Tag: Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference

Malvern Prep Tops Holy Ghost Prep in APAC Action

By Rick Woelfel

WEST CHESTER—Malvern Prep displayed an abundance of firepower Monday night, Nick Martino scored three goals and assisted on a fourth as the Friars bested Holy Ghost Prep 5-4 Monday night in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference game at Ice Line.

The Friars (2-0, 1-0 in the APAC) hadn’t played a game in nearly three weeks but displayed few, if any signs of rust.

“The guys have been working hard, Martino said. “Everyone’s been putting in the time, putting in the effort. We thought we were prepared for the game.”
Martino got the scoring started with 2:26 left in the opening period when he beat Firebird netminder Sean Joyce from close range off a feed from Kyle Washalavitch.

Holy Ghost Prep (1-2, 0-2) drew even on Jack Kelly’s power-play goal exactly 90 seconds into the second frame but Matt Harris put the Friars back in front at the 8:12 mark before Martino, with Washalavitch’s help, made it a 3-1 game at 12:07.

The Firebirds’ Byron Hartley cut the Malvern Prep lead in half when he scored from a deep angle near the right faceoff circle just 16 seconds into the third period.
The remainder of the period featured an abundance of up-and-down hockey and four goals.

When Ryan Sambuco scored a power-play goal for Malvern Prep at the 2:39 mark and Martino completed his hat trick at 4:16, the Friars appeared to have things well in hand.

But the Firebirds didn’t quit. Colin Costello beat Friar goaltender Dan Dougherty at 5:55 and it was a two-goal game once more with plenty of time on the clock.

The two teams spent most of the rest of the game going end to end, a development that did not entirely please Malvern Prep coach Dave Dorman. “I was very happy for about two-and-a-third periods,” he said, “but then after that, it got a little too lose. I think we got caught up in the emotion of the game, and the fans, but it was still nice to get the win.”

Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside praised his team for continuing to battle even after falling behind. “I thought we played well in the third period,” he said. “I was a good win for Malvern, but I thought we showed a lot of spunk.
“I told the boys ‘I thought that energy in the third period was great, but you need to play three periods to win a hockey game.’ But I like the compete factor in the third period.”

Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 3—4
Malvern Prep 1 2 2—5
First-period goal: Nick Martino (MP) from Kyle Washalavitch and Andrew Harder, 13:34
Second-period goals: Jack Kelly (HGP) from Rip Spor and Andrew Serafin, 1:30 (pp); Matt Harris (MP) from Ryan Sambuco, 8:11; Martino (MP) from Washalavitch, 12:07.
Third-period goals: Byron Hartley (HGP) from Serafin, :16; Sambuco (MP) from Andrew Harder and Washalavitch, 2:39 (pp); Martino (M) from Charlie Andress, 4:16; Colin Costello (HGP) from E.J. Pohl and Kelly, 5:55; Serafin (HGP) from Danny Behr, 15:45.
Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 26, Malvern Prep 29; Saves: Sean Joyce (HGP) 24, Dan Dougherty (MP) 22.

 

CLICK HERE to learn more about Malvern Prep.

CLICK HERE to Learn more about Holy Ghost Prep

 

APAC Celebrates Opening Night

The prevailing mindset at Grundy Arena Friday night, both before and after LaSalle’s 5-1 win over Holy Ghost Prep, was one of satisfaction.

The result of the game mattered of course, but there was a lot more to the evening than that result

A lot of people but in a lot of effort to make the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference a reality and seeing that vision become a reality on the ice was obviously satisfying to the responsible parties.

“It’s something we’ve talked about for years,” said LaSalle coach Wally Muehlbronner, “and to finally pull it together, I think it’s going to be a great thing for all the schools involved.”

Friday’s game drew a large and enthusiastic audience to Grundy Arena. Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside enjoyed the evening despite his team taking the loss.

“This is great,” he said. “The environment we had here tonight, both teams competing really hard, “LaSalle worked hard. I thought we worked hard, this was just a great atmosphere. This is what high-school hockey in the Delaware Valley is all about. Two great teams, two great schools, and I wish we could play like this every night.”

Holy Ghost Prep captain Tom McNulty enjoyed the atmosphere as well. “It was a great atmosphere tonight,” the senior defenseman said. “We had a big (turnout), the whiteout (from Holy Ghost Prep supporters) was awesome. Our fans were really into it.”

McNulty pointed out that the four APAC schools (Holy Ghost Prep, LaSalle, Malvern Prep, St. Joseph’s Prep) will benefit from going against each other on a regular basis. “I think it will be really good,” he said. “We’re going to have a lot of time for improvement. Playing these better teams, we’re going to become better; we’re going to just keep picking it up from there.”

APAC Commissioner Jim Britt was on hand for Friday’s opener. Britt coached at Holy Ghost Prep and later helped launch the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation. He was approached last spring about heading up the APAC.

“(The four league schools) had come together and reached a great discussion point,” he said, “to try to organize, celebrate, to help grow the game of high-school hockey in the Philadelphia area.

Britt was elated at the atmosphere of Friday’s game and the enthusiasm of both the participants and fans.

“The turnout tonight is indicative of the kind of enthusiasm that is possible, that is out there,” he said. Someone said earlier that it’s like a Flyers Cup playoff game already and this is only the first game of the conference. So, it’s really neat to see.”

 

 

 

Counting Down to the Debut of the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference

A new era is dawning in Philadelphia-area scholastic hockey as the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference prepares to open its 20-18-19 season.

The new league features four schools, St. Joseph’s Prep, Holy Ghost Prep, LaSalle, and Malvern Prep, all with rich hockey traditions. Collectively, they have won 23 Flyers Cups, 21 of them in Class 3A, including the last eight, 11 of the last 12, and 16 of the last 18.

The caliber of hockey in the new league promises to be superb.  David Giacomin, the head coach at St. Joseph’s Prep, the defending Flyers Cup champion, says the four schools were looking to go against good competition on a regular basis.

“I think the big thing for all four of the schools was, we wanted to play in league where it was very competitive for everybody,” he said. “We wanted to compete against a stronger schedule. We’ll play each other three times apiece plus the (non-league game), we formed an agreement with the schools in South Jersey to play them so we’re playing the same type of teams to make this a very even playing field, but it’s giving the best competition that we could possibly find in the area on a consistent basis.”

The foundation the APAC runs much deeper however. Hockey at each of the member schools is a full-fledged varsity sport and the administrations at all four institutions are committed to fitting their respective hockey programs into their school’s educational philosophy.

“it’s run through the school,’ Giacomin said. “Everything goes through them, we have the full support of the Prep community and the full backing of the entire school. So, it’s super important. It doesn’t really mean that much for hockey itself, but it means more for the kids, to be able to turn around and say ‘I play for my school’ and it is a sponsored school sport where you’re getting the full backing of your community. That means the most to them.”

The majority of the league schedule will be played in the afternoon, which Giacomin believes will stimulate student attendance at the games.

“Looking at the way we’re doing it now, if we’re able to bring kids right from the school, immediately after school and starting the game at four o’ clock, that frees them up to do all their studies in the evening,” he said. “So, we’re hoping this format is going to work to our advantage and to be able to bring a lot of the student body in.”
Holy Ghost Prep and LaSalle will play the first APAC league game in history, Friday, November 2 at 7:30 at Grundy Arena.

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