There will be no secrets when La Salle and Holy Ghost Prep collide for the Class AAA Flyers Cup championship Tuesday night (8:30 at Hatfield Ice). Perhaps no two area hockey teams are more familiar with each other than the top-seeded Explorers (14-9-2) and the second-seeded Firebirds (18-7).
Tuesday’s meeting will be their fourth of this season alone; Holy Ghost Prep won the first, La Salle has taken the last two including the APAC championship game on March 1st.
The Explorers have won 12 Flyers Cup titles in their history, most recently in 2019 one of those titles came as a Class AA team. The most recent of the Firebirds’ three championships came in 2017. One of those three came in the Class AA classification
La Salle (14-9-2)
Coach: Wally Muehlbronner
Players to watch: Sr. Aries Carangi (G); Sr. Ryan Warner (D) Sr. Evan Golato (F); Jr; Sr. Ryan Desmond (F)
Holy Ghost Prep (18-7)
Coach: Gump Whiteside
Players to watch: Sr. Colin Mudrick (G); Jr. Michael Holt (D); Sr. Brady Baehser (F); Sr. Kieran Mulholland (F); St. Landon Stout (F)
HATFIELD TOWNSHIP— La Salle’s big guns came up big when it mattered most. The line of Chase Hannon, Evan Golato ands Ryan Desmond combined for four goals and five assists as the Explorers bested Holy Ghost Prep 7-3 Wednesday afternoon in the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference’s Founders Cup Championship Game in front of a full house at Hatfield Ice.
The win gives the Explorers (13-9-2) their third outright championship in the APAC’s five-year history; they shared a fourth.
La Salle will be the top seed in the Class AAA bracket of the Flyers Cup tournament, which begins next week. The Explorers have a bye into the semifinals and will face either Malvern Prep or Father Judge the week of March 13.
Hannon spearheaded his team’s effort on Wednesday by scoring three goals. Golato added a goal and an assist while Desmond contributed four assists.
Hannon said the key to the win was taking care for the basics.
“Our game plan was to get pucks deep and get on them,” he said. “I think we did that, and it clearly worked for us.”
La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner considered Wednesday’s game his team’s best start-to finish effort of the season.
“I think we had really good focus,” he said. “The guys really played hard, they came to play tonight.”
La Salle capitalized on a Firebird turnover to score the game’s first goal. Chase Hannon corralled the lose puck in the neutral zone, found space and weaved his way trough three opponents to beat Jack Unger with a forehander from the leading edge of the left circle 4:12 into the opening session.
The Firebirds drew even when the Explorers’ Evan Golato (roughing) and Ryan Desmond (tripping) drew back-to back penalties, giving Holy Ghost Prep a two-man advantage for 46 seconds. It took Landon Stout just 14 seconds to score the tying goal off a rebound of Brady Baehser’s original shot at the 9:20 mark.
The second period produced an abundance of offensive fireworks and a total of seven goals, five of them from the Explorers.
Evan Golato put La Salle in from just five seconds into the period with a shot from the left point. Hannon scored his second goal of the game during a power play at 3:57.
Baehser answered for the Firebirds with a power-play goal of his own at 5:37 but Hannon completed his hat trick just 17 seconds later. John Seravalli’s goal cut the Explorer lead to 4-3 with 3:27 left in the period but Will Gregorio and Charlie Kennedy scored for La Salle before the period ended.
Evan Mudrick replaced Unger in the Firebird net following Kennedy’s goal.
Tim Whitock scored the only goal of the third period at the 8:10 mark. He cited his team’s veteran experience as a factor in the win.
“Senior leadership I guess,’ he said. “Got to get the younger guys going. Do whatever you can.”
For Holy Ghost Prep (16-7) which has yet to win an APAC title, the loss was a disappointing end to the conference season.
“It was not one of our best efforts,” said Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside. “I thought we didn’t execute very well. Our structure wasn’t there the whole game. There were some things we did really well but it wasn’t a total team effort.
Ice chips—The Firebirds are seeded second for the Class AAA Flyers Cup and will face seventh-seeded Cardinal O’Hara in a quarterfinal game at Grundy Arena Monday night.
