Playoff Results 2-24

SHSHL

National Division/First Round

Pennridge 4 Central Bucks East 1

Central Bucks South 8 Pennsbury 1

ICSHL

Central

Haverford 3 Strath Haven 0

Marple Newtown 6 Conestoga 1

Penncrest 4 Springfield-Delco 3

Garnet Valley 4 Radnor 0

Ches Mont

Kennett 5 West Chester East 4

D-town East 7 Avon Grove 1

Pioneer

Boyertown 5 Perkiomen Valley 0

Spring-Ford 4 Owen J. Roberts 0

Catholic/Prep

Salesianum 10 Shanahan/Coatesville 0

Devon Prep 5 Father Judge 1

Girls National

Avon Grove 5 OJR/Spring-Ford 0

D-town West 10 Kingsway 4

Girls American

Conestoga 6 WC East 0

W C Henderson 9 Radnor 3

Pennridge 4 C.B. East 1

Monday night marked the first stage of what the participants hope will be a month-long journey. And Pennridge looked very much at home in the playoff environment.

Shane Dachowski scored three goals and assisted on a fourth as the Rams prevailed over Central Bucks East 4-1 in a SHSHL National Division first-round game at Hatfield Ice.

Fourth-seeded Pennridge (13-7) will advance to face top-seeded Council Rock South Wednesday night (7:00 at Grundy Arena) in the semifinals. The fifth-seeded Patriots (10-9-1) will be idle until Monday when they face Downingtown West to kick off the Class AA Flyers Cup.

Dachowski was the difference on this night, as he has been so often over the course of his career. He assisted on James Rush’s opening goal which came 5:32 into the first period as the result of a collaboration involving Ladan Bishop, the third member of Pennridge’s top line.

Dachowski extended Pennridge’s lead with a shot from the left point exactly eight minutes into the second period. David Brown scored for East not quite two-and-a-half minutes later when Pennridge turned the puck over in front of its own net.

But as clock counted down the closing seconds of the second period, Dachowski stepped up once more launching a blazer that scraped the underside of the crossbar inside the right post as at whistled past Patriot goaltender Cole Breen with 1.1 seconds showing on the clock.

“That was a really-needed goal,” Dachowski said. I don’t know what their defensemen were doing, but we took advantage of what they gave us.”

Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna noted that Dachowski is now in postseason mode.

“I can’t even count how many hat tricks he has in playoff and Flyers Cup games,” he said. “It’s absurd.”

Dachowski completed yet another hat trick with an empty-net goal with 50 seconds remaining in the game.

The win Monday night was a response to the Rams’ 3-2 loss to East five days ago. That result doubtless strengthened the Patriots’ case with the Flyers Cup Committee, which seeded them 11^th in the 12-team Class AA field.

“They acted like they won the Stanley Cup,” Dachowski recalled.

The loss was the first for the Patriots in eight games. They had their chances, they were outshot just 32-31 but only solved Jacob Winton once.

“We got a of chances,” said East coach Jeff Mitchell. “We got a lot of pucks on net {but} we lacked the finish tonight.

“But, you get a team like Pennridge and the type of goaltender they have, they have a top-three goaltender in the league you’ve got to really, really make sure you’re giving your chances the best opportunity.”

The Rams will now try to unseat the two-time defending National Division champions. Montagna knows he’ll need another big night from Dachowski.

“If we want to go down and beat South Wednesday, he’s got to be great” Montagna said. Every game going forward he has to be great. He can’t have an off night. It’s a lot of pressure on him {but} he’s had that pressure for three years.”

C.B. East 0 1 0—1

Pennridge 1 2 1—4

First-period goal: James Rush (P) from Shane Dachowski and Ladan Bishop, 11:28;

Second-period goals: Dachowski (P) unassisted, 8:00; David Brown (CBE) unassisted, 10:23; Dachowski (P) from Josh Kelly and Rush, 16:59

Third-period goal: Dachowski (P) from Rush, 16:10

Shots: C.B. East 31, Pennridge 32; Saves: Cole Breen (CBE) 28, Jacob Winston (P) 30

Place your link on this site to promote your product or service starting today and running right the Flyers Cup. To get things started, use the Contact link above or e-mail is at rwoelfel2013@rwoelfel

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Flyers Cup Field Revealed

Forty-one teams in four divisions will comprise the field for the 2025 Flyers Cup tournament. The field was announced during the Flyers Cup Selection Show Sunday night.

First-round games will get underway on Monday, March 3 and action will continue through the middle of the following week.

