APAC Founders Cup Playoff Preview

The APAC’s Founders Cup semifinals are set for Wednesday at Ice Line. Second seed Hun School will face third seed St. Joseph’s Prep in the 3:30 opener. Top seed and defending champion Holy Ghost Prep will go against fifth seed Malvern Prep at approximately 5:45.

The Founders Cup championship game is set for next Wednesday, February 25 and will be hosted by the highest-seeded finalist.

Here’s how the teams match up. The statistics listed below are for APAC games only.

Hun School (2)

Coach: N.G. Welsh

Record: 13-12, 4-4 in APAC

Key Players: Jr. Zachary Vallee 8 goals, 2 assists, 10 points; Sr. Luca Jean 3-3-6; Elliot Trottier .917 save %, 2.45 GAA; Blake Echternacht .915 save &, 2.71 GAA

St. Joseph’s Prep (3)

Coach: Charlie Van Kuna

Record: 15-6, 4-4 in APAC

Key Players: Jake Ely 3 goals, 3 assists, 6 points; Jr. Cole Gargon 4-1-5; Sr. Bradan Fisher 1-4-5;. Jr. Declan Geary .908 save &, 2.31 GAA

This season:

12-10 Hun School 2 St. Joseph’s Prep 1

12-29 St. Joseph’s Prep 3 Hun School 2 (Purple Puck final)

1-13 Hun School 4 St. Joseph’s Prep 3

Holy Ghost Prep (1)

Coach: John Ritchie

Record: 16-4, 8-0 in APAC

Key Players: Sr. Lucas Gonalez 4 goals, 6 assists, 10 points; Jr. Chase Logue 9-1-10; Sr. Anthony Valeriote 1-7-8; Jr. Matt Salita .971 save &, 0.67 GAA

Malvern Prep (5)

Coach: Bill Keenan

Record: 5-10-2, 2-6 in APAC

Key Players: Sr. Pax Hoishik 5 goals, 7 assists, 12 points: So. Jake Weingartner 4-7-11; Sr. Ryan Caterino .921 Save %, 2.34 GAA

This season

11-19 Holy Ghost Prep 4 Malvern Prep 1

12-3 Holy Ghost Prep 2 Malvern Prep 0

Past APAC Champions

2025 Holy Ghost Prep 6 La Salle 4

2024 La Salle 7 St. Joseph’s Prep 0

2023 La Salle 7 Holy Ghost Prep 3

2022 Malvern Prep 4 La Salle 1

2021 La Salle and Malvern Prep declared co-champions

2020 La Salle 4 HGP 1

2019 La Salle 6 Holy Ghost Prep 3

Vallee Making a Big Impact at The Hun School

Zachary Vallee has experienced some changes in his life of late. Vallee enrolled at The Hun School as a junior this past fall and is making a big impact for the Raiders on the ice.

In eight APAC games, he’s scored eight goals and added two assists; his 10 points tied him for the conference lead in scoring. His contributions have helped his team to a 13-12 overall record; its best since Hun School joined the APAC for the 2021-22 season.

The Raiders will face St. Joseph’s Prep in a Founders Cup playoff semifinal Wednesday afternoon at Ice Line (3:30 start).

Hun School coach N.G. Welsh has rotated Vallee through the lineup.

“I think he’s adaptable,” Welsh said. We’ve had him on lines with probably six or seven guys this year. We haven’t had him out there with the same two all year.

“He’s very adaptable to whoever he plays with. He picks up off those guys and he works with them well and then I think he’s just been a good fit for the team. He’s got a great work ethic and He wants to win just as bad as anybody else, which are two things we always look for.

Vallee says the formula to this season’s success has revolved around he and his teammates doing the little things well.

“We’re doing the little things that we work in practice,” he said. “Working the little things out makes the team win.”

A native of Pont-Rouge, Quebec, a town of roughly 10,000 located some 25 miles southwest of Quebec City, Vallee learned about Hun School via a hockey showcase.

“I got recruited through a showcase in Montreal,” he said. “I already had some interest in going to a prep school. {Hun School} reached out to me and I just decided to go there.”

Once he arrived on the Hun School campus, Vallee adapted to the English-speaking/American culture with little difficulty.

“It took me about two weeks to really switch up in English and everything,” he said. That was my only concern. Making friends has always been easy for me so it was just language-wise.”

This year’s Hun School roster includes five players from Quebec. Welsh says the school provides support to help them with their transition.

“We’ve got two or three kids every year that come down,” he said, “and it’s a lot on them that first semester. We try to help them out as much as we can that first semester even though we’re not in hockey season to get them set up for success, learn how the school works.”