La Salle’s previous Founders Cup titles came in 2019 and ‘20, the APAC’s first two seasons. They shared the title with Malvern Prep two years ago when the Founders Cup final wasn’t played because of the pandemic.
Holy Ghost Prep 1 2—3
La Salle 1 5 1—7
First-period goals: Chase Hannon (L) unassited, 4:12; Landon Stout (HGP) from Brady Baehser and John Seravalli, 9:20 (pp)
Second-period goals: Evan Golato (L) from Ryan Desmond, :05 Hannon (L) from Desmond and Golato, 3:57 (pp); Baehser (HGP) from Landon Stout and X, 11:23; Hannon (L) from Desmond, 11:40; Seravalli (HGP) unassisted, 13:33; Will Gregorio (L) from Desmond, 14:29 (pp); Charlie Kennedy (L) rom Max Monzo and Tim Whitock, 16:42
Third-period goals: Whitock (L) from Thomas Doucet, 8:10
Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 40, La Salle 45 Saves: Jack Unger (HGP) 26 and Colin Mudrick (HGP) 14; Aries Carangi (L) 37
With the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference playoff at hand, La Salle is where it accustomed to being; at the top of the standings. The Explorers win two of the APAC’s first four titles and were in position to play for a third before the 2021 championship game was cancelled because of the ongoing pandemic.
The 2023 playoff semifinals are set for Wednesday and the Explorers will face The Hun School to open the doubleheader at Hatfield Ice (4:00 start). The second game, scheduled for. 6:15 start, will match second seed Holy Ghost Prep and third seed St. Joseph’s Prep.
The Explorers claimed the APAC regular-season title with a 6-5 win over Holy Ghost Prep. Senior defenseman and captain Chase Hannon missed that game with a knee injury, but celebrated along with his teammates.
“We got the job done,” he said. “Everyone was ready to go, there was excitement in the locker room, I kind of new from the start get it done
La Salle, as usual, started the season slowly, winning just one of its first five games but picked up the pace from there. The Explorers will take an 11-9-2 record into Wednesday’s semifinal. They’ve won four of their last five starts and six of their last eight.
Hannon is elated with how he and his teammates have responded after a slow start to the campaign.
“I think it’s awesome,” he said. “In the beginning, we weren’t too hot but we came together as a team, we all bought it for one goal. It’s been showing We’ve been doing well.”
Hannon said some juggling of the lineup contributed to the Explorers’ turnaround.
”We found guys that are going to get the job done, doing what coach wants,” he said, “and we just kind of bought in, listening to Coach (Wally Muehlbronner). We found our success doing that.”
HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—There wasn’t a lot of artistry on display when Hun School and La Salle took the ice Wednesday afternoon. Instead, the Raiders and the Explorers engaged, in a gritty, grind-it-out encounter before La Salle emerged with a 3-1 win at Hatfield Ice Arena.
The win extended the Explorers’ unbeaten streak to four games and lifted them to 4-3-1 overall (3-1 in the APAC).
The Raiders, who were missing several players due to illness, dropped to 4-4 overall and 1-2 in conference.
“It wasn’t a pretty game for either side,” said La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner. “We were just happy to get through it on top.”
Three of the game’s four goals came in the first period. Justin Laplante gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead at the 2:51 mark; Ryan Desmond answered for the Explorers at 10:19. Dean Carvalho put his team in front for good when he deposited a rebound of Cam Ross’s shot behind Raider goaltender Julian Arsenault just before the period-ending buzzer.
For most of the rest of the last two periods the teams battled failed to find the net. Muelbronner juggled his lineup in a bid to generate more offense.
“We were mixing things around quite a bit,” he said, “trying different guys in different spots. Nothing seemed to really click.”
Hun School coach Ian McNally had to do some juggling of his own, albeit for different reasons.
“Unfortunately we had four guys out,” he said. “That’s not an excuse for why we lost but it just created enough of a disturbance in lines and power plays and everything.
“We did have to come up with a different game plan. The goal was to be within five minutes with a chance to win because some of the guys who weren’t able to play were the guys who score goals for us. We knew we wouldn’t be scoring five goals, but we knew if there was five minutes left and we were within one or up one or tied, that was the goal.”
