Tag: Dean Carvalho

La Salle’s Carvalho Primed for APAC Finale

La Salle senior Dean Carvalho knows all about the rivalry between the Explorers and St. Joseph’s Prep. The two schools have been competing against each other since the Philadelphia Catholic League was founded in 1920.

“I think just the level of [competition] between both schools and just the will to win, has just grown over the many years we’ve been competing against them in hockey and many other sports,” he said. “The will to win is there.”

The rivalry between the Explorers and the Hawks will be renewed on Wednesday afternoon when the two schools meet for the Founders Cup and the championship of the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference (4:00 at Hatfield Ice). La Salle is the defending champion and has won three conference titles in five seasons while sharing another.

Carvalho sees the rivalry as mutually respectful, albeit intense.

“I think the respect is there, definitely,” he said.” We look forward to those games. In some ways, they’re a lot more fun than playing other schools because it’s a rivalry. It just makes the game that much more intense and the speed that much higher so I think it’s fun for everybody.”

Dean Carvalho

The Explorers own two wins over the Hawks this season, most recently a 5-3 win on February 14 that saw La Salle enter the third period trailing 3-0. Carvalho says the team regrouped during the post-second period ice cut.

“I think we just came together as a team and just realized how we needed to play,” he said. “Things we were doing wrong and what we needed to improve on. I think that period we came out really focused as a team, ready to play. We scored one and kept it rolling and things worked out at the end.”

Carvalho led the APAC in scoring, with six goals and six assists for 12 points (1.5 ppg) during the conference season. He enters Wednesday’s final with 16 goals and 11 assists in all competitions (22 games). He notes the Explorers are team that can and must rely on scoring balance to be successful.

“I think it’s huge,” he said. “One of our strengths as a team is the amount of depth that we have. We have four lines, probably more than four lines that can play, and more than six defenseman that can play. So, there’s never a weak link on the ice and that that reflects the success we’ve had this season so far. I think it’s really important because there’s never that weak link.”

La Salle 5 St. Joseph’s Prep 3

La Salle overcame a 3-0 second-period deficit to stun St. Joseph’s Prep 5-3 Wednesday evening in an APAC game at the Class of 1923. The Explorers scored five goals in the third period to conclude conference play with a perfect 8-0 record (18-3 overall).

Dean Carvalho scored two goals for La Salle  and assisted on another. Alex Fusaro, Alistair St. Hilaire, and Patrick Brace also scored goals.

Tristan Winada gave the Hawks (14-5, 4-4) a 1-0 lead with 18 seconds left in the first period. Brayden Collins and Calum Hartnell added goals in the second period.

La Salle 0 0 5—5

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 2 0—3

First period goals: Tristan Winada (SJP) from Brayden Collins, 16:42

Second-period goals: Collins (SJP) from John Lynch and Cole Garson, 8:44; Calum Hartnell (SJP) from Caden Kelly, 16:48

Third-period goals: Dean Carvalho (L) from Alex Fusaro and Ben Faliclki, 5:55; Fusaro (L) from Thomas Ducet and Liam Donahue, 12:34; Alistair St. Hilaire (L) from Carvalho and Julian Trasi, 14:23; Carvalho (L) from Will Carpenter, 15:49; Patrick Brace (L) unassisted, 16:59 (en)

Shots: Saves:

La Salle 6 Hun School 0

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—The performance was not flamboyant or flashy. This season’s version of the La Salle Explorers don’t play hockey that way. But it was a textbook display of efficiency.

Six different players scored goals as the Explorers shut out Hun School 6-0 Wednesday afternoon in an APAC encounter at Hatfield Ice. The defending Class AAA Flyers Cup and state champions are a perfect 7-0 this season, 3-0 in conference play.

The Raiders are 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

Charlie Kennedy gave La Salle a lead 7:08 into the opening period and the Explorers built on their advantage from there, adding three goals in the second period and two more in the third.

Kennedy a senior, said he and his teammate were confident scoring opportunities would come, if they worked for them.

“It takes a lot of hard work,” he said. “And you’ve got to be consistent, get some shots on net. You’ve got to drive the net hard You’ve got to be there, you’ve got to communicate. And, if we do all that, that will end up in our favor. We’ve got to continue to be persistent in that way.”

