La Salle 5 St. Joseph’s Prep 2

HATFIELD— Having just played each other 72 hours previously, La Salle and St, Joseph’s Prep picked up where they left off Monday afternoon. The result was an intense, grind-it-out Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference semifinal that saw the Explorers prevail 5-2 at Hatfield Ice.

Second-seeded La Salle (14-13) which has now won five of its last six games, will face top seed Holy Ghost Prep for the Founders Cup Wednesday afternoon at Grundy Arena (time TBA).

La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner was not surprised by the tone of the afternoon. “Honestly, I thought that was the way it was going to be,” he said. “I thought it was going to be a tight game. That’s what i would expect. That’s the way it’s going to be down the stretch.”

Nate Benner scorers twice for the Explorers to send them into Wednesday’s final. “There were no skill goals today,” he said. “It was just rebounds and deflections, get it to the net, second and third opportunities. That’s what comes with Therese kinds of games.”

The Hawks got things started at 5:46 of the first period when Michael Urbani scored a power-play goal on a shot from midway between the top of the two circled that stayed along the ice and beat La Salle netminder Aidan McCabe on his stick (right) side. The Explorers’ response came just 23 seconds later when Chris Wnek beat Andrew Custer from after a dash down the left wing. Benner put La Salle in front with 35 seconds left in the opening period.

The second period was scoreless. Benner scored his second goal of the game 4:22 into the third frame to restore La Sale’s two-goal lead but Paulo Colavita’s goal with 6:11 left in regulation got the Hawks (11-13) back into the game.

It took LaSalle just 61 seconds to respond. Nick Astolfi restored the Explorers’ two-goal lead before Nolan Woundenberg added an empty net goal with 1:14 remaining.

“We’ve got to bring a solid (48) minutes,” said St. Joseph’s Prep assistant coach Rich Black. “We played a great seven minutes. We came out hard, we were moving … We just need to put together a full game giants these guys.”

Top seed Holy Ghost Prep defeated Malvern Prep 4-1 in the other semifinal. La Salle will be seeded second in the Class AAA Flyers Cup and will face seventh-seeded Roman Catholic on March 5 at 7:30 at Hatfield Ice in a quarterfinal game. The Hawks, who are seeded third, will face sixth-seeded Cardinal O’Hara in a quarterfinal game the same night at the Skatium. Game time will be 8:45. The Explorers have won all four meetings over the Hawks this season but two of the four required overtime.

St. Joseph’s Prep 1 0 1—2
La Salle 2 0 3—5
First-period goals: Michael Urbani (SJP) from Austin Amato, 5:46 (pp); Chris Wnek (L) from Francis Ford, 6:09; Nathan Benner (L) from Jake Armstrong and Ryan Ferry, 15:25;
Third-period goals; Benner (L) from Armstrong and Colin Keiser. 4:22; Nolan Woudenberg L) from Andrew Budzynski and Aidan McCabe, 14:46 (en).
Shots: St. Joseph’s Prep 27, La Salle 31: Saves; Andrew Custer (SJP) 26; Aidan McCabe (L) 25

La Salle 6, St. Joseph’s Prep 3

By Rick Woelfel

PHILADELPHIA—La Salle took the ice Friday night as if it had something to prove. Namely, that despite an up-and-down season against a rugged schedule that it was still a dangerous hockey team. The message was delivered emphatically.

The Explorers scored three times in the game’s first six minutes and went on to a 6-3 win over St. Joseph’s Pre in the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference regular season finale at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 Arena.

The win lifted the Explorers (13-13 overall) into second place in the APAC standings with a 3-3-2-1 conference mark, giving them home-ice advantage for a playoff semifinal against the Hawks (11-12, 3-2-0-4) on Monday.

“We came out with good focus,” said La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner. “We jumped on them right away. Which is what we always try to do, but we did it tonight. We played well. We just needed to focus on playing a good game tonight and not on anything that’s going on the weeks ahead.”

