Holy Ghost Prep 2, St. Joseph’s Prep 1

Braedon Baehser scored on a breakaway 1:56 into overtime to give Holy Ghost Prep a 2-1 win over St. Joseph’s Prep Friday night at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 Arena.

The win lifted the Firebirds to 2-2-1-0 in conference play and 7-3-1-0 overall.

The Hawks (4-3-0-2 overall, 3-0-0-2 in conference) opened the scoring when Brody Plourde found the back of the net 2:15 into the second period. Byron Hartley tied the game for Holy Ghost Prep at the 14:48 mark.

Bobby Baesher got the win in goal, making 12 saves. Rocco Bruno stopped 25 of 27 shots for the Hawks.

The game featured just one minor penalty.

Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 0 1—2

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 1 0 0—1

Second-period goals: Brody Plourde (SJP) from Rocco Bruno, 2:15; Byron Hartley (HGP) from Aidan Mulholland, 14:48.

Overtime goal: Braedon Baehser (HGP) unassisted, 1:56.
Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 27, St. Joseph’s Prep 13; Saves: Bobby Baehser (HGP) 12, Rocco Bruno (HGP) 25

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APAC Update for 12-20-19

Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference

W L OW OL Pts GF GA

St. Joseph’s Prep (4-5) 3 0 0 2 11 17 14

Holy Ghost Prep (8-3) 2 2 1 0 8 19 14

Malvern Prep (3-4) 2 2 0 1 7 22 23

LaSalle (5-5) 0 2 1 0 2 14 9

Game of Friday, December 21

Holy Ghost Prep 2, St. Josephs Prep 1 OT

Game of Thursday, December 19

La Salle 9, St. Augustine 3

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Holy Ghost Prep 7, Malvern Prep 4

BRISTOL— Winning hockey games is much easier if a team starts out three goals to the good. That’s what happened to Holy Ghost Prep Wednesday afternoon.

The Firebirds scored three first-period goals in span of just under eight minutes and went on to a 7-4 Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference win at Hatfield Ice.
Byron Hartley scored four goals for the Firebirds, who improved to 7-3 overall and 2-2 in the APAC.

It was a big win for Holy Ghost Prep on a number of levels. It was the Firebirds’ first start since reaching the semifinals of the National Scholastic Invitational Showcase cover the weekend. It was also the first meeting between the two schools since the Friars (3-4, 2-2-0-1 in the APAC) scored four times in the third period to post a 5-4 win on November 11.

“This was huge win,” Hartley said, “this was a statement win that the first game was just a fluke. We have lines one through four that are able to score and play defense. We’re very happy with ourselves but we’re not done yet.”

Holy Ghost Prep’s number-one line, Hartley, Evan Mudrick, and Anthony Sparo, took on much of the offensive load. Together the trio accumulated 13 points. Hartley had two assists to go with his four goals. Mudrick provided two goals and two assists while Sparo contributed three assists.

Hartley got things started at the 3:25 mark of the opening period with help from Mudrick and Dan Behry before making it a 2-0 game by himself just 16 seconds later. Mudrick scored off assists from his two linemates at 11:23 to give his team a three-goal lead.

After Brady Baesher made it 4-0 3:32 into the second frame, the Friars got on the board with goals from Jack Constabile and Matt Harris to make it a 4-2 game with 4:05 left in the period.

Malvern Prep’s Jack Constabile (in blue) and Holy Ghost Prep’s Byron Hartley (in white) take a faceoff in Wednesday’s APAC game. Photo by Gracie Cleveland.

But Hartley completed his hat trick 4:09 into the third and his team went on to score two additional goals to put the game out of reach.

““It’s never good when a team goes down 3-0,” said Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan. “We’ve been put in that position a lot this year and it’s hard to come out of it. It was nice to see our boys get a couple in response, but It’s hard to win games when you get put in hole like that.”

Junior Bobby Baehser got the win in goal.

“He played great,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside. Booby Baehser is a great teammate, and just a solid effort tonight between the pipes.”

Malvern Prep 0 2 2—4

Holy Ghost Prep 3 1 3—7

First-period goals: Byron Hartley (HGP) from Evan Mudrick and E.J. Pohl, 3:25; Hartley (HGP) unassisted, 3:41; Mudrick (HGP) from Hartley and Anthony Sparo, 11:23.