Hun School received a power-play chance with 5:45 left in regulation when La Salle’s Chase Hannon was booked for a hooking in fraction but Explorer goaltender Aries Caranagi stood tall, he went on to finish the game with 20 saves. His best effort with just under eight minutes left in regulation when he turn aside a blast from the Raiders’ Scott Richmond.
“When we make mistakes, we know he has our backs,: Desmond said. “To build us back up. And save us when we need him.”
It was wasn’t a stylish performance, but the Explorers got the result they wanted.
“We pulled it together toward the end and came out with the victory,” Desmond said. “That’s all that matters.”
Ice Chips—Julian Arsenault made 34 saves in the Hun School net. The Raiders will face Holy Ghost Prep on Friday before pausing for the holidays while La Salle will travel to the Mount St. Charles tournament in Rhode Island after Christmas. It marks the first time the tournament will be held in three years because of Covid.
Hun School 1 0 0—1
La Salle 2 0 1—3
First period goals: Justin Laplante (HS) unassisted, 2:51; Ryan Desmomd (L) from Chase Hannon, 10:19; Dean Carvalho (L) from Cam Ross and James Carpenter 17:00
Third-period goal: Hannon (L) from Desmond and Evan Golato, 15:29
Shots: Hun School 21, La Salle 37; Saves: Julian Arsenault (HS) 34, Aries Carangi (L) 20
HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—A hockey game encompasses three periods. But Monday’s APAC game between host La Salle and Malvern Prep was settled seemingly in the blink of an eye.
The Explorers built a three-goal lead in just over five minutes and rolled on to a 7-2 win over the Friars at Hatfield Ice. The win squared La Salle’s overall record at 3-3-1 and (2-1 in the APAC)).
It didn’t take long for the offensive surge to get started. Ryan Warner found the back of the net just 49 seconds after the opening faceoff and the Explorers were off and running.
Chase Hannon and Dean Carvalho followed with goals in quick succession and just 5:03 into the game La Salle had a 3-0 lead.
Warner spoke to the significance of his team’s fast start. “That was really important for us,” the senior said. “We kind of built our momentum off that. The team was really buzzing. We were getting pucks in deep, working hard, and we really built off that.”
Following Carvalho’s goal, Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan made a goaltender switch, lifting starter Brandon Novabilsky for Matt Crawford.
Caiden Canale got the Friars on the scoreboard with seven minutes left in the opening session but Hannon answered back for La Salle with 3:31 left and for most of the rest of the game the Friars (5-2, 1-2 in conference) seemingly were skating uphill.
“The last time we played La Salle (a 4-3 Explorer win on Thanksgiving Eve) they jumped on us early,” Friar coach Bill Kenan pointed out. “Today, they jumped on us early. It’s hard to battle back when you’re down 3-0 in the first five minutes.
“We had a good second period, we outshot them, but it’s really hard to get those guys’ mentality back once you go down.”
Malvern Prep’s Jeremy Jacobs and La Salle’s Charlie Kennedy traded goals in the second frame before Carvalho and James Carpenter added goals for La Salle in the third.
Jake Rossi got the win in goal. The sophomore made 34 saves despite leaving the game for a four-minute stretch in the second period because of an equipment issue.
The Explorers are playing their best hockey of the season of late; over the course of their last three starts they’ve compiled a 2-0-1 record while scoring 15 goals.
“We’ve been playing hard,” Warner said. “The team’s been finding our way, and how to work together. I think we’ve really been doing good.”
La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner spoke to his team’s depth and balance. “If we keep the shifts short, we’re a tough team to play against,” he said. “There’s four lines that can move.
“We did I think a really good job of that in the first period.”
For Keenan, Monday’s game was another step his team’s maturation. “The past two years we’ve graduated a lot of seniors,” he said. “We have six freshmen on this team. They’re still finding their way with high-school hockey in a tough division like the APAC. So, for the guys that are experienced, they’ve got to step up, they’ve got to fill in the gaps that graduated and for the younger guys, they’ve just got to find their footing.
“I have faith in this team, I think they’ll bounce back.