Senior defenseman Collin Keiser got LaSalle started with a shot from the deep left wing 1:58 into the game before adding a second goal at the 3:21 mark. Chris Wnek made it 3-0 at 5:39.

Keiser spoke to the importance of the occasion. “We came in knowing what we were up against,” he said, “It was like a playoff game for us, to get home-ice advantage. We came out just like any other game. Probably a little harder, knowing what was on the other side of a win.”

David Kimmel ‘s shorthanded goal 9:18 into the middle period gave the Explorers a 4-0 lead. Jeffrey Hammond got the Hawks on the board at the 10:48 mark but Chase Hannon’s shot from the left point with 1:59 left in the period made it a 5-1 game.

Andrew Centrella scored for the Hawks 3:04 into the thirsted frame but Kimmel answered back with a power-play goal at 4:53 before Centrella finished the scoring.

“The start was a tough one,” said St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin, “Giving up that goal on one shot from bad angle … When you lay a rivalry school and give up one like that it really tough to come back from. Bur we battled back. It wasn’t a bad effort.”

With Friday’s result, Monday’s APAC semifinals are now set in stone. The second-seeded Explorers and third-seeded Hawks will square of at 4:10 at Hatfield Ice. Top-seeded Holy Ghost Prep will face fourth seed Malvern Prep at 4:00. The Founders Cup championship game will be played Wednesday’s at the home rink of the highest seeded finalist.
La Salle 3 2 1—6
St. Joseph’s Prep 0 1 2—3
First-period goals: Collin Keiser (L) from Max Maddalo, 1:58; Keiser (L) from Jake Hannon and Keenan Schneider, 4:21; Chris Wnek (L) from Ryan Ferry, 5:39.
Second-period goals: David Kimmel (L) from Schneider, 9:18 (sh); Jeffrey Hammond (SJP) from Michael Urbani, 10:49; Chase Hannon (L) from Daniel Whitlock, 14:01
Third-period goals: Andrew Centrella (SJP) from Matthew Moresco, 3:04; David Kimmel (L) from Keenan Schneider, 4:53 (sh); Centrella (SJP) from Joseph Samango, 8:44.
Shots: La Salle 35, St. Joseph’s Prep 17; Saves; Aidan McCabe (L) 14, Rocco Bruno (SJP) 17 and Andrew Custer (SJP) 12

The Grundy Skate Shop is a full-service hockey pro shop inside the Grundy Arena, offering a great selection of equipment, brands and various services. We do a full range of repairs as well as offer custom hockey jerseys. Owner Bill Keyser, has over 25 years experience in the industry and specializes in skate sharpening, including profiling. Please visit our Facebook page or stop in and check us out!

The 2020 Flyers Cup selection show will air Sunday, February 22 at 7 p.m. Eastern Time on You Tube

APAC Playoff Semifinals Set

The Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference playoffs will get underway on Monday with a pair of semifinal games.

Top-seeded Holy Ghost Prep will host fourth seed Malvern Prep in a 4:00 game at Grundy Arena. The other Monday semifinal will match St. Joseph’s Prep and La Salle. The site and time of that game will depend on the result of Friday’s regular season finale between the Hawks and the Explorers. The winner will be the second seed and the loser third.

If La Salle wins, the semifinal will be played at Hatfield Ice with a 4:10 scheduled start. If the Hawks prevail, the semifinal will be played at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 Arena with a 4 p.m. start (LATE UPDATE)

The Founders Cup championship game will be played Wednesday, February 26 with the site and time to be determined.

The results of the Founders Cup playoffs will not impact the seedings for the Class AAA Flyers Cup tournament, which will be announced Sunday night.

