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By Ben Reese
HATFIELD — Tyler Manto didn’t start out as a defenseman.
The Pennridge senior was a forward, scoring the tying goal as a sophomore against Thomas Jefferson in the state title game. He was on a line that scored a lot of goals.
But, suddenly, last year, there he was back on defense for the Rams. It seemed like a strange change for the defending state champs, and it continues this season.
Well, it really hasn’t kept Manto from scoring. In fact, he scored Pennridge’s first goal in the first period to tie the game against Pennsbury en route to a 9-1 Ram Suburban High School Hockey League victory at Hatfield Ice on Wednesday night.
Despite the goal, though, Manto will remain on defense. But what brought about the move to defense?
“We needed defensemen coming up,” Manto said. “We didn’t have any younger defensemen coming up.
“I took it on myself, and a bunch of others agreed, that I should play defense. I had some experience in the past playing defense. Whatever to help the team, really.”
So, it was a team-oriented decision.
“We lost three stalwart defensemen (to graduation) and I needed defensemen,” said Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna. “He came to me, and he wanted to go back there.
“It kind of saved us in a lot of ways. Now, along with Colin (Dachowski) he’s one of our top guys back there.”
Didn’t that hurt your offense, moving him off the front line?
“Not really,” Montagna said. “Did it hurt our depth, yes, but as I said, you’re not going to win games if you don’t play defense. He’s really good at both ends.
“He kind of gives us that hybrid defenseman that can lead the rush but can also be really good on defense. It’s a net positive for me.”
Manto goes along with his coach.
“Not too much,” Manto said when asked if his move to the back line hurt the team’s offense. “We have that (Kevin) Pico, (Andrew) Savona, (Shane) Dachowski line that really tears it up.”
Well, Manto the defenseman got Pennridge on the scoreboard after Pennsbury had taken a 1-0 lead on a goal by Chris Sarver. His unassisted marker got the Rams’ offense going in the right direction.
Savona gave Pennridge a lead that it wouldn’t lose at the 13:11 mark of the first period with his first goal. Getting assists were his two linemates, Pico and Dachowski.
The Rams added two more in the second period. The first from Pico, with an assist from Dachowski, and then Colin Dachowski, Shane’s brother, scored with an assist from Pico with Colin’s coming on the power play.
Then came the third period. Pennridge’s offense exploded, and its defense stifled Pennsbury for the second straight period.
All told, the Rams scored five times in the stanza. Shane Dachowski started it off followed by Dean Venner, Nolan Shaw, Savona (his second) and Colin Dachowski (also his second).
In all, Pennridge outshot the Falcons 46-26. Seventeen of them came in the final period.
“It was our best effort in about two months,” Montagna said, “since the Council Rock South game. I told them that’s the blueprint for how we want to play.
“You just wear teams down, and we wore that team down. We haven’t been doing that.”
Pennsbury coach Ryan Daley thought his team played a good game despite losing by eight goals.
“I think for two periods we were right there with them,” Daley said. “We had a ton of scoring chances.
“The puck just wasn’t finding our stick, or he (Pennridge goalie Jacob Winton) made a great save or the defense blocked it. They were in the right spots at the right time.
“I was happy with the way we played. The first period was fantastic; the second was pretty good. Then we just kind of had the flood gates (open).”
Pennridge’s win sets things up for the Rams’ meeting next Wednesday against Council Rock South. The outcome of that game will, in all probability, decide who gets the top seed in the playoffs.
Pennridge 9, Pennsbury 1
Pennsbury 1 0 0 — 1
Pennridge 2 2 5 — 9
First period: 1, Chris Sarver Pb (unassisted) 5:49; 2, Tyler Manto P (unassisted) 8:33; 3, Andrew Savona P (Kevin Pico, Shane Dachowski) 13:11.
Second period: 4, Pico P (S. Dachowski) 7:09; 5, Colin Dachowski (Pico) 12:45 PP.
Third period: 6, S. Dachowski P (Nolan Shaw, Pico) 1:20; 7, Dean Venner P (unassisted) 6:10; 8, Shaw P (Justin Dinsmore) 10:22; 9, Savona P (Pico, S. Dachowski) 11:20; 10, C. Dachowski P (unassisted).
Shots: Pennsbury 26, Pennridge 46. Saves: Aaron McDaniel (Pb) 37, Jacob Winton (P) 25.
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