Tag: Malvern Prep

Malvern Prep 4 St. Joseph’s Prep 1

HAVERFORD TOWNSHIP—Caidan Canale scored two goals and assisted on another as Malvern Prep opened defense of its Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference title with a 4-1 win over St. Joseph’s Prep Friday night at the Skatium.
Brayden Baum and Jeremy Jacobs also scored for the Friars (3-0 overall). Four of the game’s give goals came in the first period.
Ben Kerson have the Hawks (3-1, 0-1 in the APAC) a 1-0 lead 5:02 into the first period but Jeremy Jacobs, Brayden Baum, and Canale scored goals in a span of 9:38 to give the Friars (3-0 overall) a 3-1 lead after the opening period.

Canale added his second goal of the night with 10:15 left in the game.

Brandon Novabilski got the win in goal, making 31 saves.

Malvern Prep 3 0 1—4

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 0 0—1

First-period goals: Ben Kerson (SJP) from Jeffrey Hammond, 5:02; Jeremy Jacobs (MP) from Caidan Canale, 7:04 (pp); Brayden Baum (MP) from Jacobs and Steven Gestie, 8:01; Canale from Gabe Bedwell, 16:42

Third-period goals: Canale from Jacobs, 6:45

Shots: Malvern Prep 39, St. Joseph’s Prep 32 Saves: Brandon Novabiliski (MP) 31, Rocco Bruno (SJP) 35

For more information at about Malvern Prep CLICK HERE

For more information about St. Joseph’s  Prep CLICK HERE

Malvern Prep’s Jimmy Jacobs Stepping Up as a Senior

Expectations are running high at Malvern Prep. That’s generally been the case of late. The Friars are two-time defending Class AAA Flyers Cup champions and claimed the APAC title last season after sharing it with La Salle in 2021, and going on to win the state championship that year.

The Friars won their first two starts heading into Friday’s Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference opener against St. Joseph’s Prep

But Jimmy Jacobs knows past performance is no assurance of future success.

“I think our mindset is to look at one or the other and give it our best,” he said. “We’ve really just got to take this season one game at a time.

“It’s a long season and we just focus on one game at a time. I think that’s where we can really be successful as a group and a team.”

A senior forward, and a second-team All-APAC choice last season, Jacobs understands the importance of senior leadership.

“I think last year and the year before, we had two really strong senior groups and leaders overall,” he said. “If we want to do anything similar to that this year, we need some people to step up and become leaders and take a big role.

“I think of a senior as someone others rely on. “(Your teammates) know that you’ve been through it, with it being your fourth year. I think being a senior, you have a big impact on the team, because you’re a leader and all the underclassmen look up to you.”

/

Malvern Prep’s Jimmy Jacobs (Photo furnished by Jimmy Jacobs)

Jacobs stresses the responsibility veterans have to help the underclassmen feel comfortable and part of the group.

“To me it doesn’t matter what grade you’re in,” he said. “If you’re on a team, we’re a family. So, no one is treated differently if you’re a freshman or if you’re a senior. I think in order to be successful, everyone has to get along and treat each other as they would treat any other teammate.”

Jacobs believes that good team chemistry must be developed and nurtured by the players themselves.

“There’s only so much a coach can do,” he said. “At the end of the day, we’re the ones playing for each other, we’re the ones in the locker room we’re the ones that have to get along. The coaches can only do so much.”

Malvern Prep 4 Calvert Hall 1

Jeremy Jacobs scored two goals and Caiden Canale and Gavin Wilson also scored as defending Class AAA Flyers Cup and APAC champion Malvern Prep opened its season Monday with a 4-1 win over Calvert Hall at Ice Line.

The Friars took control of the game in the first period when Wilson, Jacobs, and Canale scored in a span of 7:44.
Brandon Novabilski got the win in goal, making 36 saves.

“Over the last two years we graduated a lot of seniors and needed some young guys to step up,” said Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan. “I was pleased with our energy and tempo we set from the beginning. Our goalie came out strong and played a great game.”

APAC Getting Ready for Year 5

As the start of a new scholastic hockey season approaches, the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference is continuing to evolve. 