APAC Update for 2-12-20

Standings through 2-12 W L OW OL Pts GF GA

Holy Ghost Prep (14-4-1) 5 3 1 0 17 32 24

St. Joseph’s Prep (11-11) 3 1 0 4 13 25 24

LaSalle (12-13) 2 3 2 1 11 29 29

Malvern Prep (7-8) 2 5 2 0 10 44 45

Teams receive:

3 points for a regulation win

2 points for an overtime or shootout win

1 point for an overtime or shootout loss

0 points for a regulation loss

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Scoring Leaders Games G A Pts

Byron Hartley (HGP) 18 21 13 34

Matt Harris (MP) 15 19 11 30

Jack Constabile (MP) 15 6 20 26

Ryan Sambuco (MP) 15 9 15 24

Evan Mudrick (HGP) 16 11 9 20

Anthony Sparo (HGP) 17 8 11 19

Dave Kimmel (La) 20 10 7 17

Jimmy Craig (SJP) 16 6 11 17

Nolan Woudenberg (La) 19 10 5 15

Keenan Schneider (La) 20 4 11 15

Andrew Centrella (SJP) 16 2 13 15

Nathan Benner (La) 20 9 6 15

Jeffrey Hammond (SJP) 14 8 6 14

Braedon Barsher (HGP) 19 12 2 14

Check out our Flyers Cup podcast

The Grundy Skate Shop is a full-service hockey pro shop inside the Grundy Arena, offering a great selection of equipment, brands and various services. We do a full range of repairs as well as offer custom hockey jerseys. Owner Bill Keyser, has over 25 years experience in the industry and specializes in skate sharpening, including profiling. Stop in an check us out or please visit our Facebook page

APAC Update 2-2-20

Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference Standings

Includes games played and reported through 1-31

W L OW OL Pts GF GA

Holy Ghost Prep (11-4-1) 4 3 1 0 14 27 22

St. Joseph’s Prep (11-10) 3 0 0 4 13 25 24

LaSalle (10-14) 1 3 2 1 8 29 29

Malvern Prep (6-8) 2 4 2 0 10 36 42

Teams receive:

3 points for a regulation win

2 points for an overtime or shootout win

1 point for an overtime or shootout loss

0 points for a regulation loss

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Scoring Leaders Games G A Pts

Byron Hartley (HGP) 15 17 11 28

Matt Harris (MP) 13 17 8 25

Jack Constabile (MP) 13 6 15 21

Evan Mudrick (HGP) 13 10 9 19

Ryan Sambuco (MP) 13 6 12 18

Anthony Sparo (HGP) 14 6 10 16

Jimmy Craig (SJP) 15 5 11 16

Jeffrey Hammond (SJP) 14 8 6 14

Andrew Centrella (SJP) 15 2 12 14

Nolan Woudenberg (La) 17 10 3 13

David Kimmel (La) 18 8 5 13

Nathan Benner (La) 18 8 5 13

Braedon Barsher (HGP) 16 11 1 12

Keenan Schneider (La) 18 2 10 12

Check out our Flyers Cup podcast

The Grundy Skate Shop is a full-service hockey pro shop inside the Grundy Arena, offering a great selection of equipment, brands and various services. We do a full range of repairs as well as offer custom hockey jerseys. Owner Bill Keyser, has over 25 years experience in the industry and specializes in skate sharpening, including profiling. Stop in an check us out or please visit our Facebook page

La Salle 5, St. Joseph’s Prep 4 SO

HATFIELD— For anyone with a healthy appetite for hockey, Friday night’s Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference matchup between St.Joseph’s Prep and La Salle was the ultimate buffet. It took a shootout to decide matters, with Nolan Woudenberg’s goal in the bottom of the third round giving the Explorers a 5-4 win.

Before that, the audience at Hatfield Ice had the chance to sample a bit of everything, close checking, first-rate goaltending, and some outstanding individual efforts.

“It was an awesome game to be a part of,” said St. Joseph’s Prep coach David Giacomin. “Like I’ve said many times, I think this division is very evenly matched and what you get that day is hopefully great hockey. I think both sides played hard and it was a great game.”

