Hatboro-Horsham 10 Radnor 0

Some would call it a dominant performance. Others would use the term overwhelming. Whatever the phraseology, Hatboro-Horsham’s offensive firepower was on full display Monday night in the opening round of the Class A Flyers Cup.

The sixth-seeded Hatters were too much for 11^th-seeded Radnor and rolled to a 10-0 win at Hatfield Ice.

Nate Nemchinov scored four goals and added four assists for Hatboro-Horsham, which will face third-seeded Kennett in Thursday’s quarterfinals. Vince Graziani produced three goals and two assists before the game was terminated via the 10-goal rule with 10:45 remaining in the third period.

Prior to the stoppage, the Hatter (17-3) were in complete command and applying unrelenting pressure.

“We try to wear out our opponents with our stamina,” said Hatboro-Horsham coach Shane Smith. “We were able to do that here, we were able to keep the pressure on them, and keep it deep in their zone.”

Nemchinov and Graziani spend much of their time on the ice simultaneously. The chemistry between Nemchinov, a senior, and Graziani, a sophomore, is unique.

“We’ve played with each other for two years,” Nemchinov said. “We know where each other are on the ice at all times. We talk; it’s all about communication and chemistry.”

It took the Hatters some time to get started. The game was nearly nine-and-a-half minutes old before Luke Staffieri scored his team’s first goal. But once they started, the goals kept coming. Graziani and Cole Meyer added goals before the first period ended.

Nemchinov scored three times in the second frame and Graziani and Bill Moffa scored additional goals to propel Hatboro-Horsham to an 8-0 lead. Nemchinov an Graziani each scored in the final period.

The Hatters’ up-tempo approach theoretically leaves them vulnerable at the other end of the ice. But Graziani points out he and his teammates are confident in the defense behind them.

“There are very good players in this tournament, and it’s hard to get back,” he said. But we’ve got good goaltending and good ‘D’ back there, so it helps us out.”

Emotions were running high by the late stages of the second frame. The Raptors lost defenseman Charles Peterson with 1:51 left in the period when he drew a major penalty for head contact plus a match penalty for a hit on Staffieri. Staffieri himself was banished 3:30 into the third period after fisticuffs with Radnor’s Hayden Goldenberg. The Raptors’ Stephen Sucher also received a game misconduct for being the third man in the altercation. The fighting penalty means Staffieri will not be in uniform when the Hatters face Kennett on Thursday.

• Patrick Murphy and Eric Miller split the shutout in goal for the Hatters. Murphy played the first two periods, Miller the third.

Radnor 0 0 0—0

Hatboro-Horsham 3 5 2—10

First-period goals: Luca Staffieri (HH) from Nate Nemchinov, 9:26; Vince Graziani I(HH) from Staffieri and Giovani Bucci, 14:31; Cole Meyer (HH) from Joey Magnin, 16:28

Second-period goals: Nemchinov (HH) unassisted, 4:31; Graziani (HH) from Nemchinov and Bill Moffa, 10:22; Nemchinov (HH) from Graziani and Moffa 14:03; Moffa (HH) from Nemchinov, 14:35; Nemchinov (HH) from Graziani, 15:43;

Third-period goals: Nemchinov (HH) from Staffieri and Moffa, 2:54; Graziani (HH) from Nemchinov. 6:15

Shots: Radnor 11, Hatboro-Horsham 38; Saves: James Danner (Ra) 28, Patrick Murphy (HH) 8 and Eric Miller (HH) 3

Contested terminated with 10:45 remaining in third period

WC Henderson 6 PW 3

They sent up camp in the offensive zone early on and never really left. West Chester Henderson applied pressure from the opening faceoff and kept it up for a full 51 minutes. The result was a 6-2 win over Plymouth Whitemarsh Monday night in the opening round of the Class A Flyers Cup at Hatfield Ice.

The ninth-seeded Warriors (6-12-1) will face top-seeded Hershey in Thursday’s quarterfinals. The eighth-seeded Colonials closed the season at 14-4.

