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By Ben Reese
HATFIELD — Nolan Shaw isn’t one of those guys that you see lighting up the scoreboard every game for the Pennridge ice hockey team.
But he seems to know what to do when the opportunity presents itself to him. He tipped in the Rams’ second goal to break a 1-1 tie on the way to a 3-1 victory over Neshaminy at Hatfield Ice on Wednesday night.
According to Shaw, he was just trying to get in the Neshaminy goalie’s way as his teammates were steaming down the ice. It worked very well.
“I was really just trying to put my body in front of the net,” Shaw said. “Try to block the goalie’s vision and see if I can get a stick on it.
“I smacked it down, trying to get my stick on it, and it went over his shoulder, I’ll take it.”
I guess he will since it provided Pennridge its first lead of the game with slightly more than eight minutes left in the third period. The Rams added a third goal to wrap up the scoring almost three minutes later.
Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna acknowledges that Shaw doesn’t get the recognition that he deserves.
“Nolan is one of the most confident human beings I have ever been around,” Montagna said. “And he doesn’t get a lot of credit. He does his job, and he does his job really well.
“What I’ve said about him for the last two years is that he’s as good a teammate as you’re ever going to find.”
Pretty high praise.
Montagna also had praise for Neshaminy, which is trying to find a way into the playoffs but needs help from other teams in the league.
“They played a really great game,” the Rams’ coach said of the Redskins. “They did a good job of clogging up the middle of the ice., and they stuck to it. They put players on our top guys, and they held them in check which a lot of teams haven’t been able to do.”
Neshaminy coach Bill Mooney also felt that his team played well despite the loss.
“The boys played physical,” he said. “They skated hard, and that’s all we’ve been asking from them all year.
“We had a couple power plays where we were all over those guys. How the puck didn’t end up in there. It’s just how the game is.”
Mooney also realized that a lot depends on how the puck bounces on the ice.
“It’s a game of bounces and unfortunately they didn’t go our way,” he said, talking about Shaw’s goal. “It just bounced off somebody because Colin (Neshaminy goalie Thurnau) nine out of 10 times gets that one.”
By looking at the respective records, the game might have seemed to be a relatively easy one for Pennridge. The score alone proves that it wasn’t.
“Neshaminy’s played a lot of teams tough this year,” said Montagna. “We don’t go into any game expecting it to be easy.
“It just was one of those games where good teams find a way to win and we did. We struggled a little bit, but it was one of those gritty games that you find a way to win.”
Neshaminy got on the scoreboard first, netting a goal with only1:23 gone in the first period. Tyler Hathaway took a pass from Sean Mooney and beat Ram goalie Jacob Winton.
With only 38.5 second remaining in the first period, Pennridge tied the game. Shane Dachowski, with assists from Justin Dinsmore and James Embert, slipped the puck past Thurnau to even things up.
It remained a 1-1 tie through the second period with neither team able to solve the others goalie. Pennridge did apply the pressure in the second, taking 18 shots on goal.
Then came the third period. With the Rams on the power play, Shaw smacked it home to break the tie and register what proved to be the game-winner, with assists going to James Rush and Dachowski.
Rush provided the insurance goal at 11:20. Shaw picked up his second point of the game with an assist and Josh Kelly also got an assist.
“I think those games are good for us,” Shaw said. “It’s going to take everybody to win those kind of games. You can’t just rely on one or two guys to create points and get scoring opportunities.”
Shaw proved that against Neshaminy.
Pennridge 3, Neshaminy 1
Neshaminy 1 0 0 — 1
Pennridge 1 0 2 — 3
First period: 1, Tyler Hathaway N (Sean Mooney) 1:23; 2, Shane Dachowski P (Justin Dinsmore, James Embert) 16:21.
Second period: No scoring.
Third period: 3, Nolan Shaw P (James Rush, Dachowski) 8:32 PP; 4, Rush P (Shaw, Josh Kelly) 11:20.
Shots: N 39, P 35. Saves: Colin Thurnau (N) 32, Jacob Winton (P) 38.
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