The result Haden impact on the APAC standings. The Explorers improved to 9-12 overall and 1-2-2-1 in conference play. The Hawks are now 10-10 overall and 3-0-0-4 in conference; they’ve taken at least one point from all seven league games.

The result could have have an impact on the Flyers Cup power rankings as well. The Hawks were ranked first, the Explorers second at the start of the week. A new set of rankings will be released on Monday.

All eight of Friday night’s regulation goals came in the last two periods after a scoreless first frame that featured an abundance of close checking as the players on both teams searched in vain for a patch of open ice to work in.

Nolan Woudenberg opened the scoring for La Salle at 11:23 of the middle period. Jake Hannon made a 2-0 game just 28 seconds later but the Hawks got tallies from Paulo Colavita and Dominic Fantozzi in a 29-second pan to draw even with 2:45 left in the period.

The third period was dominated by special teams. The first three of the four goals in the period came on power plays.

The Hawks’ Michael Urbani and the Explorers’ Woudenberg traded goals early on before Andrew Centrella scored on a shot from the right circle to give the Hawks a 4-3 lead with 11:34 left in the game. David Kimmel tied the game for La Salle with 6:44 left in regulation.

The Explorers got a break when the Hawks’ Nick Storti drew an elbowing penalty with 45 seconds left in regulation, one which allowed LaSalle to start the overtime period with a man advantage.

Both goaltenders came up big in the extra session. The Explorers’ Aidan McCabe denied the Hawks’ Matthew Moresco and St. Joseph Prep’s Andrew Custer got the better of Woudenberg. Either play could have ended matters. In the end, Woudenberg provided the winning effort in the shootout.

“It’s a step forward for us,” said La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner. It would have been nice to win in regulation but it was similar to our last game against them. Two pretty evenly matched teams.”

McCabe spoke to the nature of the rivalry between the Explorers and the Hawks. “It’s definitely an easy game to get up for,” he said, and to stay motivated through the whole game. And once you know it’s going into overtime, it’s even easier to focus on. We were able to get the win in the shootout, which is nice.”

Ice Chips—The Explorers won the first meting between the two teams, 4-3 in overtime, on November 20. The two teams will close the regular season against each other on the evening of February 21 at the University of Pennsylvania’s Class of 1923 Arena.

St. Joseph’s Prep 0 2 2 0 (1)—4
La Salle 0 2 2 0 (2)—5
Second-period goals: Nolan Woudenberg (L) from Chase Hannon and Jack Armstrong, 11:23 (pp); Jake Hannon (L) from Colin Keiser and David Kimmel, 11:51; Matthew Moresco (SJP) from Paulo Colavita, 13:44; Dominic Fantozzi (SJP) from Jimmy Craig, 14:15.
Third-period goals: Michael Urbani (SJP) from Jeffrey Hammond and Craig, 1:29 (pp); Woudenberg (L) from Hannon and Armstrong, 2:32 (pp); Andrew Centrella (SJP) from Hammond and Craig, 5:26 (pp); Kimmel (L) from Keenan Schneider, 10:16.
Shootout goals: SJP: Ben Briskin; L: Max Maddalo and Woudenberg
Shots: SJP 25, La Salle 26; Saves: Andrew Custer (SJP) 22, Aidan McCabe (L) 21

Elsewhere

Holy Ghost Prep 3, St. Augustine 0—The Firebirds bested the Hermits Friday in a non-league game. Landon Stoudt and Anthony Sparo scored in the first period to give the Firebirds a 2-0 lead. Luke Panepresso added an empty net goal in the third period. Sean Joyce made 25 saves in goal.

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APAC Update

Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference Standings

Includes games played and reported through 1-28

W L OW OL Pts GF GA

St. Joseph’s Prep (11-10) 3 0 0 4 13 25 23

Holy Ghost Prep (10-4-1) 3 3 1 0 11 25 21

Malvern Prep (6-7) 2 4 2 0 10 33 36

LaSalle (9-13) 1 2 2 1 8 28 19

Teams receive:

3 points for a regulation win

2 points for an overtime or shootout win

1 point for an overtime or shootout loss

0 points for a regulation loss

Check out our Hockey Happenings podcast with hosts Rick Woelfel and Eric Tye HERE

Would a podcast benefit your business or help you promote your event?

