Category: Suburban High School Hockey League

Counting Down to the SHSHL Season

Sixteen teams will skate under the Suburban High School Hockey League umbrella during the 2022-23 season. 

The new season will commence on Wednesday, November 2 with 12 teams skating in the National Division (Class AA) and five more competing in the Class A American Division.

The National Division will feature defending league, Flyers Cup, and state champion Pennridge along with Bensalem, Council Rock North, Council Rock South, Central Bucks East, Central Bucks West, Central Bucks South Neshaminy, North Penn, Pennsbury, and Souderton.

Defending champion Abington heads the American Division which will also include Plymouth Whitemarsh, Quakertown, Wissahickon, and newcomer Springfield (Montco).

Teams will not necessarily be in the same classifications for the regular season and the Flyers Cup tournament.

Hatboro-Horsham and William Tennent, which both skated in the American Division a year ago, have combined forces this year and will skate against American Division opponents. The team will play a full league schedule but their results will not be reflected in the standings, nor will they be eligible for the SHSHL playoffs or the Flyers Cup tournament.

20222-23 marks the SHSHL’s 50th season. The league as it is known now made its debut in 1973-74, coincidentally the same 

Pennridge 4 Thomas Jefferson 3 2OT

WEST GOSHEN TOWNSHIP—Pennridge and Thomas Jefferson matched each other stride for stride and shift for shift Saturday afternoon. At day’s end, it was the Rams who prevailed.

Kevin Pico’s goal 12:01 into the second overtime gave his team a 4-3 win over the Jaguars in the Pennsylvania Class AA state championship game in front of a full house at Ice Line.

The victory was well earned.

“That was a fabulous hockey game,” said Pennridge coach Montagna. “It was just a great game.”

Andrew Savona, Jack Lowery, and Tyler Manto scored regulation goals for Pennridge, which completed its season at 22-0-1.

The Rams enjoyed a 2-1 lead going into the third period but soon found themselves back on their heels.  Colby Bilski scored his second goal of the game off a turnover 3:43 into the period to draw Thomas Jefferson (21-2) even before setting up Nick Stock during a power play to put the Jaguars up 3-2 at 7:31.

Lowery noted and his teammates stayed on an emotional even keel at that point, despite being behind.

“There was not an ounce of panic on our bench,” he said. “We were calm. “We knew that we’ve come back in multiple games before. Every championship game we’ve been in (In the SHSHL and Flyers Cup finals) we’ve been down and come back and won. And there wasn’t a doubt in our minds that we were going to come out in this game on top.”

Indeed, the Rams responded. Tyler Manto tied the game with 5:22 left in the regulation to leave the two teams searching for whatever they might have left for overtime.

“We did not have a lot left in overtime,” Montagna said. 

In the end Pico scored the most significant goal of his career, after Manto and Savona worked the pick down low. The goal came off a rebound of Savona’s original shot

“That’s probably the biggest goal I’m ever going to score my whole hockey career,” Pico said.

Had it not been for Ryan Pico’s work in the Pennridge net, the drama might have ended differently. The senior goaltender faced 65 shots and turned 62 of them aside against an opponent Montagna called the best his team faced all season (the Rams were outshot 62-49).

“He was unbelievable,” Kevin Pico said of his brother. I’ve never seen him play that good in my whole life.”

Montagna echoed those sentiments. “Ryan Pico was absolutely incredible,” he said. “He kept us in there”

The postgame awards pentation and celebration was an emotional time for Lowery, one of the Pennridge captains.

“I feel like I’m top of the world right now,” he said. “No one can take me from that. We said all year, ‘Until this game is over, the job is not finished.’ And it feels great. The job is finally finished for us. 

“That’s a hell of a hockey team we played today. It really could have gone either way. But we came out, played our game and came out on top. That’s just all we could do.”

Thomas Jefferson 0 1 2 0 0—3

Pennridge 2 0 1 0 1—4

First-period goals: Andrew Savona (P) from Tyler Manto, 1:13; Jack Lowery from Aeryk Lehrhaupt, 9:41 (pp)

Second-period goal: Colby Biski (TJ) from Lance Smith, 10:10 (pp)

Third-period goals: Bilski (TJ) from Brett Smith, 3:43; Lance Smith (TJ) from Nick Stock and Bilski, 7:31 (pp); Manto (P) from Colin Dachowski, 11:38

Second-overtime goal: Kevin Pico (P) from Manto and Savona, 12:01

Shots: Thomas Jefferson 65, Pennridge 49; Saves: Billy Siemon (TJ) 45, Ryan Pico (P) 62

Pennridge Wins Flyers Cup Over Council Rock South

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP— If a single word were used to describe Pennridge’s performance Tuesday night, ‘relentless’ would be fitting. The Rams gradually wore down Council Rock South en route to a 5-1 win over the Golden Hawks in the Class AA Flyers Cup championship game in front of an overflow crowd at Hatfield Ice.

