Holy Ghost Prep 4 Hun School 1

Lawrence Township, NJ—Discipline is an important attribute for a hockey team. That trait increases in importance as the stakes get higher

Holy Ghost Prep and the Hun School were playing for high stakes Thursday afternoon. And it was the Firebirds who maintained their focus long enough to post a 4-1 win at Ice Land.

The result assures Holy Ghost Prep (13-2, 7-0 in the APAC) of the top seed when it tries to defend the APAC title when the Founders Cup playoffs commence on February 18. And while the seeding for the Flyers Cup tournament won’t be announced for another five weeks and more, the Firebirds, who are the defending Class AAA champions, seemingly have the inside trac to the top seed in that event as well.

Thursday’s matchup was the second between the Firebirds and Raiders (11-6, 3-3 in the APAC) in six days and the battle scars from that first encounter were still smarting. So, the task of staying attuned to the task at hand had additional significance.

“We know (Hun School) is a real physical team,” said the Firebirds’ Chase Logue. “As long as we just stayed calm, stayed focused, and not do dumb things or take dumb penalties {they would be successful}.

“It doesn’t help when you’re down a guy on the penalty kill but we killed every penalty off.

“The guys worked hard and we deserved this one.”

The Firebirds scrambled their lineup; six regulars were missing due to injury, illness, and club duty. The newcomers stepped up. Josh Zdunkiewicz set up Jake Samron for the first goal of the game with 5:36 left in the opening period. Logue made it a 2-0 game with four seconds and change left in the period.

Zachary Vallee cut the deficit in half with 5:58 left in the second frame with a shorthanded goal when a breakdown left him alone in the neutral zone on the receiving end of a Devin Espana outlet pass. Vallee went in on a breakaway and beat Firebird netminder Matt Salita.

With the teams separated by a single goal entering the third period, the intensity level, already high, kicked up a notch. There were 13 penalties called in the final period.

One against the Raiders led to Logue’s second goal of the game. Nate Trawinski was serving a roughing minor when Logue launches a wrister from the right point that beat Blake Echternacht in the Hun School net with 12:14 left in regulation.

Just over a minute later, emotions boiled over when Espana and the Firebirds’ Brandon Watkins squared off. Each was assessed a fighting major plus a game misconduct.

Zdunkiewicz and Hun School’s Justin Bibeau received roughing minors in the same incident.

Logue completed a hat trick with 6:57 left in the game, getting the better of Chase Kishler, who took over for Echternacht on goal not quite midway through the third period.

“It was a great first period,” said Hun School coach N.G. Welsh, “and we didn’t play our game for the last two.

“They took advantage of it.”

Holy Ghost Prep senior Lucas Gonzalez finished the game with on two assists. He noted the importance of his team’s fast start.

“I think we just had to take it to them,” he said, “instead of letting them take it to us early. I think early in the game we hit everybody got it on net.

“I think if our whole group is going fast and playing hard, we’re tough to beat.”

The APAC semifinals are set for Wednesday, February 18 at Ice Line. The championship game us set for February 25 and will be hosted by the highest-seeded finalist.

Holy Ghost Prep 2 0 2—4

Hun School 0 1 0—1

First-period goals: Jake Smaron (HGP) from Josh Zdunkiewicz, 11:24; Chase Logue (HGP) from Anthony Valeriote and Lucas Gonzalez, 16:56

Second-period goal: Zachary Vallee (HS) from Devin Espana, 8:02 (sh)

Third-period goals: Logue (HGP) from Gonzalez, 4:46 (pp); Logue (HGP) from Smaron, 10:03

Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 32, Hun School 28; Saves: Matt Salita (HGP) 26, Blake Echternacht (HS) 22 and Chase Kishler (HS) 6

PW 8 Wissahickon 4

Keeping up. That’s what Plymouth Whitemarsh’s season is about right now.

All season long, the Colonials have been locked in a day-to-day, shift-to-shift duel with Hatboro-Horsham for supremacy in the SHSHL American Division. Their matchup against Wissahickon Wednesday night was another puzzle.

The Colonials took care of business with an 8-4 win, their ninth victory in 10 starts, all in divisional play. They are even with Hatboro-Horsham in the loss column; the teams have split two meetings and are scheduled for two more.

