HATFIELD TWP. — Shane Dachowski quickly realized that it was going to be a great night for the Pennridge ice hockey team.
“Just after the first shift, we got on them,” said the Rams junior forward. “By gaining a lot of space and getting the puck deep, we knew immediately that we had the advantage.”
Three minutes and four seconds into the Flyers Cup AA semifinal against Downingtown West on Wednesday, Andrew Savona scored the first goal for the Rams and after that, the goals kept coming for the top-seeded team in the first period.
Dachowski scored the next two goals, followed by goals from Josh Kelly and Nolan Shaw, increasing the lead to five. Dachowski completed a hat trick in the final minute, sending the Rams into the second period with a 6-0 lead over the No. 4 Whippets.
“I believe that we quickly took control of the game, which caught the other team off guard and created more opportunities for us,” said Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna.
Dachowski added a fourth goal, while both he and Kevin Pico finished with five points, and the Rams easily advanced to their third consecutive Flyers Cup final with a 10-1 win at Hatfield Ice.
“I’ve been saying for three years that this group shows up for every big game, even the ones we've lost,” Montagna said. “It's been this way for three years, and tonight, to get us back to another Flyers Cup final for the third year in a row, it's really difficult to win in this tournament and they were incredible tonight from the very beginning. Everyone.”
Pico had four assists before scoring the final goal of the night in the third period. Shaw scored two goals, Tyler Manto contributed a goal and two assists, and Colin Dachowski provided a pair of assists as the Rams advanced to face No. 2 Council Rock South, who defeated No. 3 Boyertown 3-1, at 8:45 p.m. Wednesday at Hatfield Ice.
“We felt like we were all faster than them, especially on the rush,” Shane Dachowski said. “We were all really in the moment and it showed.”
This will be the fourth time this season that the Rams and Golden Hawks will meet. Pennridge won the first game 7-3 on Dec. 12, but CR South has won the last two, beating the Rams 8-7 in overtime on Feb. 7 and 7-2 in the SHSHL National Division final on Feb. 29.
“It's become a bit of a rivalry at this point,” Manto said. “We are always facing each other. It will be an exciting game. As a senior, I would love to win, but we'll see.”
Pennridge and CR South also competed in the 2022 Flyers Cup AA championship, which the Rams won 5-1 before claiming the state title over Thomas Jefferson in double overtime. Last season, Pennridge lost to Pennsbury 5-3 in the Flyers Cup final.
“From the beginning of the year, this was the only way it could have ended,” Montagna said. “I wanted South to win tonight not because I think we're better than them or anything. I wanted this to be a Suburban League final and I want it to be us two because we're the two best teams and that's what you want to see.”
In the second period at 14:19, Downingtown West scored to make it 6-1 thanks to Joseph Butter's power-play goal with help from Stephen Plzak. The Whippets tried to reduce the gap but couldn't get past Rams goalkeeper Jacob Winton, who stopped 30 out of 31 shots from West.
Montagna commented on the pressure from the opponents in the second period and the possibility of closing the gap in the score. He mentioned that the game could have become more intense if the opponents had managed to score another goal.
However, Shane Dachowski increased the Rams' lead to six with his fourth power-play goal at 10:05. Shaw also scored his second goal at 5:50, making it 8-1 in the second period.
The Rams scored two more goals in the fourth period – Manto at 12:45 and a puck played by Pico found its way into the net at 10:57.
In the first period, after Savona gave the Rams a 1-0 lead at 14:56, Shane Dachowski doubled the advantage on a 5-on-3 power play, circling around from the corner to score at 13:05.
Manto expressed the importance of starting with the lead to demoralize the opponents and maintain momentum throughout the game.
Pennridge increased their lead to 4-0 with two shorthanded goals in less than a minute.
Shane Dachowski mentioned the team's strategy of taking advantage of shorthanded situations and their effectiveness in that aspect of the game.
The first goal came at 7:40 as Pico reached a puck in the left corner, moved towards the net, and then set up Shane Dachowski for his second goal.
Shane Dachowski credited his teammates for his goals and emphasized the teamwork that led to his success on the ice.
Shane Dachowski assisted the next goal by passing to Kelly, who scored at 6:52.
Just 1:37 later, Shaw increased Pennridge's lead to 5-0 with a goal on a wraparound. Shane Dachowski scored his third goal of the period with 51.8 seconds left, making it a six-goal lead.