Henderson set the tone from the start. Harrison Eller got the Warriors in on the scoreboard 2:34 into the opening period when he beat Lucas Bennett from close range. That goal established a pattern for the balance of the period. Cooper Kanze tied the game for the Colonials with 2:55 left in the period on a shot that Warrior goaltender Ian Stefanovski probably wished he could have another look at, but Aller put his team back in front just eight seconds later.

By the time the period ended, the Warriors had launched 16 shots. It was Bennett’s work in goal that kept the Colonials close.

“Breakout is something we talk about a lot,” said Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Vince Forti. “Obviously, we struggled a little bit. Getting the puck out of the zones quick is a priority for the defense. You don’t want to give good teams extra zone time. It leads to extra chances and that’s how goals go in.”

Forti acknowledged that Henderson scoring first put his team in a hole they never could escape.

“There was some stat that said s scoring the first goal gives you a 70 percent chance of winning,” he said. “We usually want to get the first one. Unfortunately, they did. And we were just kind of chasing the game ever since then.”

Anthony Barthol extended Henderson’s lead 2:46 into the second period. Kanze scored his second goal of the night exactly 10 minutes later to send the teams into the post-second period ice cut just one goal apart on the scoreboard.

But Henderson separated itself once more when Declan Herr scored from the left wing that found space inside the near post, a shot Bennett appeared not to see. Miles Donnelly essentially shut the door with a power-play goal with 2:47 remaining.

Barthol added an empty net goal with 1:17 left.

The Warriors finished with a 49-20 advantage in shots.

It was a disappointing end to an impressive season.

“I think the guys played well all season,” Forti said. “It’s tough way to end a good season, so it doesn’t feel like it in the moment but overall, I think they did a lot of good things.”

West Chester Henderson 2 1 3

Plymouth Whitemarsh 1 1 0—6

First-period goals: Harrison Aller (WCH) from Miles Donnelly, 2:36; Cooper Kanze (PW) from Dan Moloney, 14:05; Aller (WCH) from Anthony Barthol and Decal Dowd, 14:13

Second-period goals: Barthol (WCH) from Dowd and Aller, 2:46; Kanze (PW) from Dan Guller and Brandon Wooldridge, 12:46 (sh)

Third-period goals: Declan Herr (WCH) from Donnelly and Dowd, :49; Donnelly (WCH) from Dowd, 13:13 (pp); Barthol (WCH) unassisted, 15:43 (en):

Shots: West Chester Henderson 49, Plymouth Whitemarsh 20 Saves: Ian Stefanovski (WCH) 18, Lucas Bennett (PW) 43

Flyers Cup Results

Tuesday, March 3

Class AAA Quarterfinals

La Salle 6 Father Judge 2 see story for details

Malvern Prep 6 Devon Prep 4—Ryan Jacobs scored two goals as the fourth-seeded Frairs bested the fifth-seeded Tide at Ice Line to earn a spot in the semifinals against top-seeded Holy Ghost Prep. James Young, Cole Scarbinsky, Pax Hoishik, and William McCullough all scored for Malvern Prep. Ryan Caterino made 25 saves in goal.

St. Joseph’s Prep 8 Salesianum 0—Cole Gargon scored twice and six other players added one goal each as the second-seeded Hawks shut out the seventh-seeded Sallies at the Skatium. Aiden Quinn, Connor Martin, Frankie Ely, Cole Sullivan, Bradan Fisher, and Vincent Burnett all scored for the Prep, which will face La Salle in next Thursday’s semifinals. Declan Geary earned the shutout in goal.

“I thought we played with incredible speed and that really opened up our offense,” said St. Joseph’s Prep coach Charlie van Kula. We knew Salesianum was going to be a good test. In the past we may have let our foot off the gas a bit, but I am proud of how our guys stayed dialed in, stayed positive, and played for one another.”

Class AA First Round

Owen J, Roberts 7 Avon Grove 5

Central Bucks South 4 Downingtown East 3—Ryan Montagna’s goal with 11:03 left in regulation proved to be the game winner as the sixth-seeded Titans outlasted 11th seed Downingtown East at Hatfield Ice. It was Montagna’s third goal of the game. He also added three assists.

Pennsbury 8 Haverford 5—Jacob Sarver scored three goals an added an assist an Shane Gleisner provided two goals and three assists as the 10th-seeded Falcons bested seventh seed Haverford at the Skatium to advance to the quarterfinals.

