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
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Defending champion Malvern Prep and St. Joseph’s Prep are set to square off Monday night in the Class AAA Flyers Cup final. Game time is 6:30 at Ice Line. The Friars are attempting to become the first Class AAA team to successfully defend the Flyers Cup title since La Salle in 2014. Here’s how the two teams match up.
St. Joseph’s Prep
Coach: David Giacomin
Record: 10-8-1
This tournament: Defeated Cardinal O’Hara 6-1 in the first round. Defeated La Salle 2-0 in the semifinals.
Key players:Jeffrey Hammond, 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points in APAC play; 3 goals and 1 assist in the Flyers Cup tournament.
Joey Samango, 8 goals and 2 assists for 10 points in APAC competition; 2 assists in the Flyers Cup.
Dante Passio, 1 goal and 7 assists in the APAC.
Rocco Bruno. Has made 46 saves in 2 Flyers Cup starts
Flyers Cup history: Won Flyers Cup and state titles in 2018
Malvern Prep
Coach: Bill Keenan
Record: 15-3, Founders Cup champion
This tournament: defeated Holy Ghost Prep 6-2 in the semifinals
Key players: Matt Harris, 13 goals and 9 assists for 22 points during the APAC season. Scored four goals and added an assist in the Flyers Cup semifinals.
Jim Jacobs, 8 goals and 9 assists for 17 points during the APAC season.
Jeremy Jacobs, 7 goals, 7 assists for 14 points during the APAC season.
Anthony Perti, Made 35 saves in the semifinals
Flyers Cup history: Won 9 Flyers Cup titles in 1987, ’90, ’97, 2001-05, and 2021. Won state titles in 1990, 2004, and 2021.
Notes: The Hawks and the Friars met twice during the APAC season. Malvern Prep won the first meeting 6-5 on December 10. St. Joseph’s Prep won the rematch 4-2 on January 27. That was Malvern Prep’s only APAC loss.
The winner of this game advances to the Class AAA state championship game on Saturday, March 26 at 5 p.m. at Ice Line.
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Liam Mooney and Michael Ahearn each scored two goals as St, Joseph’s Prep downed Cardinal O’Hara 6-1 Thursday night in a Class AAA Flyers Cup first-round game at the PNY rink.
The third-seeded Hawks will face second-seeded La Salle in a semifinal game ay 6:00 next Wednesday at Hatfield Ice.
Mooney and Luca Palachick scored goals 2 minutes, 3 seconds apart to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead with 7:02 left in the opening period. Hammond added a goal 3:37 into the second session. Luke Melito’s power-play goal got the sixth-seeded Lions on the board at the 9:16 mark but Mooney (on a power play) and Ahearn scored for the Hawks before the period ended.
Ahearn added his second goal 4:04 into the third period.
Rocco Bruno and Ajay White split the game in goal for the Hawks.
Cardinal O’Hara 0 1 0—1
St. Joseph’s Prep 2 3 1—6
First-period goals: Liam Mooney (SJP) from Jeffrey Hammond, 7:55; Luca Palachick (SJP) from Cathal Dowd and Michael Ahearn, 9:58
Second-period goals: Hammond (SJP) from Joey Samango and Christian Short, 3:37; Luke Melito (COH) from Nate Fox, 9:16 (pp); Mooney (SJP) from Short, 10:32 (pp) Ahearn (SJP) from Palachick and Short, 15:59
Third-period goal: Ahearn (SJP) from Dowd and Palachick, 12:56
Shots: Cardinal O’Hara 10, St. Joseph’s Prep 46 Saves: Christian Green (COH) 39, Rocco Bruno (SJP) 3 and Ajay White (SJP) 6
WEST GOSHEN—A high-school hockey game features 51 minutes of playing time. Wednesday’s Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference semifinal between La Salle and St. Joseph’s Prep was decided in a window of roughly two of those minutes.
The Explorers scored three goals in a span of 1 minute 19 seconds at the start of the second period and went on to a 4-1 win over the Hawks at Ice Line.
Evan Golato scored two goals for second-seeded La Salle (8-7-1) which will face top-seeded Malvern Prep next Wednesday, February 23 at Ice Line (8 p.m. start) for the Founders Cup and the APAC championship. Third-seeded St. Joseph’s Prep (8-8-1) will be idle until the Flyers Cup tournament which begins March 7; seedings will be announced on February 27.
After a scoreless first frame, La Salle broke the game open in seemingly the blink of an eye. Golato found the back of the net 1:03 into the middle period. Ryan Desmond made it 2-0 just 18 seconds later before Golato added his second goal at 2:22.
“Our momentum shifted right when our shift got out there,” Golato said. “We saw rebounds laying around all game. We buried opportunities and we kept going.”
After La Salle’s third gal, the Hawks called timeout and made a goaltender change with Rocco Bruno taking over for Ajay White. Bruno pitched a shutout the rest of the way; La Salle’s final goal, off the stick of Max Monzo was scored into an empty net with eight seconds left in the game.
La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner expressed concern about his team’s inability to sustain its momentum after its second-period surge.
“I think we had a really great start to the second period,” he said, “The first eight minutes of the second, I thought we played our game. Other than that, I didn’t think we played a great team game.
St. Joseph Prep’s only goal came from Liam Mooney in the third period.
“They beat us in two-and-a-half minutes,” Giacomin said. “They scored three goals because we didn’t cover anybody, and after that it was up and down. Both teams had chances.”
Will Braun got the win in goal, making 33 saves.
St. Joseph’s Prep 0 0 1—1
La Salle 0 3 1—4
Second-period goals: Evan Golato (L) from Chase Hannon, 1:03; Ryan Desmond from Jackson Lindmar, 1:15; Golato from Keenan Schneider and Max Maddalo, 2:22
Five different players scored goals as the Hawks downed the Lions 5-1 Wednesday night in a none-league matchup under the lights at the Spring Mountain ski area.
Michael Ahearn, Jeffrey Hammond, Joey Samango, Gareth McDonald, and Shane O’Neill all scored for Sr. Joseph’s Prep, which improved to 8-6-1 overall. Patrick Toney scored for Cardinal O’Hara.
Cardinal O’Hara 0 1 0—1
St. Joseph’s Prep 1 2 2—5
The Hawks and the Lions played under the lights Wednesday night
Hawks and the Lions battle (video courtesy of St. Joseph’s Prep)
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
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
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