Malvern Prep 4 St. Joseph’s Prep 1

PHILADELPHIA—Malvern Prep took a back-to-basics approach Wednesday evening, and got the result it wanted.

Power-play goals in each of the first-two periods fueled what became a 4-1 win over St. Josephs Prep at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 Rink in a game that was originally slated to be part of the APAC Winter Classic on January 10.

The Friars, who were playing just their second game since the holiday break, improved to 7-5 overall and 3-3 in the APAC. St. Joseph’s Prep, which was playing its first game in 19 days, saw a seven-game winning streak snapped; the Hawks now stand at 11-3 overall and 2-3 in conference play.

The Friars took advantage of their power-play chances. Jonathan Holt scored the game’s first goal with 1:22 left in the opening period when he tipped in a shot from Jeremy Jacobs. The goal came while the Hawks’ Noah Stuhl was in the penalty box serving a tripping minor.

Teague Murray made it 2-0 on a similar play late in the second frame, he tipped Jacobs’ original shot past St. Joseph’s Prep goaltender Jacob Aranda with eight-tenths of a second showing on the clock. while the Hawks’ Patrick Sweeney was in the box.

Holt noted the Friars have had some additional practice time of late and says the extra work has paid off.

“We’ve been working structure-wise a lot in practice,” the senior said. “We’ve been moving the puck well. We’ve been shooting a lot of shots and getting traffic in front of the net. We’ve been grinding a lot.”

With a lighter game schedule since the Christmas break, the Friars have been able to do some fine tuning.

“We’ve been able to develop line chemistry with everybody,” Holt said. “It’s been a good experience.

“And, working on the power play, shots from the point. We struggled a little bit with that early in the season. We’ve been getting after that, which is good.”

St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin felt his team was impacted by its lengthy layoff.

“We shot our self in the foot with our penalties and penalty kills,” he said. “I think our layoff really hurt us today.”

Jacobs extended Malvern Prep’s lead when he scored on a shorthanded breakaway 8:19 into the third period.

Ben Kerson for the Hawks on a power-play effort with 7:26 left in regulation before Jacobs scored his second goal of the game with 51 seconds remaining.

Jacobs has scored four goals and collected six assists for 10 points in six conference games which puts him atop the APAC scoring race. In all competitions, he’s accumulated 15 goals and 14 assists for 29 points.

Jacobs spoke to how the Friars’ chemistry has improved since the early going.

“At the start of the season, we didn’t start too hot,” he said. “We kind of had to change our mindset a little bit. And ever since we started changing our mindset, focusing our energy, the simple stuff, we started striving more. So, it’s been helping us.”

Malvern Prep 1 1 2—4

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 0 1—1

First-period goal: Jonathan Holt (MP) from Jeremy Jacobs and Brady Doyle, 15:38 (pp)

Second-period goal: Teague Murray (MP) from Jacobs and Doyle, 16:59 (pp)

Third-period goals: Jacobs (MP) from Caiden Canale, 8:41; Ben Kersun (SJP) from Thomas Ely, 9:34 (pp); Jacobs (MP) from Doyle, 16:09

Shots: Malvern Prep 33, St. Joseph’s Prep 26; Saves: Matt Crawford (MP) 25, Jacob Aranda (SJP) 29

La Salle 3 Malern Prep 0

Alistaire St. Hilaire, Charlie Kennedy, and Patrick Brace scored goals as La Salle bested Malvern Prep 3-0 Wednesday afternoon in an APAC matchup at Hatfield Ice.

The win was the sixth for the Explorers in conference play without defeat and assured them of the regular-season title and the top seed for the Founders Cup playoffs next month.

Alistaire St. Hilaire got things started for the Explorers (15-2 overall) when he beat Matt Crawford in the Malvern Prep net with 41 seconds left in the opening period with help from Dean Carvalho and Logan Dicus.

Charlie Kennedy made it a 2-0 game 7:16 into the second session with assists from Ryan Wiley and Thomas Doucet.

Wiley went on to assist Brace on the final goal of the afternoon which came with eight seconds left on regulation.

At the other end of the ice, Jake Rossi was impregnable; he turned aside 23 shots without a blemish.

The Explorers have allowed just five goals on six conference games,

Matt Crawford, his counterpart with the Friars (7-5, 2-3 in conference) was also stellar; he finished with 40 saves.

