Hun School 2 La Salle 1

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, N.J.—The momentum of a hockey game can change in the blink of an eye. So it was at Iceland Tuesday afternoon. Elian Estulin and Seth Kaplan scored third-period goals to propel The Hun School past La Salle 2-1 in a tightly contested Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference matchup.

The win lifted the Raiders (7-6 overall) to 2-2-0-1 in APAC play.
The Explorers fell to 6-7 overall and 3-3-0-1 in conference.
La Salle’s Keenan Schneider scored the afternoon’s first goal on a forehander from the low slot with 4:25 left in the second period.

Keenan Schneider scores the games first goal (Erin Schneider)

That was all the two teams could manage through the first two period against a pair of hot goaltenders, the Explorers’ Aries Carangi and the Raiders’ Stephen Chen, although the Raiders had a goal disallowed early in the period because, according to Hun School coach Ian McNally, the whistle blew before the puck crossed the goal line.

Early in the third fame however, the flow of the game shifted rather abruptly in Hun School’s direction. The sequence began at the 4:38 mark when La Salle’s Ryan Warner was flagged for slashing. Just 17 seconds later, Max Maddalo was sent off for cross checking, giving the Raiders an extended two-man advantage. Estulin tied the game at the 5:12 mark with a shot from the right side of the slot.

The Raiders had the momentum from that moment forward. Seth Kaplan scored the winning goal on a partial breakaway with 3:37 remaining in regulation.

“(The coaches) trust in our power-play unit,” Estulin said. “I was on the right side and got a five-hole goal We celebrated, then we got back out and got one.”

Seth Kaplan scores the winning goal

La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner cited the back-to-back penalties as the key point in the game.

“We talked going into the third about being smart and staying out of the box,” he said. “We took a couple penalties, it was unfortunate. I thought we played well.

“A couple of the guys that were in the box were guys that normally kill for us as well.”

Muehlbronner was quick to credit the Raiders for their effort.

“I thought Hun played well,” he said. “They’re a tough team to play against. They’re and they had some good opportunities.”

McNally noted there was sniping in the Raider locker room while the ice was being resurfaced before the third period but was glad his players maintained their composure.

“No one could get over the non-call goal he said. “I was worried we weren’t going to be able to regroup. And we did.”

The win keeps the Raiders mathematically alive in the quest for the APAC regular-season title. They can finish in first place alone if they win their three remaining conference games in regulation. Estulin however says he and his teammates are taking things one step at a time and not worrying about what the standings look like.

“We’re just going to play our game,” he said. “We’re not going to worry about who is 5-0 or who is 3-2. We’re just going to play our game.”

Tempers flared at the close of regulation when the teams scuffled behind the Hun School net. Maddalo, his teammate Chase Hannon, and Hun School’s Nick Dimatos and Mark Gall were accessed a total of 50 minutes in penalties.

La Salle 0 1 0—1

Hun School 0 0 2—2

Second-period goal: Keenan Schneider (L) from Tim Whittock and Chase Hannon, 12:25

Third-period goals: Elian Estulin (HS) from Riley Frost and Nick Dimatos, 5:18; Seth Kaplan (HS) from Dimatos and Frost, 13:23

Shots La Salle 39, Hun School 30; Saves: Aries Carangi (L) 28, Stephen Chen (HS) 38

For more information about La Salle College High School CLICK HERE

For more information about The Hun School CLICK HERE

Riley Frost’s Journey to The Hun School

Riley Frost is a long way from home; some 3,000 miles. The Carlsbad, Calif. native arrived at The Hun School two-and-a-half years ago. Now, he’s a senior and the Raiders’ captain. His passion for hockey runs deep.

“Hockey is kind of in my family,” he said. “Both my dad and my grandpa played hockey and my mom plays ringette (a sport for females that is played on ice and in some aspects, resembles ice hockey). So, it was kind of in my blood.”

