Flyers Cup Rankings for 2-14

The latest set of Flyers Cup rankings have been released. The rankings are determined based on won-loss records, strength of schedule, and observations by members of the Flyers Cup Competition Committee.

AAA

Malvern Prep (APAC)
La Salle College High School (APAC)
St. Joes Prep (APAC)
Holy Ghost Prep (APAC)
Cardinal O’Hara (ICSHL PCL)

Pennridge (SHSHL Continental)
Haverford High (ICSHL Central)
Council Rock South (SHSHL National)
Avon Grove (ICSHL Ches-Mont)
Pennsbury (SHSHL National)

West Chester East (ICSHL Ches-Mont)
Springfield (ICSHL Central)
West Chester Rustin (ICSHL Ches-Mont)
Hershey (CPIHL)
Palmyra (CPIHL)

NJ/DE

Salesianum (ICSHL PCL)
Eastern (SJHSHL)
Shawnee (SJHSHL)
Moorestown (SJHSHL)
Kingsway (SJHSHL)
Cherokee (SJHSHL)

Girls

West Chester Henderson (ICSHL National)
Avon Grove (ICSHL National)
Downingtown West (ICSHL National)
Unionville (ICSHL American)
Kingsway (ICSHL American)

The tournament field will be announced on Sunday, February 27. There are no automatic bids.

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Hun School 2 Holy Ghost Prep 1

BRISTOL—Holy Ghost Prep and The Hun School left everything they had on the ice Friday night. There was little to separate the two teams, save for Josh Ouelette’s goal 21 seconds into the third period that gave the Raiders a 2-1 win in the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference’s regular-season finale at Grundy Arena.

The two teams will do it all over again Monday afternoon at 4:00 at Ice Land in the play-in game that will kick off the postseason. The Raiders (8-8, 3-4-1-0 in conference) tied St. Joseph’s Prep for third place in the regular-season standings but lost a tiebreaker for the third slot on goal differential and are seeded fourth for the APAC playoffs. The Firebirds (9-10, 1-5-1-1 in the APAC) are seeded fifth.

The winning goal came off a faceoff in the Raiders’ offensive right wing circle.

“I was surprised that I even scored right off the faceoff,” Ouelette said. “I just put it in.”

Ouelette embraced the atmosphere in the building in what was the Firebirds’ Senior Night. “The whole crowd was electric,” he said.

Prior to Hun School joining the APAC this season, Head Coach Ian McDonald regularly brought the Raiders to Grundy Arena for non-league games.

“We’ve been coming here for eight or nine years, playing Holy Ghost in this rink,” he said. “The game is always awesome, close, up and down the ice, scoring chances each way.”

Holy Ghost Prep, which was trying to end an eight-game losing streak, had much the better of a scoreless first period, but was unable to solve Stephen Chen in the Raider net; the junior made 14 saves in the opening 17 minutes.

Kieran Mulholland gave the Firebirds a 1-0 lead 2:53 into the second session when scored a shorthanded goal on a scramble in front of the Raider net.

Hun School drew even at 7:10 when Brendan Marino hit Ryan Croddick in full stride, allowing the latter to move in on Firebird goaltender Jason Soule. Soule made a quality save but Crodddick put in the rebound.

Four-and-a-half minutes later Croddick was excused for the evening after a disagreement with Holy Ghost Prep’s Brendan Schultz. Schultz drew a roughing minor but Croddick was accessed a five-minute major for head butting plus an automatic game misconduct, meaning he’ll be suspended for Monday’s playoff game.

That was the end of the fireworks until the winning goal.

Holy Ghost Prep captain Sean Marshall praised the efforts of his teammates, despite the loss. “Just from the way we’ve been playing the last couple months, we knew we had to have a great game here,” he said. “I thought we played great. I thought we won pretty much every 50-50 battle in the corners. “We had tons of chances, we just, I don’t know, ran into a hot goalie.”

Firebird coach Gump Whiteside thought his team deserved a better fate. “I thought the boys deserved better,” he said, “But that’s why you play three periods. I thought we played really well today.”

