Montagna Announces Retirement

Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna announced Thursday night that he will step down at the end of the season.

Montagna is in his seventh season behind the Rams’ bench.

His teams won Class AA Flyers Cup and state championships in 2022 and again last season. They also claimed SHSHL National Division titles in 2019 and ’22.

Montagna, who also coaches at the club level, said he needed a break from high-school hockey.

“I’m burnt out,” he said. “I can’t do this if I can’t give what needs to be given to it. I’m taking a step back and dealing with club hockey next year.

“I want to continue coaching high school but I need a little bit of a breather. Whether it’s a year, two years, whatever it is, it’s time.”

C.R. South 5 Pennridge 2

Jake Weiner changed the course of a hockey game Thursday night. With he and his Council Rock South teammates trailing Pennridge 2-0 almost in the blink of an eye, Weiner stepped up and grabbed hold of the affair.

The junior set up Jordan Sarne for his team’s first goal and scored two others before the first period ended. He capped off his night’s work with an empty-net goal as the Golden left Grundy Arena with a 5-2 win that puts South back in first place the SHSHL National Division race, one point in front of North Penn and in control of its destiny in the division title chase.

If South (17-2, 16-1 in the division) scores a regulation win in its regular-season finale against Neshaminy next Wednesday it will be the top seed for the divisional playoffs regardless of how North Penn fares against Council Rock North the same evening.

Weiner, who now has 39 goals and 16 goals for 55 points this season, reached the 100-goal plateau for his South career Thursday night and his contributions were sorely needed.

Nathan McKean gave Pennridge (12-6, 11-6 in the division) a 1-0 lead with a rocket directly off an offensive right-circle faceoff just 47 seconds into the game. Landon Bishop made it a 2-0 game at the 1:21 mark off a spurt down the left wing.

The Hawks took some big punches early on but got off the canvas.

“We just had the mindset we had to come back,” Weiner said. “We got kicked in the teeth early but just came back and worked.”

Sarne’s goal came off a shot from the top of the left circle to make it a 2-1 game just 2:41 into the period. Weiner tied the game with five minutes left in the opening session scored what was officially the game-winning goal when Jacob Winton in the Pennridge net lost control a rebound with 2:12 remaining the period.

The pace of the game slowed somewhat from there. Both teams had some holes in the lineup for an assortment of reasons but Rams in particular were hurt by the absence of leading scorer Shane Dachowski who was serving a suspension. They also lost James Rush to injury in the second period

Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna found himself working with just two lines and the situation took its toll on his players, who exhausted their energy reserves.

“We played without our top three scorers,” he said. “We tolled two lines to the end of the game and they played their [tails] off.

“They did exactly what I sked and they scratched and clawed for every inch of ice out there.”

Jagger Smith extended South’s led to two goals when he scored in the midst of a goal-mouth scramble with one second left in the second period. Weiner completed his hat trick with 31 seconds left in the game.

Senior defenseman Peter Pereborow said the Hawks’ comeback was due to the player embracing a team-first mentality.

“We turned it around it around with a ‘We’ mentality,” he said. “Like {Coach Joe Houk} said in the locker room like the Eagles’ offensive line, our job is just play as a team. Not ‘I.’ Work, just keep grinding.”

Ice chips—The Golden Hawks drew 14 penalties so Houk will sit out the regular-season finale.SSF

Pennridge 2 0 0

C. R. South 3 1 1—5

First-period goals: Nathan McKean (P) from Ryan Burke, :47; Landon Bishop (P) from Burke and Dean Venner, 1:21; Jordan Sarne (CRS) from Jake Weiner, 2:41; Weiner (CRS) from Jeremy Rahyer and Jackson Mosley, 12:00; Weiner (CRS) from Mosley and Jagger Smith, 14:48;

Second-period goal: Smith (CRS) from Jacob Cohen, 16:59;

Third-period goal: Weiner (CRS) unassisted, 16:29

Shots: Pennridge 30m C.R. South 39; Saves: Jacob Winton (P) 34. Trey Prozzillo (CRS) 28