One might not think of Southern California as a hockey hotbed but the Los Angeles Blades skated in the Western Hockey League immediately prior to the creation of the Los Angeles Kings when the National Hockey League expanded from six to 12 teams in 1967.
San Diego’s hockey history dates back to the 1960s and the present-day San Diego Gulls skate in the American Hockey League.

Following his freshman year of high school however, Frost, who is 17, decided to take another step in his hockey career.

“I realized that I kind of wanted to go further with it,” he said, “and decided to come out to the East Coast. Hun was a great fit for me so I decided to come here.”

Frost says his coach, Ian McNally, significantly influenced his decision to enroll at the school.

“Kind of off that first meeting my family and I kind of really trusted him,” he recalls, “and we really fell in love with the school after that.”

As a boarding student, Frost’s days are full.

“Normally I wake up for classes around 8:00 and start the day off,” he said. And then throughout the day I’ll have a few free periods. That’s really when I get a lot of work done and get in as much schoolwork as I can.

“And then after that, hockey (the team practices daily), then usually after hockey come back, have a little down time, and then study hall starts.”

Boarding students at the school have a mandatory two-hour study hall five nights a week, Sunday through Thursday.

“It’s really great,” Frost said, “because you have a set time every night where everyone is doing work. If you have a buddy in a class, you can go work on a project or whatever together.

Sometimes there are teachers out and about. If you have any questions you can go talk to them. it’s been very nice to have that kind of study hall. When those two hours come down, everyone knows it’s time to dial it in, it’s time to work.”

Frost note that work ethic carries over into the ice. The Raiders navigate a demanding schedule against Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference and Mid-Atlantic Hockey League opposition.

“I kind of like our schedule this year,” Frost said. “It’s definitely gotten more competitive over the years.’

The Raiders stand at 5-5 overall and 1-2-1-0 in the APAC through January 19; they haven’t played a game since December 15 because of Covid issues that have impacted several scheduled opponents.

Frost has scored three goals in nine game and added six assists. McNally cites his contributions to the Hun School hockey program over the course of his career.

“Riley has been a great addition to our team and school since his arrival in 10th grade,” McNally said. “He was a natural selection to wear a “C” this year as he is a glue guy all over campus, in the room and on the bus, in the dorms and in the classroom, and of course with his play on the ice. He is getting the opportunity to put up points this year and is deserving of any accolades that come his way.”

This is Hun School’s first season in the APAC. Frost has been impressed with the competitive balance among the five conference schools.

“Balance is a good word,” he said. We’re obviously all very competitive people and every game we’re going to come out and we’re going to play our hearts out and that’s really going to be what leads us to hopefully our end goal this season.”

Frost notes how much he, his teammates, and the student-athletes throughout the conference respect the game and respect each other on the ice.

“I think we all recognize that we’re all high-level athletes,” he said, “and obviously, we would like to go as far as we can in our careers and so that level of respect that all the teams have for each other is pretty crucial to our league.”

In the wake of the layoff, Frost says he and his teammates are gathering themselves for what in effect will be a sprint to the end of the season

“Definitely,” he said. “Trying to dial in all our systems and truly getting that team chemistry going again is going to be essential for us.”

In addition to playing hockey, Frost also plays lacrosse; he’s an attackman and midfielder. He stresses the importance creating a system to manage his time effectively.

“Once you find something that works for you, it really becomes quite simple,” he said. “You have your practice time, you have a little bit of down time and then it’s your schoolwork, getting everything done, making sure you have a good night’s sleep and you’re ready for the next day. I think once you find what works, that’s really important.”

Click Here for more information about The Hun School.

Malvern Prep 7 Hun School 2

WEST GOSHEN—The rest of the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference is looking up at Malvern Prep. The Friars are a perfect 4-0 in conference play after a 7-2 win over The Hun School Wednesday evening at Ice Line and have defeated each of their conference opponents once.

