Tag: Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference

La Salle 4, Holy Ghost Prep 1

BRISTOL—Few things are more impressive or imposing than a goaltender standing tall. Aidan McCabe did just that for La Salle Wednesday afternoon to help the Explorers successfully defend its Founders Cup title. The senior netminder stopped 30 of the 31 shots he saw as La Salle bested Holy Ghost Prep 4-1 at Grundy Arena to retain the championship of the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference.

The Explorers (15-13), who have won six of their last seven games will carry an abundance of momentum with then into next Thursday’s opening round of the Class AAA Flyers Cup where they are seeded second behind the Firebirds (15-5-1).

lasalle_holyghost-1.jpg

LaSalle captains Nathan Benner (L) and Ryan Ferry accept the Founders Cup from APAC Commissioner Jim Britt (photo by Liz Diretto)

Holy Ghost Prep, the top seed in the APAC playoffs, had the better of the play in the early going; at one time they had an 8-1 edge in shots, but McCabe kept them at bay and the second-seeded Explorers broke through at the 5:15 mark when David Kimmel took a shot from the left point, a single stride inside the blue line that beat Firebird netminder Sean Joyce. Keenan Schneider made it 2-0 with 56 seconds left in a period that saw McCabe make 13 saves.

“We had a good warmup,” McCabe said, “and we were doing a good job of keeping the shots to the outside so I could see the puck and track it in.”

Senior forward Ryan Ferry, one of La Salle’s captains, said McCabe’s early efforts energized his teammates. “McCabe has been good all year,” he said. “I expect nothing less.”

The Firebirds took advantage of an extended power play to score the only goal of the second period after the Explorers’ Chris Wnek and Kimmel drew back-back-penalties. Byron Hartley took a shot from the right circle that Dan Behr tipped past McCabe at the 11:15 mark.

But that was all the offense the hosts could generate. No one was more impressed with McCabe’s performance than Holy Ghost Prep assistant coach John Seravalli, who took charge behind the bench in the absence of Gump Whiteside, who missed the game because of illness.

“He made every good save,” Seravalli said. “He kept his rebounds intact. They blocked shots when we got shots off and he made great saves.”

David Brunner extended LaSalle’s lead with a goal at the 8:28 mark of the third period. Schneider scored his second goal of the game into an empty net with 25 seconds remaining.

Ferry noted that it took time for this year’s team to meld. “We just got closer as a team,” he said. “We had a lot of young kids on our team this year, a loot of seniors that were on JV last year so we didn’t know each other that well. We got a lot closer, started understanding how to play with reach other, and got s lot more chemistry.”

Ice Chips—La Salle will face Roman Catholic next Thursday in its Flyers Cup opener while the Firebirds will go against Bishop Shanahan. The Firebirds had a 31-25 edge in shots.

La Salle 2 0 2—4
Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 0—1
First-period goals: Collin Keiser (L) unassisted, 5:15 (sh); Keenan Schneider (L) from David Kimmel, 15:04.
Second-period goal: Dan Behr (HGP) from Byron Hartley and Evan Mudrick, 11;15 (pp)
Third-period goals: David Bruner (L) from Collin Keiser, 8:28; Schneider (L) unassisted, 15:35 (en).
Shots: La Salle 25, Holy Ghost Prep 31; Saves: Aidan McCabe (L) 30, Sean Joyce (HGP)) 21

 

 

APAC Playoff Semifinals Set

The Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference playoffs will get underway on Monday with a pair of semifinal games.

Top-seeded Holy Ghost Prep will host fourth seed Malvern Prep in a 4:00 game at Grundy Arena. The other Monday semifinal will match St. Joseph’s Prep and La Salle. The  site and time of that game will depend on the result of Friday’s regular season finale between the Hawks and the Explorers. The winner will be the second seed and the loser third.

If La Salle wins, the semifinal will be played at Hatfield Ice with a 4:10 scheduled start. If the Hawks prevail, the semifinal will be played at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 Arena with a 4 p.m. start (LATE UPDATE)

The Founders Cup championship game will be played Wednesday, February 26 with the site and time to be determined.