Shane Dachowski and Kevin Pico each scored two goals as Pennridge (21-0-1), the tournament’s top seed, claimed the first Flyers Cup in school history.

The Rams will conclude their journey by facing Penguins Cup champion Thomas Jefferson for the state title Saturday at 2:00 at Ice Line.

Pico was the recipient of the Bobby Clarke Award as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player while Dachowski, with six goals and three assists, led the tournament in scoring.

It was an emotional evening for Jeff Montagna, the Rams’ head coach. “Words can’t describe how satisfying this is,” he said. “I think what I’m most satisfied with is the way they did it. The way they did it and the ability to deal with expectation (of winning the Flyer Cup) all year.

“I really don’t know how you do that and play as well as they did.”

The third-seeded Golden Hawks (16-2-2-1) scored first. Blaise Pepe beat Ryan Pico in the Pennridge net 9:23 into the opening period. But that was all that South could manage, despite having a 46-36 advantage in shots.

Kevin Pico tied the game for the Rams from close range at the 13:16 mark when he bested South netminder Carson Lopez, then put his team in front for good 2:26 into the second frame. Shane Dachowski added back-to-back goals in the second period and Colin Dachowski provided one more in the third.

South coach Joe Houk was without forward Matt Constantini, who was out of the lineup with an injury. He noted his team couldn’t build on its early goal.

“We didn’t show up for all three periods,” he said. “We showed up for the first (nine) minutes and then just stopped working. (Pennridge) outworked us.”

Kevin Pico noted the Rams’ overcame a slow start. “We were a bit hesitant at first,” he said. “Nervous. But then, after that, we were just fine.”

The Rams’ defensive effort was particularly noteworthy since Aidan Boyle, arguably their premier blueliner, was serving a suspension due to his actions in the Rams’ Cup semifinal win over Avon Grove. With Boyle not available (he will also miss the state championship game), Montagna was forced to reposition his troops.

“Credit to Trey Mikulich and Jacob Lizak,” he said. “They logged a lot more ice time tonight then they have been. They were really good back there. They only thing we tweaked a little bit, we put (Tyler) Manto back there some and I thought we didn’t take as many chances.”

Ryan Pico lauded the collective efforts of his defense corps. “It was amazing,” he said. “We were down one of our best defensemen and to have everybody else play the way they did means a lot to our team.”

Notes: The Rams lost the Flyers Cup championship game to Conestoga in 2008. They fell to eventual champion Haverford in last year’s semifinals.

 The all-tournament team included forwards Kevin Pico, Andrew Savona, and Shane Dachowski, all from Pennridge, along with defensemen Colin Dachowski (Pennridge) and Kevin Koles (Council Rock South), plus Lopez in goal. 

Saturday’s game will be part of a tripleheader. West Chester East and Norwin will meet in the Class A final at 11:00 while Malvern Prep and Peters Township will play for the Class AAA title at 5:00

Council Rock South 1 0 0—1

Pennridge 1 3 1—5

First-period goals: Blaise Pepe (CRS) from Julian Wagenmann and David Vergules, 9:23; Kevin Pico (P) from Colin Dachowski, 13:16

Second-period goals: Pico (P) from Andrew Savona, 2:26; Shane Dachowski (P) from Aeryk Lehrhaupt and Jack Lowery, 4:00; Shane Dachowski (P) from Lehrhaupt, 15:05

Third-periods goal; Colin Dachowski (P) from Shane Dachowski and Lehrhaupt, 12:52

Shots: Council Rock South 46 Pennnridge 36; Saves: Carson Lopez (CRS) 31, Ryan Peco (P) 45

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Flyers Cup Class AA Finals Preview

Council Rock South and Pennridge will square off Tuesday night in the Class AA Flyers Cup final. Game time is 7:45 at Hatfield Ice.

Here’s how the two teams match up.

Council Rock South

Coach: Joe Houk

Record: 16-1-2-1

This tournament: Defeated Abington 5-1, Downingtown West 4-1, Haverford 4-1

Key players: Kevin Koles: 13 goals and 20 assists for 33 points during the regular season, 2 goals and 3 assists in the Flyers Cup. 

David Vergules: 11-12-23 during the regular season, 5-1-6 in the Flyers Cup; 

Julian Wagenmann: 13-9-22 during the regular season, 1-4-5 in the Flyers Cup; 

Blaise Pepe: 7-15-22 during the regular season, 0-1-1 in the Flyers Cup; 

Carson Lopez: 1.18 GAA and .958 save percentage in three Flyers Cup games.

