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Neumann University will highlight its ongoing partnership with the Ed Snider Foundation during a virtual meeting on Tuesday, April 30 at 5 p.m. Eastern Time.
The meeting will detail information about the future of the Neumann University hockey program and the SNIDER/NU Partnership Challenge.
Those interested in joining the event can register HERE
The Pa Hockey Foundation has begun the process of honoring Players, Coaches, Officials and teams for over 50 years in Pennsylvania. The Nomination Form is now available for the Top 10 for your school or Top 15 Players and Coaches and should be submitted to Jeff Mauro at jeffmauro@aol.com .
The goal is to have an induction of the Inaugural Class in March 2025 for Eastern and Western Pennsylvania. To be considered for the Eastern and Western Pennsylvania Selection Committees, please submit your selections to PAHF.
General Assembly of Member Schools
Eastern and Western Pennsylvania Schools will be part of the General Assembly to help honoring Players, Coaches, Officials and Teams for over 50 years for the Pennsylvania High School Hockey Hall of Fame. Our Vision is as Individuals and Teams are inducted, we welcome our school organizations, families, teammates and the hockey community to join us in celebrating the achievements at an Annual Banquet in honoring Players, Coaches, Officials and Teams from Eastern and Western Pennsylvania.
The General Assembly will have one or more individuals from Eastern and Western Pennsylvania Schools in charge of Celebrations of Historical Records and Accomplishment of each organization to displayed on the Pa Hockey Website at www.pahockey.net and League Websites.
Jeremy Jacobs taken another step in his development as a hockey player. Jacobs who will soon graduate from Malvern Prep, recently played five games for the Odessa (Texas) Jackalopes in the North American Hockey League.
Jacobs spoke to how it all came about.
“They came to one of my games,” he said. “They watched me for two months or so and ended up talking to me.
“I went down and was able to get in a game with them. And from then on, I was like ‘This is where I want to be.’ I ended up signing with them.”
Jacobs’ five-game stint with the Jackalopes included his first NAHL goal on April 4 against Corpus Christi. He was used at center and also spent a brief amount of time killing penalties.
But a lot of this postgraduate course in his hockey education was spent in practice, as a member of Odesa’s extended roster.
“I was there for two weeks and able to practice for those two weeks” he said, “and embrace the full two weeks rather than being in and out for a week.”
Jacobs’ time in Odessa gave him new insights into the game.
“You just pick up on the little details, he said, “and just how they go about things differently, how they see the game differently, and how it’s just at a faster level. It just helps you elevate your game and play better. It’s a faster speed.
“The guys were accepting and really, really helped me out. Being sent there helped me grow and be a better hockey player.”
It took some time but Jacobs adapted to the NAHL’s pace.
“Once you go there the first few minutes of practice are definitely a little shocking,” he said, “but after that you just pick right up where you left off.
“It’s not too bad, at least I thought. I thought the speed was pretty good, and I like playing at that speed.
“It’s definitely a great group around to help you elevate your game.”
Virtually everyone in the Tier II NAHL has aspirations of playing at a higher level of junior hockey and/or in college, and Jacobs, who has signed a tender to play in Odessa next season, is no exception.
But he will take his memories of his time at Malvern Prep with him. Jacobs finished his final high-school season with 18 goals and 19 assists for 37 points, including a goal and four assists in three Class AAA Flyers Cup games. He played on Flyers Cup championship teams his first two high-school seasons and on a state-championship team as a freshman. This year’s edition of the Friars, with Jacobs as their captain, reached the Flyers Cup finals before falling to La Salle.
“Winning that state championship is something I’ll remember forever,” Jacobs said, “and going back to back in the Flyers Cup.
“That (2022 team) was a special team and having a bigger role on that team as opposed to being a freshman, that was huge, being a bigger part. I thought I had a pretty solid part in my freshman year but I’ll definitely take away those first two years because we came out on top.”
As a captain, Jacobs embraced the role of mentor to his teammates.
“I enjoyed that,” he said, “being able to teach the younger guys what I was taught when I was younger.”