Wednesday’s win wasn’t an easy one, at least not at first. The teams traded goals twice in an opening period that ended in a 2-2 deadlock. The hosts went on to score five goals over the last two periods.

Jimmy Jacobs and Matt Harris contributed two goals each Jacobs added three assists and Harris two.

Pierre Larocque, Quinn Dougherty, and Jeremy Jacobs also scored goals as Malvern Prep advanced to 7-2 overall.

“We came out a little slow,” Jimmy Jacobs said, “but once we got the first one, we started clicking. I think overall our speed was able to beat their physicality.

Jimmy Jacobs scores a second-period goal

“I think we just used our speed to win some of the puck battles and also had to step up and be more physical.”

Pierre Larocque and Quinn Dougherty scored first-period goals for Malvern Prep while Josh Ovelette and Mark Gall countered for the Raiders,

Jimmy Jacobs put his team in front for good 2:17 into the middle period. Harris extended his team’s lead with 33 seconds left in the session.

The outcome was still in doubt entering the third frame but when Jacobs scored his second goal just 53 seconds in, the Raiders (5-5 overall, 1-2-1-0 in the APAC) seemingly had depleted their energy reserves.

Matt Harris scores on a tip-in

It was Malvern Prep’s second game in 24 hours; the Friars dropped a Mid-Atlantic Prep League game to Lawrenceville 5-4 on Tuesday after holding a 4-1 lead.

Raider head coach Ian McNally said his team had an off day all around. “We just didn’t have it,” he said. “We never had it for a second. We had a pretty devastating loss yesterday and you could tell it took its toll.

“As soon as we got down one or two it was pretty hard to motivate to try to claw back a little bit.”

The Raiders are now off until after the holidays. McNally it was important for his players to prove themselves to each other over the first half of the season.

‘We’re in a good spot,” he said. “I wish we had won more than we have but I think the important part of the first half is kind of prove to each other and give yourself confidence like ‘Hey, if we can do this, we can actually win a bunch of games here.’”

Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenen is pleased to be at the top of the standings at the holiday break but knows his team his still evolving.

“You can’t expect anything better from our team,” he said, “going 4-0 in the APAC early. But hey, it’s a long season and we know that going into the second half it’s a completely different game. Teams get refocused and over the break and they get ready for playoffs and the Flyers Cup.

“So, our message is we’ve got to stay dialed in, we’ve still got the task at hand, and we’ve got to execute.”

Hun School 2 0 0—2

Malvern Prep 2 2 3—7

First-period goals: Pierre Larocque (MP) unassisted, 4:34; Josh Ovelette (HS) from Seth Kaplan, 8:15; Quinn Dougherty (MP) from Jeremy Jacobs and Jimmy Jacobs, 10:06 (pp); Mark Gall (HS) unassisted, 14:39

Second-period goals: Jimmy Jacobs (MP) from Jeremy Jacobs, 2:17; Matt Harris (MP) from Aidan Kelly, 16:27

Third-period goals: Jimmy Jacobs (MP) from Harris, :53; Harris (MP) from Jimmy Jacobs, 5:36 (pp); Jeremy Jacobs (MP) from Harris, 12:03 (sh)

Shots: Hun School 33, Malvern Prep 42; Saves: Stephen Cheng (MP) 26 and Jack Borek (MP) 9, Anthony Perti (MP) 21

For More about Malvern Prep CLICK HERE

For More about The Hun School. CLICK HERE

Hun School 6 Holy Ghost Prep 1

HAMILTON TOWNSHOP—The impact of the eruption was overwhelming. The Hun School scored three goals in a span of 56 seconds in the second period, added another goal just 36 seconds later, and went on to a 6-1 win over Holy Ghost Prep Friday afternoon in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference game at Ice Land.

With the score tied 1-1 early in the second period and his team on a power play, Brandon Marino launched a shot from the left wing that hit the back of the Firebirds’ net at the 3:48 mark. He scored a second goal on a similar play just 18 seconds later. Don Carney made at 4-1 game at 4:44 when the Firebirds turned the puck over in front of their own net.