Flyers Cup history: Won Class AA Flyers Cups in 2009, ’11, ‘12. Lost to Downingtown East in the 2010 finals.

Pennridge

Coach: Jeff Montagna

Record:  20-0-1

This tournament: Defeated Ridley 5-2, Downingtown East 7-5, Avon Grove 5-1

Key players: Kevin Pico: 18 goals 15 assists for 33 points during the regular season, 2-4-6 in the Flyers Cup

Aeryk Lehrhaupt 17-8-25 in the regular season 3-1-4 in the Flyers Cup 

Shane Dachowski 18-7-25 in the regular season, 4-2-6 in the Flyers Cup

Tyler Manto 9-13-22 in the regular season, 2-3-5 in the Flyers Cup

Ryan Pico 2.67 GAA and .907 save percentage in three Flyers Cup games.

Flyers Cup history: Pennridge reached the Class AA finals in 2008 and lost to Conestoga.

Notes: This game will be the fourth between the two teams this season.

12/2 Pennridge 5 CR South 0

2/16 Pennridge 3 CR South 3

3/3 Pennridge 5 CR South 4 OT (SHSHL Class AA Final)

Winner advances to the state Class AA championship game at 2:00 at Ice Line

Flyers Cup Championship Schedule

                              

Monday, March 21          

Class AAA

Malvern Prep vs. St. Joseph’s Prep, 6:30 at Ice Line

Class A

West Chester East vs. Springfield Delco 8:30 at Ice Line

Tuesday March 22

Class AA

Pennridge vs. Council Rock South   7:45 at Ice Line

Pennridge 8 Avon Grove 1

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP— It was hockey’s equivalent of a first-round knockout. Pennridge scored three times before the contest was nine minutes old and went on to an 8-1 win over Avon Grove Wednesday night at Hatfield Ice Arena.

The top-seeded Rams (20-0-1) will face third-seeded Council Rock South in an all-SHSHL final at this same venue, likely next Monday or Tuesday. Fifth-seeded Avon Grove closed at 14-8-0-1.

As impressive as Pennridge has been this season coach, Jeff Montagna felt his team reached a new level on this night.

“I thought was by far the best game they’ve played all year,” he said. “On the biggest stage. And in the biggest game of their lives up until that moment.”

Andrew Savona the Rams off to a fast start when he beat Justin Mackey in the Red Devils’ net 4:16 into the opening period off a feed from Kevin Pico. Shane Dachowski followed at 8:09 and Pico extended the Rams’ lead just 30 seconds later.

Jack Lowery, who assisted on two of the Rams goals, said the Rams were energized by the fast start. “The past few games we’ve been coming out a little slow,” he said, “and going down early. “We talked in the locker room before this game; the biggest thing is to come out here, score a couple goals fast.

“(Avon Grove is looking up to us. We’re the one seed. We want them chasing us, playing our game and get them off theirs. That’s exactly what we did tonight.”

Savona and Dachowski finished the evening with two goals each. Pico had two assists to go with his goal. A total of six players had multi-point games.

Lowery pointed out that the Rams’ fast-paced style is easier to implement with veteran Ryan Pico in goal.

“We can rely on Ryan every game,” he said. “Every game, no matter what, he’s back there making good saves for us. When you have a goalie like that, you can take some chances.”

Avon Grove’s only goal was a power-play effort off the stick of Brendan Chandler 6:33 into the third period.

The Flyers Cup final and possibly a state championship game are still ahead but Lowery, a senior knows his time with the Rams is drawing to a close. That realization has sharpened his focus.

“These are the last games I’m going to be playing competitively in youth hockey,” he said. “All I want to do is win, that’s all we want to do.”

Avon Grove 0 0 1—1

Pennridge 3 1 1 3—8

First-period goals: Andrew Savona (P) from Kevin Pico, 4:16; Shane Dachowski (P) from Aidan Boyle and Jack Lowery, 8:09; Pico (P) from Tyler Manto, 8:39

Second-period goals: Manto (P) from Dachowski, 11:49 (sh)

Third-period goals: Savona (P) from Pico, 1:32; Brendan Chandler (AG) from Will Gorman, 6:33 (pp); Aeryk Lehrhaupt (P) unassisted, 10:57 (pp); Ryan Schuler (PP) from David, 14:22; Dachowski (P) from Lowery and Schuler,16:24

Shots: Avon Grove 26, Pennridge 39; Saves: Justin Mackley (AG) 31, Ryan Pico (Pr) 25

