La Salle 3 Hun School 1

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

La Salle 7 Malvern Prep 2

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

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La Salle 6 Morristown Beard 1

By Matt Millevoi

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 12^th at 5:15 P.M. at Hatfield Ice. Last time these teams played it was La Salle coming out on top with 4-3.

Wyoming Seminary 5 La Salle 1

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.”

Wyoming Seminary 0 1 4—5

La Salle 1 0 0—1

First-period goal: Chase Hannon (L) assist unavailable, 8:15

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

Shots: Wyoming Seminary 34, La Salle 22; Saves: Caleb Chabot (WS) 21, Jake Rossi (L) 29

Holy Ghost Prep 6 La Salle 2

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.