Council Rock South 6 Spring-Ford 3—see story for details

Boyertown 12 Souderton 2—Maxwell Ryon and Matthew Ceoss scored for the 15th-seeded Indians in the loss to the second-seeded Bears at Ice Line.

North Penn 9 Shawnee 2—the top-seeded and defending champion Knights scored four goals in the first period and went on to the win over the 16th-seeded Renegades. Samuel Norton, Gabriel Dunn, Nolan Shingle, and Chris Silvotti each scored twice. Derek Lugara also scored for North Penn which will face Owen J. Roberts in the quarterfinals.

Wednesday March 4

Girls Quarterfinals

4. Conestoga vs 5. West Chester East 5:00 at PNY

2. Downingtown West vs. 7 Pennridge 8:45 at PNY

3. Lower Merion Maroon v. 6 Radnor 6:45 at PNY

Monday, March 2

Class AA First Round

Central Bucks East 6 Conestoga 3—Trailing 3-2 after two periods, the 13^th-seeded Patriots scored four goals in the third and stunned the fourth-seeded Pioneers Monday night at Ice Line. Evan Asimmakopoulos scored what proved to be the winning goal with 13:44 left in regulation. Ethan Cenci extended the lead with a power-play goal with 12:18 left and added an empty-net goal with 21 seconds remaining.

Cole Kleindienst, Morris Ostrobrod and Samuel Gottesman also scored for East whih will face North Penn or Shawnee in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Downingtown West 6 vs. Pennridge 2—Fifth-seed Downingtown West broke the game open Monday night with three second-period goals and built a 5-0 third-period lead before Ryan Burke and Lanndon Bishop scored for the 12^th-seeded Rams, who closed the season at 6-12-1.

Class A First Round

Garnet Valley 2 Palmyra 1

West Chester Henderson 6 Plymouth Whitemarsh 3 see story for details

Marple Newtown 5 West Chester Rustin 1

Hatboro-Horsham 10, Radnor 0 see story for details

North Penn 6 C.B. South 3

Big games are often decided when winning teams and/or big-time players step up. Such was the case Thursday night as Sam Norton and his North Penn teammates came up big when the moment demanded it.

North Penn scored three straight goals over the second half of the second period to separate themselves from Central Bucks South and went on to a 6-3 win over the Titans in the SHSHL National Division championship game at Hatfield Ice. It was the 21st win in 22 starts this season for the top-seeded Knights, who claimed a SHSHL title for the fourth time in team history. They will be the top seed for the Class AA Flyers Cup and will face Shawnee in the opening round Tuesday night.

For now, the defending Cup and state champions will celebrate with another trophy.

“A win like that is always enjoyable,” Sam Norton said. “It’s a great experience. I’m going to remember it for a while.”

The third-seeded Titans (16-6) struck first when Ryan Montagna finished off a two-on-one during a South power play just 89 seconds into the opening period. It gave his team the lead but North Penn goaltender Andy Norton was unfazed.

“I try to focus on what’s coming next,” he said, “the next shot, I just put it behind me. I really trust my team. I trust they are going to put another one in the net.”

Which Sam Norton did two-and-a-half minutes later to tie the game. Norton followed with his second goal of the night not quite threo minutes after that and Declan Leahy made it a 3-1 game with 3:08 left in the first period.

South however, wasn’t going anywhere. Ryan Frey found the back of the net 3:05 into the second frame and Joey Slobodian tied the game at the 8:30 mark, making the second half of regulation theoretically a new game.

It was time for Sam Norton to step up once more. Twenty-eight seconds after Slobodian’s game-tying effort, Norton completed a hat trick to put North Penn in front for good. Daniel Cabrales followed with a goal with 6:44 left in regulation and Nolan Shingle completed the scoring for the night with exactly five minutes remaining.

“It wasn’t our greatest {game},” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “We had some mistakes but we capitalized on some as well. And, when you get to this point in the season and you’re playing a team like that, it’s not going to be perfect.

“I thought the guys worked hard. Even when they came back to tie it at three, nobody panicked. We’ve been in situations like this before and we just keep working through it.”