Some of Jacobs’ fondest memories of Malvern Prep were made off the ice.
“I’m going to take away the friendships and relationships I made with everyone,” he said. “Winning is great and all but the relationships are what I’m going to take away the most, just because it was a great experience all my four years.”
Jeremy Jacobs
Former La Salle College High School forward Sam Lipkin has signed an entry-level contract with the Arizona Coyotes.
Lipkin played for La Salle’s state championship team in 2019 before going on to play for the Chicago Steel in the USHL, where he was part of a Clark Cup championship team in 20212.
For the past two years, Lipkin has played college hockey for Quinipiac; he was part of an NCAA championship team last season.
He was the Coyotes’ seventh-round draft pick in 2021.
Lipkin will finish the 2024 season with the American Hockey League’s Tucson Roadrunners on an amateur tryout; his three-year entry-level contract will kick in next season.
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HAVERFORD TOWNSHIP—La Salle found itself at the bottom of a very deep hole Saturday evening. It was more of a crater.
With just over two-and-a half minutes gone in the second period of the Pennsylvania Cup Class AAA final, the Explorers found themselves trailing Pine-Richland 3-0. They eventually climbed out of the chasm and took a third-period lead, only to see that lead and eventually the game, slip away.
Alexander Versyla scored a goal 7:07 into overtime to give the Rams a 5-4 win at the Skatium. It marked the fourth state title for the Rams (19-5) but their first at the Class AAA level; the first three, in 2006, ’07, and ’19 came in Class AA.
La Salle (23-4) which was seeking its eighth state title was attempting to become the first Class AAA team to successfully defend a state title since the Explorers did it themselves in 2009.
But on Saturday, the Explorers started slowly. Josh Lanyard and Colton Andrighetti scored first-period goals and Lanyard added a second goal 2:34 into the second frame.
La Salle emerged from the abyss one step at a time. Julian Tarsi got his team on the scoreboard 45 seconds after Lanyard’s second goal, and Alistair St. Hilaire added a power-play goal not quite three minutes after that.
When Patrick Brace tied the game with another power-play goal with 4:37 left in the period it was clear momentum was flowing in La Salle’s direction.
LaSalle defenseman Thomas Doucet, who was playing in his final high-school game on Saturday, assisted on both Tarsi’s and Brace’s goals.
“Right when we got that third goal, we were pretty confident going into the rest of the game,” he said
Indeed, the Explorers took their only lead of the game on James Carpenter’s shorthanded goal 1:53 into the third period and as time wound down the Rams were dealing with the clock as much as their opponent.
But, in Doucet’s words, La Salle “Just didn’t get our bounces in the end.”
Lanyard tied the game with 1:37 left in regulation, setting the stage for an overtime session that saw both teams generate quality chances.
La Salle coach Wally Muehlbronner was quick to credit the Rams.
“I thought Pine-Richland played a hell of a game,” he said, “The opportunities that they had, they capitalized on.”
Muehlbronner credited his team for overcoming the early 3-0 deficit.
“I think we showed a tremendous amount of character,” he said. “We came back and ended up taking a 4-3 lead. They scored an opportunistic goal to tie it up and took advantage of their opportunities.
“Going to overtime, anything can happen.”
Pine-Richland 2 1 1 1—5
La Salle 0 3 1 0—4
First-period goals: Josh Lanyard (PR) from Ben Baileys and Cullen Campbell 5:57; Colton Andrighetti (PR) from Zachary Howard, 12:06
Second-period goals: Lanyard (PR) from Campbell and Adam Proctor, 2:34; Julian Tarsi (L) from Thomas Doucet and Alastair St. Hilaire, 3:19; St. Hilaire (L) unassisted, 6:12 (pp); Patrick Brace (L) from Doucet and Cam Ross, 12:23
Third-period goals: James Carpenter (L) from Logan Dicus, 1:53 (sh); Lanyard (PR) from Campbell, 15:23
Overtime goal: Alexander Versyla (PR) from Noah Taggart, 7:07
Shots: Pine Richland 34, La Salle 26; Saves: Brett Sudac (PR) 22, Jake Rossi (L) 29
HAVERFORD TMomentum TOWNSHIP—Momentum in a hockey game is often fleeting, and can shift at a moment’s notice. There are occasions however, when momentum shits can prove decisive. So it was for Pennridge on Saturday afternoon.