Hun School 0 1 1—2

Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 0—1

Second-period goals: Kieran Mulholland (HGP) unassisted, 2:53 (sh); Ryan Croddick (HS) from Brendan Marino, 7:10

Third-period goal: Josh Ouellette (HS) from Simon Gregoire, :21

Shots: Hun School 26, Holy Ghost Prep 33; Saves: Stephen Chen (HS) 32, Jason Soule (HGP) 24

Playoff Ponderings

The Founders Cup playoff schedule is as follows

Monday, February 14 Play In

(5) Holy Ghost Prep at (4) Hun School 4 p.m. at Ice Land

Wednesday, February 16

Monday’s winner vs (1) Malvern Prep 6:45 ay Ice Line

(3) St. Joseph’s Prep vs (2) La Salle 8:45 at Ice Line

Founders Cup final will be played February 23 or 24 and hosted by the highest-seeded finalist.

Wissahickon 7 Plymouth Whitemarsh 2

Thursday proved to be an eventful evening at Hatfield Ice. Both Wissahickon and Plymouth Whitemarsh had reason to feel good about what they accomplished, albeit using different criteria.

The Trojans dominated on the ice, scoring three first-period goals on the way to a 7-2 SHSHL American Division win. A.J. Pounds, Nolan Pounds, and Nick Hussa all scored two goals as the Trojans improved to 7-6 overall and 7-3 in divisional play with two games remaining.

Wissahickon coach Ken Harrington called it his team’s best effort of the year. “Our team played together,” he said. “Against a good opponent. We always have good matchups with P-W.”

Harrington said there have been signs team has been coming together. The Trojans have won five of their last seven starts, although they had lost two straight coming into Thursday.

“We’ve been jelling,” he said, “but we weren’t really getting results as much. We kept to it. it was almost you could see them thinking ‘Yeah, this works.’”

For the Colonials (10-3, 8-2) it was a disappointing result at best. They are no longer on control of their destiny in the American Division title chase and Thursday’s setback may leave a negative impression in the minds of those who seed the Class A Flyers Cup field.

Luke Weikel and Aidan Keogh scored goals but there were few other bright spots for Colonial coach Josh Aiello to point to.

“Tonight was not our best game,” he said.

But the Colonials came up big with their efforts in support of Hockey Fights Cancer, an organization that was founded in 1998 by the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players Association to support cancer patients and their families. Proceeds from Thursday’s game, including tee shirt sales, will be donated to Hockey Fights Cancer.

It’s the sixth straight year the Plymouth Whitemarsh hockey program has held a charitable event in conjunction with a game. The event is organized by the players.

“This particular year we did Hockey Fights Cancer,” Aiello said. “In the past we’ve done Team Cancer America and the Susan G. Komen Foundation (breast cancer awareness).

“I’m just proud of our guys,” Aiello said. “We’re dedicated to performing well on the ice but it’s equally as important to do good outside of the rink and our players have been focused on that year after year. I’m really proud of our guys.”

• The Trojans lost forward Nick Bonnani in the third period after he drew a major penalty for fighting. It was his fourth penalty of the game. Bonnani will likely serve a suspension.

Plymouth Whitemarsh 1 0 1—2

Wissahickon 3 3 1—7

First-period goals: Nick Hussa from Ty Schiff, 4:15; A.J. Pounds from Nick Hussa, 11:31; Luke Weikel (PW) from Dylan Novitski and Aidan Keogh 12:13; Nick Hussa from Schiff and Nick Pounds, 13:42 (pp)

Second-period goals: Will Hussa from Schiff, 2:39; Nolan Pounds from Nick Pounds, 12:48; Nolan Pounds from A.J. Pounds and John Kufner, 16:55

Third-period goals: Keogh (PW) from Conlan Carpenter, 10:34 (pp); A.J. Pounds from Griffin Lynch, 11:44 (sh)

Shots: Plymouth Whitemarsh 25, Wissahickon 33; Saves: Kolton Galike (PW) 26, Michael Bonnani 23

Jeff Mauro has written a book on the history of the Pennsylvania state high school hockey championship. To find out more and order a copy CLICK HERE

SHSHL Finalizes Playoff Sites/Times

The Suburban High School Hockey League has finalized its venues and game times for its upcoming playoffs. The postseason will begin on Wednesday, February 23 with four Class AA quarterfinal games. The Class A semifinals will be played the following night, Thursday February 24.