Plymouth Whitemarsh took dominated the first period Wednesday night but led just 1-0 when the period concluded. The goal came off the stick of Brandon Wooldridge 4:35 into the period.

The Colonials took control of the game in the second stanza when goals from John Zawisliak, Wooldridge, Jack Condon, and Cooper Kanzee extended their lead to 5-0 before Wissahickon (3-7 overall and in the division) got on the scoreboard thanks to Mack Risnychok with 61 seconds left in the period.

“We really just kept our foot on the gas, Wooldridge said. “I thought we played well the first period, I think we had (16) shots, just couldn’t bury it but then we figured it out and got it past their goalie (Fletcher Lynch). He played really well today.”

The Trojans didn’t go away. Goals from Joseph Gambino and Logan Honeycutt sandwiched around a Plymouth Whitemarsh goal from Connor Barclay, making it a 6-3 game with 8:32 still left in regulation but Chris London and Dan Guller added additional goals to put the game away.

Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Vince Forti is still striving to get a solid effort from his troops for a full 51 minutes.

“I think we’re still trying to figure out putting in three full periods of work,” he said. “We get a lead and we end up taking our foot off the gas. And we’re wanting to not create a bad habit for the future because it’s not going to work in the playoffs.”

Wissahickon assistant coach Jason Jaisle has just 12 skaters on his roster and that was a factor on this occasion.

“It’s difficult when you only have two lines,” he said. “They’re rolling three-and-a-half. I thought we’d be tired. I wanted to call timeout, {His players} told me not to.

“But other than that, I’m proud of the guys. Every single one of them We played the best team in the league with two lines and the shots were just about even.

Jaisle says his short bench mandates he slow the pace of the game.

“I try to tell the goalie to cover everything and slow the game down,” he said. “If you’re caught in the defensive one just ice it. Just basic one-on-one hockey from Squirt level really. Unfortunately, without the third line, we’re tired.

‘We have to take advantage of every power play chance we get. We have to kill the penalties

Plymouth Whitemarsh 1 4 3—8

Wissahickon 0 1 3—4

First-period goal: Brandon Wooldridge (PW) from Luke Wynn and Carson Wooldridge, 4:35

Second-period goals: John Zawisliak (PW) from Cooper Kanzee, 1:33; B. Wooldridge (PW) from Daniel Guller, 6:33 (pp); Jack Condon (PW) from Luke Smith and Connor Barclay, 10:27; Kanzee (PW) from Guller and Wynne, 15:50; Mack Risnychok from Chase McClintic and Dryden Jaisle, 15:59

Third-period goals: Joseph Gambino unassisted, 3:02 (pp); Barclay (PW) from Condon and Smith, 6:42; Logan Honeycutt Link Matozzo and Gambino, 8:28; Chris London (PW) from Kanzee, 11:46; Guller (PW) from Kanzee and Wynne, 14:16 (sh); Risnychok from McClintic, 16:13

Shots: Plymouth Whitemarsh 49 Wissahickon 33

Saves: Lucas Bennett (PW) 29, Fletcher Lynch 41

Hun School 4 St. Joseph’s Prep 3

Brandon Harrison’s first varsity goal came at a most opportune moment. The sophomore found the back of the net with 5:51 remaining in the third period and that tally turned out to be the game winner as The Hun School bested St. Joseph’s Prep 4-3 Tuesday afternoon at Ice Land.

The result was a big step toward making the pieces of the APAC puzzle fit together. The host Raiders improved to 3-2 on conference play and 11-5 overall. They sit in second place in the conference standings, seven points behind first-place Holy Ghost Prep, who they will face in a rematch Thursday afternoon. Hun School also has a game in hand.

St. Joseph’s Prep (12-5 overall) dropped to 2-3 in the APAC.

It was the third meeting of the season between the two schools and that familiarity sparked intensity that was evident from the opening faceoff.

“That game was really fun to play in,” Harrison said. “It got a little chippy at the end (there was an altercation following the final buzzer) but scoring that goal to seal it was pretty good.”

The two teams entered the third period locked in a 2-2 stalemate. Aiden Honan gave the Raiders the lead on a solo effort with 7:01 left in regulation. Working from behind the St. Joseph’s Prep net, Honan tucked the puck inside the right post. Harrison followed with what at the time was an insurance goal but the hosts needed to file a claim on that insurance policy when Justin Bibeau was whistled for unsportsmanlike conduct immediately following Harrison’s goal.

