Explorers, Friars Set to Play for Founders Cup

Last year’s championship matchup never happened because of Covid issues. But La Salle and Malvern Prep are letting nothing stand in their way this season. The Explorers and the Friars will meet Wednesday night at Ice Line for the Founders Cup and the championship of the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference. Game time will be 8:00.

The two teams were scheduled to meet for the Cup last season but that game was cancelled and the APAC title declared vacant. due to Covid Malvern Prep went on to defeat La Salle in the Class AAA Flyers Cup final and later won the state championship.

La Salle won the first two Founder Cup titles in 2019 and ‘20

La Salle

Coach: Wally Muehlbronner

Record: 8-7-1/4-3-0-1 in the APAC seed 2

Semifinals: def. St. Joseph’s Prep 4-1

Top scorers (APAC games only)

Keenan Schneider 5 goals, 2 assists 7 points

Max Maddalo 3 goals 3 assists 6 points

Chris Wnek 2 goals 4 assists 6 points

Malvern Prep

Coach: Bill Keenan

Record: 13-3/5-1-2-0 in APAC seeed 1

Semifinals: def. Holy Ghost Prep 4-1

Top scorers (APAC games only)

Matt Harris 11 goals, 9 assists, 20 points

Jim Jacobs 8 goals, 9 assists, 17 points

Jeremy Jacobs 7 goals, 7 assists, 14 points

Pierre Larocque 5 goals, 7 assists, 12 points

Earlier this season:

November 5

Malvern Prep 2 La Salle 0—Pierre Larocque scored the winning goal with 5:55 remaining in regulation in the APAC season opener at Hatfield Ice. Matt Harris added an empty net goal.

January 24

Malvern Prep 5 La Salle 4 OT—Matt Harris scored with 1:08 remaining in overtime to give the Friars the win at Ice Line. LaSalle forced overtime. Harris and Jimmy Jacobs scored two goals each.

La Sale forced overtime with goals from Keenan Schneider and Chris Wnek in the final 87 seconds of regulation.

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Malvern Prep 4 Holy Ghost Prep 1

WEST GOSHEN—There wasn’t much to choose between Malvern Prep and Holy Ghost Prep Wednesday night. The end result, a 4-1 victory for the Friars, was somewhat misleading.

With two minutes remaining in regulation the two teams were locked in a 1-1 standoff but Malvern Prep scored three times in a span of 1 minute, 25 seconds to emerge victorious in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference semifinal at Iceline.

The top-seeded Friars (13-3) will host Founders Cup final next week on a date and at a time to be announced. The fifth-seeded Firebirds fell to 10-11. Both teams will be part of the Class AAA Flyers Cup field next month; the Friars are the defending champions.

Jeremy Jacobs scored what proved to be the winning goal with 1:29 left in regulation in the midst of a scramble in front of the Firebirds’ net off a setup from Matt Harris and Larocque.

Harris added a goal from long range with 1:02 remaining before scoring into an empty net with four seconds left. He noted the game was up for grabs entering the final stanza.

“We knew (Holly Ghost Prep) was going to come out strong,” he said. “We knew they had beaten Hun School 9-4 (in Monday’s play-in game) so we knew we had to keep the pressure on the whole game.”

The Firebirds controlled the first minutes of the opening period but, in a prelude of things to come, couldn’t solve Anthony Perti in the Friars’ net and eventually momentum shifted Malvern Prep’s way.

Pierre Larocque gave the Friars a 1-0 just past the midway point of the opening period on a goal off an offensive-right-wing faceoff.

That was all the scoring there was until Kieran Mulholland tied the game for Holy Ghost Prep 2:54 into the final period.

It was a testament to both goaltenders that there wasn’t more scoring; both came up big. Perti stopped 31 of the 32 shots he saw. His counterpart, Jason Soule made 36 saves including a stop on a backhander from Harris that kept the score 1-0 at the time.

Harris lauded Perti’s work. “It meant a lot,” he said. “Our goalie has ben playing phenomenal. During this last stretch it’s pretty much win or go home. The goalies have to be hot.”

