Updated Playoff Schedule

Wednesday, February 26

4:00 APAC Founders Cup Final: La Salle vs Holy Ghost Prep at Grundy Arena

At Hatfield Ice

6:30 SHSHL Class AA Semifinal C.B. South vs. Neshaminy

8:30 SHSHL Class AA Semifinal North Penn vs C.R. South

At Revolution Ice Gardens

7:20 SHSHL Class A Semifinal Plymouth Whitemarsh vs. Truman

9:00 SHSHL Class A Semifinal Hatboro-Horsham vs. Wissahickon

Thursday, February 27

6:30 SHSHL Class AA Final at Hatfield Ice

8:30 SHSHL Class A Final at Hatfield Ice

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. Please visit our Facebook page or stop in and check us out.

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Holy Ghost Prep 4, Malvern Prep 1

Holy Ghost Prep scored three times in a span of less than two minutes in the first period and went on to defeat Malvern Prep 4-1 on Monday in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference semifinal at Grundy Arena. The top-seeded Firebirds will face defending champion La Salle in the Founders Cup final on Wednesday in the same venue; GAME TIME WILL BE 4 PM.
The opening period was played on more or less even terms until the Firebirds erupted. Cole Stevens scored the first goal of the game at the 10:14 mark and Landon Stoudt made it a 2-0 game just 64 seconds later. Braedon Baehser competed the barrage at 11:56 to give the hosts a 3-0 lead. Daniel Behr assisted on two of the three goals.
The teams traded goals in the third period. Matt Harris got the Friars on the scoreboard with a power-play goal at 2:58. Byron Hartley extended the Firebirds’ lead when he found the back of the net with 3:39 left in the game.
Malvern Prep outshot Holy Ghost Prep 33-26. Sean Joyce got the win in goal, making 32 saves.

La Salle’s Francis Ford carries the puck against St. Joseph’s Prep on Monday. The Explorers won the Founders Cup semifinal 5-2 (photo by Kathy Leister Photography)

Malvern Prep, the fourth seed in the APAC playoffs, has also been seeded fourth for the Class AAA Flyers Cup tournament and will face fifth seed Father Judge in an 8:15 quarterfinal game at Ice Line on Thursday, March 5.
Holy Ghost Prep is assured of the top seed in the Class AAA Flyers Cup tournament regardless of the result of Wednesday’s Flyers Cup finale. The Firebirds will face eighth-seeded Bishop Shanahan in a 6:45 quarterfinal game March 5 at Grundy Arena.

Malvern Prep 0 0 1—3

Holy Ghost Prep 3 0 1—4

First-period goals: Cole Stevens (HGP) from Daniel Behr, 10:14; Landon Stoudt (HGP) from Byron Hartley, 11:18; Braedon Baehser (HGP) from Behr, 11:56.
Third-period goals: Matt Harris (MP) from Chris Blango, 2:58 (pp); Hartley (HGP) unassisted, 12:21.
Shots: Malvern Prep 33, Holy Ghost Prep 26; Saves: Anthony Perti 23, Sean Joyce (HGP) 32

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

Check out our Flyers Cup podcast

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 5, St. Joseph’s Prep 2

BRISTOL—The prize was there for the taking and Holy Ghost Prep stepped up and took it Wednesday afternoon. The Firebirds jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the second period and went on to a 5-2 win over St. Joseph’s Prep in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference game at Grundy Arena.

Byron Hartley delivered three goals for the Firebirds, who wrapped up the APAC regular-season title with the win. The senior, who also picked up an assist, leads all APAC players in scoring with 20 goals and 12 assists for 32 points in 16 games.

“We were ready to battle for first place today,” Hartley said, “and we really wanted to come out and make a statement that this was a bounce-back year.”

St. Joseph’s Prep’s Andrew Centrella (in red) battles for the puck with Holy Ghost Prep’s Michael Connelly (in white). Holy Ghost Prep prevailed 5-2 to clinch the APC regular season title. Photo by Liz Diretto.

Hartley helped get the Firebirds (12-4-1-0 overall, 5-3-1-0 in the APAC) get started when he set up Evan Mudrick for the game’s first goal. Mudrick launched a shot from the high slot that beat Hawk netminder Rocco Bruno at 10:36 of the first period. Carlos Rodriquez made it 2-0 on a breakaway at 12:19 before Hartley made it a 3-0 just 29 seconds into the second frame.

St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin lamented his team’s ability to take advantage of some early opportunities. “The first five minutes we were awesome,” he said. “We were all over them. We made two mistakes and they put the puck in the net. and we’re down 2-0 and we’re chasing the game.”