On two occasions, the flow of the game shifted in the Rams’ favor, allowing them to prevail 7-5 over Thomas Jefferson in the Pennsylvania Cup Class AA championship game at the Skatium.
It’s the second time in three seasons the Rams (23-2-2) have claimed a state title. They bested the Jaguars in overtime two years ago.
Kevin Pico finished his final high-school game with a goal and three assists.
“I’m happy now,” he said. “I’m sad it’s my last high-school game, but I’m happy we got it done, especially with this group and how much we had to fight through to get here, everything we had to play through, and all the adversity we had to go through to get here. It feels great right now.”
Saturday’s Rams-Jaguars rematch required that Pennridge play from behind at the start. Jake Strock beat Jacob Winston with the first shot of the game 27 seconds in. Scotty Allan made it a 2-0 game with a power-play goal at the 6:03 mark and Pennridge goaltender Jacob Winton seemed off his game.
At that point, Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna used his timeout. He said he was confident his team would rebound.
“We knew with the firepower we throw out there, we were going to be fine,” he said. “Jacob was off the first couple shots and we knew he would settle down.
The Ram were looking for a momentum shift. It got one when Colin Dachowki scored his team’s first goal 10:59 into the period.
“The goal Colin scored changed the whole game,” Montagna said.
Andrew Savona and Pico scored goals to give Pennridge a 3-2 lead 4:32 into the second period. But the Jaguars responded with goals from Lucas Blose and Nathan Weiss to take a 4-3 lead at the 7:26 mark.
Just over a minute later there was another momentum shift in Pennridge’s favor, with repercussions that reverberated the rest of the afternoon.
With 8:26 left in the period, Winton collected a centering pass from Thomas Jefferson’s Andrew Oliver and froze the puck. Strock, arriving late to the scene, took a poke at Winton with his stick and was accessed a five-minute major penalty for spearing plus a game misconduct, leaving the Jaguars to go the rest of the way minus their leading regular-season scorer.
It took Savona just 12 seconds to tie the game. James Rush put Pennridge in front for good with 5:29 left in the period and scored his second goal of the game 4:09 into the third frame, Pennridge’s third goal in a span of 12:23 of playing time.
Liam Mahoney made it a one-goal game once more with 10:24 still remaining, but Shane Dachowski scored his second goal of the game with 8:04 left.
Savona noted the impact the spearing call on Strock had on the game.
“It was difficult,” he said, “but it was just huge for us. It gave us a lot of momentum. We were able to get two goals.
Thomas Jefferson 2 2 1—5
Pennridge 1 4 2—7
First-period goals: Jake Strock (TJ) from Ryder McGuirk and Andrew Oliver, :27; Scotty Allan (TJ) unassisted, 6:03 (pp); Colin Dachowski (P) from Andrew Savona and Kevin Pico, 10:59
Second-period goals: Shane Dachowski (P) from Kevin Pico and James Rush, 1:45 (pp); Pico (P) from Nick Young, 4:32; Lucas Blose (TJ) from Nathan Weiss, 5:39; Weiss (TJ) from Allan, 7:26; Savona (P) from Colin Dachowski, 8:46 (pp); Rush (P) from Savona, 11:31(pp)
Third-period goals: James Rush (P) from Josh Kelly 4:09; Liam Mahoney (TJ) 6:36; Shane Dachowski (P) from Pico, 8:56
Shots: Thomas Jefferson 48, Pennridge 33 Saves: Ronald Porupsky (P) 26, Jacob Winton (P 43
First-period goals: Noah Callender (CV) from Dylan Shamonsky, 15:31; Callander (CV) unassisted, 16:30
Hershey scored four consecutive goals to overcome a 2-0 deficit to score a 4-2 over Chartiers Valley on Saturday in the Class A Pennsylvania Cup championship game at Ice Line.