Malvern Prep 1 1 0—2
La Salle 4 1 2—7
First-period goals: Ryan Warner (L) from Dean Carvalho. :49; Chase Hannon (L) from Will Gregorio, 3:38; Carvalho (L) from James Carpenter, 5:03; Caiden Canale (MP) from Jeremy Jacobs, 10:00; Hannon (L) unassisted, 13:29 (pp)
Second-period goals: Jacobs (MP) from Teague Murray, 9:57; Charlie Kennedy (L) from Liam Donahue, 11:36
Third-period goals: Carvalho (L) from Carpenter and Gregorio, 12:59; Carpenter (L) from Carvalho and Patrick Brace, 16:11
Shots: Malvern Prep 40, La Salle 36; Saves: Brandon Novabilsky (MP) 4 and Matt Crawford (MP) 25; Jake Rossi (L) 34 and Aries Carangi (L) 4
CLICK HERE to learn more about La Salle College High School
The La Salle College High School Explorers skated away with a six to one victory over Morristown Beard Wednesday afternoon at Hatfield Ice. La Salle entered the afternoon coming off a tie the night before against Del Barton and was looking to get back on track. Starting the season with a disappointing 1-3-1 record going into Wednesday’s matchup, the Explorers knew they had to make a statement.
From start to finish, La Salle was dominant. La Salle had a season high 48 shots on net compared to Beard’s 23. The commanding shot differential led to an end of gave score of 6-1 in the Explorers’ favor.
“It’s a sign that we are starting to play the right way” Explorers head coach Wally Muehlbronner said. They controlled every facet of the ice. Whether it was faceoffs, or keeping the puck in the offensive zone, Beard could not keep up.”
All players for the Explorers played well, but it was the seniors that shined brighter than the rest. Four of their six goals came off the sticks of seniors including two from Chase Hannon while also tallying an assist. The senior line of Evan Golato, Ryan Desmond and Chase Hannon rarely spent time in their own zone and constantly creating golden opportunities for the Explorers.
Even though they lost the game, Morristown Beard had plenty of scoring opportunities including nine minutes and 23 seconds with a man advantage. With all this time on the power play, Beard could not get the puck by senior goaltender Aries Carnagi who stood on his head the whole game. Carnagi recorded 22 saves on 23 shots. Another reason that Morristown struggled on the power play was La Salle’s demanding pressure and perseverance in their defensive zone. This pressure led to a shorthanded goal by senior forward Ryan Desmond with 4:52 left in the first period.
“We had a tough game yesterday against Del Barton as we tied, but we were in our d-zone a lot and we are playing much better in our defensive zone,” Muehlbronner said.
La Salle’s next tilt is against rival school Malvern Prep on Monday, December 12th at 5:15 P.M. at Hatfield Ice. Last time these teams played it was La Salle coming out on top with 4-3.
HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—For two periods, La Salle and Wyoming Seminary battled each other on even terms. The result was a 1-1 standoff.
In the third frame, Knights broke through, scoring four goals to record a 5-1 win Friday evening at Hatfield Ice.
Alexis Billequey scored two goals and assisted on another as the Knights improved to 4-1 on the season.
The Explorers dropped to 0-2 but Coach Wally Muehlbronner saw his team take some big strides.
“For us, the game was a big step forward,” he said. “Our approach, the way the guys played, we played hard for three periods.”
The Explorers actually took the early lead when Chase Hannon bested Wyoming Seminary goaltender Caleb Chabot with 7:45 left in the opening period.
The second period was almost two thirds gone before BIllequey responded for the Knights and when the teams left the ice at period’s end it was anyone’s game for the taking.
Starting the third period on fresh ice, the Knights stepped up. Mathis Pellerin beat LaSalle netminder Jake Rossi just 1:24 into the period. Colin Donovan made it a 3-1 game at the 4::05 mark and Billequey scored his second goal just 42 seconds later.
Anthony Petrick completed the scoring with 3:04 left in the game.
Rossi, a sophomore, gave a solid effort in the Explorer net.
“He’s only a sophomore but he’s a competitor,” Muehlbronner said. “He’s a good goalie, I was happy with the way he played today.”