The APAC, which will be starting its fifth season this fall, will once again include five teams. Defending conference and Class AAA Flyers Cup champion Malvern Prep will be joined by Holy Ghost Prep, The Hun School, St. Joseph’s Prep, and La Salle.

In addition, the conference has created partnerships with two other private schools, The Haverford School and Devon Prep which will compete against APAC member schools this season.

“The APAC schools are coordinating as scheduling partners with The Haverford School and Devon Prep, two institutions with developing varsity ice hockey programs,” said APAC Commissioner Jim Britt.  Those games will not count as part of the APAC regular-season standings, but the competitions will help develop future opportunities.”

While the complete APAC schedule has yet to be announced, the conference has scheduled two doubleheader events for this season. The first will be sometime in mid-November on a date and at a site to be announced. The second will be an outdoor event on January 11, 2023 at the Spring Mountain outdoor rink in Spring Mount.

For Malvern Prep’s Novabilski, Arizona Trip Offered Life Lessons

The concept of community service is central to the mission at Malvern Prep. Brandon Novabilski, the Friars’ backup goaltender chose to give back by joining a dozen or so of his fellow students on a week-long trip to Flagstaff, Arizona this past February to assist at a food bank. They spent the better part of a week preparing meals, and packing and distributing food.

Novabilski, a junior at Malvern Prep, is in his first year at the school. The Collegeville resident transferred from Perkiomen Valley. 

He learned about the trip via a weekly e-mail that is distributed to the entire student body informing them about community service projects in the Greater Philadelphia area and elsewhere. Endeavors like the Arizona trip are not mandatory but they allow students to work toward completing their community service hours requirements each academic year.

“I talked to my parents about it,” Novabilski said, “and they though it was a great idea and a good experience, so I signed up along with the other students.”

The first day of the trip saw the students preparing, packing, and handing out bagged lunches.

“We’d make small lunches basically,” Novabilski said, “so we’d have people making sandwiches we were just making simple jelly/peanut butter sandwiches, ham with mayo or mustards. When that was done, they would add cookies and pack it in a bag.

“People would come up to the window that come to get food one of my friends would deliver.

We were there for roughly almost a whole day and it was really a good experience seeing the people because every time they would come up to the window they’d expected a normal worker but then they’d see the Malvern Prep boys and it kind of lightened the mood, that kids around the world are helping.

Brandon Novabilski

The following day Novabilski and the Malvern contingent spent time packing boxes of fruit at a warehouse packing boxes of fruit.

“We would pack boxes of apples, cucumbers, avocados, and pineapples,” Novabilski said. “Some of the fruit was set aside for area farmers to feed to their livestock. Some was donated to area residents who utilized the food bank for their groceries each week.

The students would aid the residents as needed. Novabilski’s most vivid memory of the trip is of assisting one middle-aged woman whose mobility was limited due to a leg injury.

“She was so thankful,” he recalled. “It really humbled me, how thankful she was. That was definitely an awesome experience. I think that was my favorite experience, helping that woman, because it made me realize how lucky I am.”

Novabilski took some valuable life lessons away from the trip.

“What got to learn more about what’s going on in the world,” he said, “and why people can’t really afford food at the grocery stores and why it’s so helpful to be involved at your local food bank and help out.

The trip resulted in Novabilski missing one of Malvern Prep’s games and one practice session, but had the full support of his teammates and his coach Bill Keenan.

“They did handle it well,” Novabilski said “Coach Keenan was not upset. He understood, all the players understood.

“(Keenan) understood that at Malvern Prep we want to help people around the world. We definitely want to make the world a better place. He really understood that.”

APAC Names All-Conference Team

   Founders Cup champion Malvern Prep has three players named to the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference  All-Conference first team.

Forward Matt Harris, defenseman Quinn Dougherty, and goaltender Anthony Perti were named to the team by the conference’s head coaches.

Harris and Dougherty were unanimous selections.

Harris, Perti, and Brady Baehser of Holy Ghost Prep were first-team selections a year ago.