Firebird coach Gump Whiteside felt his team deserved better. “A credit to Malvern Prep,” he said. They had our number tonight, they’ve had our number all year. (But) we have the Flyers Cup to look forward to.”

Holy Ghost Prep 0 0 1

Malvern Prep 1 0 3—4

First-period goal: Pierre Larocque (MP) from Brayden Baum and Hayden Campbell, 8:27

Third-period goals: Kieran Mulholland (HGP) from Dominic Lombardo and Brandon Barger, 2:54; Jeremy Jacobs (MP) from Matt Harris and Larocque, 15:31 Harris (MP) unassisted, 15:58; Harris (MP) unassisted 16:56

Shots: Malvern Prep 40, Holy Ghost Prep 32; Saves: Jason Soule (HGP) 36, Anthony Perti (MP) 31

Holy Ghost Prep 9 The Hun School 4

Hamilton Township, N.J.— It is often said that the postseason marks a new beginning. So it was for Holy Ghost Prep Monday afternoon. The Firebirds produced their best offensive output of the season over the course of a 9-4 win over The Hun School in the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference play-in game at Iceland in front of an audience that included as substantial number of Holy Ghost Prep supporters.

Brady Baehser scored three goals and assisted on two others for fifth-seeded Holy Ghost Prep (10-10).

The Firebirds move on to face top-seeded Malvern Prep in a Founders Cup semifinal game Wednesday night at Ice Line (6:45 start). Seth Kaplan scored three goals for fourth-seeded Hun School, which finished its season at 8-9.

Wednesday’s result comes less than 72 hours after the Raiders handed the Firebirds a 2-1 loss in Friday’s regular-season finale.

But Baehser said he and his teammates have refocused of late. “Over the past two weeks, after the losing streak, we kind of regrouped,” he said. “Our coaches gave us a new plan for practice. I think Friday we came out and played well, we just couldn’t score. Today, we just found the back of the net a lot more.”

Six different Firebirds scored goals on Wednesday, a total of 12 were listed on the scoresheet.

“It was nice to see Point Night for the Firebirds finally,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside. “It was a great effort. We never gave up on our guys. It’s attribute to them, the way they played three solid periods.”

Baesher scored one goal and assisted Dominic Lombardo’s effort as Holy Ghost Prep took a 2-1 first-period lead.

Perhaps the biggest surprised of the afternoon came after Sean Marshall scored the first of his two goals 7:41 into the second frame. At that point, Hun School coach Ian McNally made a goaltender change, inserting Stephen Chen in place of starter Jack Borek who surrendered three goals on 10 shots

Riley Frost scored for the Raiders at the 10:04 mark to make it a one-goal game but the Firebirds responded with three unanswered goals to take a 6-2 lead 2:24 into the third period and were more or less in control thereafter.

Borek returned to the net for the start of the third period after Chen allowed two goals on 11 shots.

“Once we’d score, we were never able to build on it,” McNally said. “They’d score seconds later and you could never keep any momentum going.”

While Monday brought the Hun School season to an end, it was a season that saw the Raider hockey program get back on track; the 2020-21 season was limited to three games because of Covid issues. This season, Hun School participated in the APAC for the first time, which assured the Raiders of a postseason to point toward.

“I think it’s been great,” McNally said. “We don’t have a state tournament because there aren’t enough teams of like size or teams that want to participate.

“This kind of gives us a taste of what it can be like to finish our season with games that mean something and the potential to host games, so we’re very happy.”

Holy Ghost Prep 2 3 4—9

Hun School 1 1 2—4

First-period goals: Seth Kaplan (SH) from Elian Estolin and Christian Clover, 11:13; Brady Baehser (HGP) from Landon Stout, 11:40; Dominic Lombardo (HGP) from Baehser 13:27 (pp)

Second-period goals: Sean Marshall (HGP) from Brian Butler, 7:41; Riley Frost (HS) from Josh Oullette, 10:04; Baehser (HGP) from Shaun Moore, 12:31; Kieran Mulholland (HGP) from Baehser 14:59 (pp)