SHSHL Standings as of 2-13-25

National Division W L T PTS OTW OTL

X North Penn (16-2) 15 2 0 60 1 1

X C.R. South (16-2) 15 1 0 57 3 0

X C.B. South (13-5) 13 3 0 49 3 0

X Pennridge (12-5) 11 5 0 47 0 3

X C.B. East (8-8-1) 8 7 1 34 0 0

Pennsbury (6-12) 6 11 0 26 0 2

Neshaminy (6-11-1) 5 11 1 23 0 1

Souderton (5-12) 5 11 0 21 0 0

C.R. North (3-12) 3 14 0 12 0 0

C.B. West (0-14) 0 16 0 0 0 0

American Division W L T PTS OTW OTL

X@ P-W (14-0) 13 0 0 56 0 0

Hatboro-Horsham (6-7) 7 6 0 29 1 2

Springfield (5-8) 7 8 0 28 1 1

Wissahickon (7-8) 7 7 0 27 1 0

Abington (0-13) 0 13 0 0 0 0

X—assured playoff berth

@—assured regular-season title

SHSHL National Division Recap 2-12-25

Four National Division games had playoff implications on Wednesday night

Council Rock South 8 Souderton 5

Jake Weiner scored five goals as the Golden Hawks stayed in the hunt for the SHSHL’s National Division title Wednesday night at Grundy Arena. Jeremy Rayher scored twice for South, which improved to 15-1 on the season and 16-2 overall.

Jagger Smith added three assists.

Souderton dropped to 5-12 overall and 5-11 in the division. Nick Smith scored all five goals for the Big Red which remains alive in the hunt for the division’s sixth and final playoff spot.

Pennridge 3 Neshaminy 1

The Rams scored twice in the third period to beat the ‘Skins Wednesday night. Shane Dachowski, Nolan Shaw, and James Rush scored for Pennridge which improved to 11-5 in divisional play, 12-5 overall.

Tyler Hathaway scored for Neshaminy (6-11-1, 5-11-1 in the division).

Central Bucks South 16 Council Rock North 3

Joey Slobodrian scored for goals for the Titans Wednesday night in a game that was halted after the second period.

Ten different players scored goals for South which improved to 13-5 overall and 13-3 in the division.

Dominic Gibson, Logan Hood, and Brennan Thierolf each scored twice while eight other players scored one goal each.

The Indians fell to 3-14 overall and in the division.

North Penn 9 Pennsbury 2

Samuel Norton scored three goals and added four assists as the Knights downed the Falcons Wednesday night at Grundy Arena. Cole Pluck added two goals and three assists.

North Penn broke the game open with six goals in the second period.

The win kept North Penn (16-2, 15-2 in divisional play) one point in front of Council Rock South in the battle for the National Division title. The Golden Hawks however have a game in hand.

North Penn will close its regular season against Council Rock North next Wednesday.

Pennsbury (6-12, 6-11) has a three-point lead in the battle for the final division playoff spot heading into a matchup with Souderton next Thursday.

Flyers Cup Rankings 2-10-25

Class AAA

Holy Ghost Prep
La Salle
St. Joseph’s Prep
Malvern Prep
Salesianum

Class AA

Council Rock South
North Penn
Downingtown East
Haverford High
Central Bucks South

Class A

Garnet Valley
Kennett
West Chester Henderson
Penncrest
West Chester East

Girls

Avon Grove
Downingtown West
Conestoga
West Chester Henderson
Radnor

This marks the final set of Flyers Cup rankings prior to the Flyers Cup Selection Show on Sunday, February 23. The show will air at 8 PM that evening on the Flyers Cup You Tube Channel.

C.B. South 9 Pennsbury 2

Shoot early and shoot often. That’s been a winning formula for Central Bucks South for some time now and that was the case once more on Thursday night. The Titans tallied 52 shots on goal and nine found their intended target in a 9-2 win over Pennsbury at Hatfield Ice Arena.

“That’s classic C.B. South hockey said assistant coach Josh Sklar. “Put pucks in deep. Go get them, put pucks on net. Go to work. Pressure them all game long.”

Joey Slobodrian found the back of the net twice and seven other players scored one goal each to enable the Titans (12-6, 12-3 in the division) to move into third place in the division standings. The result assures they will be seeded no lower than fourth for the upcoming National Division playoffs.

Senior Ryan Frey assisted on Slobodrian’s game-opening goal 6:23 into the first period before scoring a goal of his own just over five minutes later.