The Titans worked hard as well against an opponent that leaves an opponent little margin for error.

“We’re proud of our team,” said South coach Josh Sklar. “They battled to the end. You’ve got the two top teams. In the league going at it and sometimes the bounces just don’t go your way.”

Sklar pointed out that competing against the Knights requires going full bore for three full periods.

“Every shift means something,” he said. “Every shift is important. We’re a deep team, but we battled. We tried, we did our best.

• The Titans are seeded sixth in the Class AA Flyers Cup and will face Downingtown East Tuesday night in the first round…. North Penn’s previous SHSHL titles came in 2002, ‘09, and ‘14. The Titans are seven-time champions, their last coming in 2018.

C.B. South 1 2 0—3

North Penn 3 3 0—6

First-period goals: Ryan Montagna (CBS) from Dom Gibson, 1:29 (pp); Samuel Norton (NP) unassisted, 4:01; Norton (NP) unassisted, 6:54; Declan Leahy (NP) from Ismael Cabrales, 12:52

Third-period goals: Ryan Frey (CBS) unassisted, 3;05; Joey Slobodian (CBS) unassisted, 8:30; Norton (NP) unassisted, 8:58; Daniel Cabrales (NP) from Landon Hostetter, 10:16; Nolan Shingle (NP) from I. Cabrales, 12:00

Shots: C.B. South 44, North Penn 22; Saves: Nate Neapolitan (CBS) 38, Andy Norton (NP) 19

St. Joseph’s Prep 4 Hun School 2

There was an abundance of emotion on display at Ice Line Wednesday evening following the APAC semifinal between St. Joseph’s Prep and The Hun School. The Hawks earned the right to play for a conference title while the Raiders were a study in frustration, wondering what might have been.

Four different Prep players scored goals as the third-seeded Hawks (16-6) prevailed 4-2 to advance to next Wednesday’s Founders Cup championship game against top-seeded defending champion Holy Ghost Prep at Grundy Arena (game time 4 p.m.). They will learn Sunday where they are seeded for next month’s Class AAA Flyers Cup tournament.

Second-seeded Hun School closes the season at 13-13. The Raiders will not compete in the Flyers Cup due to s School policy that dictates when their season must end.

The most prominent numbers on the scoresheet Wednesday afternoon revolved around penalties. The officials called 25 minor penalties, 15 of them against the Raiders, who spent much of the afternoon skating uphill.

Hun School coach N.G. Welsh noted the impact of the numerous penalties.

“It was trying different line combination,” he said. “Trying different things. A guy is in the box, so this line can’t go. This guy is in the box so this guy can’t go.

“You’re putting out every single option you have at your disposal hoping something works. Today, it didn’t.”

Three of the four Prep goals came on power plays.

One Raider goal came when they were enjoying a two-man advantage the other while they were shorthanded.

St. Joseph’s Prep coach Charlie Van Kula noted the impact of special teams, both pro and con.

“I don’t think our power play was quite as crisp as it has been,” he said. “It worked out enough times to make it successful.

“Our PK has been a staple all year. One kind of broke down from being five-on-three for so long. Otherwise, I thought they really stuck to what we do well.

Cole Gargon scored the Hawks’ first goal with 1:07 left in the first period. Vince Burnett made it 2-0 with 2:42 left in the second frame.

Zachary Vallee made it a 2-1 game when he scored for the Raiders on a shorthanded breakaway with 1:23 left in the period but Michael Castelli made it a two-goal game once more before the period ended.

Jason Kelly-LePage kept Hun School in the game with a power-play goal 7:10 into the final period but Michael Washlick shut the door at the 11:28 mark.

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 2 1—4

The Hun School 0 1 1—2

First-period goal: Cole Gargon (SJP) from Frank Ely and Adam Charrafi, 15:53 (pp)

Second-period goals: Vince Burnett (SJP) from Jake Ely and Charrafi, 14:18; Zachary Vallee (HS) unassisted, 15:37 (sh); Michael Castelli (SJP) from Ben Kurson, 16:08 (pp);

Third-period goals: Jason Kelly-LePage (HS) from Conor Mulligan, 7:10 (pp); Michael Washlick (SJP) from Charaffi and J. Ely, 11:28 (pp)

Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 40, Hun School 12: Saves: Declan Geary (SJP) 10, Blake Echternacht (HS) 10

Flyers Cup Rankings 1-26-26

The Flyers Cup Committee has released its second and last set of rankings for the 2025-26 regular season. The rankings are based on on-ice performance and the evaluations of members of the committee.

