Ben Reese recaps the action of Monday night’s Pennridge/Pennsbury battle. Photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko.. Check back for a gallery of photos. All SOS photo galleries for ICE HOCKEY can be viewed by clicking HERE.
By Ben Reese
HATFIELD — Ryan Pico is one of the premier goalies in the Suburban High School Hockey League. In fact, he might be the best of the bunch.
But the Pennridge senior knows where his bread is buttered, He has a great appreciation for his defensive teammates.
And while Ryan was stopping 38 of the 40 shots Pennsbury fired at him, his defense was ensuring that Pennridge came away with a 5-2 victory. It allowed the Rams to remain undefeated so far this season.
“My defense played really well,” Ryan said. “I don’t think they had 15 shots after the first period. They played great.
“Our defense really picked it up (after Pennsbury closed to within 3-2 in the second period), and our offense (was) getting it deep and keeping it in their zone.”
Rams coach Jeff Montagna had high praise for both his defense and his goalie.
“They threw a haymaker at us in the second period,” Montagna said. “After they made it 3-2, we gave up nine shots the rest of the game.
“They (defense) settled down. They got their sticks on everything. They were clearing the porch (in front of the net). They weren’t giving up a lot of second-chance opportunities and they were letting Pico see everything.”
And how about Ryan?
“Early on, he made five or six incredible saves,” Montagna said. “It allowed us to find our legs a little bit in that first period. He was phenomenal in that first period.”
On the other side of the ice, Falcon coach Ryan Daley just marveled at Ryan Pico in net.
“Pico is an unbelievable goalie,” he said. “It’s hard to get them by him.”
When reminded that his team did score twice, he said “that’s more than a lot of teams can say this year.” And then he added, thinking about the Pennridge defense, “Their defense snapped a few off the crease as well.”
Oh, about that second period. Pennridge had taken a 3-0 lead after one stanza on goals from Kevin Pico, Aeryk Lehrhaupt and Andrew Savona.
The Falcons could have rolled over and played dead but they didn’t. They came roaring back to score two power play goals in slightly more than a minute to make the game close.
“We just kind of buckled down a little bit,” Daley said. “Defensively they were kind of beating us on some transitions. That’s where they were scoring.
“We were just giving them too much space. We kind of got a little more aggressive on defense and, on offense, nothing changed.”
Kevin Pico and Lehrhaupt led Pennridge in scoring with two goals each. Kevin also picked up an assist.
The pair has paced the Rams in scoring all year. Kevin now has 13 goals and Lehrhaupt has 12.
“That’s what Rico (Lehrhaupt) does,” said Montagna, “He scores goals. Pico’s been our leading scorer this year.
“In games like this, that’s what you need. You need your top guys to step up and, between them and the other Pico in net, that’s exactly what they did tonight.”
Kevin Pico got the Pennridge offense going early in the first period. On the power play, he beat Falcon goalie Aaron McDaniel at 4:08 of the period with assists from Aidan Boyle and Trey Mikylich.
Slightly less than five minutes later, Lehrhaupt connected for the second Ram goal. Then, at the 14:22 mark, Savona found the back of the net for the 3-0 lead.
But things turned around in the second period. Brendan Macainish got the first goal for the Falcons on the power play at 7:22 and then added a second power play goal at 8:26 to tighten the score to 3-2.
However, Pennridge rebounded in the third. Kevin Pico scored at the 7:32 mark and Lehrhaupt followed with his second goal at 14:52.
All that was needed at that point for the Rams was for Ryan Pico and his defensive mates to close the door.
Pennridge 5, Pennsbury 2
Pennsbury 0 2 0 — 2
Pennridge 3 0 2 — 5
First period: 1, Kevin Pico P (Aidan Boyle, Trey Mikylich) 4:08 PP; 2, Aeryk Lehrhaupt P (Cooper White) 9:05; 3, Andrew Savona P (Ryan Schuler, Trey Mikylich) 14:22.
Second period: 4, Brendan Macainish Pb (Jake McCaw) 7:22 PP; 5, Macainish Pb (Reece Millman) 8:26 PP.
Third period: 6, K. Pico P (Andrew Lizak, Josh Kelly) 7:32; 7, Lehrhaupt P (K. Pico) 14:52.
Shots: Pb 40, P 31. Saves: Aaron McDaniel (Pb) 26; Ryan Pico (P) 38.
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