The results of the Founders Cup playoffs will not impact the seedings for the Class AAA Flyers Cup tournament, which will be announced Sunday night.

 

APAC Update for 2-12-20

Standings through 2-12                    W        L       OW      OL        Pts               GF       GA

Holy Ghost Prep (14-4-1)                       5         3        1      0               17               32         24

St. Joseph’s Prep (11-11)                       3          1       0       4               13                 25       24

LaSalle (12-13)                                      2          3     2           1                11                 29        29

Malvern Prep (7-8)                              2         5         2        0             10                   44           45

Teams receive:

3 points for a regulation win

2 points  for an overtime or shootout win

1 point for an overtime or shootout loss

0 points for a regulation loss

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Scoring Leaders                        Games     G      A       Pts

Byron Hartley (HGP)                  18         21     13      34

Matt Harris (MP)                        15          19    11        30

Jack Constabile (MP)                  15            6     20      26

Ryan Sambuco (MP)                   15          9     15     24

Evan Mudrick (HGP)                   16        11     9       20

Anthony Sparo (HGP)                 17        8  11     19

Dave Kimmel (La)                       20       10   7      17

Jimmy Craig (SJP)                         16         6    11     17

Nolan Woudenberg (La)             19         10     5       15

Keenan Schneider (La)                20        4     11     15

Andrew Centrella (SJP)               16          2     13    15

Nathan Benner (La)                     20        9     6     15

Jeffrey Hammond (SJP)               14        8      6       14

Braedon Barsher (HGP)              19        12    2      14

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The Grundy Skate Shop is a full-service hockey pro shop inside the Grundy Arena, offering a great selection of equipment, brands and various services.  We do a full range of repairs as well as offer custom hockey jerseys. Owner Bill Keyser, has over 25 years experience in the industry and specializes in skate sharpening, including profiling. Stop in an check us out  or please visit our Facebook page  

Holy Ghost Prep 2, La Salle 1

BRISTOL—If familiarity doesn’t breed contempt it certainly breeds a certain amount of hostility. Friday’s game between La Salle and Holy Ghost Prep was the third of the season between the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference rivals and Grundy Arena was filled to the brim with emotional energy.

Anthony Sparo’s goal with 8:28 left in regulation was the difference in the Firebirds’ 2-1 win. The win moved Holy Ghost Prep into first place in the APAC with a 4-3-1-0 league mark for 14 points, one point in front of St. Joseph’s Prep, which has a game in hand.

La Salle dropped to 9-14 overall and 1-3-2-1 in conference play.

“There was a lot of emotion,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside. “Two very good hockey teams, great energy in the building tonight. Just happy to get out of here with a win.”

The Explorers’ Chris Wnek opened the scoring 3:15 into the first periods off a feed from David Kimmel.

Early in the second frame the Firebirds found themselves with an opportunity to draw even when they were presented with an 83-second two-man advantage. EJ. Pohl thought he had tied the game at the 2:11 mark with a shot from the right wing but the referee ruled the puck hit the post and did not cross the goal line and the Explorers killed off the remainder of both penalties. A few minutes later, Sean Joyce made a pair of big saves seconds apart to keep it a one-goal game,

The Firebirds did tie the game with a minute left in the period when Brady Baehser scored on an effort that got through a pile of players in front of the net and past La Salle netminder Matthew Bant.

The two teams started the third period on fresh ice and if anything, the pace of play picked up.

Sparo’s game-winning goal came off a left-circle faceoff in the offensive zone.

With 1:29 left in the game the emotions of the evening boiled over when La Salle’s Andrew Budzynski was called for cross checking. Moments later it appeared the Explorers’ Max Maddalo was knocked into the boards but no additional penalties were called and La Salle skated a man short until the Explorers’ Nathan Benner and the Firebirds’ Dan Behr got into a scuffle with eight seconds to go that led to five additional penalties.

La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner was unavailable for comment following the game.

