APAC Championship Preview

Founders Cup Championship Game

Wednesday, March 1

La Salle vs. Holy Ghost Prep

4:00 at Hatfield Ice

La Salle (12-9-2) Seed 1

Coach: Wally Muehlbronner

How the Explorers got here: Defeated The Hun School 5-1 in the semifinals. Dean Carvalho scored two goals and assisted on two others. James Carpenter scored a goal and added two assists. Matt Giordano and Michael Zarzycki, also scored goals.

Carpenter has scored seven goals for the Explorers in conference play, including the semifinal, and added six assists for 13 points. Carvalho has scored six goals and added six assists for 12 points. Evan Golato has contributed 7 goals and two assists for nine points.

Holy Ghost Prep (16-6) Seed 2

Coach: Gump Whiteside

How the Firebirds got here: Defeated St. Joseph’s Prep 4-1 in the semifinals. Brady Baehser scored two goals in the win. Kieran Mulholland and Zach Pers also scored goals.

Baehser, the APAC scoring champion, has 12 goals and nine assists for 21 points in conference games, including the semifinal. Mulholland has 10 goals and eight assists for 18 points in conference play. John Servalli has four goals and 10 assists for 14 points.

This season

11-9 Holy Ghost Prep 6 La Salle 2

2-13 La Salle 6 Holy Ghost Prep 5

Past History

La Salle won the first two APAC titles in 2019 and ’20 and was declared a co-champion along with Malvern Prep in 2021 when the championship game was cancelled because of the pandemic. Holy Ghost Prep is seeking its first APAC title.

What Comes Next

The seedings for the Class AAA Flyers Cup tournament will be announced Sunday evening, February on the Flyers Cup YouTube channel. The result of the Founders Cup final will not affect those seedings.

Holy Ghost Prep 4 St. Joseph’s Prep 1

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—Three different players scored goals as Holy Ghost Prep downed St. Joseph’s Prep 4-1 Wednesday evening at Hatfield Ice in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference semifinal at Hatfield Ice.

The second-seeded Firebirds (16-6) will face La Salle in the Founders Cup final next Wednesday at 4 p.m., also at Hatfield Ice. The Hawks fell to 14-6-2. Both teams will learn on Sunday where they will be seeded for the Class AAA Flyers Cup tournament, which begins the week of March 6.

Brady Baehser paced Holy Ghost Prep with with two goals, giving him 12 in APAC play this season. Kieran Mulholland and Zach Pers also scored for the winning side.

It was also a day that saw Jack Unger turn in a stellar performance in goal. Given the starting nod because veteran Colin Mudrick was unavailable, Unger a sophomore, recorded 18 saves and was the epitome of poise.

Mulholland gave Holy Ghost Prep a 1-0 lead when he beat St. Joseph’s Prep netminder Rocco Bruno on a deflection 8:41 into the opening period. Baehser made it a 2-0 game on a breakaway at the 10:59 mark of the second frame.

“I liked our start,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside. “We haven’t been starting off games very well of late but today I liked our jump. and we had four lines contributing, which is great.”

Playing with a lead allowed Unger to settle in.

“I think the biggest thing is being able to stay comfortable,” he said. “When we get off to a quick start like that, I’m really comfortable. I know I can trust the forwards, trust the defense. I know that they’ve got my back and I’ve got their backs.”

Unger’s effort earned effusive praise from his coach.

“It was nice to see that from Jack,” Whiteside said. “He’s worked all year and gotten some spots here and there throughout the season, but tonight was a total effort from Jack and our guys just fed off of him.”

Jeffrey Hammond got St. Joseph’s Prep on the scoreboard 6:44 into the third period but the Hawks were stymied much of the night; they managed just 19 shots.

“I think they wanted it more than us today for whatever reason,” said St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin. “It’s hard to get in the minds of kids (but) they had a lot of jumps, especially in the beginning of the game,

“They wanted it a little bit more than us and they played a really good game.”