The Class A field, with 14 teams, will be the largest in the tournament. The Class AA field will include 12 teams, the Class AAA bracket 8, and the girls’ bracket 7.

In years past, the Class A and AA fields have consisted of as many as 16 teams each but with just 37 Cup-eligible teams between the two divisions this season, the committee took a different approach.

Eric Tye is the President of the Flyers Cup Committee.

“We’re not putting everyone in just so everyone can be in,” he said. “There needs to be a cutoff. We came up with 12 (for Class AA). Do we feel bad for teams 13 and 14? I gues so. We feel bad for teams 15 and 16 in {Class A} and 9 and 10 in {Class AAA}.

“People aren’t going to agree with what we did, we know that, but we did what we think’s best.”

Brackets are listed below.

Class AAA (8 teams)

Quarterfinals, March 4 and 6

1 Holy Ghost Prep vs 8 Owen J. Roberts. 3-4; 6:15 at Hatfield Blue

4 Malvern Prep vs 5 Salesianum. 3-6; 6:30 at Ice Line 1

2 La Salle vs 7 Devon Prep. 3-4 6:00; at Hatfield Gray

3 St. Joseph’s Prep vs 6 Father Judge. 3-6; 8:30 at Skatium

Semifinals, Thursday March 13

Monday, March 17 or Wednesday, March 19

Class AA (12 teams)

First Round, March 3 and 4

8 Conestoga vs 9 Boyertown 3-4; 8:30 at Ice Line 1

4 Central Bucks South vs 12 Spring Ford 3-4; 8:30 at Hatfield Blue

7 Pennridge vs 10 Avon Grove 3-4; 8:10 at Hatfield Gray

6 Downingtown West vs 11 Central Bucks East 3-4; 6:15 at Ice Line AAA

Quarterfinals, Thursday, March 6

1 Council Rock South vs Conestoga or Boyertown 6:15 at Hatfield Gray

4 Haverford vs Central Bucks South or Spring Ford 6:30 at Skatium

2 North Penn vs Pennridge or Avon Grove 8:10 at Hatfield Gray

3 Downingtown East vs Downingtown West or C.B. East TBD

Semifinals

March 17 or 19

Finals TBD

Class A (14 teams)

Play In

Monday, Match 3

Play In

12 Moorsetown vs 13 Strath Haven 8:10 at Hatfield Blue

11 Radnor vs 14 Hatboro-Horsham 6:30 at Ice Line 1

First Round

Monday, Match 3

8 Plymouth Whitemarsh vs 9 Springield-Delco 6:00 at Hatfield Blue

7 Marple Newtown vs 10 Palmyra 6:30 at Skatium

Tuesday, March 4

First Round

Moorsetown or Strath Haven vs 5 Kennett

Radnor or Hatboro-Horsham vs 6 Hershey 8:30 at Skatium

Quarterfinals

Thursday, March 6

Plymouth Whitemrsh or Springfield-Delco vs 1 Garnet Valley 6:30 at Ice Works

Moorsetown, Strath-Haven, or Kennet vs 4 WC East at Ice Line

Marple Newtown or Palmyra vs 2 WC Henderson at Ice Line

Radnor, H-H or Hershey at Penncrest 8:30 at Ice Works

Semifinals March 11

Finals March 17

Girls (7 teams)

Monday March 3

Play in

6 West Chester East vs 7 Pennridge 8:30 at Ice Line

Wednesday, Match 5

Quarterfinals

4 West Chester Henderson vs 5 Radnor 7:45 at PNY

West Chester East or Pennridge vs 3 Conestoga 6:00 at PNY

Wednesday March 12

Semifinals

WC Henderson or Radnor vs 1 Avon Grove 6:00 at PNY

WC East, Pennridge, or Conestoga vs 2 Downingtown West 7:45 at PNY

Tuesday, March 18

Finals

6:00 ay PNY

Eric Tye and Rick Woelfel will discuss the tournament on the Hockey Happenings podcast which will drop on Monday, February 24

SHSHL Playoffs Kick Off Monday

The SHSHL playoffs kick off Monday night with two national Division first-round games. Council Rock South, which has a bye into the semifinals, is the two-time defending National Division champion.

Pennridge enters the postseason as the defending Class AA Flyers Cup champion and state champion, having claimed those distinctions twice in the last three seasons. The Rams last won the SHSHL title in 2022. C.B. East’s last title cane in 2011

Central Bucks South’s last SHSHL National title came in 2018 when the Titans completed a run of four consecutive league titles, six in seven seasons, and seven in nine seasons. Pennsbury, which won the Class AA Flyers Cup title in 2023 won the SHSHL National title in 2021.