Welsh points out that Vallee had to adjust to doing his academic work in English.

“He’s got to put extra time into it, just because English is not his first language,” he said, “and its challenging to do homework in your second language.

“And so, time management is important for all of those {players from Quebec}, it takes them a little bit longer to do the work than the standard player here.”

Vallee makes it a point to hit the books whenever time allows.

“When we go to away, games, I usually study on the bus back and forth,” he said. “Trying to find time to study when you go away, after practices. During free blocks, we go to the library and study.”

Malvern Prep 2 La Salle 0

The pieces all fit for Malvern Prep Wednesday afternoon. And once connected, they formed a route to a very big win.

House Young scored a power-play goal midway through the second period and Andrew Starck added an empty-netter in the final minute as the Friars bested La Salle 2-0 in the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference play-in game at Hatfield Ice.

Fifth-seeded Malvern Prep (5-10-2), which had lost eight straight games, will advance to next Wednesday’ APAC semifinals where it will face top-seeded Holy Ghost Prep (5:30 at Ice Line). Fourth seed La Salle (6-13) will now sit until the Class AAA Flyers Cup Tournament begins in approximately three weeks.

Senior defenseman Logan Love said he and his Friar teammates came into Wednesday’s game in need of a lift.

“We’ve been really down in the dumps the past couple games,” he said. “We had a good practice Monday and that really helped going into this game.”

Senior forward Pax Hoishik, who assisted on Starck’s goal, said the key to the win was he and his teammates working hard for a full 51 minutes.

“Especially in the games we lost, we always played on or two periods,” he said, “and obviously, it showed that that’s not enough.

“We came out tonight and everyone was ready before the game which was another thing we needed to work on; we got it done and played a full three.

Young’s goal came off large scrum in front of La Salle goaltender Anthony Foster. Young delivered his shot from the inside edge of the left circle and put the puck in the left side of the net. Foster was hampered by the traffic in front and had little if any chance to deny him.

“A big thing for our team is getting one,’ Hoishik said, “and then hemming them in. Obviously, that’s what we did. We were able to keep them in their zone for a majority of the game.”

At the other end of the ice, Ike Matoney was perfect, making 26 saves in the Friar net. The sophomore has played sparingly this but came up big on this occasion.

“He hasn’t had many games this year,” Hoishik said, “but we wanted to give him a test and he performed the way we were hoping. It was good to see that.”

For La Salle, it was another blow in what has been a disappointing season.

“We were outplayed for the first two periods,” said Explorer head coach Wally Muehlbronner. “We didn’t have a whole lot of jump. It certainly wasn’t the way we’ve been playing of late. We’ve been playing a lot better with a lot more tempo and a lot more consistency throughout the lineup.

“We just didn’t have any sustained pressure, not a lot of great opportunities.”

• The win was Malvern Prep’s first since December 17…Next Wednesday’s other semifinal will match second seed Hun School and third seed St. Joseph’s Prep at 3:30 at Ice Line.

Malvern Prep. 0 1 1—2

La Salle 0 0 0—0

Second-period goal: House Young (MP) from Jake Weingartner, 9:38 (pp)

Third period goal: Andrew Starck (MP) from Pax Hoishik, 16:11

Shots; Malvern Prep 30, La Salle 26; Saves: Ike Matoney (MP) 26, Anthony Foster (L) 28

APAC Playoffs at Hand

The APAC Founders Cup playoffs begin Wednesday afternoon with a play-in game featuring fourth-seeded La Salle hosted fifth-seeded Malvern Prep. Game time is set for 4 p.m. at Hatfield Ice.

Here’s a look at how the Friars and the Explorers got to this point.

Malvern Prep

Coach: Bill Keenan

Record: 4-10-2, 2-6 in the APAC

Key players: Sr. Jake Weingartner 7 goals, 11 assists 18 points; Sr. Pax Hoishik 6-9-15; Sr. Ryan Caterino 2.66 GAA, .912 save %

La Salle

Coach: Wally Muehlbronner

Record: 6-12, 3-5 in APAC

Key players: Fr. Thomas Leonards 11 goals, 2 assists, 13 points: Patrick Lunsford 4-8-12; So. Andrew Frantz, 4-7-11; Jr. Anthony Foster 2.94 GAA, .913 save pct.; So. Danny Trainor 1.59, .920

This season:

11-26 Malvern Prep 2 La Salle 0

1-14 La Salle 3 Malvern Prep 2

Wednesday’s winner will face top-seeded Holy Ghost Prep next Wednesday in one half of a semifinal doubleheader at Ice Line. The other half of that doubleheader will match second-seeded Hub School and third seed Joseph’s Prep.