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 0 1—1

Holy Ghost Prep 1 2 1—4

First-period goal: Kieran Mulholland (HGP) unassisted, 8:41

Second-period goal: Brady Baehser (HGP) from Ryan Lippy and Landon Stout, 10:59; Zach Pers (HGP) from Kieran Mulholland and John Seravalli, 14:16 (pp)

Third-period goal: Jeffrey Hammond (HGP) unassisted, 6:44; Baehser (HGP) from Seravalli and Mulholland, 11:54;

Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 19, Holy Ghost Prep 33; Saves: Rocco Bruno (SJP) 29, Jack Unger (HGP) 18

La Salle 6 Holy Ghost Prep 5

BRSTOL—After an up-and-down season, the La Salle Explorers are ripening like a field full of crops, just as harvest time is drawing near. Evan Golato and James Carpenter scored two goals each as the Explorers held off Holy Ghost Prep 6-5 Monday afternoon at Grundy Arena.

After starting the season by winning just one of its first five games, La Salle stands at 11-8-2 with one regular-season game remaining. The Explorers, who have won their last four starts and six of their last seven, finished Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference play as the regular-season champion with a 6-2 league.

They’ll be seeded first in the conference semifinals, and will face the winner of Thursday’s play-in between Malvern Prep and Hun School on February 22 at Hatfield Ice. Ghost Prep (15-6, 4-2-1-1 in conference) will be the second seed in the playoffs and will take on third-seeded St. Joseph’s Prep in the other semifinal on the same day at the same venue.

Golato scored both his goals in the first period as La Salle took a 2-1 lead. The goals were sandwiched a goal from the Firebirds’ Prep’s Colin Bara.

“We expected a dogfight coming into today,” Golato said. “We’re glad we got away with a win. We just want to keep going game by game, winning and winning. That’s all we want as a team.”

Traffic in front of the La Salle net includes the Explorers’ Will Giordano (#3), and Thomas Doucet (#6) along with Holy Ghost Prep’s Kieran Mulholland (#13) and Zach Pers (#72) Photos by Robert Barnes

Carpenter and Holy Ghost Prep’s Brady Baehser traded goals in the second session before John Seravalli tied the game with 6:53 left in the period. But Matt Giordano answered 43 seconds later with a shot from the high slot to give La Salle the lead for good.

Will Gregorio and Carpenter extended the La Salle lead with third-period goals before Ciaran Chambers scored for the Firebirds with 11:11 left in the game. Kieran Mulholland made it a one-goal game with 29 seconds remaining.

Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside praised the effort of both teams.

“A great APSC game,” he said. “Two great opponents competed to the bitter end.

“I was really happy with how we kept battling back. Nobody wants to chase the game of course, but I was really proud of the effort there.”

Both teams shuffled goaltenders. Jake Rossi started for La Salle, before giving way to Aries Carangi, but later returned before yielding to Carangi once more. Colin Mudrick started in goal for the Firebirds before Jack Unger came on in relief. Mudrick later returned but Unger relieved him again in the third period.”

Golato noted the victory was a true team effort.

“It wasn’t just a performance by one person,” he said. “Every single kid stepped up and had a great game for us to plug away and get the win.”

La Salle 2 2 2—6

Holy Ghost Prep 1 2 2—5

First-period goals: Evan Golato (L) from Ryan Desmond and Declan Kelly, 3:00; Colin Bara (HGP) from Brandon Barger, 12:26; Golato (L) from Will Gregorio, 15:45 (pp)

Second-period goals: James Carpenter (L) from Matt Giordano, 5:07; Brady Baehser (HGP) from Barger, 5:15; John Seravalli (HGP) from Baehser, 13:02; Giordano (L) from Julian Tarsi, 13:45

Third-period goals: Giordano (L) from Michael Zaraycki, 1:49 (pp); Carpenter (L) unassisted, 4:19; Ciaran Chambers (HGP) from Ryan Lippy, 5:49; Kieran Mulholland (HGP) from Mike Holt and Chambers

