a 3-0 second-period lead and hung on for the win over the eighth-seeded Patriots.  David Brown and Corey Kosick scored goals for Central Bucks East.   Downingtown West 9 Souderton 4—Seth Grossman scored twice for the 13^th-seeded Big Red Tuesday night. The game was tied 3-3 midway through the second period before the fourth-seeded Whippets scored five unanswered goals to build an 8-3 lead early in the third period. Haverford High 6 North Penn—The fifth-seeded Fords scored six goals in the third period after Cole Pluck gave the 12^th-seeded Knights a 1-0 second-period lead. Nolan Shingle scored for North Penn four minutes into the third period to make it a 3-2 game but Haverford scored the last three goals of the game. Ryan McGlade scored three of Haverford’s goals. Council Rock South 12 Spring Ford 0—Details on this game can be found HERE. .Cherokee 6 Lower Merion 3—The 10^th-seeded The Chiefs advanced on the strength of goals from six different players. Boyertown 7 Pennsbury 2—Chris Sarver scored both goal for the 14^th –seeded Falcons. Central Bucks South 5 Avon Grove 2—Five different players scored goals for the sixth-seeded Titans.

The Flyers Cup was first contested in 1980. it became a three-class tournament in 1991.

La Salle has won the most Flyers Cup titles with 12. Malvern Prep is next with 10 followed by Bayard Rustin with 9, Archbishop Carroll with 6, and Haverford with 5.

Wednesday, February 21

National Division Quarterfinal

3. Central Bucks South vs. 6. Souderton

7:20 at Hatfield Ice

Winner faces Council Rock South in semifinals on 2-28

Central Bucks South (12-7-1, 12-5-1 in divisional play)

The Titans have been an up-and-down team this season. They enter the postseason having split their last six games.

D.J. Lindenmuth paces the team in scoring with 21 goals and 14 assists for 35 points. Sean Cutter has produced eight goals and 18 assists for 26 points. Dom Varacallo offers a veteran’s presence in goal with an .880 save percentage and a 3.08 GAA. Nathan Napolitano offers an .876 save percentage and a 2.83 GAA.

South split two meetings with Souderton this season.

Souderton (7-11)

The Big Red was third in the division in goals scored with 111 but also surrendered the most, 153. Maxwell Ryon tops the scoring column with 43 goals and 20 assists for 63 points.  Seth Grossman is next with 24 goals and 30 assists for 54 points while Nick Smith has added 14 goals and 21 assists for 35 points.

Connor Paulus took over in goal when his team needed a netminder. His season-long save percentage is .732 and his GAA stands at 8.50 but his level of play has risen impressively since the holiday break,

American Division Semifinal

2. Bensalem vs. 3. Abington

7:20 at Grundy Arena

Winner faces Plymouth Whitemarsh in final on 2-28

Bensalem (12-3, 9-3 in divisional play)

The Owls have attracted a lot of attention this season; they’ve averaged seven goals a game. Alex Hood stands third in the entire SHSHL in scoring with 52 goals and 18 assists for 70 points. Alex Bazylevich has provided 15 goals and 27 assists for 42 points.

Ricky Gonzalez is a premier goaltender, who’s carrying a .901 save percentage and a 3.06 GAA.

Abington (6-9-1, 5-7 in the division)

A young Abington team struggled at time this season but the Galloping Ghosts get a fresh start with the start of the postseason.

Seamus Donofry paces his team in scoring with seven goals and 23 assists for 30 points. Michael Romano is next with 11 goal and nine assists for 20 points.

Matt Evangelist (.864 save percentage, 4.33 GAA)  and Devin Brown (.808/7.33) split time in goal.

Thursday, February 22

National Division Quarterfinal

4. Central Bucks East vs. 5 North Penn

7:10 at Hatfield Ice

Winner faces Pennridge in semifinal on 2-28

Central Bucks East (11-5-2)

The Patriots enter the postseason as one of the hottest teams in the SHSHL; the went 6-1-2 in their final nine games. They’re 1-0-1 against the Knights this season.

Corey Kosick leads the team in scoring with 26 goals and 12 assists for 38 points. Jaden Young is next with eight goals and six assists for 14 points. Eight players on the roster have accumulated 10 points or more.

 Cole Breen is a force in goal with an .891 save percentage and a 3.51 GAA

North Penn (10-7-1)

After struggling much of last year, the Knights staged a big-time resurgence this season. Nolan Shingle is the top scorer with nine goals and 28 assists for 37 points. Samuel Norton has provided 17 goals and 13 assists for 30 points while Cole Pluck has contributed 15 goals and 14 assists for 29 points.

Maks-Joseph Harkins, Aidan Quigley, and Ian McAteer all see time in goal. Harkins has the most noteworthy numbers, a .918 save percentage and a 2.41 GAA.

• Results of the playoffs will not impact Flyers Cup tournament selections/seedings. Abington and Bensalem are both classified ‘AA” for Flyers Cup purposes.

