Tag: Pennridge

Holy Ghost Prep 7, Pennridge 3

Kieran Mulholland and Zach Pers each scored twice as Holy Ghost Prep built a 5-0 lead en route to a 7-3 win over Pennridge Wednesday night in a non-league game at Grundy Arena. Shaun Moore Brady Baehser and John Seravalli also scored for Holy Ghost Prep, which advanced to 9-2 on the season.

Kevin Pico, Andrew Savona, and Shane Dachowski scored for Pennridge (4-3).

Two goals from Pers and goals from Mulholland, Baehser, and Moore put the Firebirds up 5-0 seven minutes into the second period.

Pico and Savona scored for the Rams before the period ended and Dachowski’s goal made it a 5-3 game with 10:51 left in regulation, before Mulholland gave the Firebirds some insurance with 1:42 remaining. Seravalli added an empty-net goal with one minute left in regulation.

Six of the game’s 10 goals came on power plays. The game featured 16 penalties for 72 penalty minutes.

Pennridge 0 2 1—3

Holy Ghost Prep 4 1 2—7

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

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

Pennridge 5 Council Rock South 4 OT

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—There wasn’t much to choose between Pennridge and Council Rock South Thursday night. Perhaps it was fitting that the Rams and the Golden Hawks went into overtime in their SHSHL Class AA championship game. It took 4 minutes, 27 seconds of extra time before Shane Dachowski found the back of the net to give the Rams a 5-4 win in front of a packed house at Hatfield Ice.

The winning sequence began with a long pass from Trey Mikulich from inside the Pennridge blue line up the center of the ice. Dachowski collected it in full stride and went in on goal before beating South netminder Carson Lopez with a backhander.

“We knew we weren’t losing tonight,” Dachowski said. “We just went out there and did it.”

Second-seeded Pennridge, which remained unbeaten at 16-0-1 trailed 3-1 late in the second period before rallying win its third SHSHL title; the previous two came in 2008 and ’19.

Top-seeded Council Rock South (13-2-2) spent much of the first period killing four penalties and portions of the second period killing two more. Matt Constantini gave the Golden Hawks a 1-0 at the 10:34 mark but drew and unsportsmanlike conduct penalty while celebrating the goal.

Jack Lowery tied the game for Pennridge
“You can’t win games shorthanded,” said South coach Joe Houk. ”We literally skated shorthanded the first half of that. You can’t play catchup like that.

But in short order, it was the Rams playing catchup after Daniel Filippov and Gavin Nisenzon scored goals in a span of 2:06 to give the Golden Hawks a 3-1 lead with 3:07 left in the middle period.

Cooper White brought the Rams closer before the second period ended and Andrew Savona tied the game 1:57 into the third when he beat Lopez from the left faceoff circle.
Kevin Pico gave Pennridge its first lead of the lead at the 6:44 mark when he scored off a South turnover.

As the final minute of regulation counted down, the Rams fought to hold their lead but David Vergules emerged victorious from a scramble in front of Ram goaltender Ryan Pico to tie the game with 40 seconds left in regulation. The goal served as a prelude to an overtime session that brought the evening to a dramatic conclusion.

“That was one of the best games I’ve ever been a part of,” said Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna. It was back and forth, it was everything that a championship game should be.”

• Pennridge is seeded first for the Class AA Flyers Cup and will face 16th seeded Ridley Tuesday night at Hatfield Ice. The Golden Hawks are seeded third and will face 14th-seeded Abington on Tuesday, also at Hatfield Ice.

Pennridge 0 2 2 1—5

C.R. South 1 2 1 0—4

First-period goal: Matt Constantini (CRS) from Julian Wagenman and Kevin Koles, 10:34

Second-period goals: Jack Lowery (P) unassisted, 11:23; Dan Filippov (CRS) from Blaise Pepe, 11:47; Gavin Nisenzon (CRS) from Pepe, 13:53 (pp), Cooper White (P) from Andrew David and Andrew Lizak, 14:59

Third-period goals: Andrew Savona (P) from Kevin Pico and Aidan Boyle, 1:57 (pp); Pico (P) from Savona and Tyler Manto, 6:44; David Vergules (CRN) from Kyle Boss, 19:20

Overtime goal: Shane Dachowski (P) from Trey Mikulich, 4:27

Shots: Pennridge 48, Council Rock North 37; Saves: Ryan Pico (P) 33, Carson Lopez (CRN) 43

The Grundy Skate Shop is a full-service hockey pro shop inside the Grundy Arena, offering a great selection of equipment, brands and various services.  We do a full range of repairs as well as offer custom hockey jerseys. Owner Bill Keyser, has over 25 years experience in the industry and specializes in skate sharpening, including profiling. Please visit our Facebook page or stop in and check us out!