North Penn last won an SHSHL title in 2014.

Pennridge (12-7, 11-7 in National Division)

Coach: Jeff Montagna

Players to watch Shane Dachowski 32 goals, 25 assists, 57 points; James Rush 24-24-48; Jacob Winton 2.58 GAA, .918 sae percentage

Central Bucks East (10-8-1, 10-7-1 in National Division)

Coach: Jeff Mitchell

Players to watch: Alex Wilson 14 goals, 6 assists, 20 points; Jaden Young 10-6-16; Cole Breen 4.06 GAA, .875 save percentage

The winner will play top-seeded Council Rock South on Wednesday in the semifinals

Central Bucks South (15-5, 15-3 in National Division)

Coach: Shaun McGinty

Players to watch: Sean Cutter 16 goals, 19 assists, 35 points; Jeff Kvecher 12-21-33; Jake Matkowski 3.75 GAA, .838 save percentage; Nate Napolitano 3.81, .859

Pennsbury (7-12, 6-12 in National Division)

Coach: Ryan Daley

Players to watch: Chris Sarver 11 goals, 23 assists, 34 points; Shane Hicks 14-17-31; Brendan Milliken 5.71 GAA, .810 save percentage.

The winner will play second-seeded North Penn on Wednesday in the semifinals

Post your link on Hockey Happenings starting today through the duration and the Flyers Cup and state tournament. Use the contact link above or e-mail us at rwoelfel2013@gmail.com

All-Star Game to Kick Off State Championship Weekend

A state championship tripleheader traditionally concludes the scholastic hockey season in Pennsylvania. This year’s state title games are set for the Alpha Ice Complex in Pittsburgh on Saturday, March 22.

This year’s festivities will kick off the night before with am All-Star game matching All-Star teams from each side of the state; Team Flyers Cup vs. Team Penguins Cup.

Thirty players have been named each team. The rosters are subject to revision; players whose teams have reached the state finals will not play in the All-Star Game.

The tentative roster for Team Flyers Cup (East)

1	Peter Pereborow	Council Rock South	D	12
2	Ryan Lippy	Holy Ghost Prep	D	12
3	Cam Ross	LaSalle	D	12
4	Ethan McKay	Marple Newtown	D	12
5	James Boyle	North Penn	D	10
6	Nash Grant	Penncrest	D	11
7	Chris Sarver	Pennsbury	D	12
8	Henri Gravel	Avon Grove	F	10
9	Noah Cutillo	Boyertown	F	11
10	Joey Slobodrian	Central Bucks South	F	11
11	Jeremy Rayer	Council Rock South	F	12
12	Jake Weiner	Council Rock South	F	11
13	Kieran Crossan	Devon Prep	F	12
14	Brody Matthews	Downingtown East	F	12
15	Nolan Stott	Garnet Valley	F	12
16	Kevin Walton	Garnet Valley	F	12
17	Blake Platz	Henderson	F	12
18	Blake Umberger	Hershey	F	12
19	Brady Logue	Holy Ghost Prep	F	11
20	Lucas Mott	Kennett	F	11
21	Grant Lagreca	LaSalle	F	12
22	Sam Norton	North Penn	F	10
23	Shane Dachowski	Pennridge	F	12
24	Dylan Cyr	Spring-Ford	F	11
25	Cole Gargon	St. Joes Prep	F	10
26	Dylan Vieira	Haverford High	G	11
27	Alexander Placeres	Hershey	G	10
28	Aiden Mott	Kennett	G	11
29	Jacob Rossi	LaSalle	G	12