Hun School 5 Malvern Prep 2

There were signs an explosion was impending. When it occurred, it was an overwhelming force. The Hun School snapped a 2-2 tie with three goals in a 3 minute, 51 second span of the second period and shut the door afterward.

The result was a 5-2 win over Malvern Prep Tuesday afternoon at Ice Land that had ramifications throughout the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference. The win assured the host Raiders (13-9 overall, 4-4 in the APAC) of facing St. Joseph’s Prep in the Founders Cup semifinals on February 18. The result of Wednesday’s game between St. Joseph’s Prep and Holy Ghost Prep will determine whether the Raiders are seeded second or third.

Malvern Prep (4-11-2, 2-6), which was missing several players due to injury, finishes the APC regular season in fifth place and will travel to fourth-place La Salle next Wednesday, February 11 to play for a slot in the semifinals. Game time will be 4:00 at Hatfield Ice.

It’s been a remarkable turnaround for Hun School, which went 5-17 a year ago.

“I think we had a lot of great things come together this year,” said Hun School coach N.G. Welsh. “We’ve got some great goaltending. We’ve got production all the way down to the third line, and there’s goals and assists across the board from nine forwards and three or four {defensemen,} which is awesome to see.”

Wednesday afternoon’s first period was a shootout. Andrew Starck gave the Friars a 1-0 just 44 seconds after the opening faceoff. Zachary Vallee tied the game at the 7:07 mark.

Cole Scarbinsky gave Malvern Prep the lead once more with a power-play goal when he beat Hun School netminder Blake Echternacht with 2:58 remaining in the opening session. The goal came while the Raiders’ Conor Mulligan was in the box serving a hooking penalty.

Echternacht would not yield again.

Jacob Kelly-LePage tied the game at 2-2 with 1:19 left in the period. Mulligan was out of the by that point and picked up the primary assist.

Anders Van Raalte gave Hun School the lead 4:21 into the second period. The power-play goal game with the Friars’ Bennett Stanton in the box for tripping.

Vallee took over from there, scoring his second goal of the game 60 seconds later before completing his hat trick 18 seconds shy of the period’s halfway point.

Vallee, a junior who is in his first year at Hun School, says he and his teammates are focused on doing the little things well.

“First on the puck,” he said. “Shooting and going through the net. Just jamming the net. Little things that work.”

Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan noted his team was unable to maintain its good start.

“I thought we came out well,” he said. “We put one in early in the game.

“Being down a couple with injuries kind of flip-flopped the lineup a little bit but we’ve got to play three periods of hockey.

“I thought we played well in the first period we played well in the third period. But, the second period got away from us.”

Malvern Prep 2 0 0—2

Hun School 2 3 0—5

First-period goals: Andrew Starck (MP) from Paxton Hoishik, :44; Zachary Vallee (HS) unassisted, 7:07; Cole Scarbinsky (MP) from Jake Weingartner and James Young, 14:02 (pp); Jacob Kelly-LePage (HS) from Conor Mulligan and Luca Jean, 15:41

Second-period goals: Anders Van Raalte (HS) from Andrew Darst and Jean, 4:21 (pp); Vallee (HS) from Aiden Honan and Blake Echternacht, 5:21; Vallee (HS) from Van Raalte and James Dolan, 8:12

Shots: Malvern Prep 33, Hun School 26; Saves: Ryan Caterino (MP) 16 an Isaac Maloney (MP) 5, Blake Echternacht (HS) 31

Lunsford Maturing at La Salle

Patrick Lunsford is at home at La Salle, in the classroom and on the ice. The junior forward is in the midst of his first season of varsity hockey.

A Blue Bell resident, Lunsford was pointed toward La Salle at a young age.

“A lot of my family went to La Salle,” he said. “It was a very popular school at my grade school (St. Helena), and it was great for me so, that’s what made me go to La Salle.”
Like three of the other four schools in the APAC, La Salle’s student body is all male. Lunsford cites the upside to that environment.

“It really helps us focus,’ he said. “And, there’s the brotherhood. You just become so close with your classmates. It’s a really great opportunity. You just do a lot of things with your classmates; the classes. You make so many friends. It’s a great way to expand your friendships and just meet so many new people.”

Lunsford says he adjusted relatively quickly to La Salle’s academic demands.

“It was very different from grade school,” he said. “But, within the first couple weeks of my freshman year, I did very well. I did a great job adapting to the time management. You’ve just got to tackle your work early and if you get it in early, you’ll excel.

I think the kids at the schools around here, they get it and they understand so, everyone does a great job with schooling.

Like his peers, Lunsford has become adept at managing his time successfully.