Third-period goals: Baehser (HGP) from Landon Stout, 2:24; Kaplan (HS) unassisted, 6:59; Marshall (HGP) from John Seravalli and Colin Moore, (pp); Shaun Moore (HGP) from Mulholland, 9:46; Kaplan (HS) from Estulin and Frost, 11:55 (pp) Logan Barnes (HGP) from Brandon Barger and Michael Holt , 15:37

Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 33, Hun School 32; Saves: Jason Soule (HGP) 28, Jack Borek (HS) 15 and Stephen Chen (HS) 9

For more information about The Hun School CLICK HERE

For more about Holy Ghost Prep CLICK HERE

Hun School 2 Holy Ghost Prep 1

BRISTOL—Holy Ghost Prep and The Hun School left everything they had on the ice Friday night. There was little to separate the two teams, save for Josh Ouelette’s goal 21 seconds into the third period that gave the Raiders a 2-1 win in the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference’s regular-season finale at Grundy Arena.

The two teams will do it all over again Monday afternoon at 4:00 at Ice Land in the play-in game that will kick off the postseason. The Raiders (8-8, 3-4-1-0 in conference) tied St. Joseph’s Prep for third place in the regular-season standings but lost a tiebreaker for the third slot on goal differential and are seeded fourth for the APAC playoffs. The Firebirds (9-10, 1-5-1-1 in the APAC) are seeded fifth.

The winning goal came off a faceoff in the Raiders’ offensive right wing circle.

“I was surprised that I even scored right off the faceoff,” Ouelette said. “I just put it in.”

Ouelette embraced the atmosphere in the building in what was the Firebirds’ Senior Night. “The whole crowd was electric,” he said.

Prior to Hun School joining the APAC this season, Head Coach Ian McDonald regularly brought the Raiders to Grundy Arena for non-league games.

“We’ve been coming here for eight or nine years, playing Holy Ghost in this rink,” he said. “The game is always awesome, close, up and down the ice, scoring chances each way.”

Holy Ghost Prep, which was trying to end an eight-game losing streak, had much the better of a scoreless first period, but was unable to solve Stephen Chen in the Raider net; the junior made 14 saves in the opening 17 minutes.

Kieran Mulholland gave the Firebirds a 1-0 lead 2:53 into the second session when scored a shorthanded goal on a scramble in front of the Raider net.

Hun School drew even at 7:10 when Brendan Marino hit Ryan Croddick in full stride, allowing the latter to move in on Firebird goaltender Jason Soule. Soule made a quality save but Crodddick put in the rebound.

Four-and-a-half minutes later Croddick was excused for the evening after a disagreement with Holy Ghost Prep’s Brendan Schultz. Schultz drew a roughing minor but Croddick was accessed a five-minute major for head butting plus an automatic game misconduct, meaning he’ll be suspended for Monday’s playoff game.

That was the end of the fireworks until the winning goal.

Holy Ghost Prep captain Sean Marshall praised the efforts of his teammates, despite the loss. “Just from the way we’ve been playing the last couple months, we knew we had to have a great game here,” he said. “I thought we played great. I thought we won pretty much every 50-50 battle in the corners. “We had tons of chances, we just, I don’t know, ran into a hot goalie.”

Firebird coach Gump Whiteside thought his team deserved a better fate. “I thought the boys deserved better,” he said, “But that’s why you play three periods. I thought we played really well today.”

Hun School 0 1 1—2

Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 0—1

Second-period goals: Kieran Mulholland (HGP) unassisted, 2:53 (sh); Ryan Croddick (HS) from Brendan Marino, 7:10

Third-period goal: Josh Ouellette (HS) from Simon Gregoire, :21

Shots: Hun School 26, Holy Ghost Prep 33; Saves: Stephen Chen (HS) 32, Jason Soule (HGP) 24

Playoff Ponderings

The Founders Cup playoff schedule is as follows

Monday, February 14 Play In

(5) Holy Ghost Prep at (4) Hun School 4 p.m. at Ice Land

Wednesday, February 16

Monday’s winner vs (1) Malvern Prep 6:45 ay Ice Line

(3) St. Joseph’s Prep vs (2) La Salle 8:45 at Ice Line

Founders Cup final will be played February 23 or 24 and hosted by the highest-seeded finalist.