“It was very important to get off to a fast start,” Frey said, “because we might see {Pennsbury} in the playoffs so getting off to a fast start just shows them we’re the better team.”

Ryan Montagna extended South’s lead to 3-0 before the first period ended.

Shane Gleisner got the Falcons (6-11, 6-10 in the division) on the scoreboard five minutes into the second frame but Slobodrian and Dominic Gibson scored goals 52 seconds apart to assert the Titans’ hold on the proceedings. Jacob Sarver’s goal made it 5-2 with 5:43 still to go in the period but the Falcons’ hopes were dashed when Keith Waldron, Jake Stepp, Jeff Kvecher, and Logan Hood all scored for South.

Both teams lost a player when South’s Sean Cutter and Pennsbury’s Chris Sarver got into a scrap with 10:41 remaining in regulation. Cutter drew a double minor for roughing plus a game misconduct for accumulating four penalties during the game. Sarver was accessed a major penalty for fighting plus am automatic game misconduct.

Both players will serve one-game suspensions but the loss of Sarver, one of the Falcons’ top scorers, will be particularly troublesome when Pennsbury, who is trying to hold on to the division’s final playoff spot, faces division leader North Penn on Wednesday.

“It was not our night,” said Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley. “We played a very poor game in our D-zone and got behind the ball too quick.

“The first three goals were ‘Third guy high’ unmarked That’s simple hockey, you really shouldn’t make the same mistake three times.

“It was not our best. It was a game we would have loved to win. But they executed their game plan and we didn’t.”

Ice chips—Five of the six division playoff qualifiers have been determined. North Penn, Council Rock South, Central Bucks South, Pennridge, and Central Bucks East have all qualified, although seedings have not been finalized. Pennsbury has a three-point edge over Neshaminy for the sixth and final spot. The Falcons and ‘Skins each have two games remaining.

Pennsbury 0 2 0

C.B. South 3 2 4—9

First-period goals: Joey Slobodrian (CBS) from Sean Cutter and Ryan Frey, 6:23; Frey (CBS) from Slobodrian and Alex Cannon, 11:34; Ryan Montagna (CBS) from Jeff Kvecher and Keith Waldron, 15:17

Second-period goals: Shane Gleisner (P) from Chris Sarver, 5:00; Slobodrian (CBS) from Cutter, 7:54; Dominic Gibson (CBS) from Logan Hood, 8:46; Jacob Sarver (P) from Logan Weed, 11:17

Third-period goals: Waldron (CBS) from Kvecher and Braxton Lord, 4:42; Jake Stepp (CBS) from Kvecher, 10:56 (pp); Kvecher (CBS) from Peter Herring, 14:27; Hood (CBS) from Stepp 15:39

Shots: Pennsbury 20, C.B. South 52; Saves: Brendan Milliken (P) 43, Ewan McMenemy (CBS) 18