Malvern Prep 0 0 0—0

La Salle 1 1 1—3

First-period goal: Alistaire St. Hilaire (L) from Dean Carvalho and Logan Dicus, 16:19

Second-period goal: Charlie Kennedy (L) from Ryan Wiley and Thomas Doucet, 7:16 (pp)

Third-period goals: Patrick Brace (L) from Wiley, 16:52

Shots: La Salle 43, Malvern Prep 23; Saves: Matt Crawford (MP) 40, Jake Rossi (L) 23

APAC Update for 1-16

W L OTW OTL Pts GF GA

La Salle (14-2) 5 0 0 0 15 21 5

Malvern Prep (7-4) 2 2 1 1 6 9 11

St. Joseph’s Prep (11-2) 2 2 1 0 5 14 11

Holy Ghost Prep (5-10) 1 3 0 0 3 7 12

Hun School (3-6) 0 3 0 1 1 4 16

* Scoring GP G A Pts PPG

Jeremy Jacobs (MP) 4 4 2 6 1.50

Tristan Winata (SJP 4 5 0 5 1.25

Will Carpenter (Ls) 5 1 5 6 1.20

Declan Kelly (Ls) 5 1 5 6 1.20

Dean Carvalho (Ls) 5 3 3 6 1.20

Will Gregorio (Ls) 5 1 3 4 0.80

Julian Tarsi (Ls) 5 3 1 4 0.80

Patrick Brace 5 2 2 4 .080

conference games only

Firebirds Using Hockey to Serve

The Holy Ghost Prep hockey team returned home from its post-New Year’s trip to Pittsburgh with a sense of accomplishment that went far beyond the two victories they achieved on the ice.

The Firebirds spent time with the students at the DePaul School for Hearing and Speech, a school for speech and hearing impaired students in grades K-8. The institution focuses on teaching its students, among other things, how to use Cochlear implants.

The Firebirds made the trip as part of the Spiritan Immersion Program a community service initiative that is at the core of Holy Ghost Prep’s educational and spiritual mission.

The Holy Ghost Prep Firebirds

The hockey players spent time in the classroom and on the ice with the DePaul students. Senior Pat Slook talked about the experience.

“We got to walk around the school and meet some of the kids,” he said. “It’s a very small school, I believe there are less than 100 students.

“We were able to take them across street to the Hunt Armory where we played both our games and take them ice skating, which was a really cool experience for all the players.”

Slook embraces using his passion for hockey to give back.

“There’s a bunch of Spiritan programs that we do at Ghost but I think this is really cool one,” he said. “From the hockey aspect, as hockey players, we get to take them ice skating and we get to use the game as a connection because if you had been there you’d see how much fun the kids had going ice skating. It’s cool for everybody, it’s really fun for everybody and I really loved it.”

Holy Ghost Prep coach John Ritchie credited Ryan Abramson, the school’s director of admissions, for arranging the details of the trip.

“Our players really walked into a situation where they could kind of get the most out of it,” he said, “because all the other stuff has been taken care of for them.”

Ritchie marveled at how his student-athletes bonded with the DePaul students.

“Sometimes it can be uncomfortable, being around people that have disabilities,” he said, “and watching our guys interact with these young kids blew me away.

“These guys were skating with students at the school for 60 straight minutes and had smile on their faces. And the kids were getting to experience something that otherwise they might not get a chance to the fact that we kind of blend our sport while providing an opportunity for these students, and also a great learning opportunity for our guys. It was just overall a really, really great trip.”

For Ritchie, a special-education teacher himself, the trip hit close to home.”

“Absolutely,” he said. “I’ve been working in special education for the last 15 years.

“I’ve worked with special Olympics and the opportunity for Ghost to again blend these types of trips with the school mission is an opportunity that I’m glad these guys get a chance to do when their adolescents, where a lot of adults might not even have that opportunity. So, the fact they’re getting this experience now as high school students is super important for them as they continue to grow and develop as young men.”

