St. Joseph’s Prep 7 The Hun School 1

HAVERFORD TOWNSHIP —All the pieces fit together for St. Joseph’s Prep Friday night.

Joe Samango scored three goals and assisted on three others and Jeffrey Hammond added two goals and two assists as the Hawks, with the heart of their roster on hand, celebrated Senior Night with a 7-1 win over The Hun School 7-1 in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference game at the Skatium.

The win assured St. Joseph’s Prep (14-4-2 overall, 3-3-1-0 in the APAC) of a third-place finish in the conference regular-season standings; the Hawks will conclude conference play against Malvern Prep on Thursday.

The Raiders to 8-12 overall and 2-5 in the APAC.

It was a night when the Hawks had their big guns on hand. That hasn’t always happened this season; there have been multiple occasions on which they were shorthanded because of key players being away on club duty.

After witnessing his team’s effort Friday night, it was impossible for Coach David Giacomin not to speculate on what they might have achieved, and might accomplish going forward.

“I know we’re a really good team when we have everybody here and healthy,” he said.

The Hawks were shorthanded when they absorbed a 7-0 loss to the Raiders on December 7 and Giacomin said that result motivated his team Friday night.

“This was basically all the seniors having that will and desire,” he said. “They didn’t want to lose on Senior Night. That’s what it came down to.

Goals from Samango and Shane O’Neill, sandwiched around a goal from Hun School’s Brendan Marino, gave the hosts a 2-1 lead after one period before they broke the game open with four goals in the second frame, two from Hammond and one each from Samango and Tristan Winata, the Hawks’ number-one line.

Samango completed his hat trick in the third period. The trio accounted for 14 points.

“When we play together as one unit, we score a lot of goals,” Hammond said. “But when we don’t, we break apart.

“Games where we find each other and play s one unit we (do well).

The Raiders outshot the Hawks 31-29 but only Marino could solve Rocco Bruno in the Hawk net. The visitors’ frustrations boiled over on occasion; they were whistled for nine of the game’s 14 penalties.

“Obviously (St. Joseph’s Prep) they flipped the script here today,” said Hun School coach Ian McNally. “That’s kind of been the storyline for two weeks now. “It’s like, we’re trying really hard, we outshoot them, but we basically have very few actual scoring chances. And, every five minutes we let a team rush to the other end and score.”

Hun School 1 0 0—1

St. Joseph’s Prep 2 4 1—7

First-period goals: Joe Samango (SJP) from Patrick Sweeney and Shane O’Neill, 1;53; Brendan Marino (HS) from Justin LaPlante, 11:24; O’Neill (SJP) from Jeffrey Hammond and Samango, 14:04 (pp)

Second-period goals: Hammond (SJP) from Tristan Winata and Samango: 23; Samango (SJP) 5:33 (pp) Winata (SJP) from Hammond, 7:46; Hammond (SJP) from Samango, 14:21;

Third-period goal: Samango (SJP) from Winata and Hammond, 14:33

Shots: Hun School 31, St. Joseph’s Prep 29; Saves: Julian Arsenault (HS) 22; Rocco Bruno (SJP) 30

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St. Joseph’s Prep Wins Purple Puck Title

Jeffrey Hammond erupted for five goals and assisted on another as St. Joseph’s Prep defeated Gonzaga 6-1 Friday afternoon to win the 28th. Purple Puck Tournament in Washington, D.C.

Joey Samango contributed a goal and four assists as the Hawks (11-2-2 overall) won their fourth consecutive tournament game in two days after playing to a 4-4 tie with Gonzaga in their opener on Wednesday.

Hammond scored twice in the first period to give his team a 2-0 lead before T.J. Albero score what would prove to be Gonzaga’s only goal.

The Hawks broke the game open in the second period by scoring four times. Hammond started the barrage by scoring his third and fourth goals, one of them in a shorthanded situation. Samango made it a 5-1 game before Hammond completed the scoring.

Rocco Bruno got the win in goal, making 33 saves.

St. Joseph’s Prep 2 Gonzaga 1

Jeffrey Hammond’s goal in the opening seconds of the third period gave St. Joseph’s Prep a 2-1 win over Gonzaga Friday evening in their traditional holiday matchup at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 rink. John Lynch also scored for the Hawks, who improved to 5-1 on the season.

Lynch gave the Hawks a 1-0 with 4:39 left in the first period before Will Gletner tied the game for the Eagles with 10:31 left in the second frame.