“It’s hard,” he said. “But at the same time, La Salle does such a great job of giving you time throughout the day and time after school to get your work done. We don’t have the same classes every day. We have them every other day. So, we have two days to get our homework in, which is very huge with sports, and all the kids have outside activities.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for everyone. Time management, it is a struggle sometimes, but if you can get your work in, you’ll be just fine. That’s worked out great for me.”

Lunsford says the curriculum at La Salle teaches students to make independent decisions.

“My grade school did a really great job of preparing me for things like that in high school,” he said, “and it funneled into La Salle very well for me.”

From a hockey perspective is part of a team that began the season young in terms of age and more importantly varsity experience. They found themselves navigating a steep learning curve early on but recorded their two first two APAC wins of the season heading into Wednesday’s scheduled game at St. Joseph’s Prep.

“{Varsity hockey} is very different from the jayvee level,” Lunsford said. “The first couple games took some really getting used to, but over time I think myself and all my teammates, we’ve done a great job.

“The passing, the hitting, everything. It’s just a different level but I think we’ve done a really great of adapting to that.”

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 Malvern Prep 0 (shootout)

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 Malvern Prep 0 (Shootout)

Bradan Fisher scored the only goal of a shootout and that was the difference between St. Joseph’s Prep and Malvern Prep Thursday night in an APAC game at Ice Line

The Hawks’ Declan Geary and the Friars’ Ryan Caterino were perfect in regulation, stopping 52 shots between them.

St. Joseph’s Prep improved to 13-5 overall and 3-3 in the APAC.

“It was a big win for us coming don the stretch of APAC play,” said St. Joseph’s Prep coach Charlie Van Kula. I thought we played better than we did against Malvern a couple weeks ago but we still haven’t quite found our groove.”

Malvern Prep stands at 4-9-2 overall and 2-5 in conference.

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 0 0 0 (1)—1

Malvern Prep 0 0 0 0 (0)—0

Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 28, Malvern Prep 24

Saves: Declan Geary (SJP) 24, Ryan Caterino (MP) 28

La Salle 5 The Hun School 0

Thomas Leonards delivered a hat trick a La Salle shut out The Hun School 5-0 Thursday evening in an APAC game at Pro Skate.

It was the second consecutive conference win for the Explorers and boosted their record to 5-11 overall and 2-5 in the APAC. Hun School dropped to 11-8 overall an 3-4 in conference. Thursday’s loss was the first time this year the Raiders have been shut out.

La Salle took a 2-0 first-period lead on goals from River Carangi and Roman Tkach.

Leonards took over in the second period, with a goal 1:51 into the period and a second goal with 6:24 remaining during a power play. Leonards completed the hat trick 22 seconds into the third period. Danny Trainor earned the shutout in goal.

La Salle 2 2 1—5

Hun School 0 0 0—0

First-period goals:

Second-period goals:

Third-period goal:

Shots: La Salle 26, Hun School 18 Saves: Danny Trainor (L) 18. Chase Kishler (HS) 21

Holy Ghost Prep 4 Hun School 1

Lawrence Township, NJ—Discipline is an important attribute for a hockey team. That trait increases in importance as the stakes get higher

Holy Ghost Prep and the Hun School were playing for high stakes Thursday afternoon. And it was the Firebirds who maintained their focus long enough to post a 4-1 win at Ice Land.

The result assures Holy Ghost Prep (13-2, 7-0 in the APAC) of the top seed when it tries to defend the APAC title when the Founders Cup playoffs commence on February 18. And while the seeding for the Flyers Cup tournament won’t be announced for another five weeks and more, the Firebirds, who are the defending Class AAA champions, seemingly have the inside trac to the top seed in that event as well.

Thursday’s matchup was the second between the Firebirds and Raiders (11-6, 3-3 in the APAC) in six days and the battle scars from that first encounter were still smarting. So, the task of staying attuned to the task at hand had additional significance.

“We know (Hun School) is a real physical team,” said the Firebirds’ Chase Logue. “As long as we just stayed calm, stayed focused, and not do dumb things or take dumb penalties {they would be successful}.

“It doesn’t help when you’re down a guy on the penalty kill but we killed every penalty off.

“The guys worked hard and we deserved this one.”

The Firebirds scrambled their lineup; six regulars were missing due to injury, illness, and club duty. The newcomers stepped up. Josh Zdunkiewicz set up Jake Samron for the first goal of the game with 5:36 left in the opening period. Logue made it a 2-0 game with four seconds and change left in the period.

Zachary Vallee cut the deficit in half with 5:58 left in the second frame with a shorthanded goal when a breakdown left him alone in the neutral zone on the receiving end of a Devin Espana outlet pass. Vallee went in on a breakaway and beat Firebird netminder Matt Salita.