Carson Hummer, Blake Umberger, Kyle Kloss, and Tyler Lucas all scored for the Trojans, who were making their first appearance in state final.
Noah Callander scored two goals 59 seconds apart to give the Colts a 2-0 lead. Umberger’s goal 10:02 into the second frame made it a one-goal game Umberger tied the game with a power-play goal with 3:27 left in the period.
Kloss’s goal 1:47 into the third period proved to be the game winner; it came during a four-on-four situation, Lucas added a goal at the 7:04 mark.
Alexander Placeres earned the win in goal making 31 saves.
Chartiers Vallry 2 0 0—2
Hershey 0 2 2—4
First-period goals: Noah Callander (CV) from Dylan Shamonsky, 15:31; Callander (CV) unassisted, 16:30
Second-period goal: Carson Hummer (H) from Bryce Erwin and Carl Ritner, 10:02; Blake Umberger (H) from Ryan Dhawan and David Maish, 13:33 (pp)
Third-period goals: Kyle Kloss (H) unassisted, 1:47; Tyler Lucas (H) from Tyler Tredway and Carl Ritner, 7:04
Shots: Chartiers Valey 33, Hershey 29; Saves: Matthew Colbert (CV) 25; Alexander Placeres
This marks the 48th year that Pennsylvania has crowned a scholastic ice hockey champion. In 1975 the first state tournament brought together six teams from across the Commonwealth. Baldwin defeated Churchill in the first state championship game. Richland, Erie McDowell, Springfield-Delco and Bishop Neumann were also in the field.
The Flyers Cup tournament was launched in 1980; a year later, Archbishop Carroll became the first Flyers Cup champion to win a Pennsylvania Class AAA state title. While the Flyers Cup was a single-class tournament at the time, the state tournament crowned Class AAA and Class AA champions from 1976-88 (There was no state tournament in 1978, nor in 2020).
In 1989, the state tournament added a third classification (Class A).
Two years later, the Flyers Cup adopted a three-class format and the state championship became a matchup of the Flyers Cup and Penguins Cup champions in each classification.
Saturday’s schedule at the Skatium in Haverford Township is as follows:
All three games will be streamed on the Flyers Cup YouTube Channel
Class A
11:00 Hershey (20-3-1) vs. Chartiers Valley (23-0)
The Trojans, who are competing in their first final. are paced by Blake Umberger who has scored 17 goals and added 25 assists for 42 points. Kyle Kloss has scored 17 goals if his own and added 19 assists for 36 points.
Chartiers Valley is trying for its second state title. The first came in 1986 as a Class AA team. Noah Callander leads the Colts in scoring with 30 regular-season goals and 14 assists for 44 points. Brady Narin has contributed 15 goals and 17 assists for 32 points
Class AA
2:00 Pennridge (22-2-2) vs. Thomas Jefferson (20-2)
This game is a rematch of the 2022 title game, which saw the Rams prevail 4-3 in overtime.
Kevin Pico has scored 40 goals for the Rams this season under the SHSHL umbrella and added 56 assists for 96 points. Andrew Savona has collected 42 goals and added 41 assists for 83 points. Shane Dachowski has provided 37 goal and 42 assists for 79 points.
The Jaguars, who won three consecutive state titles from 1998-2000 are paced by Jake Stock who scored 19 regular-season goals and added 26 assists for 45 points. Andrew Oliver added 20 goals and 23 assists for 43 points.
Class AAA
5:00 La Salle (23-3) vs. Pine-Richland 18-5
The Explorers are trying to become the first team to successfully defend a Class AAA state title since they themselves did so in 2009. They’ve won eight state title, seven of them at the AAA level. Dean Caravalho has scored 20 goals and added 11 assists for 31 points. Patrick Brace has added 10 goals and 13 assists for 23 points.