The Hawks (11-11 overall, 3-1-0-4 in conference) got on the board thanks to Dominic Fantozzi with 1:14 left in the period.

The Firebirds reasserted themselves however when Hartley scored a shorthanded goal at 7:44 of the third period. Mudrick was serving an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty at the time, the only penalty whistled by referee Eric MIchaels. Jimmy Craig scored for the Hawks with 3:37 remaining before Hartley completed his hat trick by scoring into an empty net with 29 seconds left.

“I know we had a really strong (first) period,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside. “I know we struggled a bit in the second, a little bit of the third but we found a way to win.
“I wasn’t happy that we gave up that many shots. We haven’t given up that many shots in a long time.”

St. Joseph’s Prep’s Paulo Colavita (in red) charges the net as Holy Ghost Prep goaltender Sean Joyce makes the save. Number 88 in white is Holy Ghost Prep’s Brian Butler. Photo by Liz Diretto.

For more photos of this game, contact Liz Diretto HERE

Notes: It was the first APAC game of the season in which St. Joseph’s Prep failed to come away with at least one point. The Hawks will host La Salle to conclude the conference schedule on February 21, two days before the seedings for the Class AAA Flyers Cup tournament are announced. The APAC playoffs will take place on February 24 and 26.

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 1 1—2
Holy Ghost Prep 2 1 2—5
First-period goals: Evan Mudrick (HGP) from Byron Hartley, 10:36; Carlos Rodriguez (HGP) unassisted, 12:19.
Second-period goals: Hartley (HGP) from Anthony Spark and James Littley, :29; Dominic Fantozzi (SJP) from Connor Burman, 14:46.
Third-period goals: Hartley (HGP) from Dan Behr, 7:44 (sh); Jimmy Craig (HGP) from Burman and Andrew Centrella, 12:23; Hartley (HGP) unassisted, 15:31.

Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 32, Holy Ghost Prep 25; Saves: Rocco Bruno (SJP) 20, Sean Joyce (HGP) 30.

APAC Update 2-2-20

Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference Standings

Includes games played and reported through 1-31

W L OW OL Pts GF GA

Holy Ghost Prep (11-4-1) 4 3 1 0 14 27 22

St. Joseph’s Prep (11-10) 3 0 0 4 13 25 24

LaSalle (10-14) 1 3 2 1 8 29 29

Malvern Prep (6-8) 2 4 2 0 10 36 42

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) 15 17 11 28

Matt Harris (MP) 13 17 8 25

Jack Constabile (MP) 13 6 15 21

Evan Mudrick (HGP) 13 10 9 19

Ryan Sambuco (MP) 13 6 12 18

Anthony Sparo (HGP) 14 6 10 16

Jimmy Craig (SJP) 15 5 11 16

Jeffrey Hammond (SJP) 14 8 6 14

Andrew Centrella (SJP) 15 2 12 14

Nolan Woudenberg (La) 17 10 3 13

David Kimmel (La) 18 8 5 13

Nathan Benner (La) 18 8 5 13

Braedon Barsher (HGP) 16 11 1 12

Keenan Schneider (La) 18 2 10 12

Check out our Flyers Cup podcast

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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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

Check out our Hockey Happenings podcast with hosts Rick Woelfel and Eric Tye HERE

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We cab help. Contact us HERE

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

La Salle 6, Holy Ghost Prep 1

HATFIELD— A half season’s worth of effort is seemingly starting to pay dividends for the La Salle Explorers. Keenan Schneider scored twice and three other players added one goal each as the Explorers bested Holy Ghost Prep 6-1 Friday night in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference game at Hatfield Ice.

It was the first regulation win in league play for La Salle, which improved to 1-2-1-1 in the APAC and 8-10 overall versus a schedule that would best be described as rugged.

“As fas as league games go, it’s the best three periods we’ve played this year,” said La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner. “We played consistent from start to finish. So, it’s something to build on for sure.”

The Firebirds (8-4, 2-3-0-1 the APAC) were making their first start since December 20. It was not an auspicious beginning to the new year.

“We just didn’t come to play,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside. “We laid an egg. We didn’t play well collectively and the better team beat us tonight.”

The Explorers were outshot 10-5 in the opening period but found themselves up 1-0 at its conclusion, thanks to a goal from Nathan Benner at the 3:11 mark. Aidan McCabe provided support in goal, making 10 saves in the first frame, a number of them while his mates were dealing with two Firebird power plays.