Shots: La Salle 32, Holy Ghost Prep 18

APAC Update 3-6-23

Won Lost OTW OTL Pts GF GA

La Salle (13-9-2) 6 2 0 0 18 33 23

Holy Ghost Prep (16-7) 4 2 1 1 15 39 33

St. Joseph’s Prep (14-6-2) 3 4 1 0 11 24 28

Hun School (11-13) 3 5 0 0 9 24 30

Malvern Prep (9-7) 2 5 0 1 4 23 28

This Week

Monday, 2-13

La Salle 6 Holy Ghost Prep 5

Tuesday, 2-14

Founders Cup Playoffs Play-in

Hun School 5 Malvern Prep 2

Wednesday, February 15

Wyoming Seminary 3 La Salle 2

Thursday, February 16

Hun School 5 Princeton Day 2

Semifinals at Hatfield Ice

4:00 La Salle 5 Hun School 2

6:15 Holy Ghost Prep 4 St. Joeph’s Prep 1

Monday, February 27

Malvern Prep 1, Salesianum 0

Wednesday, March 1

La Salle 7 Holy Ghost Prep 3

Scoring Leaders G A Pts

Brady Baehser (HGP) 10 9 19

Joe Samango (SJP) 11 4 15

Kieran Mulholland (HGP) 9 6 15

Jeremy Jacobs (MP) 6 8 14

Jeffrey Hammond (SJP) 4 10 14

Justin LaPlante (HS) 6 8 14

John Seravalli (HGP) 4 8 12

Elian Estulin (HS) 4 7 11

Triatan Winata (SJP) 4 6 10

Ryan Levesque (HS) 4 6 10

Playoff Semifinals

Wednesday February 22 at Hatfield Ice

Game Times 4:00 and 6:00

Wednesday, March 1

Founders Cup Championship Game hosted by highest seeded finalist

Holy Ghost Prep 7 Haverford School 0

Kieran Mulholland scored twice and five other players scored one goal each as Holy Ghost Prep scored a 7-0 shutout over Haverford School Friday night on Senior Night at Grundy Arena.

Jack Gavaghan, Patrick Slook, John Seravalli and Ciaran Chambers all scored goals for the Firebirds, who improved to 14-5 on the season.

Haverford School 0 0 0—0

Holy Ghost Prep 2 2 3—7

Council Rock South 5 Holy Ghost Prep 4

WARWICK TOWNSHIP—There was an air of anticipation in the building when Holy Ghost Prep and Council Rock South took the ice at Revolution Ice Gardens Monday night.

The matchup brought together two teams who are legitimate Flyers Cup contenders in their respective classes; the Firebirds in Class AAA and the Golden Hawks in Class AA.

It was the Golden Hawks who prevailed on this occasion overcoming am early 2-0 deficit to post a 5-4 win.

Monday’s game was also a meeting of two of the area’s most respected coaches. Joe Houk has been at Council Rock South for 17 seasons. Gump Whiteside has been at Holy Ghost Prep for 15 seasons and spent eight years at Germantown Academy before that.

Both Houk and Whiteside have won scores of games and have Flyers Cup and state titles on their resumes. They share a passion for the game of hockey—and a mutual respect that goes back to when they played against each other in their high-school days.

“Joe’s a pro,” Whiteside. “Quite honestly, he’s been a mentor to me. I’ve coached Joe for many, many, many, many years and he’s always been a pro,

“He always approaches it the right way. He doesn’t have an ego it’s not about him. It’s about his players.

“And you could see it tonight. He had his team prepared. Joe is the ultimate pro, the ultimate mentor, and quite honestly a great guy.”

Whiteside noted the tenaciousness Houk’s teams regularly bring to the rink.

“They play with grit,” he said.”

Houk similar sentiments.

“Gump is a good guy, a good human being,” he said. “He brings such a good quality of the sport to the game.

“He’s a man of character. And he cares about the kids. It’s not ‘Win at all costs’ with him. It’s more about development and hopefully, you move some of those kids on.

“He’s just a good guy. He’s a good guy for the sport.”

• Jake Weiner scored a pair of goals 45 seconds apart that turned a 2-2 standoff into a 4-2 South lead and the Golden Hawks never trailed again.

The win was South’s 11^th of the season against two defeats with one of the losses coming in overtime.

Houk said going against a team the Firebirds said a lot about his own team’s potential for success.