Pine-Richland won back-to-back AA state titles in 2006-07. The Rams are led by Zachary Howard who scored 17 regular-season goals and added 14 assists for 31 points. Cullin Campbell is next with 13 goals and 13 assists for 26 points.
The Skatium itself is celebrating its history. One of the oldest high-school hockey facilities in Pennsylvania, it is marking its 50th anniversary this year.
Some are of the opinion that a hockey goaltender occupies the most important position in any team sport. Those who hold that view had it reinforced Wednesday night over the course of the Class AA Flyers Cup final.
At evening’s end, the scoreboard at Hatfield Ice indicated that top-seeded Pennridge had defeated second-seeded Council Rock South 7-3 to win its second Cup title in three years. It also indicated that the Golden Hawks had outshot the Rams 52-29 over the course of the 51-minute game.
All this is indicative of the performance Jacob Winton in the Pennridge net. When the Hawks were surrounding him like birds targeting their prey, Winton held firm, even as his team was being outshot 9-1 in the early going.
When the Rams (22-2-2) finally broke through at the other end, on Shane Dachowski’s goal 9:14 into the first period and not incidentally the first goal of the game, the tone of the evening shifted dramatically.
Even after the Golden Hawks’ Chase Tovsky tied the game with 6:43 left in the period the Rams were not deterred. Kevin Pico put Pennridge back in front with 90 seconds left in the opening session and his team never trailed again.
Ilya Kudzinau tied the game for South (24-2) 23 seconds into the second frame but momentum continued to flow in the Rams’ direction. Dachowski and Pico scored goals to give their side a 4-2 advantage.
At that point South coach Joe Houk used his timeout and pulled goaltender Trevor Rakszawski, who had surrendered the four goals on 13 shots. Trey Prozzillo took his place.
At the other end of the ice, Winton remained resolute. He allowed a single goal over the final 33:37 of regulation.
“Making some of those [early] saves kind of set the tone for later in the game,” he said. “I think it just kind of put us in the right mindset going into the second and third periods.”
Houk felt a number of his players’ shots misfired. “We shot just as many pucks over the net as at him,” he said. “We pressured the goalie with less shots last game (in a semifinal win over Boyertown) than we did this game.
“We beat ourselves. I think we’re a better team than them but they got all the bounces tonight, they got the opportunities, and my goaltender was not very strong.”
Winton spoke to the momentum shift that occurred after Dachowski scored the game’ first goal.
“As soon as you score a goal momentum shifts,” he said. “We just kind of kept going from there.”
The Rams did just that. Colin Dachowski’s goal made it a 5-2 game 3:35 into the third period. Ilya Muhkin answered for South and it was a 5-3 game with 8:20 still remaining but Shane Dachowski and Pico closed the door on the Hawks and opened another for themselves; Pennridge will face Penguins Cup champion Thomas Jefferson Saturday at the Skatium in the state championship game (2:00 start).
Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna said Wednesday’s win should eliminate any doubt about the credibility of his program.
“We graduated eight really important guys two year ago,” he said. “The team had to listen, for two years, about us being a one-line hockey team. To win again tonight is a complete and total validation of this program.”
Ice chips—Winton was named the Bobby Clarke Award winner as the tournament’ Most Valuable Player. The rest of the All-Tournament team included Shane Dachowki (the tournament’s leading scorer), Colin Dachowski, Pico, and Blaise Pepe and Kevin Coles from Council Rock South.
