HATFIELD—Two of the area’s best hockey teams shared the ice in Hatfield Friday night, bringing with them arguably the area’s two best goaltenders who between them produced a masterpiece.
Holy Ghost Prep got goals from Luke Aquaro and Shane Stevens to post a 2-1 win over LaSalle in a Suburban High School Hockey League Class 3A matchup. But the brightest stars of the night were in goal.
The Firebirds’ Tristan Devine stopped 28 of the 29 shots he saw. The Explorers’ William Affel turned aside 24 of 26 shots.
Devine did his best work in the third period when he made 17 saves while protecting a one-goal lead. “He just battled,” Firebird coach Gump Whiteside said of his netminder, “and our players feed off of that. He works incredibly hard at practice and it carries over to the game.
“He does a great job. He stays focused; if he gets beat he doesn’t let it bother him.”
The Firebirds (12-4, 2-0 SHSHL Class 3A) took a 1-0 lead 3:39 into the first period when Luke Aquaro made a rush up the center of the ice, forced his way between two opponents, and beat Affel low and inside the right post. Stevens made it a 2-0 game 5:42 into the second period with a wrestler from midway between the two faceoff circles.
LaSalle answered back with a goal from freshman Jan Olenginski who scored a goal too commemorate his first LaSalle-Holy Ghost Prep game. He put in a a rebound of Sam Lipkin’s original shot.
The penalty box was crowded during the first two periods. There was plenty of hitting and the officials kept a tight rein on the goings on by calling 15 penalties in the first 32 minutes, eight to the Firebirds, seven to the Explorers. At the end of the second frame the officials huddled with Aquaro and LaSalle captain John McCuen and things simmered down after that; just one penalty was called each way in the final period.
A major portion of the third frame was played at the Firebirds’ end of the ice. Devine was often under duress but was equal to the challenge. “You’re under a lot of pressure,” he said. “But we stepped it up really big. We had a lot of heart at the end, blocking shorts left and right.”
Affel was just as good at the other end of the ice. “They had some great opportunities that Will made great saves on,” said LaSalle coach Wally Muehlbronner. “It could have been a lot worse early on.”
By evening’s end, LaSalle (12-6-1, 2-3) had a 29-26 edge in shots.
“We came out not quite with the energy they did,” Muelbronner said, “but I think we got it going in the second and third. It was a typical Ghost-LaSalle game toward the end there.”

Holy Ghost Prep 1 1 0—2
LaSalle 0 1 0—1
First-period goal: Luke Aquaro (HGP) from Max Massari, 3:39.
Second-period goals: Shane Stevens (HGP) from Colin Costello and Andrew Serafin, 5:42; Jan Olenginski (L) from Sam Lipkin and Daniel Sambuco, 7:00.
Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 26, LaSalle 29; Saves: Tristan Devine (H) 28, William Affel (L) 24.
Records: Holy Ghost Prep (12-4, 2-0 SHSHL Class 3A Division); LaSalle (12-6-1, 2-3).

 

Our thanks to the administration and staff at Holy Ghost Prep for their support of this web site.

Holy Ghost Prep is a private, Catholic, all-boys school located in Bensalem, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Located adjacent to the busy I-95 corridor in metropolitan Philadelphia, Holy Ghost Prep attracts students from more than 100 elementary feeder schools from throughout metropolitan Philadelphia counties and New Jersey

Today it is is a vibrant community of nearly 500 young men preparing for college and adult life through a challenging program which stresses the cultivation of students’ unique gifts and talents, academic excellence, and generous service to the poor. We continue to be mindful of our founding history as a seminary as we seek to form young men morally, intellectually, and spiritually in the Spiritan tradition.

 

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