The Raiders’ Josh Sosner drew a cross checking penalty at the 5:05 mark but the barrage continued uninterrupted. Seth Kaplan, who had scored the Raiders’ first goa, added a second at 5:20 off another Holy Ghost Prep turnover, this one at the blue line.

“We were laying the body a lot,” Kaplan said. “I think once we do that, we set the tone and kind of understand what we have to do for the rest of the game.
“And so, we went out there the first two shifts, laid a lot of hits, and I think that set the tone; we started going from there.”

Kaplan noted the melding of the Raiders’ physical style with their offensive output. “The past couple games we had some struggles scoring,” he said. “And I think game we showed ourselves, showed everybody, that we are able to score, and we’re going to keep putting it in on them and we’re not going to stop.

“We’re just going to keep scoring as much as we can. That’s our game.”
Facing a four-goal deficit, the Firebirds called time out and made a goaltender change, replacing Jason Soule with Colin Mudrick. Mark Gall completed the scoring by adding his team’s fifth goal of the period, beating Mudrick at 7:38.

Holy Ghost Prep and Hun School get the afternoon underway.

Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside called the Hun School outburst “Five minutes of bad hockey.

“This is not typical of the way we’ve been playing,” he said. “But I really liked the way responded in the third period,” (which was scoreless). They battled and they capitalized on our missed opportunities.”

Just 48 hours after a loss at La Salle, the Raiders (5-3 overall, 1-1-1-0 in the APAC) looked altogether different against the Firebirds (9-2, 1-2-1-0), who saw a six-game winning streak end.

“When we had success the first couple weeks of the season we were confident, physical, and that was a big part of our game,” said Hun School coach Ian McNally. “Then, we played Princeton Day School a couple weeks ago and we got called for so many penalties I think we became a little bit tentative playing that style and kind of reverted away from it.

“Today, the thought was ‘We’ve got to get back to that heavy game we played the first couple weeks.’”

The Raiders had a 29-21 edge in shots. Stephen Chen got the win in goal.

Holy Ghost Prep 1 0 0—1

Hun School 1 5 0—6

First-period goals: Seth Kaplan (HS) from Jake Ovelette, 15:46; Luke Penepresso (HGP) unassisted, 16:43

Second-period goals: Brandon Marino (HS) from Ovelette, 3:48 (pp); Marino (HS) from Elian Estulin, 4:06; Dan Carney (HS) Josh Sosner, 4:44; Kaplan (HS) from Ryan Croddick, 5:20 (sh); Mark Gall (HS) from Estulin and Marino, 7:38

Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 21, Hun School 29

Hun School goaltender Stephen Chen makes a quality save.

Video provided by the Hun School

For more about The Hun School Click Here

For more about Holy Ghost Prep Click Here

A New Era is Unfolding at The Hun School

A new day is dawning at The Hun School. Come Thursday afternoon at the stroke of 4, at the Ice Land Skating Center in Hamilton Township, N.J, the Raiders will embark on their first season of conference play in the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference. St. Joseph’s Prep will provide the opposition.

The Raiders started their season this past weekend in Western Pennsylvania at the Shady Side Academy tournament where they won three of four games.

Hun School is no stranger to the schools in the APAC, it has competed regularly against conference members in non-league games in seasons past. They are also members, along with La Salle, in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League.

Ian McNally, Hun School’s veteran coach, is familiar with the APAC’s history. “When they started this league, I kind of knew what it was,” he said, “but I caught up last year with (La Salle coach Wally Muhelbronner) more about it.”

McNally, who played college hockey at Princeton, says that membership in the APAC makes the regular season more meaningful.

“Previous to the Mid-Atlantic League, we were just playing a selection of games,” he said. “Just schedule 20 games and you play them. It’s great, but it’s hard to get up for everything for the kids. Sometimes there wasn’t the same amount of emphasis put on playing well and getting the win each time.