Hockey Happenings is seeking interested individuals to assist with coverage of the upcoming SHSHL playoffs.

If interested contact us at rwoelfel2013@gmail.com

 A matchup between Holy Ghost Prep and Hun School will kick off the 2024 Founders Cup playoffs.

The fourth-seeded Firebirds will host the fifth-seeded Raiders in a play in game on Tuesday, February 20 at 4 p.m. at Grundy Arena.

The winner will advance to face top-seeded La Salle the following day, February 21, at the Class of 1923 Rink at the University of Pennsylvania as part of a semifinal doubleheader.  The other semifinal game will match Malvern Prep against St. Joseph’s Prep. The semifinal doubleheader will begin at 4:00; which game will be first has not been announced.

The Founders Cup title game is tentatively set for February 28 and will be hosted by the highest seeded finalist.

Charlie Kennedy and Dean Caevalho scored goals in the Explorers’ non-league loss in Tuesday.

La Salle now stands at 17-3 on the season

                                               W     L    OTW  OTL Pts  GF     GA

La Salle (17-2)                      7     0       0        0    21    31       6 

Malvern Prep (7-6)             3      3      1       1      9     13     15 

Holy Ghost Prep (8-12)       3      4      0       0     9     12    18

St. Joseph’s Prep (12-4)      3      3      1        0     8    19    15

Hun School (3-9)                  0     6      0        1     1      7     28

Scoring (Conference Games)     GP    G     A     Pts. PPG  

Jeremy Jacobs (MP)                      7        5   6    11     1.57

Dan Carvalho (L)                           7         4   5     9     1.29

Jake Schultz (SJP)                        5         3      3      6   1.20

Ryan Levesque (HS)                    5        1       4    5   1.00

Jake McCaw (HGP)                       8         3     3    6    1.00

William Carpenter (L)                  7         1     5    6    0.86

Declan Kelly (L)                            7        1      5     6    0.86

Will Gregorio (L)                           7       1      5     6   0.86

Patrick Brace (L)                           7       3       3    6   0.86 

Tristan Winata (SJP)                   6         5      0     5  0.83

Save Pct (Conference Games)   GP   S      GA  Save Pct.

Jake Rossi (L)                                 7   165    6     .964

Jack Unger (HGP)                         4      72    3     .958

Matt Crawford (MP)                   7       252  15  .940

Julian Arseneault (HS)                4       173  13   .925

Jaccob Aranda (SJP)               6        170    15     .912

Goals Against (Conference Games)

Jack Unger (HGP)   0.84

Jake Rossi (L)          0.86

Matt Crawford (MP) 2.06
Jacob Aranda (SJP)   2.46

Check out the latest Hockey Happenings podcast

The latest edition of the Hockey Happenings podcast is now live.

Flyers Cup Committee President Eric Tye joins me for a discussion of the upcoming Flyers Cup tournament.

Jake McCaw’s goal with 50 seconds left in regulation gave Holt Ghost Prep a 3-2 win Wednesday at Ice Land. It was his second goal of the game and capped a frenzied conclusion to the third period which saw three goals scored in a span of just under seven minutes.

McCaw opened the scoring for the Firebirds 1:45 into the opening period off and assist from Joseph Kaufmann.

Anthony Prete gave Holy Ghost Prep (6-10, 2-3) a 2-0 advantage 8:04 into the second period with help from Anthony Valeriote and Chris Marshall.

But Raiders (3-7, 0-3) battled back. Charles-Etienne Jett and Justin Laplante scored goals 1 minute, 49 seconds apart with 5:55 left in the third period to tie the game and set up the finish.

The Firebirds outshot the Raiders 51-23 but Julian Arsenault kept Hun School in the game by making 48 saves. Jack Unger stopped 21 shots at the other end.

“I was really proud of the response out of our team today and the way we competed.,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach John Ritchie. “We are still a work in progress and should’ve won more comfortably given the shot differential, but Hun goalie did a nice job and we have to learn to capitalize on our opportunities. Overall though I was very happy with our game and effort today.”

Holy Ghost Prep 1 1 1—3

Hun School 0 0 2—2

First-period goals: Jake McCaw (HGP) from Joseph Kaufmann, 1:45

Second-period goals: Anthony Prete (HGP) from Anthony Valeriote and Chris Marshall, 8:04

Third-period goals: Charles-Etienne Jett from Ryan Levesque, 9:16 (pp); Justin Laplante from Levesque, 11:05; Jake McCaw (HGP) from Matt Cholaj and Ryan Lippy, 16:10

Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 51, Malvern Prep 23, Saves: Jack Unger (HGP) 21, Julian Arsenault (HS) 48

The high-school hockey season is now in full swing. On this edition of the Hockey Happenings podcast, Rick Woelfel and Flyers Cup Committee President Eric Tye offer an overview.

Hockey Happenings is looking for individuals interested in providing photographs and video clips of Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference games. To find out more, contact us at rwoelfel2013@gmail.com