Senior Dean Carvalho scored one goal and set up another.

“I think the third period was definitely our strongest,” he said. “We finished out strong. The first two there were lapses at points in our D-zone but we tightened it up and found a way to come out with a win.”

Ryan Wiley, Patrick Brace, Grant LaGreca, and Michael Zarzycki also added goals for the Explorers. Whatever shortcomings plagued them were not immediately noticeable, certainly not to Hun School coach Eric Szeker.

“That’s a good team on the other side,” he said. “Credit to them, they came out, they were ready to play. They were moving the puck well today and got some good goals.”

The hosts broke the game open with three goals in the second half of the second period from Ryan Wiley, Patrick Brace, and Grant LeGreca. Carvalho and Michael Zarzycki added goals in the third frame.

Lost amidst all this was the work of Raider goaltender Julian Arsenault, who faced 51 shots and stopped 45 of them.

“Julian’s an incredible kid,” Szeker said. “He battled today for us in a little bit of a one-sided game. He gave us a great opportunity but defensively, we kept up a little bit too much on the inside.”

“(Arsenault) was good tonight,” Carvalho said. “There were a lot of shots we put in his chest there were some really good saves that he made, point blank. He did a good job.” 

Kennedy was pleased with the Explorers level of consistency for the full 51 minutes.

‘“It felt good,” he said. “We had a little bit of a slow start but eventually got it going, got the right mindset going, and then really came up in the third period with the quality of goals that they were.

“We ended on a good note.”

Hun School 0 0 0—0

La Salle 1 3 2—6

First-period goal: Charlie Kennedy (L) from Dean Carvalho and Alex Fusaro, 7:52

Second-period goals: Ryan Wiley (L) from Will Carpenter and Logan Dicus, 8:21; Patrick Brace (L) unassisted, 14:51; Grant LaGreca (L) from Will Gregorio and Michael Zarzycki, 15:47

Third-period goal; Dean Carvalho (L) from Julian Tarsi and Declan Kelly, 11:43; Zarzycki (L) from Will Carpenter and Jake Rossi, 16:25

Shots; Hun School 32, La Salle 51; Saves: Julia Arsenault (HS) 45, Jake Rossi (L) 32

For more about La Salle College High School CLICK HERE

For more about The Hun School CLICK HERE

La Salle 3 St. Joseph’s Prep 1

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—A bolt of lightning was followed by rolling thunder. La Salle scored two goals 69 second apart early in the third period and went on to a 3-1 win over St. Joseph’s Prep at Hatfield Ice Wednesday afternoon to officially kick off the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference’s sixth hockey season.

Will Gregorio scored what proved to be the winning goal 1:24 into the third frame. Dean Carvalho added an insurance goal at the 2:33 mark as the Explorers (4-0 overall), the defending Founders Cup, Class AAA Flyers Cup and state champions, won their ninth straight game dating back to the close of the 2023 regular season.

Carvalho noted it was not a perfect performance.

“I didn’t think we played as a well as we could have,” he said. “There’s room for improvement, and every week we’re working to improve every game.”

The Hawks (1-1 overall) took the first lead of the afternoon, thanks to Bobby McGinn’s goal with 1:07 left  in a first period in which La Salle dominated, but was unable to solve St. Joseph’s Prep netminder Jacob Aranda. The junior finished the period with 13 saves and the game with 32.

“He played great,” said St. Joseph’s Perp coach David Giacomin. “He made some quality saves, he’s always in position.

“I’d like to see the tape on a couple of goals, he might have given them a little too much, but he kept us in there the first period.”

Alastair St. Hiaire tied the game for the Explorers 7:11 into the second period and the two teams battled on even terms for the balance of the session.

Gregorio’s game winner came during a four-on-four situation with La Salle’s Patrick Brace and the Hawks’ Brayden Collins both in the box. Carvalho’s goal came after Brace’s penalty time had expired but with two seconds still remaining on Collins’ infraction.