We cab help. Contact us HERE

Scoring Leaders Games G A Pts

Byron Hartley (HGP) 14 17 11 28

Matt Harris (MP) 12 17 8 25

Jack Constabile (MP) 8 5 15 20

Evan Mudrick (HGP) 12 10 9 19

Ryan Sambuco (MP) 12 5 11 16

Anthony Sparo (HGP) 12 4 10 14

Nathan Benner (La) 15 8 5 13

Jimmy Craig (SJP) 13 4 8 12

Braedon Barsher (HGP) 11 10 1 11

Keenan Schneider (La) 15 2 9 11

Andrew Centrella (SJP) 12 1 10 11

The Grundy Skate Shop is a full-service hockey pro shop inside the Grundy Arena, offering a great selection of equipment, brands and various services. We do a full range of repairs as well as offer custom hockey jerseys. Owner Bill Keyser, has over 25 years experience in the industry and specializes in skate sharpening, including profiling. Stop in an check us out or please visit our Facebook page

La Salle 6, Holy Ghost Prep 1

HATFIELD— A half season’s worth of effort is seemingly starting to pay dividends for the La Salle Explorers. Keenan Schneider scored twice and three other players added one goal each as the Explorers bested Holy Ghost Prep 6-1 Friday night in an Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference game at Hatfield Ice.

It was the first regulation win in league play for La Salle, which improved to 1-2-1-1 in the APAC and 8-10 overall versus a schedule that would best be described as rugged.

“As fas as league games go, it’s the best three periods we’ve played this year,” said La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner. “We played consistent from start to finish. So, it’s something to build on for sure.”

The Firebirds (8-4, 2-3-0-1 the APAC) were making their first start since December 20. It was not an auspicious beginning to the new year.

“We just didn’t come to play,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside. “We laid an egg. We didn’t play well collectively and the better team beat us tonight.”

The Explorers were outshot 10-5 in the opening period but found themselves up 1-0 at its conclusion, thanks to a goal from Nathan Benner at the 3:11 mark. Aidan McCabe provided support in goal, making 10 saves in the first frame, a number of them while his mates were dealing with two Firebird power plays.

The Explorers extended their lead in the second session. Jake Armstrong scored on a shot from the left circle exactly three minutes into the period and David Bruner made it a 3-0 game at 11:10 from a deep angle on the right wing that got inside the right post past Firebird netminder Bobby Baehser.

Holy Ghost Prep (8-4, overall, 2-3-1-0 in the APAC) got a goal from Brady Baehser with 2:33 left in the period but the Explorers pulled away in the third frame on a goal from David Kimmel and two more from Schneider.

“We’re coming together as a team,” Schneider said. “Right now, we’re playing as a team and we’re just rolling, honestly.”

Muehlbronner has focused on keeping his lines together to build cohesiveness. Schneider, a sophomore was teamed with Kimmel and Jake Hammond.

“We’ve kind of fought through a lot of the adversity by trying to get the lines staying together,” he said, “not making wholesale changes. We’ve done it, burn I think there’s definitely some chemistry starting to grow between the guys.”

Holy Ghost Prep 0 1 0—1
La Salle 1 2 3—6

First-period goal: Nathan Benner (L) unassisted, 3:11;
Second-period goals: Jake Armstrong (L) from Max Maddalo, 3:00; David Bruner (L) from Maddalo, 11:10; Brady Baehser (HGP) from Carlos Rodriguez and Aidan Mulholland, 13:27.
Third-period goals: David Kimmel (L) from Jake Hammond and Keenan Schneider, 6:56; Schneider (L) from Kimmel and Nolan Woudenberg, 9:40; Schneider (L) from Hammond, 15:51.
Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 17, La Salle 18; Saves: Bobby Baehser (HGP) 12, Aidan McCabe (L) 16.