Despite the loss, Muehlbronner sees things heading in the right direction.
“We did a couple things that, if we look back at it, and correct them, it could have been a 1-1 game to the end,” he said. “We hurt ourselves a little it in the third.”
Second-period goal: Alexis Billequey (WS) from Oliver van der Groen and Jason Shapiro, 10:18
Third-period goals: Mathis Pellerin (WS) from Yoan Gagnon and Billequey, 1:24; Colin Donovan (WS) unassisted, 4:05; Billequey (WS) from Daniel Svozil, 4:47; Anthony Petrick (WS) from Gagnon, 12:56
HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—Crisp and efficient. That phrase would best describe Holy Ghost Prep’s performance against La Salle Wednesday afternoon.
Landon Stout scored two goals and assisted on another and Kieran Mulholland found the back of the net twice as the Firebirds dominated in the course of a 6-2 win over La Salle at Hatfield Ice in the season and APAC opener for both schools.
The Firebirds had their foot on the gas from the opening faceoff. Stout and Mulholland scored goals 59 seconds apart to give their team a 2-0 advantage with 5:48 left in the first period. Stout’s goal came on a power play.
“It helped us out a lot,” Stout said of his team’s start. “That’s what we try to do, try to come out and get a quick start.”
Evan Golato got La Salle on the scoreboard 4:19 into the second frame but there weren’t many bright spots for the Explorers after that.
Stout scored his second goal of the game with 2:49 left in the period before assisting on a goal from Zach Pers 38 seconds into the third. Anthony Valeriote and Mulholland added additional goals before Charlie Kennedy scored for La Salle with 2.9 seconds remaining.
Colin Mudrick got the win in goal, making 25 saves
Stout spoke to the Firebirds’ depth and their senior leadership; there are 10 seniors on the roster.
”We had all four line rolling,” he said. “I think, when the older guys set an example, it kind of gets the younger guys going. I think we did a good job of that.”
Stout notes the importance of senior showing the way for their teammates. “It’s a huge responsibility,” he said, “and I think our seniors did a good job of it.”
Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside celebrated his team’s performance.
“We were really happy with the game today,” he said. They’ve been working hard in practice.
“We knew we had some good kids, we just didn’t know what type of team we were going to have and I though we responded really well, all four lines. We had good leadership out on the ice and I thought we did some really good things. But it’s only Game One. It’s a long season.”
For La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner, Wednesday’s opener was an exercise in frustration
“We got outworked for a full game,” he said. “Guys didn’t step up. We got outworked the full game.
Muehlbronner pledged that his team would discover a work ethic. “We’re going to find it,” he said.
HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—Crisp and efficient. That phrase would best describe Holy Ghost Prep’s performance against La Salle Wednesday afternoon.
Landon Stout scored two goals and assisted on another and Kieran Mulholland found the back of the net twice as the Firebirds dominated in the course of a 6-2 win over La Salle at Hatfield Ice in the season and APAC opener for both schools.
The Firebirds had their foot on the gas from the opening faceoff. Stout and Mulholland scored goals 59 seconds apart to give their team a 2-0 advantage with 5:48 left in the first period. Stout’s goal came on a power play.
“It helped us out a lot,” Stout said of his team’s start. “That’s what we try to do, try to come out and get a quick start.”
Evan Golato got La Salle on the scoreboard 4:19 into the second frame but there weren’t many bright spots for the Explorers after that.
Stout scored his second goal of the game with 2:49 left in the period before assisting on a goal from Zach Pers 38 seconds into the third. Anthony Valeriote and Mulholland added additional goals before Charlie Kennedy scored for La Salle with 2.9 seconds remaining.
Colin Mudrick got the win in goal, making 25 saves
Stout spoke to the Firebirds’ depth and their senior leadership; there are 10 seniors on the roster.
”We had all four line rolling,” he said. “I think, when the older guys set an example, it kind of gets the younger guys going. I think we did a good job of that.”
Stout notes the importance of senior showing the way for their teammates. “It’s a huge responsibility,” he said, “and I think our seniors did a good job of it.”
Holy Ghost Prep coach Gump Whiteside celebrated his team’s performance.