Updated Flyers Cup Schedule as of 3-11-21

Tuesday, March 15

Class A Semifinals

West Chester East 6 Hershey 1

Springfield-Delco 6 Palmyra 1

Girls First Round

Unionville 3 Kingsway 0

5 Pennridge Conestoga 3

 Wednesday, March 16

Class AAA Semifinals

St. Joseph’s Prep 2, La Salle 0

Malvern Prep 6 Holy Ghost Prep 2

Class AA Semifinals

Pennridge 8 vs Avon Grove 1

Council Rick South 4 Haverford 1

Thursday, March 17

Girls Quarterfinal

Downingtown West 8 Pennridge 1

NJ/Delaware

Friday, March 18

Salesianum 4 Moorsetown 1

Eastern 10 vs Shawnee 3

Pennridge 7 Downingtown East 5

On Pennsylvania scholastic hockey’s biggest stage, and with the game in the balance Aidan Boyle came up big. The Pennridge senior delivered two assists and scored the winning goal, all in the third period as Pennridge scored four times in the final stanza to score a 7-5 win over Downingtown East Thursday night in a Flyers Cup Class AA quarterfinal at Hatfield Ice.

The top-seeded Rams (19-0-1) will face Avon Grove in a semifinal game next Wednesday at 8:40 at Hatfield Ice.

The fans that filled the rink Thursday night got their money’s worth. There was little to choose between the Cougars and Rams who went into the tied at 3-3.

Jack Wolf’s third goal of the game gave eighth-seeded Downingtown East a 4-3 lead at the 2:37 mark but goals from Colin Dachowski and Andrew Savona put Pennridge up 5-4 with 6:41 left in regulation. Boyle assisted on both goals.

Parker Nassour tied the game for the Cougars with 5:13 left on a shot from between the circles that Pennridge goaltender Ryan Pico couldn’t handle.

The deciding sequence was set up when the Cougars’ Sean Woods was called for tripping with 3:08 remaining, one of 16 penalties called in the game, all minors. During the subsequent power play, Boyle played the puck to Kevin Pico behind the net who in turn moved to the side of the net and tried to tuck the disk inside the right post before sliding the disk across to Boyle who put it behind Downingtown East goaltender Ian Warter with 1:36 remaining in regulation.

“We know the third period is our best period of hockey that we always play,” Boyle said. “We always come out hot in the third period and we knew we had it. We just had to work hard.”

Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna credited his team for stepping up when Ryan Pico, one of the area’s best goaltenders, was at less than peak form.

“Pico has been our rock for three years,” he said. “He wasn’t on top of his game, we picked him up.

“You watch the NCAA basketball tournament, the team that wins always has one game where they’re on the ropes. The words I like to use are facing their mortality. And they did that, and like they have all year they responded. They do that every game.”

The teams were never separated by more than a goal until Shane Dachowski scored into an empty net in the final minute. But Boyle was confident the Rams would prevail.

“We all knew that we weren’t losing this game,” he said. “We just went out there and said ‘We’re playing next week, we’re not going home tonight.’”

Downingtown East 2 1 2—5

Pennridge 2 1 4—7

First-period goals: Jacob McCallion (DE) from Matthew Sano and Carter Vela, 2:01; Kevin Pico (P) from Tyler Manto, 3:36; Jack Wolf (DE) from Vela and Aaron Harclerode, 7:38; Shane Dachowski (P) from Jack Lowery, 14:06 (pp)

Second-period goals: Aeryk Lehrhaupt (P) from Lowery and Colin Dachowski, 4:55; Wolf (DE) unassisted, 6:16 (sh)

Third-period goals: Wolf (DE) from Parker Nassour and Sean Woods,  2:37; Colin Dachowski (P) from Aidan Boyle, 6:17; Andrew Savona (P) from Boyle, 10:19; Nassour (DE) from Wolf and Brody Matthews, 11:47; Boyle (P) from Pico, 15:34 (pp); Shane Dachowski (P) from Lehrhaupt, 16:05 (en)

Shots: Downingtown East 32, Pennridge 46; Saves: Ian Warter (DE) 39, Ryan Pico (Pr) 27

Flyers Cup Schedule for Thursday, March 10

Class A Quarterfinals

West Chester East 11 Radnor 1

Hershey 3 vs 5 Council Rock North 0

Palmyra 3 West Chester Bayard Rustin 1

Springfield Delco 4 West Chester Henderson 1

Class AAA First Round

4 Holy Ghost Prep 7 Father Judge 2

3 St. Joseph’s Prep 6 Cardinal O’Hara 1

Class AA Quarterfinals

 Pennridge 7 Downingtown East 5

Avon Grove 6 Pennsbury 2

Council Rock South 4 Downingtown West 1

Haverford 6 Neshaminy 5