“If we can at that sustained level we played at tonight,” he said. “The physical part of it, keeping things simple, keeping things to the outside, getting the opportunities on transition. I thought we controlled the whole game (but) they’re good. They’ve got some really, really good skill players. They move the puck well. They’re a good team. They’re going to go far too.”

Brady Baehser scored three goals for the Firebirds, who saw their record drop to 13-6.

“We got up 2-0 and that’s when we started to take them lightly,” he said. “And we just fell apart.”
Baehser said the defeat highlighted the importance delivering a solid effort from the start to finish of each game.”

“We’re a very talented team and we think we can win games based off that. But that outworked us all night, all three periods and it showed on the scoreboard.”

Holy Ghost Prep 2 2 0—4

Council Rock South 2 3 0—5

First-period goals: Landon Stout (HGP) from Patrick Slook and John Seravalli, 1:03; Brady Baehser (HGP) from Seravalli, 5:18; Blaize Peppe (CRS) unassisted, 8:39; Kevin Koles (CRS) from Gavin Nisenson, :41

Second-period goals: Jake Weiner (CRS) from Illia Muckhin, 3:19; Weiner (CRS) from Jeremy Rayher, 4:04; Baehser (HGP) from Seravalli, 8:26 (pp); Joseph Diiulio (CRS) from Weiner and Pepe, 12:04; Baehser (HGP) from Stout, 12:35 (pp)

Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 27, Council Rock South 41; Saves: Jack Unger (HGP) 36 Carson Lopez (CRS) 23

Gump Whiteside Announces Retirement

Gump Whiteside has announced his retirement as the hockey coach at Holy Ghost Prep. Whiteside will step down at the end of the 2023 season, his 15^th as the Firebirds’ head coach.

In that span, Whiteside’s teams have won two Flyers Cup Class AAA titles (in 2015 and ’17), the 2015 Pennsylvania Class AAA state championship, and five National Scholastic Invitational tournament titles.

In 2020, Whiteside was honored by USA Hockey with the 2020 Bob O’Connor Award for Excellence in Coaching Education. The award is given each year to a member of the volunteer coaching staff of USA Hockey’s coaching education program.

Whiteside previously coached at Germantown Academy. He will remain at Holy Ghost Prep as the assistant director of athletics and assistant director for the Holt Center and facilities.

APAC Standings as of 2-8-23

Won Lost OTW OTL Pts GF GA

La Salle (10-8-2) 5 2 0 0 15 27 18

Holy Ghost Prep (15-5) 4 1 1 1 15 34 27

St. Joseph’s Prep (14-5-2) 3 4 1 0 11 24 28

Hun School (9-12) 3 5 0 0 9 24 30

Malvern Prep (8-6) 2 5 0 1 4 24 25

Game Results

Wednesday, February 8

Hun School 2, Malvern Prep 1

La Salle 4 Council Rick South 0

Holy Ghost Prep 7 Pennsbury 5

Holy Ghost Prep 3 Malvern Prep 2 OT

BRISTOL—There wasn’t much to choose between Holy Ghost Prep and Malvern Prep Wednesday afternoon. The regulation 51 minutes wasn’t enough to decide things. It took Brady Baehser’s goal 2:03 into overtime to give the host Firebirds a 3-2 win in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference game at Gundy Arena.

The win lifted Holy Ghost Prep to 13-5 overall and 4-1-1-1 in the APAC. Malvern Prep dropped to 6-5 overall and 1-4-0-1 in conference.

Baehser said the Friars controlled the flow of the game for most of the afternoon.

“It looked like they were trying to slow down our speed and eliminate chances,” he said. ”When we did get chances, their goalie had a really good game, but we started to figure it out towards the end and got the win.”

Senior forward Zach Pers said the Firebirds’ experience (there are 10 seniors on the roster) made an impact in the late going.

“Going down the stretch in a game like that shows how deep our team is,” he said. “We got a couple fortunate bounces, guys looked like they were slipping on banana peels out there. But other than that, I think we have a good group here that knows what they’re doing and is up to any task.”

It could be argued the Friars deserved a better fate. They never trailed until Baehser scored his game-winning goal. Their goaltender, sophomore Matt Crawford, was stellar between the pipes, making 36 saves.