APAC Update 12-26-23

W L OTW OTL Pts GF GA

La Salle (10-1) 4 0 0 0 12 16 3

Malvern Prep (6-4) 2 2 1 1 6 9 11

St. Joseph’s Prep (5-2) 2 2 1 0 5 14 11

Holy Ghost Prep (3-9) 1 2 0 0 3 5 7

Hun School (2-4) 0 3 0 1 1 4 16

Scoring (All Games) GP G A Pts. PPG

Jeremy Jacobs (MP) 10 13 12 25 2.50

Alistair St. Hilaire (L) 5 6 2 8 1.60

Dan Carvalho (L) 11 7 6 13 1.18

Caiden Canale (MP) 10 6 5 11 1.11

Tristan Winata (SJP) 7 6 1 7 1.00

Julian Tarsi (L) 11 2 8 10 0.90

Patrick Brace (L) 11 4 5 9 0.82

William Carpenter (L) 11 1 8 9 0.82

Aidan Kelly (L) 10 3 5 8 0.80

Anthony Prete (HGP) 12 5 3 8 0.75

Will Gregorio (L) 10 3 4 7 0.70

Declan Kelly (L) 10 1 6 7 0.70

Scoring (Conference Games) GP G A Pts. PPG

Dan Carvalho (L) 4 3 3 6 1.50

Jeremy Jacobs (MP) 4 2 4 6 1.50

Declan Kelly (L) 4 1 4 5 1.25

Tristan Winata (SJP) 4 5 0 5 1.25

Will Carpenter (L) 4 1 3 4 1.00

Will Gregorio (L) 4 1 3 4 1.00

Jake Schultz (SJP) 3 2 1 3 1.00

Justin Laplante (HS) 3 1 2 3 1.00

Ryan Levesque (HS) 3 1 2 3 1.00

Patrick Brace (L) 4 2 1 3 0.75

Julian Tarsi (L) 4 2 1 3 0.75

Aidan Kelly (MP) 4 2 1 3. 0.75

Levesque’s Role at Hun School Extends Beyond the Ice

At the start of what was to be his senior year of high school, Ryan Levesque made a big decision. Instead of completing his secondary education at Hunterdon Central High, the Reddington, New Jersey resident chose to enroll at The Hun School instead and repeat his junior year.

That was prior to the 2022-23 school year.

“I heard about [Hun School] through friends that had played hockey there,” Levesque recalls. “They’re older now, they’re in college. Then I heard about it from a friend at [Princeton Day School] which is actually surprising because he didn’t go to Hun, but his mother and my mother talked about it and she hard great things. We found that it was a good match for me.

“It’s been a great experience.”

Levesque (#15) takes his leadership role seriously

Now a senior at Hun School, Levesque acknowledged he had some adjustments to make when he first arrived on campus.

“I would say the first week or so was pretty tough,” he said, “trying to gauge the different education level, how they treated their students, how their classes were commenced.

“It was definitely a tough change at first, but once I got really settled in everything really just became a routine and it started to just come to me naturally.

“I never had a problem with meeting new people, but I would say breaking the ice was definitely the biggest part. I kind of had to get over that little hump, I would say. Because I didn’t know anyone going into the school so it was a definitely a big adjustment in that aspect, but now I have a lot of friends there. I keep in touch with them not only in school but out of school and I would say that was the biggest adjustment.”

Lavesque says his passion for hockey accelerated the transition process.

“I feel like the ice is a different home for me,” he said. “I’ve always felt it feels so natural to me. All my problems go away as soon as I hit the ice. It really doesn’t matter where I touch down but I feel as if I really jelled with the guys on the team last year and this year.

“For me personally, it was definitely a big step from transferring from a public to a private setting but I definitely felt as soon as I touched the ice I’d fit in right away.”

As a senior on a young team, Lavesque takes his leadership responsibilities seriously. He stresses the importance of being a positive influence for his teammates on the ice and elsewhere.

I definitely hope to produce my best for this team, on and off the ice,” he said. “I look to be a guy the younger kids on the team playing varsity for the first time, cam look up to, not only as a teammate but as a person on and off the ice.

“I’m definitely excited to take a leadership role just to be a guy people can turn to on and off the ice; if they need anything.”

St. Joseph’s Prep 7 Hun School 2

A six-goal explosion over portions of the second and third period periods propelled St. Joseph’s Prep to a 7-2 win over Hun School Tuesday afternoon in an APAC game at Ice Land.

Tristan Winata provided three goals as the Hawks overcame a 2-1 second-period deficit to improve to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the APAC. Jake Schultz added two goals and an assist. John Lynch and Calum Hartnell also scored goals.

Ryan Levesque and Jake Beck scored for the Raiders (2-3, 0-2).

Winata’s goal with 2:28 left in the first period have St. Joseph’s Prep a 1-0 lead. Levesque and Beck scored goals five minutes apart to put the Raiders up 2-1 with 7:33 left in the middle session.

Lynch tied the game for the Hawks with 1:02 left in the second frame and Shultz put his team ahead for good just 32 seconds later.

The Hawks broke the game open by scoring four goals in the third period over a span of 9 minutes, 23 seconds. Winata scored two of those goals and completed his hat trick with 4:22 remaining. The junior has scored four goals in three conference games.

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 2 4—7

Hun School 0 2 0—2

First-period goal: Tristan Winata (SP) from Shane O’Neill, 14:32

Second-period goals: Ryan Levesque (HS) from Justin Laplante and Jake Beck, 4:30 (sh); Beck (HS) from Levesque and Laplante, 9:27 (pp); John Lynch (SJP) from Jake Schultz, 15:58; Schultz (SJP) from Parker Tumelty, 16:30

Third-period goals: Calum Hartnell (SJP) from O’Neill, 3:15 (pp); Winata (SP) from Frankie Ely and Patrick Sweeny, 6:58; Schultz (SP) from Ely, 8:03; Winata (SJP) unassisted, 12:38

La Salle 3 Holy Ghost Prep 1

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—Heading down the stretch at Hatfield Ice Monday evening, La Salle found itself hanging on.