“I think that was the goal, to try to have our schedule be all meaningful games. We’d go play Malvern on a Wednesday afternoon but for either team, it wasn’t necessarily the biggest game of the year. So, we’ll have those same games and they’ll all be more meaningful and impactful. I think for the kids, it’s a big benefit to feel like there’s (three) points on the line each game.”

The Hun School is unique among the APAC membership. It is the first coeducational school in the conference and has boarding students. Also, the school starts its hockey season later than the other conference members to avoid having it overlap with fall sports. But it is committed to putting a quality hockey team on the ice while remaining committed to academic excellence.

“We’re not looking to be a hockey factory,” McNally said, “but we do have strong hockey kids and have a competitive hockey team, so having likeminded schools to play against, it means something. It was a pretty easy ‘Yes’ for us (to joining the APAC) and I hope it was an easy ‘Yes’ for them to want us in the league as well.”

A number of Hun School players are presently playing club hockey but some played other sports for their school this fall.

“Half our team has been here but not been playing hockey,” McNally said. Some of them played football or soccer for Hun or ran cross country.

So, not only are we catching up that way but there’s kids that haven’t played since whenever they last played at their home. Maybe when they left in August or whatever so we’ll see.

“I think we’ll be fine and the difference I think for us is once we start, we skate every day so we’ll probably catch up, in terms of hours on the ice, pretty quick.”

Learn more about The Hun School

Hockey Happenings is looking for reliable individuals to provide video clips of APAC games. If you’re interested or would like more information, please contact us at rwoelfel2103@gmail.com

The APAC is Expanding

The Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference will be a five-team alliance for 2021-22. The Hun School from Princeton, N.J. will join Malvern Prep, Holy Ghost Prep, St. Joseph’s Prep, and two-time defending champion La Salle for the upcoming season.

Ian McNally is the Raiders’ hockey coach. “We’re excited to join the league,” he said. “We have competed with each of the APAC school programs for several years now and it will only improve the level of competition in our games when implications on standings, stats, playoff seeds and everything else that comes with league play are introduced. I think we share a common understanding of scholastic athletics with the APAC member schools and so we have strong existing relationships with the other coaches and athletics offices.”

Tracey Arndt is the Co-Director of Athletics at The Hun School. “The Hun School of Princeton is grateful for the opportunity for our Ice Hockey team to join the APAC this season,” she said. “This is a top-notch ice hockey league with likeminded schools that will allow us to compete at a high level throughout the year. We look forward to the competition with such respected programs.”

The Hun School is no stranger to the other conference members, having regularly competed against them in non-league games.

“The APAC was founded with the belief that exceptional schools and scholastic hockey could thrive side by side in a competitive league that values sportsmanship, academic distinction and a quality Spirit,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside. “The Hun School is a welcomed addition to strengthening our rivalries, traditions and desire for excellence.”

La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner is enthusiastic about the Raiders coming on board. “La Salle is very excited to have Hun School join the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference,” he said. “Hun has had a long history of great competition versus the founding APAC schools. Their commitment to competing at a high level further strengthens the conference.”

St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin is looking forward to competing against the Raiders. “St Joseph’s Prep is extremely excited to welcome The Hun School into the APAC,” he said. They are a great school and we can’t wait to compete for years to come.”

Bill Keenan is the head coach at Malvern Prep, the reigning Class AAA Flyers Cup and state champions. “We are excited to have The Hun School join the APAC this upcoming season. It is great to have another quality, competitive team join our league. We are looking forward to competing against them this season.”

APAC institutions have been successful at the highest levels of scholastic hockey, competing at national tournaments and capturing every Class AAA Flyers Cup and Class AAA Pennsylvania State Championship since 2017.
Last year’s postseason was not completed. La Salle and Malvern Prep were scheduled to meet in the Founders Cup final but that game was eventually cancelled because of Covid issues. Malvern Prep went on to win the Flyers Cup and the state championship.