The Raiders successfully killed off the penalty and wound up with power play of their own when the Hawks’ Noah Stuhl sent to the box for elbowing with 2:07 remaining but the Hawks didn’t back off. Jake Ely scored with 40 seconds remaining to make it a one-goal affair and the visitors finished the game on a power play after Luca Jean was flagged for elbowing immediately afterward.

But Hun School goaltender Elliot Trottier was equal to the challenge.

“It’s a good game every time we play them,” said Hun School coach N.G. Welsh. “We were better {In the first period}, they were better in the second, we were better in the third.

“I’m sure we’ll see them again.”

Welsh say this season’s three meetings (The Raiders have won two of the three) have given the Hawks and the Raiders in-depth knowledge of each other.

“We each know who are top couple of guys are,” he said. “We each know we have good quality goaltending so comes down to who has more discipline and who executed better.”

St. Joseph’s Prep coach Charlie Van Kula said his team came out second best in the area of execution.

“We have up big plays,” he said. “They capitalized on their chances, we didn’t.

“I respect their discipline. “They’re a tough team to play against. They’re physical, they’re pesky. I thought our guys represented themselves well and fought through a lot of it. I was happy about that. We’ve got to kind of flush it and look ahead to next week.”

• This was Hun School’s first APAC start of the season that was decided in regulation. The previous four went to overtime.

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 2 1—3

Hun School 1 1 2—4

First-period goal: Luca Jean (HS) from Zachary Vallee and Aidan Honan, 14:43

Second-period goals: Bradan Fisher (SJP) from Thomas Ely, 1:05 (pp); Jacob Kelly-LePage (HS) from Devin Espana, 2:10; Cole Gargon (SJP) from Michael Waslick and Noah Stuhl, 8:08

APAC Standings as of 1-13-26

GP Won Lost OTW OTL Pts

Holy Ghost Prep (12-2) 6 6 0 1 0 17

Hun School (11-5) 5 3 2 2 2 9

St. Joseph’s Prep (12-5) 5 2 3 0 1 7

Malvern Prep (4-7-2) 5 2 3 1 0 5

La Salle (3-11) 5 0 5 0 1 1

Wins and losses include all conference games

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

Upcoming Conference Games

Wednesday 1-14

Malvern Prep at La Salle

Thursday 1-15

4:00 Holy Ghost Prep at Hun School

Thursday 1-22

4:00La Salle at Hun School

8:30 St. Joseph’s Prep at Malvern Prep

Monday 1-26

St. Joseph’s Prep at Holy Ghost Prep

Wednesday 1-28

La Salle at St. Joseph’s Prep

Tuesday 2-3

4:00 Malvern Prep at Hun School

APAC Semifinals

Wednesday, February 18 at Ice Line

Championship Game

Wednesday, February 25 at home of highest seeded finalist

St. Joseph’s Prep 3 Malvern Prep 2

Adam Charraffi’s goal 4:31 into the third period gave St. Joseph’s Prep a 3-2 win over Malvern Prep Friday at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 Rink.

It was the seventh straight win for the Hawks, who improved to 12-4 overall and 2-2 in the APAC.

Michael Waslick and Joseph McGonigal gave St. Joseph’s Prep a 2-0 first-period lead before Jake Weingartner scored for the Friars (4-6-2, 2-3).

Pax Hoishik tied the game for Malvern Prep with a power-play goal 7:01 into the second period, which set the stage for Charrafi’s game winner.

Malvern Prep 12 1 0—2

St. Joseph’s Prep 2 0 1—3

First-period goals: Michael Washlick (SJP) from Jake Ely and Adam Charrafi, 1:18; Joseph McGonigal (SJP) from Joseph Darragh and Connor Martin, 3:47; Jake Weingartner (MP) from Paxton Hoishik, 5:16

Second-period goal: Hoishik (MP) from Weingartner and Cole Scabrinsky, 7:01 (pp)

Third-period goal: Charaffi (SJP) from Frank Ely and Bradan Fisher

Shots: Malvern Prep 31, St. Joseph’s Prep 27; Saves: Ryan Caterino (M, 4:31P) 24, Declan Geary (SJP) 29

Holy Ghost Prep 2 Hun School 1

There was an abundance of energy in the air at Grundy Arena Friday night. In the stands, fans were celebrating Holy Ghost Prep’s senior night. On the ice, the Firebirds and The Hun School were leaving nothing to chance.