Notes—Brant stopped 39 shots in the La Salle net … La Salle will close its conference campaign at Malvern Prep Monday night … Holy Ghost Prep will host St. Joseph’s Prep Wednesday afternoon. A regulation win would give the Firebirds the APAC regular-season title.

La Sallle 1 0 0—1
Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 1—2
First-period goal: Chris Wnek (L) from David Kimmel, 3:15;
Second-period goal: Brady Baehser (HGP) from Aidan Mulholland, 15:00 (pp)
Third-period goal: Anthony Sparo (HGP) unassisted, 7:32
Shots: La Salle 16, Holy Ghost Prep 41; Saves: Matthew Brant (L) 39, Sean Joyce (HGP) 15

 

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Princeton Day School 3, Malvern Prep 2

WEST GOSHEN— Coaches talk a lot as out staying out of the penalty box. Malvern Prep was unable to do that Monday afternoon and that proved to be its undoing.
John Oliver’s power-play goal with 2:16 left in the third period gave Princeton Day school a 3-2 win over the Friars in a non-league matchup Ice Line.

Oliver’s game winner was the second power play goal of the game for the Panthers (6-6) who compete in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League. Malvern Prep (6-7) was accessed all five penalties that were called in the game, all of them minors. Two of them came back-to-back late in the third period. As a result, the Friars’ Jack Constabile found himself in the box for four minutes over the final 5:29 of the game.

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Princeton Day School’s Drew McConaughy (in gray) and Malvern Prep’s Caimin Hayes battle for the puck. (Photo by Gracie Cleveland)

Constabile opened the scoring when he got the Friars on the board 12:02 into the first period of a setup from Ryan Sambuco. Malvern Prep extended its lead 57 seconds into the second frame when Sambuco beat Panther goaltender Timothy Miller on a shot from the left circle.

The Panthers responded at the 5::03 mark when Luke Austinacci scored a power-play goal and tied the game at the 13:13 mark when Drew McConaughy found the back of the net.

Both teams had opportunities in the third period but Miller and the Friars’ Anthony Perti were up to the task of protecting their nets. Constabile was sent to the box for a check from behind with 5:29 left in the third period. Just 10 seconds after stepping back on the ice he was boxed again, this time for tripping; the second infraction led to Oliver’s game-winning goal.

“Anytime you go down and take penalties, it’s hard to get a rhythm going,” said Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan. “We started to click well there at the beginning of the third period, but two late penalties hurt us.”

With an eye toward the end of the season, the Friars will now regroup and refocus, Three regular season games remain, including the APAC finale against La Salle next Monday night.

“The couple games we’ve taken some shifts off,” Keenan said, “but I think we’re headed in the right direction,”

Keenan points out that the conference race has been a wide open one so far this season; he does not expect that to change. “(The league) had four strong teams and we know we very time we go up against one of those teams it’s going to be a battle,” he said. “We’re just hoping that e can start clicking at the right time and hopefully go far.”

Princeton Day School 0 2 1—3
Malvern Prep 1 1 0—2
First-period goals: Jack Constabile (MP) from Ryan Sambuco, 12:02
Second-period goals: Sambuco (MP) from Chris Blango, :57; Luke Austinacci (PDS) from David Sherman, 5:03 (pp); Drew McConaughy (PDS) from Stephan Gorelenkov and Oliver Hall, 13:13
Third-period goals: John Oliver (PS) from Gibson Linnehan and Birch Gorman, 13:44 (pp).
Shots; Princeton Day School 32, Malvern Prep 22; Saves: Timothy Miller (PDS) 20, Anthony Perti (MP) 29

Flyers Cup Power Rankings 1-27-20

The latest edition of the Flyers Cup power rankings include some changes in Class AAA. La Salle, the defending Flyers Cup and state  champion, has moved to the top of the rankings thanks to a 5-4 shootout win over St. Joseph’s Prep last Friday.

For more details on the 2020 Flyers Cup tournament CLICK HERE.

And check out our Flyers Cup podcast. A new episode will be posted each Friday.