“We were really happy with the game today,” he said. They’ve been working hard in practice.
“We knew we had some good kids, we just didn’t know what type of team we were going to have and I though we responded really well, all four lines. We had good leadership out on the ice and I thought we did some really good things. But it’s only Game One. It’s a long season.”
For La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner, Wednesday’s opener was an exercise in frustration
“We got outworked for a full game,” he said. “Guys didn’t step up. We got outworked the full game.
Muehlbronner pledged that his team would discover a work ethic. “We’re going to find it,” he said.
Landon Stout speaks with Rick Woelfel about Wednesday’s game
Holy Ghost Prep 2 1 3—6
La Salle 0 1 1—2
First-period goals: Landon Stout (HGP) from Brady Baehser and John Seravalli, 10:19 (pp); Kieran Mulholland (HGP) from Shaun Moore and Mike Holt, 11:18
Second-period goals: Evan Golato (L) from Ryan Warner, 4:19; Stout (HGP) From Baehser, 14:11
Third-period goals: Zach Pers (HGP) from Stout and Patrick Slook, :38; Anthony Valeriote (HGP) from Slook, 4:01; Mulholland (HGP) from Baehser and Pers, 12:38 (pp); Charlie Kennedy (L) from Dean Carvalho.
Shots: Holy Ghost Prep 36, La Salle 27; Saves Colin Mudrick (HGP) 25, Aries Carangi (L) 30
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.
“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.
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
WEST GOSHEN TOWNSHIP—Their opportunity was delayed 12 long months. Which made their accomplishment all the more satisfying.
Malvern Prep scored twice in the first period and went on to a 4-1 win over La Salle Wednesday night to claim the Founders Cup, symbolic of the championship of the Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference, at Ice Line.
An enthusiastic audience was on hand to see the Friars (14-3) claim the championship they did not have the opportunity to play for last season because of Covid issues; the scheduled conference final between the Friars and the Explorers was never contested.
Even after Malvern Prep went on to win the Class AAA Flyers Cup and state titles, there was something missing from a glittering resume. Wednesday’s result perhaps helped fill that void.
“It’s super satisfying,” said Friars captain Matt Harris. “We don’t have to share that trophy any more and we can bring it back to Warren Avenue and not have to split it between two teams.
“It’s good to have a full season and get what we deserve. We put in the work on Mondays in practice and brought it back to Warren Ave.
The Friars jumped in front 2:47 into the first period. Brady Doyle launched a knuckleball from just inside the blue line that caught the top right corner of the net. According to LaSalle coach Wally Muehlbronner, goaltender Aries Carangi was screened on the play and never saw the puck.
Teague Murray hit the same corner of the net on Carangi’s glove side to make it a 2-0 game at the 13:47.From that moment on, La Salle (8-8-1) was trying to climb a very steep hill.
“They had a lot of jump,” Muehlbronner said of the Friars. “They scored some really nice goals on some really good shots. We did not have a whole lot of jump tonight. We did not give them the game that I was hoping we were going to.”
Muehlbronner said his team needed to respond of Larocque’s early goal, but didn’t. “We needed a spark after we went down 1-zip,” said,. We didn’t get it.We had a couple opportunities around the net, but nothing that was really a strong opportunity.”
At period’s end, Muehlbronner made a goaltender change, with Will Braun replacing Carangi.
Harris, the APAC’s scoring champion, extended the Friars’ lead 12:10 into the second period on what was most certainly one of the most picturesque goals of the season. The senior made a move down the right wing, cut to his left and split two defenders before beating Braun.
La Salle got on the scoreboard on a goal from Patrick Brace 9:12 into the final period before Harris scored into an imply net with 1:47 remaining.
Brace’s goal was the only blemish on Anthony Perti’s record, the Malvern Prep netminder stopped 37 shots.
“We wanted to come in and win (the Founders Cup) for ourselves,” he said. “Keep it for ourselves and ourselves only.”
Perti said Wednesday’s game was reminiscent of last year’s Flyers Cup final, which saw the Friars top the Explorers. “Same type of game, same type of atmosphere,” he said. “Honestly I was pretty calm, didn’t think too much of it. Just another game.”
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