SHSHL Update 1-4-25

National Division W L T PTS OTW OTL

X C.R. South (15-1) 14 0 0 53 3 0

X North Penn (14-2) 13 2 0 52 0 1

X C.B. South (11-4) 11 3 0 41 3 0

X Pennridge (10-5) 9 5 0 39 0 3

C.B. East (8-8) 8 7 0 24 0 0

Pennsbury (5-10) 5 9 0 22 0 2

Neshaminy (5-10) 4 10 0 15 0 1

Souderton (4-10) 4 9 0 12 0 0

C.R. North (3-12) 3 12 0 12 0 0

C.B. West (0-14) 0 14 0 0 0 0

X-Clinched playoff spot

American Division W L T PTS OTW OTL

X@ Plymouth Whitemarsh (14-0) 13 0 0 52 0 0

Wissahickon (7-4) 7 5 0 27 1 0

Hatboro-Horsham (6-7) 6 6 0 25 1 2

Springfield (5-8) 5 8 0 20 1 1

Abington (0-12) 0 12 0 0 0 0

National Division Scoring G A Pts

Shane Dachwski Pr 29 23 52

Jeremy Rayher 26 26 52

Cole Pluck NP 19 26 45

Samuel Norton NP 19 22 41

James Rush Pr 19 21 40

Jackson Accardi CRN 23 15 38

Jake Weiner CRS 25 11 36

Nolan Shingle NP 19 14 33

Jordan Sarne CRS 13 19 32

Matthew Cross Soud 19 11 30

American Division Scoring G A Pts

Dan Guller PW 16 20 46

Vincent Graziani HH 15 19 34

Nathan Nemchinov HH 19 13 32

Blake Ambler PW 16 12 28

Cooper Kanze PW 14 14 28

Owen Quinn Spr. 11 15 26

Ben Raebiger Wiss 19 6 25

Victor Wilkins HH 16 7 23

Darius Graziani HH 9 14 23

Logan Honeycutt Wiss. 13 7 20

Luke Smith PW 7 13 20

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SHSHL Sets Playoff Dates

The ‘second season’ in the Suburban High School Hockey League will commence on Monday, February 24. Six teams will qualify for the playoffs in the National Division (all are Class AA) and three more in the American Division (Class A).

Two National Division first-round games are set for Opening Night, with the third seed taking on the sixth seed and the fourth seed facing the fifth seed. The winners will advance to the semifinals on Wednesday, February 26 to join the top two seeds who will receive first-round byes.

The American Division semifinal, matching the second and third seeds, is also set for Wednesday, February 26^th; the finals in both classes are set for the following evening, Thursday, February 27^th.

SHSHL Playoff results will not impact the seedings and selections for the Flyers Cup tournament, which will be announced on Sunday, February 23, eight days before the start of the tournament.

C.B. East 5 Pennsbury 3

Jaden Young made a big impression Wednesday night. He scored three goals and assisted on a fourth, as Central Bucks East downed Pennsbury 5-3 at Hatfield Ice in a SHSHL National Division matchup with significant postseason implications.

The win moved the Patriots past the Falcons into fifth place in the division standings. It also gave them a sweep of the two-game season series.

Young spoke to the significance of the occasion.

“This game was especially important,” the senior said. “We need to get as many wins as as we can. We need to win the games we need to win.

“In reality, we need to play our game every game regardless of who the competition is.”

Ethan Cenci gave East (7-9, 7-8 in the division) the lead with 2:43 left in the first period when he won a race for a loose puck on the right wing and went on to put a backhander past Falcon goaltender Brendan Millikan. Ben Dempsey made a 2-0 game with 29 seconds left when a rebound of Young’s shot squirted free.

Kevin DeRosa scored for Pennsbury (5-11, 5-10) 2:19 into the second frame but then Young stepped up, scoring two goals 20 seconds apart to give his team a 4-1 lead 3:22 into the period.

Jacob Sarver scored a power play goal for the Falcons with 2:39 left in the period but Pennsbury could get no closer. Young completed his hat trick 1:21 into the third period. Shane Hicks closed out the scoring for Pennsbury with 10:17 left in the game.

East coach Jeff Mitchell said his team’s quick start was huge in light of later stumbles.

“We got great momentum to start the first period,” he said. “We started taking a couple of penalties a let them back into the game; teams make us pay when we go down a man.”

Mitchell noted that Young’s back-to-back goals swung momentum in the Patriots’ direction.

“We doubled up on him within one shift,” he said. “That just goes to show just how big a difference maker {Young} can be.”

Cole Breen got the win in goal, stopping 15 shots along the way. Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley said Breen’s impact on the game was huge.

“We had a lot of great chances in the first period,” he said. “Their goalie had a great night. You just hope you score on some of the chances you worked so hard for. We just couldn’t get them to go in.

Pennsbury 0 2 1—3

C.B. East 2 2 1—5

First-period goals: Ethan Cenci (CBE) from David Brown, 14:17; Ben Dempsey (CBE) from Jaden Young and Brown, 16:31 (pp)

Second-period goals: Kevin DeRosa (P) from Chris Sarver, 2:19; Young (CBE) from Gavin Wilmer, 3:02; Young (CBE) from Cenci, 3:22; Jacob Sarver (P) from Chris Sarver, 14:21(pp)

Third-period goals: Young (CBE) unassisted, 1:21; Shane Hicks (P) from DeRosa, 6:43

Shots: Pennsbury 18, C.B. East 28; Saves: Brendan Millikan (CBE) 23, Cole Breen (CBE) 15

C.R. South 9 C.B. South 7

By Karen Sangillo

Council Rock South scored early and often, and it was a good thing for them.