Ajay White got the win goal, making 36 saves.

Gonzaga 0 1 0—1

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 0 1—2

First-period goal: John Lynch (SJP) from Caden Kelly, 12:21

Second-period goal: Will Gletner (G) from Andre Lucas Abrantes, 6:29

Third-period goal: Jeffrey Hammond (SJP) unassisted, :14

Shots: Gonzaga 37, St. Joseph’s Prep 31; Saves: Jack Trevisan (G) 13 and Carsten Komorowski G) 16; Ajay White (SJP) 36

St. Joseph’s Prep 2 La Salle 0

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP— The evening’s festivities didn’t feature an abundance of artistry. The matchup between St. Joseph’s Prep and La Salle was a gritty, grind-it-out hockey game between two foes intimately familiar with each other.

It was Hawks who emerged from the scrum victorious by a count of 2-0 in a Class AAA semifinal Wednesday night at Hatfield Ice.

Jeffrey Hammond scored both goals to propel the third-seed Hawks (10-8-1) into next week’s final against top-seeded Malvern Prep. The junior spoke to the level of familiarity between the Hawks and the Explorers, who are traditional rivals in every sport.

“All the videos of our games are on You Tube,” he said. “All the players and coaches watched a lot of our games, over and over again and we picked out what we needed to do to come out with a win today.”

Hammond said all the preparation paid off. “We definitely came prepared,” he said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game. Everyone expected it. Everyone played like they had to to get the job done.”

Hammond gave the Hawks a 1-0 lead 4:27 into the first period when he scored off a scramble in front of the La Salle net, beating Explorer netminder Will Braun. The early goal set the tone.

Jeffrey Hammond scores the game’s first goal.

“We knew going into it that they’ve got the speed,” said St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin said of the Explorers. “They are strong, they like to bang the body.

“I told them as long as we keep them on the outside, don’t give up the little gritty goals, take away the behind the net, we would have a chance.

“We were lucky enough to get two good goals early, and they had to play catchup, which is hard to do.”

Hammond scored a statement goal for the Hawks 8:31 into the second session. With his teammate Nick Storti serving a two-minute sentence for a slashing infraction, Hammond found space on right wing and beat Braun with a wrister.

That was it as far as scoring was concerned, although the game’s emotional temperature remained at a fever pitch.

Jeffrey Hammond scores his second goal of the game.

But try as they might the second-seeded Explorers (8-9-1) couldn’t find a way to sustain momentum in their offensive zone or solve Hawks’ goaltender Rocco Bruno who finished with 26 saves.

“We just couldn’t seem to get any bounces or any momentum going,” said La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner. “I think the shorthanded goal we gave up really hurt us.

“I think St. Joseph’s Prep played a great game. They were opportunistic. They played a really good game.”

Emotions boiled over in the late going. With 1:38 left in the third period La Salle’s Chase Hannon was called for elbowing before being accessed three additional penalties, resulting in his banishment.

A series of penalties with 36 seconds left resulted in the teams finishing the game with three skaters each on the ice although La Salle had already pulled Braun to add an extra skater.

St. Joseph’s 1 1 0—2

La Salle 0 0 0—0

First-period goals: Jeffrey Hammond (SJP) fro Joey Samango and Christian Short, 4:27

Second-period goals: Hammond (SJP) unassisted, 8:31 (sh)

Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 20, La Salle 26; Saves Rocco Bruno (SJP) 26, Will Braun (L) 18

Video provided by Erin Schneider

St. Joseph’s Prep 4, Malvern Prep 2

Four different players scored goals as St. Joseph’s Prep downed Malvern Prep 4-2 Thursday afternoon in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference game at Ice Line.

Christian Short, Jeffrey Hammond, Joey Samango, and Michael Ahearn all scored goals as the Hawks (6-6 overall, 1-2-1-0 in conference) handed the Friars (10-3, 5-1-1-0) their first conference loss.

Ajay White came up big in goal for the Hawks, making 47 saves; his team was outshot 49-25.

Goals from Short and Hammond gave the Hawks a 2-0 lead at the 1:22 mark of the second period. Teague Murray scored for Malvern Prep to cut the margin in half at the 3:50 mark before goals from Samango and Ahearn extended the St. Joseph’s Prep lead.
Matt Harris scored for Malvern Prep in the final minute of the second period but the Friars could not come any closer.