First Team

Matt Harris              F     Sr.        Malvern Prep

Brady Baehser         F     Jr.        Holy Ghost Prep

Jeff Hammond         F     Jr.        St. Joseph’s Prep

Quinn Dougherty    D     Sr.       Malvern Prep

Nick Storti                D    Sr.        St. Joseph’s Prep

Anthony Perti          G    Sr.        Malvern Prep

Second Team

Jimmy Jacobs           F      Jr.        Malvern Prep

Keenan Schneider   F      Sr.        La Salle

Pierre Larocque       F      Sr.        Malvern Prep

Gavin O’ Connell     D     Sr.        La Salle

Brian Butler             D     Sr.        Holy Ghost Prep

Rocco Bruno            G     Jr.         St. Joseph’s Prep

Honorable Mention

Stephen Chen        G                   Hun School

Chase Hannon       D                   La Salle

Brady Doyle           D                   Malvern Prep

Dan Whitlock         F                    La Salle

Brendan Marino    F                    Malvern Prep

Peters Township 5 Malvern Prep 4

WEST GOSHEN TOWNSHIP— It was game that turned into a shootout in very short order. In the end, Malvern Prep ran out of ammunition and fell to Peters Township 5-4 in the Class AAA Pennsylvania state championship game Saturday night at Ice Line.

Five different players scored goals for the Indians (18-5-1) who claimed their third Class AAA Pennsylvania Cup and sixth overall. They previously won Class AAA state titles in 2014 and ’17 and Class AA State titles in 2002, ’04, and ’05.

The goals came fast and furious Saturday night; six of them in the first period alone on a night when neither goaltender was particularly sharp.

Malvern Prep (16-4) scored first. Haydon Campbell beat Indian netminder Nolan Hilbert just 1:35 into the first frame. 

Kolby Ringwald tied the game for Peters Township on a shot that sailed high and wide of the Malvern Prep net and caromed off the end boards and back in front of the goal. Ringwald tucked the puck behind Anthony Perti at the 6:11 mark.

Quinn Dougherty put the Friars back in front just 13 seconds later but Camden Martin retied the game for the Indians at 7:56. Caleb Kovac put Peters Township for the first time at the 12:21 mark before Jimmy Jacobs retied the game at 14:15, on a shot that Hilbert couldn’t handle, to being down the curtain on a first period that featured some unexpected twists and turns.

“Each team capitalized on the other’s mistakes,” said Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan. “Overall, I thought our boys came out and played the game. They worked hard. Unfortunately, some of the bounces didn’t go our way, but that’s the game of hockey.” 

It was more of the same in the second stanza. Jimmy Jacobs gave Malvern Prep the lead just 34 seconds into the period, but back-to-back penalties to Jack Sharer and Steve Getsie left the Friars two men short for 1:47 and the Indians took advantage. Austin Malley tied the game for the Indians with 5:50 left in the session. The penalty boxes were empty when William Tomko out in a rebound of Malley’s original shot with 3:11 left in the period.

That turned out to be the last goal of the game. The Friars picked up the pace in the third period but couldn’t net the equalizer.

“We tried to push the puck up the ice,” Keenan said. “Peters Township did a good job of keeping everything in front of them, put the puck deep, and just made us go the length of the ice.”

Malvern Prep was attempting to become the first Class AAA team to successful defend a state title since La Salle in 2009.

Peters Township 3 2 0—5

Malvern Prep 3 1 0—4

First-period goals: Hayden Campbell (MP) unassisted, 1:35; Kolby Ringwald (PT) from Colin Kimberling, 6:21; Quinn Dougherty (MP) from Jeremy Jacobs, 6:34; Camden Martin (PT) from Caleb Kovac and Kimberling, 7:56; Kovac (PR) from Martin and Kimberling, 12:21; Jimmy Jacobs (MP) from Caiden Canale, 14:15

Second-period goals: Jimmy Jacobs (MP) from Dougherty, :26; Austin Malley (PT) from Martin and William Tomko, 11:10 (pp); Tomko (PT) from Malley, 13:49

Shots: Peters Township 41, Malvern Prep 39; Saves:  Nolan Hilbert (PT) 35, Anthony Perti (MP) 36

Malvern Prep 6 St. Joseph’s Prep 1

WEST GOSHEN TOWNSHIP— Malvern Prep put on a hockey clinic Monday night. The Friars came out storming right from the opening faceoff and rolled to a 6-1 win over St. Joseph’s Prep in the Class AAA Flyers Cup final at Ice Line.