It was the hosts who prevailed. Chase Logue’s goal 16 seconds into overtime have his side a 2-1 win. Logue weaved his way through traffic from center ice and beat Hun School’s senior goaltender Blake Echternacht who went home with the loss on his record despite being the best player on the ice for most if not all, of the evening.

The result keeps the Firebirds (12-2 overall) atop the APAC standings with a perfect 6-0 conference record. Hun School, which is in the midst of playing five games in eight day, dropped to 10-5 overall and 2-2 in the APAC.

Logue describe his game winner.

“I’d been looking for, {an opening} all night,” he said. “I found a lane, trusted my ability, and went in. The guys in the room (Lucas Gonzalez and Jack Gavaghan got the assists) helped me out a lot.

“{Logue} is a phenomenal player,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach John Ritchie. “I kind of had a conversation with him at the end of last year that coming into this year, he could be the best player in the league. I think he’s started that way, and he’s proven himself.

Holy Ghost Prep dominated the first half of the opening period. The Raiders didn’t record a shot on goal until nine-and-a-half minutes had elapsed. But they recorded the period’s only goal, a power-play effort which came off the stick of Luca Jean with 6:27 remaining in the period. The Firebirds’ Anthony Valeriote was serving a sentence for cross checking at the time.

The Firebirds drew even with 51 seconds left in the middle period when Bill Harmar made a run down the left wing, cut to the net, and beat Echternacht with a backhander.

As the teams lined up for the ensuing faceoff, Valeriote and the Raiders’ Anders van Raalte engaged. The encounter ended with van Raalte being accessed a major penalty for spearing plus a game misconduct. As a result, the Firebirds started the third period with an extended power play but were unable to capitalize on the advantage and the game remained deadlocked through the balance of regulation. Echternacht and the defense in front of him were the primary reasons why.

“I knew when {Nathaniel Welsh} was taking over Hun School they were going to be really structured defensively,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach John Ritchie, “and they were going to be tough and physical. They’ve got a lot of seniors over there

“Hats off to them. They probably played us the tightest of the teams we’ve played so far this year.

Ritchie praised Echternacht’s work in the Raider net.

“I’ve known him since he was 10 or 11 years old,” he said. “I knew he was going to be formidable in net.”

Welsh has been watching Echternacht’s work all season.

“He stood on his head tonight, all night,” he said.

Welsh praised his team’s effort was frustrated his team’s seven penalties, which resulted in five Firebird power plays. The Raiders had four.

“We played hard both ways tonight,” he said. “And we played a lot of time on the PK. Which is unfortunate. I would have liked a little more five on five, or five on four our way.”

Ice chips—The two teams will have a rematch on Thursday afternoon at Ice Land … Ten Holy Ghost Prep seniors were recognized prior to game time. John Bottgof, one of the 10, got the win in goal.

Hun School 1 0 0 0—1

Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 0 1—2

First period goal: Luca Jean (HS) from Andrew Darst, 10:33 (pp).

Second-period goal: Billy Harmar HGP unassisted, 16:09

Overtime goal: Chase Logue (HGP) from Lucas Gonzalez and Jack Gavaghan, :16

Shots: Hun School 27, Holy Ghost Prep 43; Saves: Blake Echternacht (HS) 41, John Botthof 26

Knights Embark on Cancer Fight

It was a night when the final score truly didn’t matter. There were four points at stake when North Penn and Souderton squared off on Wednesday night at Hatfield Ice but the focus of the evening was the Knights’ Hockey Fights Cancer effort. The Knights took the ice on Wednesday wearing white sweaters trimmed in purple to commemorate the occasion, which was part of a multipronged effort to promote and raise funds for the fight against cancer.

“We got some contributions from some local businesses, said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. We got their logos put on the backs of the jerseys and were able to get these jerseys made

The North Penn junior varsity will play a Hockey Stops Cancer game of its own on Friday against Father Judge (8:50 at Hatfield) and two North Penn middle-school level teams will take the ice on Sunday against separate opponents.