The Explorers had the better of the play most of the day against Holy Ghost Prep and held a 2-1 lead with 3:27 remaining in regulation when Michael Zarzycki drew a five-minute major penalty plus a game misconduct for cross checking.

La Salle would have to play the remainder of regulation plus the start of an overtime period shorthanded. It was time for goaltender Jake Rossi to stand tall.

He and the defense corps in front of him did just that, limiting the Firebirds to two shots on goal the rest of the way while Patrick Brace added an empty-net goal with 80 seconds remaining.
The 3-1 win that resulted kept the Explorers perfect in the APAC at 4-0 and improved them to 8-1 overall. Afterward, La Salle coach Wally Muhelbronner lauded his veteran netminder’s effort.

“He’s been solid for two years now,” Muehlbronner said. “It’s not surprising me with Jake. He has very, very good focus and he’d made big saves like that a lot for us.”

Declan Kelly gave La Salle a 1-0 lead 2:36 into the opening period with a shot along the ice from the right point that got past Firebird netminder Jack Bothoff.

Kelly later set up Dean Carvalho who scored a power-play goal 5:30 into the second period to give the Explorers a two-goal.

But the Firebirds (2-6, 0-2 in the APAC) kept working and were rewarded 10:48 into the middle period when Caine Bickel scored off a feed from fellow freshman Nathan Romer. The goal came off a La Salle turnover.

Following Zarzycki’s penalty, Kelly knew he and his teammates had to step things up a bit.

“A five-minute penalty like that, we just have to keep things simple and get the puck out of our zone,” he said. “Keep working all the way through to the end of the game. Those close games, it’s really important to play a full three periods.”

Kelly a junior is playing a more prominent role with the Explorers this season after skating on the third line a year ago.

“Last year we had all these seniors,” he said. “It’s more of a leadership role this year and just showing these underclassmen how to work hard and maybe [overcome] the talent that we lost last year.”

For Holy Ghost Prep, the afternoon was another step in the maturation of a young team, that has taken big strides since the start of the season.

“It’s kind of an ongoing thing,” said Firebird coach John Richie. “We have so many new guys, we graduated 10 seniors, so some of this just come down to chemistry and our coaching staff is together for the first time.

“So, they’re learning our style, we’re kind of still learning some of their tendencies. We’re better than we were a month ago.”

Ice chips— La Salle has beaten each of the other APAC schools once.

Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 0—1

La Salle 1 1 1—3

First-period goal: Declan Kelly (L) from Liam Donahue and Charlie Kennedy, 2:36

Second-period goal: Dean Carvalho (L) from Kelly and Grant LaGreca, 5:35 (pp); Caine Bickel (HGP) from Nathan Romer, 10:48

Third-period goal; Patrick Brace (L) unassisted, 15:40

Shots; Holy Ghost Prep 23, La Salle 32; Saves; Jack Bothoff (HGP) 29; Jake Rossi (L) 22

Click here for more about La Salle College High School

Click here for more about Holy Ghost Prep

APAC Oveview for 12-12-23

W L OTW OTL Pts GF GA

La Salle (8-1) 4 0 0 0 12 16 3

St. Joseph’s Prep (4-1) 2 1 1 0 5 12 8

Malvern Prep (3-4) 1 2 0 1 4 6 9

Holy Ghost Prep (2-6) 0 2 0 0 0 2 5

Hun School (2-3) 0 2 0 0 0 2 13

teams receive three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime or shootout win, and one point for an overtime or shootout loss.

* Scoring GP G A Pts PPG

Dean Carvalho (Ls) 3 2 3 5 1.67

Will Gregorio (Ls) 3 1 3 4 1.33

Will Carpenter (Ls) 3 1 3 4 1.33

Jeremy Jacobs (MP) 3 1 3 4 1.33

Julian Tarsi (Ls) 3 2 1 3 1.00

Declan Kelly (Ls) 3 0 3 3 1.00

Robert McGinn (SJP) 2 1 1 2 1.00

Anthony Prete (HGP) 1 1 0 1 1.00

Mike Holt (HGP) 1 0 1 0 1.00

(scoring through 12-10)

APAC Recap for 12-7

St. Augustine 5 La Salle 1—The loss on Thursday was the Explorers’ first of the season after seven wins. Dean Carvalho scored the La Salle goal.
Jake Rossi stopped 46 shots in goal.

Christian Brothers Academy 4 Malvern Prep 3—Thomas Mantellino’s goal with 5:44 left in regulation was the difference as Christian Bothers Academy edged the Friars in a non-league game on Thursday.

Jeremy Jacobs scored twice for Malvern Prep, which also got a goal from Henry Tesoriero