Videos: Zack Beavers, Zach Reagan, Colleen Claggett & Anthony Salvato
By: Angelise Stuhl & Anthony Salvato
2022 FLYERS CUP SEMIFINAL ROUND-UP:
Game 1: Malvern Prep 6, vs. Holy Ghost Prep 2
Last Wednesday, No. 1 seed Malvern Prep hosted No. 4 Holy Ghost Prep at Ice Line in the Flyers Cup semifinals. The Friars asserted their dominance upon the puck drop and scored three first period goals. The first came off the stick of Hayden Campbell, assisted by Teague Murray. Then junior Jimmy Jacobs added Malvern’s second goal off a feed from senior Matt Harris. Harris then notched a goal of his own to close the period, assisted by Caiden Canale and Pierre Larocque.
Campbell’s initial goal for the Friars was a masterful Michigan goal, which Campbell stated he enjoys practicing often.
“I’ve kinda been practicing it for fun,” said Campbell. “It’s fun to do in practice and I kind of got pretty good at it, just messing around in practice. I don’t really know what went on, I was just like ‘Alright, I’m gonna try it.’ It Just happened so fast.”
Malvern Prep sophomore Hayden Campbell's nifty Michigan goal - PSD Video by Zack Beavers:
Post Game INterview with Malvern Prep sophomore Hayden Campbell - Video by Zack Beavers:
In the second period, Harris put on a clinic of his own. He scored two more goals to give the Friars a 5-0 lead heading into the ice cut. During the regular season, Harris recorded 12 goals, 11 assists and averaged 2.09 points per game, leading Malvern Prep with 23 points along with Jacobs.
In the third period, Holy Ghost junior Brady Baehser put the Firebirds on the board, which was then followed up by another Harris goal. That fourth tally would end both Harris’s and Malvern’s scoring for the evening. Brian Butler closed out the scoring for the game, giving Holy Ghost one more goal as Malvern Prep cruised to a 6-2 victory.
The win placed Malvern Prep in its second consecutive Flyers Cup championship.
The Friars won the AAA Flyers Cup title last season, defeating La Salle 4-3 in overtime. Malvern then went on to win the AAA Pennsylvania State championship, defeating Penguins Cup champ North Allegheny High School 4-2.
Malvern Prep vs. Holy Ghost Prep- PSD Flyers Cup Semifinal Gallery by Zack Beavers
Game 2: St. Joseph’s Prep 2 vs. La Salle 0
This was definitely THE match-up of the semifinals.
During the regular season in APAC play, La Salle College High School had the edge over St. Joseph’s Prep. The Explorer’s secured two regular season wins against the Hawks on January 21 (2-1) and on February 9 (3-1). Seven days later, the two teams met in the APAC semifinals with La Salle posting another 4-1 victory to advance to the APAC championship against Malvern Prep.
The fourth meeting served a favorable 2-0 ending for the Hawks last Wednesday at Hatfield. For St. Joseph’s Prep junior Jeffrey Hammond, securing a win was never in question.
“We came out and we knew that we could win,” said Hammond.
Hammond’s positive mindset was illustrated on the ice, as the junior notched the Hawk’s two goals to propel St. Joseph’s Prep to the Flyers Cup championship. Hammond’s first goal came in the opening period, assisted by Joseph Samango and Chris Short. His second goal, and final goal of the evening, was unassisted at the 9:31 mark in the second period.
2022 Flyers Cup Semifinal Highlights - St. Joe's Prep vs. La Salle by Colleen Claggett:
Everyone is talking about this Bruno… St. Joseph’s Prep junior goaltender Rocco Bruno was a stone wall against 26 shots posting a flawless semifinal outing between the posts.
“To get the shutout was just icing on the cake,” said Bruno.