Class AAA

  1. LaSalle (6-2-0-1)
  2. St. Joseph’s Prep (6-0-0-4)
  3. Holy Ghost Prep (6-3-0-0)
  4. Malvern Prep (6-4-0-0)
  5. Father Judge (11-5-0-0)

 

Class AA

  1. Central Bucks South (10-0-0-1)
  2. Haverford (14-1-0-0)
  3. Perkiomen Valley (10-2-0-1)
  4. North Penn (7-2-0-0)
  5. Downingtown West (8-5-0-1)
  6. Neshaminy (8-3-0-0-0)
  7. Council Rock South (6-3-0-0)
  8. Boyertown (9-5-1-0)
  9. Central Bucks East (8-2-1-1)
  10. Pennsbury (8-3-1-0)

 

Class A

  1. West Chester East(12-3-0-0)
  2. Springfield Delco (10-2-0-2)
  3. West Chester Bayard Rustin (8-4-0-2)
  4. Unionville (8-5-0-0)
  5. Palmyra (15-1-0-1)
  6. Plymouth Whitemarsh (11-1-0-0)
  7. Strath Haven (9-3-0-1)
  8. Hershey (11-2-1-2)
  9. West Chester Henderson (5-6-1-1)
  10. Lower Dauphin (10-5-0-0)

 

NJ/Delaware

  1. Eastern (11-2-3-0)
  2. Salesianum (7-6-1-1)
  3. Moorsetown (8-4-5-0)
  4. Appoquinimimk (11-1-0-2)
  5. Cherokee (7-5-4-0)

 

The girls’ rankings were be updated this week due to a scarcity of games.

Last week’s rankings were as follows:

Girls

  1. Bux-Mont Catholic (10-1-0-0)
  2. Unionville (8-2-0-2)
  3. Avon Grove (8-3-0-1)
  4. West Chester East (3-7-0-0)

 

 

Founders Cup Playoff Dates Set

The Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference has finalized the dates for its Founders Cup playoffs. All four teams will participate in the semifinals on Monday, February 24thwith the top seed hosting the fourth-place finisher and the second seed hosting the third seed.

The championship game will be played on Wednesday, February 26 and will be hosted by the highest seeded finalist.

La Salle is the defending Founders Cup champion.

La Salle 5, St. Joseph’s Prep 4 SO

HATFIELD— For anyone with a healthy appetite for hockey, Friday night’s Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference matchup between St.Joseph’s Prep and La Salle was the ultimate buffet. It took a shootout to decide matters, with Nolan Woudenberg’s goal in the bottom of the third round giving the Explorers a 5-4 win.

Before that, the audience at Hatfield Ice had the chance to sample a bit of everything, close checking, first-rate goaltending, and some outstanding individual efforts.

“It was an awesome game to be a part of,” said St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin. “Like I’ve said many times, I think this division is very evenly matched and what you get that day is hopefully great hockey. I think both sides played hard and it was a great game.”

The result Haden impact on the APAC standings. The Explorers improved to 9-12 overall and 1-2-2-1 in conference play. The Hawks are now 10-10 overall and 3-0-0-4 in conference; they’ve taken at least one point from all seven league games.

The result could have have an impact on the Flyers Cup power rankings as well. The Hawks were ranked first, the Explorers second at the start of the week. A new set of rankings will be released on Monday.

All eight of Friday night’s regulation goals came in the last two periods after a scoreless first frame that featured an abundance of close checking as the players on both teams searched in vain for a patch of open ice to work in.

Nolan Woudenberg opened the scoring for La Salle at 11:23 of the middle period. Jake Hannon made a 2-0 game just 28 seconds later but the Hawks got tallies from Paulo Colavita and Dominic Fantozzi in a 29-second pan to draw even with 2:45 left in the period.

The third period was dominated by special teams. The first three of the four goals in the period came on power plays.

The Hawks’ Michael Urbani and the Explorers’ Woudenberg traded goals early on before Andrew Centrella scored on a shot from the right circle to give the Hawks a 4-3 lead with 11:34 left in the game. David Kimmel tied the game for La Salle with 6:44 left in regulation.