“I thought we came out and played well out of the gate,” said La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner. “Then I think we kind of got away from our game. And I think St. Joe’s did a really good job. Their goaltender made a lot of really good saves early on and they had some really good opportunities early on.

“I feel it was a pretty even game throughout.”

Even though it came out on the short end of the score,Giacomin was pleased with the effort of his young team; the 20 players who dressed for the Hawks included three freshmen and six sophomores.

“Obviously there are some things we messed up and I’d like to have back,” he said, “but we’re a very young team. I think what they learned today is, of they play the game the right way they can compete with pretty much anybody but with youngness comes taking your lumps here and there ands we made a couple mistakes.”

Ice chips: La Salle’s last loss came to Wyoming Seminary in its regular-season finale last season. The Explorers won five postseason games a year ago.

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 0 0—1

La Salle 0 1 2—3

First-period goal: Bobby McGinn (SJP) from Ben Kursun, 15:53

Second-period goal: Alastair St. Hilaire (L) from James Carpenter and Dean Carvalho, 7:11

Third-period goals: Will Gregorio (L) from Declan Kelly, 1:24; Dean Carvalho (L) from Gregorio, 2:33 (pp);

Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 32, La Salle 35; Saves: Jacob Aranda (SJP) 32, Jacob Rossi (L) 31

La Salle 4 Wyoming Seminary 3

La Salle and Wyoming Seminary got their respective seasons off to a slam-bam start on Wednesday afternoon.

It took a late goal from the Explorers’ Dean Carvalho to settle things. Carvallo beat Jonah Boles with 3:47 left in the third period to give the hosts a 4-3 win at Hatfield Ice.

Prior to that, the non-league encounter had a bit of everything; an impressive number of goals, an abundance of penalties (19) and no lack of intensity.

For the Explorers, it was their first opportunity to put the pieces together at game speed.

“We have a pretty good corps back,” said La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner. “The new guys we have, there’s only one, he’s a freshman he fit in pretty well. The other guys are guys that have been jayvee and have been knocking on the door for a number of years.

“They’re here to play hard. I think they know their roles. It’s just a matter of getting everybody in synch and understanding the type of game we need to play to be successful.”

Alex Fusaro gave La Salle a 1-0 8:03 into the first period off a but the Blues’ Yoan Gagnon drew his team even with a power-play goal just 63 seconds after that.

Gagnon would be heard from later, but not before Bill Gregorio put the Explorers back in front with a power-play goal of his own with 2:40 left in the period on a wrist shot along the ice from the top of the slot.

Gagnon, a senior from Sherbrooke, Quebec, scored twice in the second period, once on a power play, to put Wyoming Seminary up 3-2 with 6:52 left in the session.

Alistair St. Hilaire tied the game for La Salle 58 seconds later.
Carvalho’s game-winner came as he was being knocked to the ice in the slot. Bill Carpenter collected the primary assist, his third of the game. The Explorers controlled the third period, outshooting the Blues 9-2 and 29-21 for the game. 

Jacob Rossi got the win in goal.

“The third period was out best period,” Muehlbronner said. “I definitely think we got better as we went along. Early on I think we made a lot of not-smart plays, turnover that you can’t be doing, but I think we got it together in the third period. That was our best period. We played I think the way we want to play.”

Wyoming Seminary 1 2 0—3

La Salle 2 1 1—4

First-period goals: Alex Fusaro (L) from Patrick Brace and Julian Tarsi, 8:03; Yoan Gagnon (WS) from Ben Moccia, 9:06 (pp); Bill Gregorio (L) from William Carpenter, 14:20 (pp)

Second-period goals: Gagnon(WS) from Jonah Boles, 1:56; Gagnon (WS) from Heli William DeSeve Elliott. 10:08 (pp) Alistair St. Hilaire (L) from Carpenter, 11:06

Third-period goal: Dean Carvalho (L) from Carpenter and Jacob Rossi. 13:13

Shots: Wyoming Seminary 21, La Salle 29; Saves: Jonah Boles(WS) 25, Jacob Rossi (L) 18

La Salle 5 Hun School 1

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—The La Salle Explorers were in postseason mode Wednesday afternoon. Dean Carvalho scored two goals and assisted on two others as the Explorers downed Hun School 5-1 in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference semifinal at Hatfield Ice.