Second-period goals: Brady Baehser (HGP) from Colin Moore, 3:32; Jack Constabile (MP) from Quinn Dougherty, 4:05; Matt Harris (MP) from Constabile, 11:55.

Third-period goals: Hartley (HGP) from Mudrick and Sparo, 4:09; Kyle Dorman (MP) from Constabile, 6:19; Mudrick (HGP) from Hartley and Sparo; Harrison Campbell (MP) unassisted, 15:10; Harley (HGP) unassisted, 15:49 (pp).

Shots: Malvern Prep 22, Holy Ghost Prep 30; Saves: Anthony Perti (MP) 23, Bobby Baeher (HGP) 18.

Other Wednesday scores

C.B. West 4, Pennridge 3

Hatboro-Horsham 8, Wissahickon 2

Council Rock South 10, Souderton 0

Pennsbury vs. Quakertown

Neshamainy vs. William Tennent

Holy Ghost Prep Falls in Jamestown Finale

Holy Ghost Prep fell to Culver (Ind.) Academy 5-1 Sunday morning in the semifinal round of the National Scholastic Invitational Showcase in Jamestown, New York.

Braedon Baehser gave the Firebirds (6-3) a 1-0 first period lead before Patrick Brandeberg and Andrew Douglass scored second-period goals for Culver Academy. Michael Sobaski extended Culver Academy’s lead with a goal in the third period before Matthew Peterson added two additional goals.

Culver Academy went on to the championship game and fell to Erie Cathedral Prep 4-3.

Holy Ghost Prep Wins in Jamestown

Four different players scored goals as Holy Ghost Prep defeated University School (Ohio) 4-0 Saturday evening in the National Scholastic Invitational Showcase in Jamestown, N.Y.

Braedon Braehser,Sean Marshall, Evan Mudrick, and Eric Pohl scvcored the goals as the Firebirds prevailed for the third time in two days. Sean Joyce earned the win in goal by stopping all 32 shots he faced.

The Firebirds (6-2 overall) will play a semifinal game Sunday morning and possibly a championship game in the afternoon.

Brandon Baesher scored twice as Holy Ghost Prep defeated Bethel Park (Pa.) 6-0 Saturday afternoon in the second round of the National Scholastic Invitational Showcase in Jamestown, N.Y.

The Firebirds have won their first two starts on the trip.

Byron Hartley, John Connelly, Anthony Sparo, and Landon Stoudt also scored goals.

Bobby Baehser earned the shutout in goal by stopping 16 shots.

APAC Update 12-3-19

Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference

W L OW OL Pts GF GA

St. Joseph’s Prep (4-4) 3 0 0 1 10 16 12

Malvern Prep (3-4) 2 2 0 1 7 22 23

Holy Ghost Prep (7-3) 2 2 0 0 6 17 13

LaSalle (4-5) 0 2 1 0 2 14 9

Game of Wednesday, December 11

Holy Ghost Prep 7, Malvern Prep 4

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More Than a Hockey Trip

Sometime Thursday morning the Holy Ghost Prep hockey team will head north on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in the direction of Jamestown, New York where it will compete in the National Scholastic Invitational Scholastic Showcase this weekend.

The Firebirds are scheduled to face Glenbrook South (Illinois) Friday afternoon and Bethel Park (Pa.) and University School (Ohio) on Saturday; they could also see action on Sunday.

The Showcase is a regular stop for the Firebirds each season. The 16-team tournament features some top-flight high school teams but the trip is about a lot more than hockey. The weekend is structured to allow the players, regardless of their academic standing or the amount of ice time they have earned, to bond and get to know one another as people.

Junior defenseman E.J. Pohl is one of the Firebirds alternate captains. “It’s a tournament” he said, “and we obviously want to win games up there, but it’s a lot more than that. It’s more about brotherhood and coming together as a team and for me I didn’t really feel like I belonged until after the Jamestown trip my freshman year.”

Pohl recalls his anxiety when he made his first trip to Jamestown two years ago. “Obviously, I was afraid,” he said. “I was one of the younger kids on the team but after the Jamestown trip I felt like we really came together as a team and I felt more involved and like I mattered and had a place on the team.”

Pohl points out that weekend is about togetherness, on and off the ice. “We all hang out together as one,” he said, “whether we’re hanging out together, eating together playing together. It’s freshmen seniors, juniors, sophomores all hanging out together as one. And I think building relationships with those older kids really helped me to grow, as a person on the team and as a player.”