Elsewhere

Malvern Prep 5, St. Joseph’s Prep 4 SO

Chris Blango scored in the third round of a shootout to Malvern Prep a 5-4 win over St. Joseph’s Prep Friday night in an APAC matchup at the Class of 1923 Arena at the University of Pennsylvania.

Blango scored two goals in regulation for the Friars (6-4 overall, 2-3-2-0 in the APAC), who moved within two points of St. Joseph’s Prep (6-8, 3-0-0-3 in conference) in the league standings.

Michael Urbani scored twice for the Hawks, who scored twice in the third period to force overtime.

Malvern Prep 2 2 0 0 (1)—5

St. Joseph’s Prep 2 0 2 (0)—4

First-period goals: Jimmy Craig (SJP) from Michael Urbani, 3:15 (pp); Urbani (SJP) from Craig and Ben Briskin, 5:42 (pp);Pierre Larocue (MP) unassisted, 11:54 (sh); Jimmy Kirk (MP) from Quinn Dougherty, 13:15.

Second-period goals: Chris Blango (MP) from Jack Constabile. 3:35 (pp); Blango (MP) from Constabile and Matt Harris, 13:24.

Third-period goals: Urbani (SJP) from Matt Moresco and Jeffrey Hammond, 1:01; Moresco (SJP) from Dominic Fantozzi, 10:49 (pp).

Check out out Hockey Happenings podcast as well count down to the 2020 Flyers Cup. I’m joined by Flyers Cup Committee President Eric Tye.

Catch it HERE. New episode each Friday.

APAC Update

Standings include games played through 1-16-20

W L OW OL Pts GF GA

St. Joseph’s Prep (6-8) 3 0 0 3 12 21 19

Holy Ghost Prep (9-4-1) 3 3 1 0 11 25 21

Malvern Prep (6-5) 2 4 2 0 10 33 36

LaSalle (8-11) 1 2 1 1 6 24 15

Games of Friday, January 10

La Salle 6, Holy Ghost Prep 1

Malvern Prep 5, St. Joseph’s Prep 4 OT

Scoring Leaders Games G A Pts

Byron Hartley (HGP) 11 16 10 26

Matt Harris (MP) 8 15 4 19

Jack Constabile (MP) 8 3 13 16

Evan Mudrick (HGP) 10 7 7 14

Anthony Sparo (HGP) 9 4 9 13

Ryan Sambuco (MP) 8 4 9 13

Nathan Benner (La) 11 6 5 11

Andrew Centrella (SJP) 12 1 10 11

Jimmy Craig (SJP) 12 3 7 10

Braedon Barsher (HGP) 11 8 1 9

Nolan Woudenberg (La) 10 7 2 9

Jeffrey Hammond (SJP) 11 7 2 9

Class AAA Flyers Cup Power Rankings

1 St. Joseph’s Prep

2. Holy Ghost Prep

3. Malvern Prep

4. La Salle

5. Father Judge

Flyers Cup rankings are calculated exclusively on results against the Flyers Cup-eligible teams.

Check out our Flyers Cup podcast with Flyers Cup committee president Eric Tye at:

www.buzzsprout.com/213400

New podcasts will be added each Friday from now until the end of the season.

Hun School 6, St. Joseph’s Prep 0

Hun School defeated St. Joseph’s Prep 6-0 Saturday afternoon in the opening round of the Purple Puck Tournament in Washington, D.C. The Hawks outshot their opponent 28-14 but couldn’t find the back of the net.

The Hawks started their Sunday with a 4-0 win over Archbishop Spalding in a game that saw them outshoot their foes 58-6.

They were also scheduled to face St. John’s from Washington, D.C. in a 2:15 start. The tournament semifinals and finals are scheduled for Monday.