The field for the 47^th Flyers Cup Tournament will be announced on the evening of Sunday, February 22.

Class AAA

Holy Ghost Prep
St. Joseph’s Prep
Malvern Prep
La Salle
Father Judge

Class AA

North Penn
Council Rock South
Boyertown
Conestoga
Owen J. Roberts

Class A

Hershey
Kennett
Pernncrest
Marple Newtown
Hatboro-Horsham

Girls

Avon Grove
Downingtown West
Lower Merion Maroon
Conestoga
West Chester East

SHSHL Update 1-5-26

National Division W L T OTW OTL SOW SOL Pts

Council Rock South (11-1) 8 1 0 – – – – 32

North Penn (10-0) 7 0 0 – – – – 28

Central Bucks South (7-3) 6 2 0 – – – 24

Pennsbury (7-3) 5 3 0 – – – – 20

Central Bucks East (4-5) 4 6 0 1 – – – 15

Souderton (3-5) 3 4 0 1 1 – – 12

Pennridge (3-4-1) 3 4 0 – – 2 – – 14

Neshaminy (2-7) 2 6 0 1 – – – 7

Central Bucks West (0-11) 0 10 0 – – – – 0

American Division W L T OTW OTL SHW SOL PTS

Hatboro-Horsham (11-1) 10 1 0 – – – – 40

Plym. Whitemarsh (7-1) 7 1 0 – – – – 28

Wissahickon (3-5) 3 5 0 1 – – – 11

Springfield (2-7) 2 6 0 – – – – 8

Abington (0-8) 0 8 0 – 1 – – 1

Check out the Hockey Happenings podcast

Scoring All League Scheduled Games

National Division GP G A Pts

Jake Weiner CRS 11 32 12 44

Shane Gleisner Pb 10 26 10 36

Max Ryon Sou. 8 16 13 29

Samuel Norton NP 9 10 13 23

Chris Silvotti NP 10 10 12 22

Jackson Kelly Soud 8 11 10 21

Jordan Sarne CRS 10 7 14 21

Landon Bishop Pr 7 11 9 20

Dominic Gibson 9 10 10 20

Shane Hicks Pb 9 7 12 19

American Division GP G A Pts

Vincent Graziani HH 12 22 23 45

Nate Nemchinov HH 10 18 17 35

Bill Moffa HH 12 11 16 27

Daniel Guller PW 8 7 20 27

Luca Staffieri HH 11 13 13 26

Reid Rochestie HH 12 7 12 19

Blake Ambler PW 7 7 11 18

Aiden North HH 12 5 12 19

Grayson Quinn Spr. 9 13 3 16

Flyers Cup Rankings 12-29-25

The Flyers Cup Committee has released its first set of rankings for the 2025-26 season. Rankings are based on game results and observations by committee members.

The Flyers tournament is an invitational event. There are no automatic bids.

Class AAA

Holy Ghost Prep
St. Joseph’s Prep
Malvern Prep
La Salle
Father Judge

Class AA

North Penn
Council Rock South
Conestoga
Owen J. Roberts
Central Bucks South

Class A

Kennett
Penncrest
Hershey
Hatoro-Horsham
Palmyra

Girls

Avon Grove
Conestoga
Downingtown West
West Chester East
Radnor

Crosover Games Beginning

The idea of teams from the SHSHL and the ICSHL facing each other during the regular season is not new. But last season was the first during which officially scheduled crossover games were utilized by the Flyers Cup Committee and included in the formula that determined rankings and seedings for Flyers Cup participants and would be participants.

That practice will continue this season with 19 crossover games on the schedule. The first two of them are set for Thursday night with Pennsbury facing Perkiomen Valley (7:20 at Grundy Arena) and Lower Merion hosting Neshaminy (8:00 at Skatium).
on Friday, Father Judge will face Council Rock South (6:30 at Flyers Skate Zone Northeast).

