HATFIELD TWP. — La Salle scored quickly and in bunches against Malvern Prep in the Flyers Cup AAA championship game Wednesday evening.
The top-seeded Explorers scored four goals in the first 7:04 of the first period and that proved to be enough as the defending champions went back-to-back with a 6-3 win over the second-seeded Friars at Hatfield Ice Arena.
“It feels amazing,” La Salle’s Cameron Ross, who was named MVP, said. “Honestly, when I think about it, I honestly wish we could’ve won it in OT again to feel that experience, but it’s awesome to go back-to-back and we want to go win (the state championship) on Saturday against Pine Richland.
“We came out slow (in the semifinals against Holy Ghost Prep). We practiced on Monday and our job was come out hard today and that’s what we did. We scored four goals right off the bat.”
La Salle (23-3) built its lead with two sets of two goals. The first two goals were scored 11 seconds apart while the third and fourth goals were within 23 seconds of each other.
Ryan Wiley and Benjamin Falicki scored the first two goals, both putting away rebounds. Wiley’s goal, courtesy of Charles Kennedy, came 3:42 into the game while Falicki’s, assisted by James Carpenter, came at 3:53.
Less than three minutes later, the Explorers were at it again. Ross’s wrist shot from the point knuckled into the back of the net at 6:41 before Grant Lagreca made it 4-0 at 9:56.
“As soon as you put those pucks in the back of the net,” Ross said, “it’s momentum and we don’t let off the gas as soon as that happens.”
“It’s just momentum,” Kennedy echoed. “We capitalized on the opportunities we had and we did what we had to do working the puck low, getting in front of the net, causing traffic. It was a great start that helped us the entire game obviously.”
The Atlantic Prep Athletic Conference rivals traded goals the rest of the way. Jeremy Jacobs, Pax Hioshik and Jonathan Holt scored for the Friars (11-9) while Ross and Kennedy added goals in the second and third periods, respectively, for the Explorers.
Holt stuffed the stat sheet for Malvern Prep, totaling a goal and two assists in the championship game.
Ross led La Salle with two goals after scoring one in the team’s first 25 games of the season. His second goal of the game was shorthanded. He carried the puck the length of the ice and, from the right side, beat the goalie to the near-post to give the Explorers a 5-1 lead early in the second period.
Kennedy finished with a goal and two assists. He lit the lamp with a wraparound to make it 6-2 with 6:34 left in the third period.
“I saw a teammate, Pat Brace, crashing low,” Kennedy recalled. “The goalie was saying, ‘Oh pick him up, he’s low’ and he was hugging the post. I just got around with it.”
La Salle’s goalie Jacob Rossi stopped 31 of the 34 shots he faced while Malvern Prep’s Matthew Crawford stopped 36 of the 42 shots he saw. Riley Doyle played the few final minutes for the Friars and stopped four shots.
La Salle will try to win its second straight state championship Saturday against Penguins Cup champion Pine Richland. The puck drops at 5 p.m. at the Haverford Skatium.
La Salle 6, Malvern Prep 3
Malvern Prep 1 1 1 – 3
La Salle 4 1 1 – 6
First Period
Ryan Wiley (La Salle) assisted by Charles Kennedy 3:42
Benjamin Falicki (La Salle) assisted by James Carpenter 3:53
Cameron Ross (La Salle) assisted by Ryan Wiley, Charles Kennedy 6:41
Grant Lagreca (La Salle) 7:04
Jeremy Jacobs (Malvern Prep) assisted by Brady Doyle, Jonathan Holt, powerplay 16:08
Second Period
Cameron Ross (La Salle), shorthanded 2:06
Pax Hoishik (Malvern Prep) assisted by Jonathan Holt, Henry Tesoriero 5:34
Third Period
Charles Kennedy (La Salle), powerplay 10:53
Jonathan Holt (Malvern Prep) assisted by Brady Doyle, Jeremy Jacobs 16:13
Saves
MP: Matthew Crawford 36, Riley Doyle 4.
LS: Jacob Rossi: 31.