“Matt hasn’t had much time in the net this year,” said Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan. “It was his second game. We played him against Hun last week and he looked good and we wanted to give him a shot against Ghost.

“He looked good. He stood on his hand, he kept control of the puck, and have us an opportunity to win the game.”

The Friars took a 1-0 lead on Jeremy Jacobs’ shorthanded goal with 5:16 left in the first period. The goal came while his teammate Colin Inskeep was serving an interference penalty.

Pers tied the game for Holy Ghost Prep with 2:16 left in the period. It was the only regulation goal scored with both teams at full strength.

Malvern Prep got another power-play chance early in the second period when the Firebirds’ Patrick Slook was sent to the penalty box for delay of game when he was judged to have purposely knocked his own net off its moorings. Jack Sharer scored the go-ahead goal for the Friars 3:52 into the period.

Kieran Mulholland tied the game for the Firebirds with 3:37 left in the second session.

The third period was scoreless, largely in part to Crawford’s efforts on goal. He stopped 14 shots in the final session.

The Firebirds began the overtime on a power play after the Friars’ Jimmy Jacobs was boxed for an obvious holding infraction with 1:41 left in regulation.

The winning goal was set up by Mulholland’s dash up the center of the ice. Crawford stopped his shot but Baehser put in the rebound for the win.

Firebird senior Ciaran Chambers credited his teammates for their patience.

“It was extremely important to wait for our time,” he said. “We knew as a unit, going into this game, that we are the better team. We knew that going in. We wanted to go out there and wait for our time because we knew it was going to come.”

Holy Ghost Prep’s Ciaran Chambers (in white) battles with Malvern Prep’s Jack Sharer in front of Malvern Prep goaltender Matt Crawford during Wednesday’s game. (Photo by Robert Barnes)

Malvern Prep 1 1 0 0—2

Holy Ghost Prep 1 1 0 1—3

First-period goals: Jeremy Jacobs (MP) from Jimmy Jacobs, 11:44 (sh); Zach Pers (HGP) from Ronnie Selzer and Kieran Mulholland, 14:49

Second-period goals: Jack Sharer (MP) from Jimmy Jacobs and Jeremy Jacobs, 3:52 (pp); Mulholland (HGP) from Brady Baehser and Landon Stout, 13:23 (pp)

Overtime goal: Baehser (HGP) from Mulholland, 2:03

Shots: Malvern Prep 22, Holy Ghost Prep 39; Saves: Matt Crawford (MP) 36, Colin Mudrick (HGP) 20

CLICK HERE for more information about Holy Ghost Prep

CLICK HERE for more information about Malvern Prep

APAC Offers a Memorable Evening With Inaugural Outdoor Classic

The Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference enhanced its legacy Wednesday night. The inaugural APAC Outdoor Classic brought four of the five conference schools to the Spring Mountain resort for a doubleheader in a unique outdoor setting.

For the record, Holy Ghost Prep edged Malvern Prep 6-5 and La Salle downed St. Joseph’s Prep 5-1. But as significant as the results were in the APAC conference standings, the impact of the evening and the setting made a deeper impression on the fans in attendance and most notably on the participants.

The Holy Ghost Prep-Malvern Prep matchup, which opened the doubleheader, was believed to be the first outdoor game in Malvern Pep history, and certainly the first outdoor game in the program’s modern era, which dates back more than half a century.

Senior Jimmy Jacobs is the Friars’ captain. “It was a really cool atmosphere,” he said. “It’s definitely a lot different than what we’re used to.

“When you’re playing outdoors, there’s nothing to complain about, It’s an awesome atmosphere. The ice is a little different, but that’s what we expected. It was really awesome to play outdoors.”

Holy Ghost Prep senior Landon Stout basked in the outdoor atmosphere. Wednesday marked Holy Ghost Prep’s second outdoor game in seven days; the Firebirds faced North Allegheny outdoors last Thursday in Pittsburgh.

“There’s nothing like it,” Stout said of playing outdoors. “That’s all I have to say. It’s a great experience.”