North Penn assistant coach Frank Stumpo spearheaded the effort. Stumpo is also the North Penn Hockey Club treasurer; his son was diagnosed with cancer in 2024

“It’s incredible,” he said. “We talked about doing this for a couple years. My son was diagnosed with cancer a year-and-a-half ago at age 37. He’s come through it and is very healthy and that was kind of the impetus for us.

“So many of our families, not just on the hockey team but in the community have been affected by cancer. It’s a terrible disease.

“This is an opportunity, and the kids got behind it as well, to give back. We’re trying to play hockey and we’re trying to win hockey games. But we’re developing young men an we’re trying to teach them that’s there’s more to life than just what goes on on the ice so it’s a good opportunity and a wonderful learning experience for them as well.”

North Penn head coach Kevin Vaitis saw the event as a teaching moment for his players.

“I think it’s always good to give back,” he said, “and kind of make these kids aware, and the rest of our families aware; everybody’s going to be impacted to some degree by somebody battling cancer or lost somebody to cancer.

“I think if we can do our part to help raise a little bit more awareness, it goes a long way, and hopefully this is something other high-school teams in the area want to participate in as well so we can make it something bigger over the next couple years.”

Hun School 3 La Salle 2 OT

The ending came in the blink of an eye. Devin Espana’s shot off a left circle faceoff exactly halfway through overtime gave The Hun School a come-from-behind 3-2 win over La Salle Wednesday afternoon in an APAC matchup at Hatfield Ice.

The goal came just seven seconds after La Salle’s William Podulka was swept to the penalty box for roughing, giving the Raiders a four-skaters-to-three advantage for the finish.

The Raiders overcame a 2-0 second-period deficit to lift their record to 10-4 overall and 2-1 in the APAC. They’ve won seven of their last eight starts. But it took them the entirety of the first two periods to get their skates under them.

“We’ve got to find a way to decide We’ve want to play from the first drop of the puck,” said Hun School coach Nathaniel Welsh. “But when they decide they want to turn it on, it’s a good hockey team.”

The Explorers (3-11, 0-5) took a 1-0 lead 4:50 into green second frame when Andrew Frantz delivered a power-play goal on a shot from the left point. River Carangi made it 2-0 with 7:04 left in the period on a setup from Nick Mantellino on a play that built up from behind the Hun School net.

At that point, the Explorers seemed to have the upper hand. But the Zachary Vallee scored for the Raiders off a La Salle breakdown with 1.9 seconds left in the period and the complexion of the game changed at that point; following the break for the post-second period ice cut Hun School returned for the third period riding a fresh wave of energy.

“It really feel like can beat anybody,” said veteran defenseman Andrew Darst, “and the key right now is figuring out how to get a good start on the road. Coming off the bus after an hour-long bus ride. Just getting a good start and getting ahead in the beginning.”

In a very real sense, the start of the third frame was a new beginning for the Raiders. Zachary Vallee tied the game with 4:19 left in the regulation to set the stage for the finale.

“Our first two operations weren’t great,” Welsh said. “Getting off the bus ride we weren’t really ready to play, but in the third period, we hit our stride a little bit.”

The Explorers seemingly had the better of things at the start of the extra period but Podulka’s penalty set up the visitors with an offensive zone faceoff and the Raiders took advantage of what La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner indicated was one in a series of critical errors.

“It’s definitely a disappointing loss,” he said. “We lost that game the way I look at it. All three goals directly resulted from us not doing something or doing something we shouldn’t have done.

“The penalty {that set up the winning goal} was not a smart penalty. And we didn’t pick up on the backcheck on the other two goals.”

Hun School 0 1 1 1—3

La Salle 0 2 0 0—2

Second-period goals: Andrew Frantz (L) from Liam Greenwalt and Nick Mantellino,4:50 (pp); River Carangi (L) from Mantellino, 9:56; Jimmy Dolan (HS) from Devin Espana, 16:59

Third-period goal: Zachary Vallee (HS) from Jacoby Kelly-LePage and Luca Jean, 12;41

Overtime goal: Espana (HS) from Andrew Darst and Vallee, 2:30 (pp)

Shots: Hun School 25, La Salle 28; Saves: Elliot Trottier (HS) 23, Daniel Trainor (L) 22

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

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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