With the teams separated by a single goal entering the third period, the intensity level, already high, kicked up a notch. There were 13 penalties called in the final period.

One against the Raiders led to Logue’s second goal of the game. Nate Trawinski was serving a roughing minor when Logue launches a wrister from the right point that beat Blake Echternacht in the Hun School net with 12:14 left in regulation.

Just over a minute later, emotions boiled over when Espana and the Firebirds’ Brandon Watkins squared off. Each was assessed a fighting major plus a game misconduct.

Zdunkiewicz and Hun School’s Justin Bibeau received roughing minors in the same incident.

Logue completed a hat trick with 6:57 left in the game, getting the better of Chase Kishler, who took over for Echternacht on goal not quite midway through the third period.

“It was a great first period,” said Hun School coach N.G. Welsh, “and we didn’t play our game for the last two.

“They took advantage of it.”

Holy Ghost Prep senior Lucas Gonzalez finished the game with on two assists. He noted the importance of his team’s fast start.

“I think we just had to take it to them,” he said, “instead of letting them take it to us early. I think early in the game we hit everybody got it on net.

“I think if our whole group is going fast and playing hard, we’re tough to beat.”

The APAC semifinals are set for Wednesday, February 18 at Ice Line. The championship game us set for February 25 and will be hosted by the highest-seeded finalist.

Holy Ghost Prep 2 0 2—4

Hun School 0 1 0—1

First-period goals: Jake Smaron (HGP) from Josh Zdunkiewicz, 11:24; Chase Logue (HGP) from Anthony Valeriote and Lucas Gonzalez, 16:56

Second-period goal: Zachary Vallee (HS) from Devin Espana, 8:02 (sh)

Third-period goals: Logue (HGP) from Gonzalez, 4:46 (pp); Logue (HGP) from Smaron, 10:03

Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 32, Hun School 28; Saves: Matt Salita (HGP) 26, Blake Echternacht (HS) 22 and Chase Kishler (HS) 6

La Salle 3 Malvern Prep 2

It’s been a tough season for the La Salle Explorers in some respects as a young team tries to find its way. But months of toil and sweat came to fruition Wednesday evening. Andrew Frantz’s power-play goal with 1:52 left in the third period gave La Salle a 3-2 win over Malvern Prep at Hatfield Ice.

It was the first APAC victory for the Explorers (4-11, 1-5 in conference) who had suffered two one-goal losses in APAC play prior to Wednesday when their efforts were at last rewarded.

Senior forward Matt Martin assisted on two of La Salle’s goals, including the game winner.

“{The win} means a lot,” he said. “It feels good to finally get a win after all the work we’ve been putting in at practice.”

The winning goal came off an offensive zone draw after the Friars’ Andrew Starck was called for tripping with 1:57 remaining in regulation. The Explorers won the ensuing faceoff and Frantz found the puck on his stick at the point- before launching a shot past Malvern Prep goaltender Ryan Caterino.

The third period did not lack for drama. La Salle’s Quinn Leonards and Starck traded second-period goals to send the game into the final stanza deadlocked at 1-1. Pax Hoishik put Malvern Prep (4-8-2, 2-4 in conference) with 7:11 left in regulation but Leonards answered for the Explorers with 4:55 left to set up the stretch run.

La Salle junior Patrick Lunsford savored the thrill of victory.

“It feels so good,” he said. “We’ve put in so much work all year. We’ve come up just short in so many games, it feels so great to {get the win}.”

Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan observed that APAC games offer little margin for error.

“We know APAC games are going to be tight,” he said. “We outshot them in the game (43-33). “The late penalty in the third hurt us. They got a good offensive draw out to their point for a shot on net; they got a bounce.”

It was the second consecutive one-goal loss for the Friars; they fell to St. Joseph’s Prep 3-2 last Friday.

“When we have leads in the game we’ve got to find a way to hold the lead,” Keenan said. “And when we’re down in games, we’ve got to find a way to put on pressure and get pucks to the net,”

Malvern Prep 0 1 1—2

La Salle 0 1 2—3

Second-period goals: Quinn Leonards (L) from Matthew Jones, 6:21; Andrew Starck (MP) from Jake Weingartner, 16:38

Third-period goals: Pax Hoishik (MP) from Weingartner, 9:49; Leonards (L) from Greenwalt and Matthew Martin, 12:05; Andrew Frantz (L) from Martin and Greenawalt, 15:08 (pp)

Shots: Malvern Prep 43, La Salle 33 Saves: Ryan Caterino (MP) 30, Anthony Foster (L) 41