Pennridge 6 Pennsbury 3

HATFELD TOWNSHIP— One of the mantras of postseason hockey is ‘Don’t take bad penalties.’ Failing to adhere to that axiom cost Pennsbury dearly Wednesday night.

Pennridge scored four goals in the third period and went on to a 6-3 win over the Falcons in an SHSHL National Division semifinal at Hatfield Ice. The second-seeded Rams, still unbeaten at 16-0-1, will take on Council Rock South Thursday night at 7:10 in the same rink for the National Division title. Third-seeded Pennsbury (11-4-1-0), which was defending the division title it won last year, will await the start of the Class AA Flyers Cup tournament next Tuesday.

As the third period commenced, it was anyone’s game with the teams deadlocked at 2-2. Tyler Manto and Kevin Pico produced first-period goals for Pennridge. Brendan Macainsh, who scored for the Falcons just 35 seconds into the opening session, set up his teammate Shane Siegmound 77 seconds into the second.

But not quite a third of the way into the final period, the flow of the game shifted dramatically. At the 5:06 mark, the Falcons drew a bench penalty for too many men on the ice. It took Aeryk Lehrhaupt just 11 seconds to score the goal that put his team ahead for good.

But there was more to come. At the 6:06 mark Lehrhaupt was flagged for hooking.  Fifty-three seconds later Pennsbury’s Andrew Falkenstein knocked a Pennridge player off stride with his knee and was called for tripping, leaving teams skating four on four. Colin Dachowski scored for Pennridge at 7:51 to make it a 4-2 game and for the remainder of the period, play flowed in Pennridge’s direction, like a river flowing downhill.

Andrew Lizak added a goal at 10:49 to give the Rams a three-goal lead. Macainsh brought his team closer when he scored his second goal of the game at 12:27 but that was all the Falcons could muster.

Shane Dachowski finished the scoring with an empty net goal with seven seconds remaining.

There was an ice cut before the start of the third period, which Lehrhaupt said allowed the Rams to regroup.

“We didn’t feel like we played like we were in a tie game,” he said. “As soon as we came out buzzing (in the third period) and got that goal, it made a whole world of a difference.”

Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna used his time out prior to his team’s third-period power play to tell his troops to pick up the pace. “I thought we were going a little too much trying to play defense,” he said. ‘I thought their next five minutes was their best five minutes of the year.”

The game featured 12 minor penalties, six against each team. Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley voiced his displeasure with the work of the officials.

“I don’t want to talk about penalties too much,” he said, “but in my opinion, that was one of the worst officiated games I’ve ever been in.

“The penalties we took, we took, it doesn’t help at all. But it also doesn’t help when the referees are (inattentive) to what’s going on the ice.”

Both goaltenders were sharp. Aaron McDaniel stopped 37 shots for the Falcons. His Pennridge counterpart Ryan Pico was credited with 32 saves.

“Our goalie was keeping us in it,” Daley said, “with some spectacular saves, especially right at the end of the second, and Pico was doing his thing. He stole a few from us as expected.

“We really played great the first two periods. It was just a five-minute span of going brain dead that killed us in the third.”

Pennsbury 1 1 1—3

Pennridge 2 0 4—6

First-period goal: Brendan Macainsh (Pb) from Shane Siegmund, :35; Tyler Manto (Pr) from Kevin Pico and Colin Dachowski, 9:40; Pico (Pr) from Aidan Boyle, 13:25

Second-period goal: Siegmund (P) from Macainsh, 1:17 (pp)

Third-period goals: Aeryk Lehrhaupt (P) from Jack Lowery, 5:17; Colin Dachowski (Pr) unassisted, 7:51; Andrew Lizak (Pr) from Boyle, 10:49; Macainsh (Pb) from Siegmund, 12:27; Shane Dachowski (Pr) from Manto, 16:53 (en)

Shots: Pennsbury 35, Pennridge 43; Saves: Aaron McDaniel (Pb) 37, Ryan Pico (Pr) 32

The Grundy Skate Shop is a full-service hockey pro shop inside the Grundy Arena, offering a great selection of equipment, brands and various services.  We do a full range of repairs as well as offer custom hockey jerseys. Owner Bill Keyser, has over 25 years experience in the industry and specializes in skate sharpening, including profiling. Please visit our Facebook page or stop in and check us out!