The Class AA semifinals are set for Wednesday, Match 2 and the championship games in both classes will be played for Thursday, March 3.

The Flyers Cup tournament will begin on Monday, March 7. The results of the Class AA quarterfinals and the Class A semifinals will be factored into the Flyers Cup seedings.

Wednesday 2-23

Class AA Quarterfinals

Seed 1 vs. Seed 8 7:20 at Hatfield

Seed 2 vs. Seed 7 7:50 at Rev. Ice Gardens

Seed 3 vs. Seed 6 7:20 at Grundy

Seed 4 vs. Seed 5 8:30 at Hatfield

Thursday 2-24

Class A Semifinals

Seed 1 vs. Seed 4 7:10 at Hatfield

Seed 2 vs. Seed 3 8:50 at Hatfield

Wednesday 3-2

Class AA Semifinals

7:10 Seed 1 vs. Seed 4

7:50 Seed 2 vs. Seed 3

Thursday Match 3

Championship Night at Hatfield

7:10 Class AA Final

8:30 Class A Final

Pennridge 6 Neshaminy 1

HATFIELD—It was business as usual for Pennridge Wednesday night. The Rams scored three times in the first period and rolled to a 6-1 win over Neshaminy in a SHSHL Class AA matchup at Hatfield Ice.

Pennridge remains perfect with a 14-0 overall record (9-0 in divisional play) heading into its regular-season finale with Council Rock South next Wednesday. It’s last lost came to Haverford in the Flyers Cup semifinals last April.

The game was essentially decided in the first 13:55 of the opening period. Pierce McGinley, Andrew Savong, and Tyler Manto scored goals in that stretch, and Rams were never threatened thereafter.

“We got off to a rough start,” said Neshaminy coach Matt DeMatteo. “The one rebound came right out to (McGinley) who buried it. Then we had (a tip-in) and then we had the second or third goal the guy dangled through us and nobody stepped up to play physical. So, I feel like we kind of put ourselves in that hole. It’s tough to battle back against a really good team like that.”

Max Gallagher scored a power-play goal for Neshaminy (9-3-1, 5-4 in the division) 9:49 into the second period but Kevin Pico and Aeryk Lehrhaupt responded for the Rams (Lehrhaupt’s goal came while his team was shorthanded) before Shane Dachowski added a goal in the third period.

The final margin would doubtless have been wider had it not been for the work of Brian Nelson in the Neshaminy net. Nelson was credited with 46 saves while his Pennridge counterpart Ryan Pico was given credit for 41.

Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna said his team got a big boost from its quick start. “Especially after our last game (a 5-3 win over Central Bucks South) where we didn’t,” he said. “We talked about it. I thought it was our best first period of the year. I thought we started the game better than we have all year and it set the tone for the rest of the night.”

After next week, the Rams will cross the threshold into the postseason. Expectations are high in light of last year’s Flyers Cup effort. So, in a very real sense, Wednesday night’s first period was about setting the tone for something beyond a regular-season game in February.

Neshaminy’s. A.J. Dougherty was injured in the second period when Pennridge’s Andrew David delivered a shoulder check while Dougherty was standing with his back to the boards in the Pennridge offensive left wing corner. No penalty was called on the play. Dougherty was helped off the ice. According to DeMatteo, he will enter concussion protocol.

•The regular season will conclude next week. The SHSHL playoffs will commence on February 23 and 24 so the results of the Class AA quarterfinals will factor into the Flyers Cup seedings.

Neshaminy 0 1 0

Pennridge 3 2 1—6

First-period goals: Pierce McGinley (P) from Josh Kelly, 2:59; Andrew Savong (P) unassisted, 9:09; Tyler Manto (P) from Ryan Schuler, 13:55

Second-period goals: Max Gallagher (N) from Dan McColgan and J.J. Hathaway, 9:49 (pp); Kevin Pico, from Manto and Boyle, 13:44; Aeryk Lehrhaupt (P) unassisted, 15:51 (sh)

Third-period goals: Shane Dachowski (P) from Aidan Boyle Jack Lowery, 9:58 (pp)

Shots: Neshaminy 42, Pennridge 52; Saves: Brian Nelson (N) 46, Ryan Pico P) 41

St. Augustine 3 Holy Ghost Prep 2

Jackson Vaites’s goal with 2:42 remaining in the third period proved decisive as host St. Augustine edged Holt Ghost Prep 3-2 Wednesday afternoon in a non-league game. Four of the game’s five goals came in the third period.