Pohl, who is carrying a 4.3 academic average on a 4.0 scale at Holy Ghost Prep, reflects on how his role with the team has evolved from anxious but eager newcomer to a veteran leader.

“Before, it was exciting for me,” he said, “but I didn’t really feel like people relied on me. I could rely on other people for help to grow, but now I feel like I’m in that role where people are looking up to me, so I’m looking to set a good example, on the ice and off the ice.

“I’m excited to get to know the freshmen and the younger people more and hopefully do the same as the older captains from the last two years did for me and bring them into the team and make them feel that they have a spot and they matter, because they do.”

E.J. Pohl (photo provided by Chris Paul)

Pohl notes that receiving positive reinforcement from a teammate can be more meaningful to a younger player that getting those same assurances from a coach. “It means something from the coaches but when you hear it from your peers it means a lot more,” he said. “Because you know the people you’re working alongside are rooting for you as much as you’re rooting for them,”

That mindset is in keeping with the core philosophy at Holy Ghost Prep which was founded by the Spiritans as a prep school and junior college seminary in 1897 (it became Holy Ghost Prep in 1968) and teaches its students that success is measured by the ability to help others.

“The brotherhood that we often talk about, that we have at Ghost, definitely fits into this trip a lot,” Pohl said. “Building that brotherhood with our younger teammates and even the older ones coming together as one, it definitely fits into that one goal, one team mindset that we have.”

By Rick Woelfel

For more information about Holy Ghost Prep CLICK HERE

St. Joseph’s Prep 3, Holy Ghost Prep 2

BRISTOL—St. Joseph’s Prep is making a habit of doing the little things right. The latest example was on display Friday night as the Hawks edged Holy Ghost Prep 3-2 in front of a large an energetic audience at Grundy Arena.

Austin Amato, Connor Burman, and Jimmy Craig all scored for the Hawks, who improved to 3-1 overall and 3-0-0-1 in the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference. The only blemish on the Hawks’ record is a shootout loss to La Salle and they took a point on that occasion. It has been an impressive start for a young team.

“We’ve got a lot of stuff to improve on,” said Prep coach David Giacomin, “but the one thing you can’t take away from them is the effort. When they start hustling and they get in your face, they create turnovers, they create anxiety for the opposition. That part of the game we’ve done really well.”

Amato and Burman scored off turnovers to give the Hawks a 2-0 first-period lead. Burman, a junior, credits his team’s work ethic for its fast start.

“It’s the hard work,” he said. “It’s the chemistry. “Everybody wants to be here. Everybody wants to win. We’ve just a really good group this year, it’s all coming together.”

Giacomin said Burman played a solid three periods Friday night. “When that kid is moving he sees the ice so well,” he said. “He’s low to the ground, he’s hard to push off the puck. When he puts together three periods like he did tonight, people notice him.”

Evan Mudrick scored a power-play goal for the Firebirds (2-2, 1-2 in the APAC) 3:48 into the second period to make it a one-goal game for a time but Craig answered with his own power-play goal at 14:57.

That goal proved to be the game winner because Michael Roman found the back of the net for the Firebirds 6:37 into the third frame when he beat Hawk netminder Andrew Custer.

Holy Ghost Prep couldn’t come up with the equalizer. But Gump Whiteside, the Firebirds’ coach took an abundance of positives out of the evening.

“I like how our boys responded in the third period,” he said. “It was unfortunate, we kind of had a slow start there, but I really liked how our guts responded. We’re a young team. We’re going to be good. We’re just working through a couple things right now but I really liked how we responded in the third.”

St. Joseph’s Prep sits atop the APAC standings with a 3-0-1 mark (10 points) but the balance among the four schools through the first weeks of the season has been striking to say the least.

“The league has so much parity,” Giacomin said.”Every game is going to be exciting I think this year.”

Whiteside sees things the same way. “It’s great competition every night,” he said. “Great sportsmanship every night. We battle, we compete hard, we want to get that ’W’ but it’s been great.”