The Golden Hawks struggled to find the net later in the game and escaped with a 9-7 victory over Central Bucks South in Wednesday’s matchup at Grundy Arena.

CR South got out of the gate quickly, scoring three consecutive goals by Jake Weiner, Jeremy Rayher and Jackson Mosley before the Titans’ Jeffrey Kvecher found the cage for their only goal of the period. Rayher and Weiner added one more apiece to give the Golden Hawks a 5-1 advantage at the end of the first.

It looked like a comfortable lead, but it wasn’t. CB South scored four unanswered goals in four and a half minutes to tie it up in the second frame. Peter Herring (on a power play), Sean Cutter, Dominic Gibson and Cutter were the goal scorers for the Titans, whose defense stymied the Golden Hawks for much of the second period.

Weiner finally broke the deadlock with a goal for CR South, and Jordan Sarne added another on a power play to give the Golden Hawks a 7-5 lead after two periods.

Both teams took a lot of shots on goal in the third period, with CR South taking 17 of its 45 and CB South 12 of its 35 in that frame. Both teams struck twice. CR South’s Weiner scored the first goal of the period while the Golden Hawks were shorthanded and Mosley had the last, while CB South’s Ryan Frey scored back-to-back goals in between the two, the first of which was on a power play.

“This was probably the hardest game we’ve played all year,” said Jonah Weston, a senior for CR South. “We got a big lead but then they came back and tied it. When that happened, I knew we’d come back and start playing our game and as soon as the third period started we were right back in there.

“This is definitely a very satisfying win.”

CR South won the first meeting of the year between the two 6-0, on Nov. 14.

“We definitely did not expect that second period,” said Mosley, a senior. “I think we got a little complacent, but we got right back in it and played hard.

“Even when it was tied, we absolutely thought that we were going to win. It was definitely nerve-wracking, though.

“This was the closest game we’ve had all year and definitely a tough one. This was a lesson learned for us. We need to stick to what we do best.”

The Golden Hawks remain undefeated at 14-0 in SHSHL National Division play, They are 15-1 overall

“We think about being undefeated to build on our confidence, but I think that we really want to just stick to the basics and do what we do to get those wins,” Mosley said.

The loss snapped a five-game win streak for the Titans (11-3 in the division, 11-5 overall).

“We started off really slow, but I’m proud of how we came back and battled,” said Cutter, a senior captain for the Titans. “They had a big lead after the first period and I think we had a reality check. The second period we knew what we had to do. We had to play simple hockey and it worked for us.

“When we tied it up (the game was 5-5 in the second period) we had a lot of energy and we were going strong but then I think we fell off what we were working on and that was the end.

“This one hurts a little more than the last time they beat us because we this time we battled back and then we gave it away again. When you play a good team like this, mistakes kill you and that’s what happened to us.

“We made it a real game this time and scoring seven goals against the top team in the league shows what we can do.”

Central Bucks South 1 4 2—7

Council Rock South 5 2 2—9

First-period goals: Jake Weiner (CRS) from Jagger Smith and Jonah Weston, 1:50; Jeremy Rayher (CRS) from Jackson Mosley, 6:18; Jackson Mosley (CRS) from Jeremy Rayher, 6:37; Jeffrey Kvecher (CBS), unassisted, 10:05; Jeremy Rayher (CRS), unassisted, 11:01; Jake Weiner (CRS) from Jeremy Rayher and Jackson Mosley, 13:54

Second-period goal: Peter Herring (CBS), unassisted, 1:32; Sean Cutter (CBS) from Ryan Frey and Dominic Gibson, 3:18; Dominic Gibson (CBS) from Sean Cutter, 4:11; Sean Cutter (CBS) from Joseph Silobodrian and Jamison Crouch, 5:57; Jake Weiner (CRS) from Jake Maurer, 12:39; Jordan Sarne (CRS) from Jeremy Rayher and Jackson Mosley, 13:44

Third-period goals: Jake Weiner (CRS) from Jonah Weston, 4:06; Ryan Frey (CBS) from Sean Cutter, 5:59; Ryan Frey (CBS) from Sean Cutter, 9:15; Jackson Mosley (CRS) from Jordan Sarne, 12:49

Shots: Central Bucks South 35, Council Rock South 45; Saves: Jake Matkowski (CBS) 9, Trey Prozzillo (CRS) 38