With the win, the Friars (16-3) became the first team to successfully defend the Class AAA Flyers Cup since 2014. It’s the 10th Cup title in school history.

“I think our mentality is just ‘We want it back,’” said senior Matt Harris. “That’s been the message all year. We knew that we had a mark on our back, but we knew, coming out here, we had to give our all and that for the seniors, it could be our last game out here.”

Harris shouldered his share of the load and then some. He scored three goals and assisted on another Monday night and finished as the tournament’s leading scorer with seven goals and two assists in two games while being named the winner of the Bobby Clarke Award as the tournament’s most valuable player.

Pierre Larocque, Jimmy Jacobs, and Jonathan Holt also scored goals for the Friars. Jacobs and Quinn Dougherty each contributed a pair of assists.

“We have the mentality on our team that anybody can step up and fill a role,” said Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan. “I have guys that play club and I’ve got guys that don’t play club. 

“For me, it’s just looking for the right fits in our lineup every day. When the guys come to practice, they compete, they work hard, and they fill in the roles. It’s a ‘Next guy up’ mentality in this locker room and I think that’s what keeps the guys going.”

It didn’t take the top-seeded Friars long to gain a firm hold on the proceedings. Jeremy Jacobs found Larocque in front of the Hawks’ net and Larocque put the puck behind Rocco Bruno just 1:39 into the opening period.

Harris made it a 2-0 game at the 13:08 mark with a shot from the deep right wing off a deflection. He scored his second goal of the night 3:25 into the middle period when he put in a rebound of Jacobs’ shot from the low slot.

Holt found the back of the net at the 4:56 mark, leaving the third-seeded Hawks (10-9-1) down 4-0, prompting their coach, David Giacomin, to use his timeout.

“Unfortunately we gave up that one early,” he said. “The momentum we had coming out of the locker room I thought would have been high. But any time that happens and you’ve got a bunch of young kids, their heads drop a little bit and it took a little while for us to get our legs moving.”

The Friars celebrate with their fellow students following their win over St. Joseph’s Prep Monday night.

St. Joseph’s Prep got a goal from Nick Storti 1:49 into the final frame but Jacobs and Harris scored two minutes apart late in the period to clinch the Cup and send the Hawks into the state championship game against Penguins Cup champion Peters Township Saturday at Ice Line (5:00 start).

No Class AAA team has successfully defended the state title since 2009.

Notes—The All-Tournament team selected by the Flyers Cup Committee, included Harris, Jacobs, and Jeffrey Hammond from St. Joseph’s Prep at forward, Larocque and Storti on defense, and Malvern Prep’s Anthony Perti in goal.

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 0 1—1

Malvern Prep 2 2 2—6

First-period goals: Pierre Larocque (MP) from Jeremy Jacobs, 1:39; Matt Harris (MP) from Caiden Canale and Jimmy Jacobs, 13:08

Second-period goals: Harris (MP) from Jimmy Jacobs and Steven Getsie, 3:25; Jonathan Holt (MP) from Gavin Wilson and Aidan Kelly, 4:56

Third-period goals: Nick Stori (SJP) from Christian Short, 1:49; Jimmy Jacobs (MP) from Harris and Dougherty, 13:14 (pp); Harris (MP) from Dougherty, 15:12 (sh)

Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 31, Malvern Prep 35; Saves: Rocco Bruno (SJP) 29, Anthony Perti (MP) 30

If you need service on your vehicle we suggest Keeble’s Service in Warminster. They’re located at 580 Park Avenue in Warminster, just up the road from the Warminster Train Station. They provide honest, reliable service at a reasonable price. They’re open 5 days a week starting at 7:30 a.m.

Give Bill a call at 215-675-0121