The top-seeded Explorers (12-9-2) will host the Founders Cup championship game next Wednesday. They will learn Sunday if they earned the top seed for the Class AAA Flyers Cup. Fifth-seeded Hun School closed its season at 11-13.

For the Explorers, it was an occasion when all the pieces fit.

“It was just the simple things,” Carvalho said. “Like getting pucks in deep, forecheck, get the pucks on net. Those are the things that Coach Wally (Muehlbronner) has been preaching all year. It definitely paid off today.”

Matt Giordano opened the scoring for the Explorers 2:12 into the first frame with a shot from the right point that took an odd bounce and caromed past Raider goaltender Josh Arsenault, Michael Zarzycki made it a 2-0 game with 49.5 seconds left in the opening session.

James Carpenter contributed a goal and two assists to the win. He spoke to the importance of the fast start.

“Obviously, it’s very good to start with a quick 2-0 lead,” he said. “We just worked the puck deep in little areas and outworked them overall.”

Carvalho extended the La Salle lead 5:08 into the second period.

Hun School had a chance to get back in the game with 9:13 left in the middle period when it found itself with a 93-second two-man advantage after the Explorers’ Ryan Warner and Chase Hannon were sent to the box. 

But Aries Carangi came up with two quality saves in the La Sale net and a penalty to Josh Sooner eliminated the Raiders’ advantage.

Hun School coach Ian McNally considered calling his timeout prior to the power play but decided against the move. “I said ‘Let’s just leave it, I think they’ll figure it out and score,” he said. “Not only did we not score, we took a penalty. That was a big turning point.”

 Carpenter, La Salle’s leading  scorer in APAC play, scored his seventh conference goal 1:16 into the final period.

Simon Gregoire got the Raiders on the scoreboard at the 2:43 mark.

A pileup in front of the La Salle net with 4:09 remaking precipitated a tag-team bout that saw all 10 skaters on the ice receive roughing penalties. Carvalho scored into an empty net with 2:30 remaining.

Hun School 0 0 1—1

La Salle 2 1 2—5

Firsts-period goals: Matt Giordano (L) from Grant LaGreca, 2:12; Michael Zarzycki (L) from Giordano and Dean Carvalho, 16:11

Second-period goals: Carvalho (L) from James Carpenter, 5:08

Third-portion goals: Carpenter (L) from Carvalho and Cam Ross, 1:16; Simon Gregoire (HS) from Ryan Levesque, 2:43 Carvalho (L) from Carpenter, 14:30

Shots: Hun School 35, La Salle 35; Saves: Julian Arsenault (HS) 30, Aries Carangi (L) 34

La Salle 4 Council Rock South 0

Four different players scored goals as La Salle bested Council Rock South 4-0 Wednesday afternoon in a non-league game at Hatfield Ice.

Patrick Brace and Tim Whittock gave the Explorers a 2-0 first-period lead; Declan Kelly and Dean Carvalho added goals in the final period.

The Explorers improved to 10-8-2. The Golden Hawks dropped to 13-3 with one of their defeats coming in overtime.

Council Rock South 0 0 0—0

La Salle 2 0 2—4

First-period goals: Patrick Brace (L) from Grant LeGreca, 2:54; Tim Whittock (L) from Max Monzo, 4:13

Third-period goals: Declan Kelly (L) from Ryan Warner and Ryan Desmond, 10:12 (pp); Dean Carvalho (L) from Owen Quinn, 12:55

Shots: C.R. South 23m LaSalle 44; Saves: Carson Lopez (CRS) 41< Aries Carangi 23

La Salle 11 Haverford School 0

 Dean Carvalho, Julian Tarsi, and Michael Zarzycki scored two goals each as the Explorers rolled over the Fords on Wednesday afternoon at Hatfield Ice.

Max Monzo, Bill Gregorio, Ryan Wiley, Luke Murphy, and Grant LeGrecca also scored goals for La Salle.

Dante Defruscio picked up the shutout in goal as La Salle improved to 7-7-2 on the season.