Council Rock South 1 1 1—3
Pennridge 2 2 3—7
First-period goals: Shane Dachowski (P) from Andrew Savona, 9:14; Chase Tovsky (CRS) from Blaize Pepe, 10:17; Kevin Pico (P) from Tyler Manto and Savona, 15:30
Second-period goals: Gavin Nisenzon (CRS) from Ilya Kudzinau :23; Shane Dachowski (P) unassisted, 4:18 (pp); Pico (P) from Shane Dachowski, 13:38
Third-period goals: Colin Dachowski (P) from Ryan Mikulich, 3:35; Ilya Muhkin from Nikita Volbuiev and Kevin Koles, 8:40; Shane Dachowski (P) from Pico and Nick Young, 9:20; Savona (P) from Colin Dachowski, 14:30
Shots: Council Rock South 52, Pennridge 29; Saves: Trevor Rakszawski (CRS) 9 and Trey Prozzillo (CRS) 13, Jacob Winston (P) 49
An early statement made a big impact. La Salle scored four goals by the time the game was barely seven minutes old and went on to a 6-3 win over Malvern Prep Wednesday night in the Class AAA Flyers Cup final at Hatfield Ice.
The win gave the top-seeded Explorers (23-3) their second consecutive Flyers Cup title and their 13th in school history, the most for any school in any classification. La Salle will face Pine-Richland, the Penguins Cup AAA champion, Saturday at the Skatium (5:00 start) in the state title game.
The four goals at the start certainly helped La Salle’s cause. None of the four were in themselves knockout blows. But the second-seeded Friars (11-9) who were seeking their 11th Cup, were back on their heels for most of rest of the evening.
“We came out really strong,” said La Salle head coach Wally Muehlbronner, “A lot of energy and just a good, simple approach is what we were looking for. We had some good opportunities and we were lucky to put them in.”
Cam Ross scored two goals for the Explorers. The junior defenseman was named the Bobby Clarke Award winner as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
“It feels amazing,” he said. “It’s awesome to go back to back.”
Ryan Wiley got things started for La Salle when he beat Matt Crawford in the Malvern Prep net 3:42 into the opening period. Ben Falicki made it a 2-0 game just 11 second later. Ross scored his first goal at the 6:41 mark and Grant Lagreca made it a 4-0 game 23 sends after that.
We just couldn’t get an offensive pressure,” said Malvern Prep coach Bill Keenan. “La Salle was in our end a lot and going down four goals in the first six minutes of the game it was hard to come at them.”
Jeremy Jacobs got Malvern Prep on the scoreboard with a power-play goal with 52 seconds left in the period in his team’s first real surge of the evening.
Ross scored his second goal of the game 2:06 into the second frame, it was a shorthanded effort. Pax Hoishik answered for the Friars with a power-play goal at the 5:34 mark.
At one point, Keenan felt his troops were on the verge of getting back in the game.
“After our timeout the guys responded well,” he said. “I thought we took it to them. I think in the second period we outworked them. I think we outshot them (13-10) There was a period of time there when I thought we were buzzing.”
But after Hoshik’s goal, the Friars could get no closer. Charlie Kennedy extended La Salle’s lead once more with 6:07 left ln the game before Jonathan Holt finished the scoring with 47 seconds remaining.
Ross said he had no worries about he and his teammates losing their focus despite leading from start to finish.
“From what (Muehlbronner) teaches us, we know we have to keep going,” he said. “We go until that buzzer hits zero.
Ice chips—Joining Ross on the All-Tournament team were Lagreca, Jacobs, La Salle’s James Carpenter, Malvern Prep’s Brady Doyle, and La Salle goaltender Jake Rossi.
This was Muehlbronner’s 11th Flyers Cup title as a coach, an all-time record.
Malvern Prep 1 1 1—3
La Salle 4 1 1—6
First-period goals: Ryan Wiley (L) from Charlie Kennedy, 3:42; Ben Falicki (L) from James Carpenter, 3:53; Cameron Ross (L) from Wiley and Kennedy, 6:41; Grant Lagreca (L) unassisted, 7:04; Jeremy Jacobs (M) from Brady Doyle and Jonathan Holt, 16:08
Second-period goals: Ross (L) 2:06 (sh); Pax Hoishik (MP) from Holt and Henry Tesoriero, 5:34 (pp)
Third-period goals: Kennedy (L) 10:53; Holt (MP) unassisted, 16:13
Shots: Malvern Prep 34, La Salle 47; Saves: Matt Crawford (MP) 36 and Riley Doyle (MP) 5; Jake Rossi (L) 31
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