Stout noted the impact the conditions had on play. When the puck was dropped to begin the Holy Ghost Prep-Malvern Prep game, the temperature was in the low 40s, mild enough to impact ice conditions. The lighting conditions were impactful as well

“It’s a lot different than playing inside,” Stout said. “Especially for the goalies, it’s probably pretty hard to see the puck out here.”

St. Joseph’s Prep junior defenseman Shane O’Neill wasn’t happy with the loss to archrival La Salle. But playing a rivalry game in an outdoor setting left memories that are certain to endure.

“It was awesome,” he said. “We got a little taste of it last year against (Cardinal O’Hara), but it’s really nice coming out here under the stars and stuff.

O’Neill could feel a rush of energy when he first took the ice.

“It’s a lot of excitement,” he said. “It’s a different environment out here, but it’s still a lot of fun. At the end of the day, we’re still just playing hockey so, you try not to think too much about where we’re playing, and just get a win.”

La Salle senior Dante DeFuscio was in an observer’s role Wednesday night as the Explorers’ backup goaltender, but he embraced the setting as deeply as anyone in attendance.

“It was definitely unusual but surreal at the same time,” he said. “I don’t think many of our guys have played outside, maybe a handful, two or three. And, we’re just really thankful to be out there.”

DeFusico spent time attempting to absorb the energy and emotion of the occasion.

“I’m just trying to take it all in,” he said, “as much as possible. Especially because I don’t have to be 100 percent locked in. I have to be focused on the game (but) just enjoying keeping the guys loose.”

Holy Ghost Prep 6, Malvern Prep 5—The Firebirds scored three times in the first period and went on to the win that opened the APAC Outdoor Classic. The win kept the Firebirds alone in atop the conference standings with a 4-1-0-1 league record (12-4 overall).
Brady Baehser scored two goals in the win and assisted on another. Kieran Mulholland had a goal and two assists. Landon Stout, John Seravalli and Mike Holt also scored goals.

Jeremy Jacobs scored twice for Malvern Prep (7-3, 1-3) which was seeing its first action of the New Year. Brady Doyle, Jack Sharer, and Caiden Canale also scored for the Friars.

Holy Ghost Prep 3 2 1—6

Malvern Prep 1 3 1—5

First-period goals: Kieran Mulholland (HGP) from John Seravalli, 1:47; Brady Doyle (HGP) from Aidan Kelly, 5:45 (pp); Landon Stout (HGP) from Brady Baehser and Mike Holt, 8:38; Baehser (HG) from Shaun Moore and Mulholland, 12:54

Second-period goals: Jeremy Jacobs (MP) unassisted, 4:09; Jack Sharer (MP) from Matt Barbacane and Jimmy Jacobs, 11:08 (pp); Holt (HGP) from Mulholland, 13:53; Seravalli (HGP) from Mulholland and Shaun Moore, 14:27; Jeremy Jacobs (MP) unassisted, 15:00

Third-period goals: Baehser (HGP) from Seravalli, :48; Caiden Canale (MP) from Jeremy Jacobs, 13:28 (pp)

Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 34, Malvern Prep 44; Saves: Colin Mudrick (HGP) 39, Brandon Novabilski (MP) 28

LaSalle 5, St. Joseph’s Prep 1—Liam Donahue scored twice as the Explorers bested the Hawks in the nightcap of the APAC Outdoor Classic. Chase Hannon, Thomas Doucet and Evan Golato also scored for the Explorers who are now 6-7-2 overall but 4-1 in the APAC. La Salle is one point behind Holy Ghost Prep in the conference standings with a game in hand,

Jeffrey Hammond scored for St. Joseph’s Prep (12-3-2 overall, 1-3-1-0 in conference) which saw a seven-game unbeaten streak snapped.

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 1 0—1

La Salle 2 2 1—5

First-period goals: Chase Hannon (L) from Evan Golato, 3:03; Thomas Doucet (L) from Hannon, 9:16

Second-period goals: Liam Donahue (L) from Max Monzo and Will Gregorio, 1:36; Jeffrey Hammond (SJP) unassisted, 7:17 (pp); Donahue (L) from Monzo, 10:24

Third-period goal: Golato (L) from Declan Kelly, 9:28 (pp)