The Explorers extended their lead in the second session. Jake Armstrong scored on a shot from the left circle exactly three minutes into the period and David Bruner made it a 3-0 game at 11:10 from a deep angle on the right wing that got inside the right post past Firebird netminder Bobby Baehser.

Holy Ghost Prep (8-4, overall, 2-3-1-0 in the APAC) got a goal from Brady Baehser with 2:33 left in the period but the Explorers pulled away in the third frame on a goal from David Kimmel and two more from Schneider.

“We’re coming together as a team,” Schneider said. “Right now, we’re playing as a team and we’re just rolling, honestly.”

Muehlbronner has focused on keeping his lines together to build cohesiveness. Schneider, a sophomore was teamed with Kimmel and Jake Hammond.

“We’ve kind of fought through a lot of the adversity by trying to get the lines staying together,” he said, “not making wholesale changes. We’ve done it, burn I think there’s definitely some chemistry starting to grow between the guys.”

Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 0—1
La Salle 1 2 3—6

First-period goal: Nathan Benner (L) unassisted, 3:11;
Second-period goals: Jake Armstrong (L) from Max Maddalo, 3:00; David Bruner (L) from Maddalo, 11:10; Brady Baehser (HGP) from Carlos Rodriguez and Aidan Mulholland, 13:27.
Third-period goals: David Kimmel (L) from Jake Hammond and Keenan Schneider, 6:56; Schneider (L) from Kimmel and Nolan Woudenberg, 9:40; Schneider (L) from Hammond, 15:51.
Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 17, La Salle 18; Saves: Bobby Baehser (HGP) 12, Aidan McCabe (L) 16.

Elsewhere

Malvern Prep 5, St. Joseph’s Prep 4 SO

Chris Blango scored in the third round of a shootout to Malvern Prep a 5-4 win over St. Joseph’s Prep Friday night in an APAC matchup at the Class of 1923 Arena at the University of Pennsylvania.

Blango scored two goals in regulation for the Friars (6-4 overall, 2-3-2-0 in the APAC), who moved within two points of St. Joseph’s Prep (6-8, 3-0-0-3 in conference) in the league standings.

Michael Urbani scored twice for the Hawks, who scored twice in the third period to force overtime.

Malvern Prep 2 2 0 0 (1)—5

St. Joseph’s Prep 2 0 2 (0)—4

First-period goals: Jimmy Craig (SJP) from Michael Urbani, 3:15 (pp); Urbani (SJP) from Craig and Ben Briskin, 5:42 (pp);Pierre Larocue (MP) unassisted, 11:54 (sh); Jimmy Kirk (MP) from Quinn Dougherty, 13:15.

Second-period goals: Chris Blango (MP) from Jack Constabile. 3:35 (pp); Blango (MP) from Constabile and Matt Harris, 13:24.

Third-period goals: Urbani (SJP) from Matt Moresco and Jeffrey Hammond, 1:01; Moresco (SJP) from Dominic Fantozzi, 10:49 (pp).

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APAC Update

Standings include games played through 1-16-20

W L OW OL Pts GF GA

St. Joseph’s Prep (6-8) 3 0 0 3 12 21 19

Holy Ghost Prep (9-4-1) 3 3 1 0 11 25 21

Malvern Prep (6-5) 2 4 2 0 10 33 36

LaSalle (8-11) 1 2 1 1 6 24 15

Games of Friday, January 10

La Salle 6, Holy Ghost Prep 1

Malvern Prep 5, St. Joseph’s Prep 4 OT

Scoring Leaders Games G A Pts

Byron Hartley (HGP) 11 16 10 26

Matt Harris (MP) 8 15 4 19

Jack Constabile (MP) 8 3 13 16

Evan Mudrick (HGP) 10 7 7 14

Anthony Sparo (HGP) 9 4 9 13

Ryan Sambuco (MP) 8 4 9 13

Nathan Benner (La) 11 6 5 11

Andrew Centrella (SJP) 12 1 10 11

Jimmy Craig (SJP) 12 3 7 10

Braedon Barsher (HGP) 11 8 1 9

Nolan Woudenberg (La) 10 7 2 9

Jeffrey Hammond (SJP) 11 7 2 9

Class AAA Flyers Cup Power Rankings

1 St. Joseph’s Prep

2. Holy Ghost Prep

3. Malvern Prep

4. La Salle

5. Father Judge

Flyers Cup rankings are calculated exclusively on results against the Flyers Cup-eligible teams.

Check out our Flyers Cup podcast with Flyers Cup committee president Eric Tye at:

www.buzzsprout.com/213400

New podcasts will be added each Friday from now until the end of the season.