30 James Winston Pennridge G 12

The tentative roster for Team Penguins Cup

1 Derek Schliebner Thomas Jefferson D 11

2 Noah Logan N. Allegheny D 11

3 Mathius Sprickman Cathedral Prep D 12

4 Cam Kiste Penn Trafford D 12

5 Tyler Held Chartiers Valley D 11

6 Roger Williams Pine Richland D 12

7 Eli Porter S. Fayette D 12\

8 Preston Miller Latrobe D 10

9 Brian Spencer Thomas Jefferson D 12

10 Max Modrovich Quaker Valley F 12

11 Tucker Cullen Fox Chapel F 10

12 Robert Chiappetta S. Fayette F 11

13 Darius Malecki Shaler F 12

14 Trevor Dallesandro S. Fayette F 12

15 Conner Ralston Avonworth F 12

16 Andrew Malecky Seneca Valley F 12

17 Liam Shinn Mt. Lebanon F 11

18 Eli Rankin Upper St. Clair F 12

19 Dominic Casile Fox Chapel F 12

20 Joey Crimboli Latrobe F 10

21 Josh Lanyard Pine Richland F 12

22 Brock Bienemann Penn Trafford F 10

23 Jake Graff Armstrong F 11

24 Xavier Bias Mt. Lebanon F 10

25 Lucas Blose Thomas Jefferson F 10

26 Aiden Moskovitz Montour F 12

27 Miles Carey Fox Chapel G 11

28 Christopher Nichols Seneca Valley G 11

29 Ben Balla Central Catholic G 12

30 Landon Butterbaugh Quaker Valley G 12

30 Cam Junker N. Allegheny G 12

SHSHL Sets Playoff Schedule

Monday February 24

National Division First Round at Hatfield

6:10 Pennridge vs Central Bucks East

8:00 Central Bucks South vs. Pennsbury

Wednesday, February 26

American Division Semifinal

6:10 Hatboro-Horsham vs. Springfield at Hatfield

National Division Semifinals

8:00 North Penn vs. C.B. South or Pennsbury at Hatfield

7:00 Council Rock South vs. Pennridge or C.B. East at Grundy

Thursday, February 27

American Division Final

6:00 Plymouth Whitemarsh vs TBD at Hatfield

National Division Final hosted by highest seeded finalist

7:00 if at Grundy 8:10 if at Hatfield

Note: Playoff results will. not impact Flyers Cup seedings or pairings

SHSHL Playoff Puzzle Solved

The last pieces of the puzzle have been filled in and the field is set for the SHSHL postseason.

Six National Division and three American Division teams will begin playoff action on Monday.

Three games Wednesday night solidified the final field.

Council Rock South 5 Neshaminy 2—Jordan Sarne and Jake Weiner each scored two goals as the Golden Hawks clinched the National Division regular-season title Wednesday night at Grundy Arena. Jeremy Rayher also scored for South (18-2, 17-1 in the division) who built a 5-0 lead before Ryan DeMatteo scored two third-period goals for the ‘Skins (6-12-1, 5-12-1).

The result means Pennsbury will be the sixth and final seed for the National Division playoffs.

See below for the complete list.

Central Bucks East 3 Pennridge 2—Dave Brown scored a shorthanded goal with 12:23 left in regulation to give the Patriots the win over the Rams at Hatfield Ice. The result locks the Rams (12-7, 11-7 in the division) into the fourth position for the National Division playoffs. The Patriots (10-8-1, 10-7-1) were already assured of the fifth seed. Gavin Widmer and Tyson Cowan also scored for East. James Embert and Kaden Gunning scored for Pennridge.

Springfield 4 Plymouth Whitemarsh 2—Kellen Warman broke a 2-2 tie when he scored with 2:42 left in the second period to put the Spartans in front for good Wednesday night at Grundy Arena. Gabriel Wells added an insurance goal in the third period as Springfield (8-8) closed its regular season with six consecutive wins to claim the third and final playoff spot from the American Division. The loss was the first for Plymouth Whitemarsh (15-1) which will enter the postseason as the division’s top seed. Hatboro-Horsham, which closes its regular season Thursday night, will be the second seed.

National Division Seedings

Council Rock South
North Penn
Central Bucks South
Pennridge
Central Bucks East
Pennsbury

American Division Seedings

Plymouth Whitemarsh
Hatboro-Horsham
Springfield

SHSHL Sets Playoff Schedule

The SHSHL has announced its playoff schedule. Postseason play will begin on Monday, February 24 and continue through Thursday, February 27.

Playoff results will have no impact on selections and seedings for the Flyers Cup tournament, which will be announced on Sunday, February 23, eight days before the start of the tournament.

Playoff dates, sites, and times are as follows

National Division (Class AA)

Monday 2-24 First Round

Seed 4 vs Seed 5 6:10

Seed 3 vs Seed 6 8:00

Both games at Hatfield Ice

Wednesday 2-26

American Division (Class A) Semifinal

Seed 2 vs Seed 3 6:10 at Hatfield Ice

National Division Semifinals

At Hatfield Ice 8:00

At Grundy Arena 7:10

Thursday, 2-27

American Division Final

Plymouth Whitemarsh vs TBD 6:00 at Hatfield Ice

National Division Final

Hosted by Highest-Seeded Finalist

8:10 at Hatfield Ice or 7:00 at Grundy

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