Twelve of the 14 SHSHL teams will participate.

“We kind of dabbled with the crossovers last year,” said Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley. Everyone had one. This year we’re doing two which I think is really smart .

“It’s just good to see some new competition. Competition you could very likely see in the Flyers Cup.”

Holy Ghost Prep Wins AAA Flyers Cup

The evening came down to capitalizing on opportunities while avoiding mistakes. Holy Ghost Prep found the right balance Wednesday night and left Hatfield Ice Arena as the Class AAA Flyers Cup champion.

Chase Logue scored two goals and Jack Unger was superb in goal as the Firebirds bested La Salle 3-1 in front of a full house to win its first Flyers Cup title since 2017 and the fifth in the school’s history.

“It’s amazing,” Logue, a sophomore, said. “To be with those guys in the locker room is a blessing. “

Offensive opportunities were scarce early on as two teams familiar with each other were reluctant to yield space to the opposition.

The second-seeded Explorers (17-8) outshot the top-seeded Firebirds (21-4-1) 7-1 in the early going but Unger stood tall between the pipes. His big save not quite seven minutes into the first period set the tone for the night.

Logue put his team on from 1:27 into the second period when he beat La Salle netminder Jake Rossi from close range.

“I was lucky,” he said. “I just came out and shot it. I put pucks on net and it went it.”

Some 200 feet away, Unger was doing his part to keep Holy Ghost Prep in front, denying Julian Tarsi on a breakaway with 2:25 left in the middle frame to send the Firebirds into the ice cut clinging to the 1-0 lead.

The Explorers however weren’t going away and a Holy Ghost Prep turnover two-and-a-half minutes into the third period gave them an opening. Michael Esmond converted the chance when the Firebirds lost the puck in front of their own net.

But Logue responded with his second goal of the game just 15 seconds later. With 14:15 left in regulation the Firebirds were back in front but the game was still up for grabs.

It was left to Unger to reach out and seized it by the throat, which he did when the Firebird found themselves killing two penalties in the last 7:14 of regulation. The shots seemingly never stopped coming but Unger turned them all away, en route to winning the Bob Clarke Award as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. He finished the evening with 29 saves.

Unger, a senior felt that Wednesday’s game was the best of his career.

“I would say for sure,” he said. “Between the atmosphere, the intensity of the game, and what was at stake.

“I was able to lock in and then being able to get the tam to rally around me and especially during that third period.’

The closest he came faltering the stretch came when a shot from La Salle’s La Salle’s Alistair St. Hilaire from the right wing actually got behind him but slid across the crease before going wide of the far post.

“I’m not going to lie, that one really scared me,” Unger said. “But sometimes you need a little bit of luck on your side.”

Joseph Kauffman scored an empty-net goal for Holy Ghost Prep just before the final buzzer.

For La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner, whose team was trying to win its 14^th Flyers Cup the result was a disappointment but he appreciated the level of play on both sides.

“That was definitely a great high-school hockey game for sure,” he said.

Muehlbronner felt his team did a lot of good things right during its three power-play chances, except score.

“I thought we did well on the power play,” he said. “We moved the puck well. We didn’t bury many pucks, we didn’t get many bounces that we needed.

“But, I think we played a great game, I really do. We carried a large portion of it, but weren’t able to put any in.”

The Firebirds will face Penguins Cup champion Seneca Valley for the Class AAA state title Saturday in suburban Pittsburgh.
The All-Tournament Team included :

G Jack Unger Holy Ghost Prep

D Ryan Lippy Holy Ghost Prep

D Cam Ross LaSalle

F Alistair St. Hilaire

F Chase Lougue HGP

F Brady Logue HGP

La Salle 0 0 1—1

Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 2—3

Second-period goals: Chase Logue (HGP) from Joe Spadaccino, 1:27

Third-period goals: Michael Esmond (L) from Luke Baumann and Alex Gibson, 2:30; Chase Logue (HGP) from Brady Logue and John Gavaghan, 2:45; Joseph Kaufman (HGP) unassisted,16:59 (sh)

Shots: La Salle 30, Holy Ghost Prep 24; Saves: Jake Rossi (L) 21, Jack Unger (HGP) 29