Post GAme Interview with SJPrep's Jeff Hammond - video by Colleen Claggett:
Post GAme Interview with SJPrep's Rocco Bruno - video by Zach Reagan:
Post GAme Interview with SJPrep coach Dave Giacomin - video by Zach Reagan:
During the regular season, St. Joseph’s Prep was the only APAC team to secure a win against the Malvern Prep Friars. The two teams split their series, with Malvern securing a close 6-5 victory against the Hawks on December 10 and St. Joe’s getting the upper-hand in a 4-2 win on January 27. As far as going up against Malvern Prep, the reigning Flyers Cup champions, Bruno is confident in his team to come away victorious.
“We’re gonna win that game,” said Bruno. “We’ve got to come out hard, we’ve got to come out strong and we’ve got to get the first goal to set the tone, get the energy up and keep the momentum on our side.”
St. Joseph's Prep vs. La Salle - PSD Flyers Cup Semifinal Gallery by Coleen Claggett:
ROAD TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP…
Flyers Cup Quarterfinal: St. Joseph’s Prep 6 vs. Cardinal O’Hara 1
The No. 3 ranked Hawks of St. Joseph’s Prep went into PNY to face the No. 6 ranked Lions of Cardinal O’Hara for the first round of the AAA Flyers Cup on Thursday, March 10.
O’Hara was coming off a 1-0 thrilling overtime win over Father Judge that won them the ICSHL Philadelphia Catholic League Title. The Hawks on the other hand had just dropped a heartbreaker to La Salle College High School, in which they gave up three goals in a matter of minutes, which ultimately resulted in a 4-1 La Salle victory. The Hawks were eliminated from the APAC Founders Cup playoffs, but still managed to land the No. 3 seed in the Flyers Cup.
Hawks senior Liam Mooney kicked off the scoring for the night by finishing off a beautiful play by junior captain Jeff Hammond only five minutes into the first period. The Hawks struck again just five minutes later with a goal from senior Luca Palachick. St. Joe’s took a 3-0 lead early in the second period with Hammond burying a rebound off of a Joe Samango shot. With just under eight minutes left in the second period, O’Hara junior Luke Melito brought the Lions within two goals after a power play goal. However, Melito’s goal ended up being the only goal for the Lions in this game. Mooney scored his second of the game and senior Mike Ahearn tacked on two goals of his own to make it a 6-1 lead and seal the game for the Hawks.
Goaltenders Rocco Bruno and Ajay White split the game for the Hawks. Bruno only faced three shots and stopped all of them while White had six saves on seven shots. Despite the loss, O’Hara goaltender Christian Green still boasted an impressive 40 saves on 46 shots.
After the game, Philadelphia Sports Digest junior reporter, Anthony Salvato from St. Joseph’s Prep, caught up with Cardinal O’Hara senior Angelo Filoramo, who was humble in defeat and commended his team on a great season.
Post Game Interviews with SJPrep seniors Mike Ahearn & Liam Mooney - Video by Anthony Salvato:
Post Game interview with Cardinal O'Hara senior Angelo Filoramo - Video by Anthony Salvato:
Post Game interview with Cardinal O'Hara senior Nathan Fox - Video by Anthony Salvato:
“Nobody thought we could make it this far,” said Filoramo. “It feels great to prove everybody wrong and win the (ICSHL) PCL, regardless of the score of this game we all fought hard. We’re a young team, there’s only a couple seniors on the team…so it took a lot of effort from the young guys and we really appreciated that.”
After the game, fellow O’Hara senior Nathan Fox also reflected on winning the ICSHL PCL title.
“It was the best feeling ever,” said Fox. “It was a great feeling considering the past two years we lost to Salesianum and Father Judge in the PCL championship. So to come back in my third year with a chance to win it and getting it done really means a lot and it was a great experience.”
2022 FLYERS CUP Championship Information:
The 2022 Flyers Cup will take place on Monday, March 21 at Ice Line in West Chester at 6:30 p.m.
Contenders: No. 1 Malvern Prep vs. No. 3 St. Joseph's Prep
Best of luck to both teams!