The Explorers got a break when the Hawks’ Nick Storti drew an elbowing penalty with 45 seconds left in regulation, one which allowed LaSalle to start the overtime period with a man advantage.

Both goaltenders came up big in the extra session. The Explorers’ Aidan McCabe denied the Hawks’ Matthew Moresco and St. Joseph Prep’s Andrew Custer got the better of Woudenberg. Either play could have ended matters. In the end, Woudenberg provided the winning effort in the shootout.

“It’s a step forward for us,” said La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner. It would have been nice to win in regulation but it was similar to our last game against them. Two pretty evenly matched teams.”

McCabe spoke to the nature of the rivalry between the Explorers and the Hawks. “It’s definitely an easy game to get up for,” he said, and to stay motivated through the whole game. And once you know it’s going into overtime, it’s even easier to focus on. We were able to get the win in the shootout, which is nice.”

Ice Chips—The Explorers won the first meting between the two teams, 4-3 in overtime, on November 20. The two teams will close the regular season against each other on the evening of February 21 at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 Arena.

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 2 2 0 (1)—4
La Salle 0 2 2 0 (2)—5
Second-period goals: Nolan Woudenberg (L) from Chase Hannon and Jack Armstrong, 11:23 (pp); Jake Hannon (L) from Colin Keiser and David Kimmel, 11:51; Matthew Moresco (SJP) from Paulo Colavita, 13:44; Dominic Fantozzi (SJP) from Jimmy Craig, 14:15.
Third-period goals: Michael Urbani (SJP) from Jeffrey Hammond and Craig, 1:29 (pp); Woudenberg (L) from Hannon and Armstrong, 2:32 (pp); Andrew Centrella (SJP) from Hammond and Craig, 5:26 (pp); Kimmel (L) from Keenan Schneider, 10:16.
Shootout goals: SJP: Ben Briskin; L: Max Maddalo and Woudenberg
Shots: SJP 25, La Salle 26; Saves: Andrew Custer (SJP) 22, Aidan McCabe (L) 21

Elsewhere

Holy Ghost Prep 3, St. Augustine 0—The Firebirds bested the Hermits Friday in a non-league game. Landon Stoudt and Anthony Sparo scored in the first period to give the Firebirds a 2-0 lead. Luke Panepresso added an empty net goal in the third period. Sean Joyce made 25 saves in goal.

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APAC Update

Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference Standings

Includes games played and reported through 1-28

 

W        L       OW      OL        Pts               GF       GA

St. Joseph’s Prep (11-10)                       3          0       0           4           13                 25       23

Holy Ghost Prep (10-4-1)                       3         3        1      0               11                25         21

Malvern Prep (6-7)                              2         4         2        0             10               33           36

LaSalle (9-13)                                      1          2     2           1                8                 28        19

Teams receive:

3 points for a regulation win

2 points  for an overtime or shootout win

1 point for an overtime or shootout loss

0 points for a regulation loss

 

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Scoring Leaders                        Games     G      A       Pts

Byron Hartley (HGP)                  14         17     11      28

Matt Harris (MP)                        12          17    8        25

Jack Constabile (MP)                  8             5     15      20

Evan Mudrick (HGP)                   12        10     9       19

Ryan Sambuco (MP)                   12          5     11     16

Anthony Sparo (HGP)                  12        4   10     14

Nathan Benner (La)                     15        8     5     13

Jimmy Craig (SJP)                         13         4     8     12

Braedon Barsher (HGP)              11        10    1      11

Keenan Schneider (La)                15          2      9     11

Andrew Centrella (SJP)               12           1    10    11

 

The Grundy Skate Shop is a full-service hockey pro shop inside the Grundy Arena, offering a great selection of equipment, brands and various services.  We do a full range of repairs as well as offer custom hockey jerseys. Owner Bill Keyser, has over 25 years experience in the industry and specializes in skate sharpening, including profiling. Stop in an check us out  or please visit our Facebook page