St. Joseph’s Prep 2 1 0—3
Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 1—2
First-period goals: Austin Amato (HGP) from Paulo Colavita, 2:13; Connor Burman (SJP) from Jimmy Craig, 15:12
Second-period goals: Evan Mudrick (HGP) from Byron Hartley, 3:48 (pp); Craig (HGP) from MIchael Urbani, 14:03 (pp)
Third-period goal: Michael Roman (HGP) unassisted, 6:37
Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 19, Holy Ghost Prep 22; Saves: Andrew Custer (SJP) 20, Sean Joyce (HGP) 15

Malvern Prep 5, Holy Ghost Prep 4

By Rick Woelfel

WEST GOSHEN—The momentum of a hockey game can change in the blink of an eye. So it was Monday night as Malvern Prep overcame a two-goal deficit with a four-goal third period to stun Holy Ghost Prep 5-4 in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference game at Ice Line.

Matt Harris scored a natural hat trick for the Friars (1-1 overall and in the APAC). All three of his goals came during the third period when Malvern Prep found itself trailing by two goals on two occasions. The sophomore’s third goal, which came with 1:35 remaining in regulation, saw him beat Firebird goaltender Sean Joyce for the game winner.

Harris said the Friars took the ice for the final period with a determined mindset. “Just play hard and get pucks in on net,” he said.

The Firebirds (2-1, 1-1 in the APAC) had the upper hand for much of the first two periods and took a 3-1 lead 91 seconds into the third when Byron Hartley scored his second goal of the game on a feed from Evan Mudrick.

But momentum shifted in the Friars’ direction 4:08 into the third period when their goaltender Anthony Perti denied Mudrick on a penalty shot in the wake of a cross checking penalty.

Jack Constabile scored for Malvern Prep just 41 seconds later to make it a one-goal game. Sean Marshall scored for the Firebirds at the 7:26 mark to put his team up by two goals once more but Harris scored a shorthanded goal at 9:15 and tied the game with 3:51 remaining to set the stage for the finish.

Ironically, Perti, who made the game-changing save on Mudrick’s penalty shot, wasn’t around at the finish. He left with an apparent injury with 8:24 left in the game after making 18 saves. Jack Davis took his place and made four more.

Harris said he and teammates took considerable satisfaction rom rebounding from a one-goal los to St. Joseph’s Prep last Thursday. “It felt really good,” he said. “We knew what we had to do, come out hard and play Holy Ghost, who is good. We did what we had to do.”

Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan credited his players for their resiliency. “The guys were down early again like our first game,” he said, “but it was nice to come back and really take that next step with the guys coming together and finding a way to pull out a win here.”

Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside described the failed penalty shot attempt as huge. “It is what it is,” he said. It’’s frustrating. I’m happy for Bill, he got his first win as the Malvern coach. He’s a good guy. But it’s just frustrating tonight.”

Whiteside feels the devastating loss will be a lesson for his players. “We’re young,” he said. “The season’s early. and we’ll be a better team because of this, I can assure you.”

Holy Ghost Prep opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal from Hartley 9:59 into the first period. Mudrick made it 2-0 just 73 seconds into the second session. Ryan Sambuco scored for the Friars at the 6:29 mark to cut the deficit in half and the score remained unchanged through the period’s end.

Holy Ghost Prep 1 1 2—4
Malvern Prep 0 1 4—5
First-period goal: Byron Hartley (HGP) from Sean Marshall, 9:59 (sh)
Second-period goals: Evan Mudrick (HGP) from Hartley, 1:13; Ryan Sambuco (MP) from Andrew Harder, 6:29
Third-period goals: Hartley (HGP) from Mudrick, 1:31; Jack Constabile (MP) from Ryan Sambuco, 4:49; Marshall (HGP) from Hartley and Mudrick, 7:26; Matt Harris (MP) from Chris Blango, 9:15 (sh); Harris (MP) from Jack Davis 13:09; Harris (MP) from Constabile and Blango, 15:35.
Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 26, Malvern Prep 32; Saves: Sean Joyce (HGP) 22, Anthony Perti (MP) 18 and Jack Davis (MP) 4

APAC Update 11-8-19

Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference

Won Lost OTW OTL. Pts GF GA

Holy Ghost Prep (2-0) 1 0 0 0 3 4 1

St. Joseph’s Prep (1-0) 1 0 0 0 3 4 3

LaSalle (2-1) 0 1 0 0 0 1 4

Malvern Prep (0-1) 0 1 0 0 0 3 4

Games of Wednesday 11-7

St. Joseph’s Prep 4, Malvern Prep 3

Holy Ghost Prep 9, North Penn 1