Vaites’s goal gave the hosts a 3-1 lead. Michael Holt scored for the Firebirds with 1:10 remaining in regulation but it wasn’t enough.

Kieran Mulholland also scored for Holy Ghost Prep, which dropped to 9-9 overall

Holy Ghost Prep 0 0 2—2

St. Augustine 0 1 2—3

Malvern Prep 4 The Hun School 1

Matt Harris scored two goals to lead Malvern Prep to a 4-1 win over The Hun School Wednesday afternoon at Iceland. The win officially clinched the APAC regular-championship for the Friars (12-3 overall, 5-1-2-0 in conference).

Jimmy Jacobs and Jeremy Jacobs also scored goals for Malvern Prep, which will be the top seed for next week’ Founders Cup playoffs and is favored to be the top seed for the upcoming Class AAA Flyers Cup tournament.

Brendan Marino scored for Hun School which dropped to 7-8 overall and 2-4-1 in conference.

Harris scored the only goal of the first period, a shorthanded effort at the 6:26 mark. He added his second goal 27 seconds into the second period to give his team a 2-0 lead before Marino cut the lead in half at the 6:26 mark

Jimmy Jacobs extended the Malvern Prep lead with a power-play 10:26 into the third period; Jeremy Jacobs completed the scoring into an empty net.

Brandon Novabilski earned the win in goal with 30 saves.

Malvern Prep 1 1 2—4

Hun School 0 1 0—1

First-period goal: Matt Harris (MP) from Quinn Dougherty, 6:26 (sh)

Second-period goals: Harris (MP) from Jimmy Jacobs and Aidan Kelly, :27; Brendan Marino (HS) from Elian Estulin and Nick Dimatos, 6:35

Third-period goals: Jimmy Jacobs (MP) from Pierre Larocque and Dougherty, 10:26; Jeremy Jacobs (MP) from Jimmy Jacobs, 13:54 (en)

Shots: Malvern Prep 34, Hun School 31; Saves: Brandon Novabilski (MP) 30, Jack Borek (MP) 31

La Salle 3 St. Joseph’s Prep 1

HATFIELD— The supporting cast stepped into feature roles for La Salle on Wednesday afternoon. With several players sidelined because of suspensions and injury, the Explorers had to juggle the lineup. The revisions proved fruitful. La Salle scored three times in the third period to post a 3-1 win over St. Joseph’s Prep at Hatfield Ice.

The Explorers concluded the regular season at 7-7-1 and the APAC campaign in second place at 4-3-0-1. The Hawks will head to the post season at 8-7-1 and 3-3-0-2 in the APAC; they’re slotted third in the conference at present.

La Salle senior Gavin O’Connell said it was a game when some of LaSalle’s less-heralded performers needed to step up and they did. “Especially since we were missing some of our key players,” he said. “We needed the guys that don’t get as many minutes to step up and everyone was chipping in. Everyone was getting minutes they don’t usually get.”

The only goal of the first two periods was the ultimate bad goal. The Hawks’ Tristan Winata moved through center ice, moved to his left and sent a puck in the direction of the La Salle net from the left face-off circle’ it ended up in the back of the net, behind Explorer netminder Aries Carangi.

The Hawks had the better of the opening period, outshooting their foes 15-6. Momentum started shifting La Salle’s way in second period but the Hawks still led 1-0 as the teams headed to their dressing rooms at period’s end.

“I thought we played really well in the second,” said La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner. “We just couldn’t score any goals. But we had good opportunities, we were playing the way we’ve been playing of late down low, working hard and creating some opportunities.”

Keenan Schneider broke the La Salle scoring drought 70 seconds into the third period off a Hawk turnover. Jackson Lindmar poked in a loose puck at 8:41 to put La Salle in front for good. Patrick Brace finished the scoring at 12:19.