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 3 0—4

Malvern Prep 0 2 0—2

First-period goals: Christian Short (SJP) unassisted, 14:28

Second-period goals: Jeffrey Hammond (SJP) from Nick Storti and Dante Passio, 1:22; Teague Murray (MP) from Hayden Campbell and Matt Barbacane, 3:50; Joey Samango (SJP) from Hammond and Passio, 8:22; Michael Ahearn (SJP) from Tristan Winata and Passio, 13:22; Matt Harris (MP) from Jeremy Jacobs and Quinn Dougherty, 16:02 (pp)

Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 25, Malcom Prep 49; Saves: Ajay White (SJP) 47, Anthony Perti (MP) 21

Jeffrey Hammond scores in the second period to give St. Joseph’s Prep a 2-0 lead.

Teague Murray scores for Malvern Prep in the second period.

Videos provided by St. Joseph’s Prep.

Elsewhere

Hun School 10, Pingry School 3

The Raiders scored two shorthanded goals before the game was two minutes old and went on to the win on Thursday at Iceland.

Seth Kaplan paced the Raiders (6-6) with two goals and four assists. Elian Estulin and Josh Sosner also scored two goals each for Hun School, which registered its first win since December 10 in just its second start since December 15

Pingry School 0 0 2—2

Hun School 4 3 3—10

St. Joseph’s Prep 5 Holy Ghost Prep 1

BRISTOL—St. Joseph’s Prep arrived at Grundy Arena Monday afternoon eager to get on the ice. Because of Covid-cancellations, the Hawks hadn’t played a game December 21. Upon their arrival, they spent 51 minutes of pent up energy.

The result was a 5-1 Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference win over host Holy Ghost Prep. The win was the first for the Hawks (4-4-1 overall, 1-1-0-2 in the APAC) in four conference starts and an ideal start to the six-week stretch that serves as a prelude to the Founders Cup playoffs and the Flyers Cup tournament.

“I think this is really going to set the tone for the rest of our year,” said sophomore Joey Samango.

Samango scored two goals for the Hawks and assisted on two others, giving him seven goals and two assists in conference play.

Junior Jeffrey Hammond contributed a goal and two assists. “We knew what we had to do,” he said. “Last time we played Ghost (a 5-4 overtime loss on November 12) we were winning 4-1 and then we let up with penalties. We came in knowing what we had to do.

Freshman Jake Schultz scored the game’s first goal 9:26 into the first period. Samango made it a 2-0 game at the 12:59 mark.

Nick Storti made it a 3-0 game to finish off a play that Hammond started 63 seconds into the second session.

Jake Schultz starts the scoring

At that point, Holy Ghost Prep coach Gup Whiteside made a goaltender change, inserting Colin Mudrick for starter Jason Soule (Soule returned for the third period).

Sean Marshall answered for Holy Ghost Prep (9-6, 1-3-1-0 in conference) just 26 seconds later but Hammond extended the Hawks’ lead with 1:44 left in the period.

Samango added his second goal of the game 11:22 into the third period.

Dante Passio (33 in red) wins a battle in the corner

Hammond is pleased with how this year’s edition of the Hawks has evolved through the first half of the season.

“Everyone knows their role,” he said, “and when everyone knows their role, and when everyone plays their role, we win a game. In a 5-1 win, everyone played their role.

St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin says his team is a more focused group than the team that struggled much of last year.

“This senior class, that’s all they talked about,” he said, “saying ‘We’re a good enough team to compete with everybody, but we’ve got to be ready every game and not just show up.

“So, having a full lineup definitely helps but also having the attitude that you want to be there and you want to compete hard.”

Jason Soule makes a save in the Firebirds’ net

St. Joseph’s Prep 2 2 1—5

Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 0—1

First-period goals: Jacob Schultz (SJP) from Michael Ahearn. 9:26; Joey Samango (SJP) from Dante Passio and Jeffrey Hammond, 12:59

Second-period goals: Nick Storti (SJP) from Liam Mooney, 1:03: Sean Marshall (HGP) from Ciaran Chambers, 1:29; Hammond (SJP) from Mooney and Samango, 15:16

Third-period goals: Samango (SJP) from Hammond and Storti, 11:22

Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 32, Holy Ghost Prep 30; Saves: Rocco Bruno (SJP) 29, Jason Soule (HGP) 23 and Colin Mudrick (HGP) 4

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Video provided by Nur B. Adam