Founders Cup Final Time Change

Wednesday’s Founders Cup final between La Salle and Malvern Prep will now start at 8:15 at Ice Line

La Salle 4, St. Joseph’s Prep 0

BRISTOL— Some of the actors assumed new roles in the production. But in the end the performance was more or less unaffected.

Despite fielding a lineup that had some pieces missing La Salle stayed focused on the task at hand and recorded a 4-0 win over St. Joseph’s Prep Monday night at Grundy Arena in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference semifinal. The win was La Salle’s sixth straight.

The two-time defending champion Explorers (8-4) will face regular-season champion Malvern Prep for the Founders Cup title Wednesday night at 8:00 at Ice Line.

La Salle’s big guns were as powerful as usual. Michael Casey scored a goal and assisted on two others. David Kimmel had a goal and an assist, while Keenan Schneider and Dan Whittock also scored goals.

But with only 15 skaters in uniform and several regulars missing, La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner had to play mix and match several players got more ice time than usual as a result. One of them was senior forward Michael Roman.

“Definitely it’s a big chance to step up and help the team out,” he said. “I was definitely out there more, so it was more of a way to bring my leadership as a senior.”

Roman notes its important he set an example for his teammates even though, or perhaps because he doesn’t see a lot of ice time in many circumstances.

“It’s extremely important,” he said. “My main job, if I’m not on the ice, I’m giving everyone high-fives and telling everyone ‘Good work’, telling them what to do. Just trying to keep a positive energy on the bench.

Schneider gave the Explorers a 1-0 lead just 72 seconds after the opening faceoff on a shot from the inside of the right circle that seemed to catch St. Joseph’s Prep netminder Rocco Bruno by surprise
Kimmel made it a 2-0 when he put in a rebound of Whittock’s original shot.

Whittock himself extended La Salle’s lead at the 16:41 of the second period and Casey added a fourth goal 8:21 into the third.

Muehlbronner noted that Monday’s game was a new experience for some of his players who weren’t used to the postseason environment.

“It was the first time for a lot of these guys playing in that playoff atmosphere,” he said, “and I think it showed at times. We just looked a little bit hesitant at times but I think the older guys got it going, and in the end, were certainly happy with the result.

St. Joseph’s Prep (3-9) had just 13 skaters dressed. Hawks’ coach David Giacomin said the pace of the game eventually caught up to his players.

“They played so hard the first period,” he said, “and about halfway through (the second period), maybe three quarters of the way through, that’s when they lost their legs. If they played like they did … the consistent game, we’re going to be in every game and have a chance to win. But it’s really difficult playing game in and game out with the same 10-12 kids.”

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 0 0—0

La Salle 2 1 1—4

First-period goals: Keenan Schneider (L) from Max Maddalo, 1:12; David Kimmel (L) from Dan Whittock and Michael Casey, 11:10

Second-period goals: Dan Whittock (L) from Casey, 16:41

Third-period goals: Casey (L) from Kimmel, 8:21

Shots: La Salle 35, St. Joseph’s Prep 31; Saves: Rocco Bruno (SJP) 31. Liam Gross (L) 31

APAC Playoff Schedule

The Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference ‘s Founders Cup playoffs will get underway next Monday, March 29 with a doubleheader at Grundy Arena.

Regular-season champion Malvern Prep will face fourth-seeded St. Joseph’s Prep in the first semifinal at 5:30, while second seed and two-time defending Founders Cup champion La Salle will face third seed Holy Ghost Prep at 7:30 in the second in the other.

The Founders Cup championship game will be hosted by the highest-seed finalist on Wednesday, Match 31 at a time to be determined.

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Founders Cup Photo Gallery

LaSalle’s Aidan McCabe makes a save (Photo by Liz Diretto)

La Salle’s David Kimmel carries the puck against Holy Ghost Prep’s Brian Butler (Liz Diretto

Holy Ghost Prep’s Colin Moore in white, La Salle’s Jake Hannon in blue (Liz Diretto)

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 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

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 24^thwith 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.