St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin felt the Explorers had more energy in the third period. “Whether our kids did not have their legs, or whether they didn’t feel the need to compete, obviously, La Salle wanted it more,” he said. “Those kids really busted their butts, they played great.”

O’Connell says the Explorers have been getting contributions from a variety of sources in recent weeks. “I think we’ve seen guys who we haven’t seen much of before,” he said. “Maybe they’ve been playing a lot more and we’ve been seeing what they can truly do. “So we’ve definitely had more depth than we thought and we can do a lot more things.”

Tristan Winata scores the game’s first goal

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 0 0—1

La Salle 0 0 3—3

First-period goal: Tristan Winata (SJP) unassisted, 7:16

Third-period goals: Keenan Schneider (L) from Evan Golato, 1:10; Jackson Lindmar (L) from Gavin O’Connell, 8:41; Patrick Brace (L) from Schneider, 12:19

Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 29, La Salle 37; Saves: Rocco Bruno (SJP) 34, Aries Carangi (L) 28

Video provided by Erin Schneider

SHSHL Update for 2-9-22

National/Continental-Class AA W L T OTL Pts

Pennridge (13-0) 8 0 0 0 16

Council Rock South (10-1-1) 8 0 0 0 16

Pennsbury (8-3-1) 6 2 0 0 12

Neshaminy (8-3-1) 5 3 0 0 10

Central Bucks South (5-6-1) 5 3 0 0 10

Council Rock North (6-6) 4 5 0 0 8

Souderton (6-6) 4 5 0 0 8

Central Bucks East (4-8) 3 5 0 0 6

Bensalem (3-9) 1 7 0 0 2

Central Bucks West (4-8) 1 7 0 0 0

North Penn (1-11) 0 8 0 0 0

American Division-Class A W L T OTL Pts

Abington (10-1) 9 0 0 0 18

Plymouth Whitemarsh (10-2) 7 1 0 0 14

Wissahickon (6-6) 6 3 0 0 12

Quakertown (6-7) 6 5 0 0 12

William Tennent (3-10) 3 7 0 0 6

Upper Dublin (3-9-0-1) 2 7 0 1 5

Hatboro-Horsham (1-11) 0 10 0 0 0

Scoring

Class AA G A Pts

Karson Grainey (CRN) 22 13 35

Shane Siegmund (PB) 14 21 35

Brendan Macainsh (Pb) 18 11 29

Kevin Pico (Pr) 14 13 27

Nick Hahn (CRN) 8 17 25

Kevin Koles (CRS) 11 13 24

Max Gallagher (Nesh) 12 10 22

Reece Millman (Pb) 10 11 21

Aeryk Lehrhaupt (Pr) 13 6 19

Aydin Thierolf (CBS) 12 7 19

Julian Sarne (CRS) 14 4 18

Class A G A Pts

Luke Weikel (PW) 30 17 47

Aidan Keogh (PW) 13 33 46

Matt Kramer (Ab 22 13 35

Joe Stelacio (Ab) 16 17 33

Matthew Flynn (PW) 8 21 29

Danny Hussa (Wiss) 20 8 28

Will Hussa (Wiss) 14 14 28

Jack Bocul (UD) 20 6 26

A.J. Pounds (Wiss) 14 12 26

Matt Cholaj (Ab) 10 12 22

Frank Rosenberry (WT) 12 9 21

Jeff Mauro has written a book on the history of the Pennsylvania state high school hockey championship. To find out more and/or order a copy CLICK HERE

St. Joseph’s Prep 5 Cardinal O’Hara 1

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

Five different players scored goals as the Hawks downed the Lions 5-1 Wednesday night in a none-league matchup under the lights at the Spring Mountain ski area.

Michael Ahearn, Jeffrey Hammond, Joey Samango, Gareth McDonald, and Shane O’Neill all scored for Sr. Joseph’s Prep, which improved to 8-6-1 overall.
Patrick Toney scored for Cardinal O’Hara.

Cardinal O’Hara 0 1 0—1

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 2 2—5

The Hawks and the Lions played under the lights Wednesday night

Hawks and the Lions battle (video courtesy of St. Joseph’s Prep)