Pennridge edged CR South in a SHSHL final thriller on Thursday. Photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko. Check back for a gallery of the game.
#2 Pennridge 5, #1 Council Rock South 4 (OT)
By Ben Reese
HATFIELD — And a freshman will lead them.
At least on Thursday night.
Freshman Shane Dachowski scored a goal with 4:27 elapsed in overtime to lift Pennridge to the Suburban High School Hockey League championship over Council Rock South 5-4 in a classic battle
at Hatfield Ice. Dachowski was on the receiving end of a perfectly-placed pass from teammate Ryan Schuler, who picked up the puck behind the goal, skated it out and delivered the pass that set up the game-winner.
It ended what many will call one of the best championship games ever. It moves both teams into Flyers Cup play on Tuesday, March 8. Top Seed Pennridge plays No. 16 Ridley and No. 3 CR South takes on No. 14 Abington, both at Hatfield.
It appears that Dachowski blacked out when he scored the goal. He has no recollection of how he did it.
“I don’t really remember how I scored,” he said. “It just happened. I don’t know how to explain it. It was open and I took it.”
While Dachowski may have been overcome by the goal and the explosion of emotion that took place after he scored, his coach, Jeff Montagna, wasn’t a bit foggy about his freshman.
“I usually say this about (Aeryk) Lehrhaupt all the time,” Montagna said. “Shane was put on this earth to score goals. It’s what he does.
“He’s one of the best goal scorers I’ve ever coached and he’s only a freshman. He has a way of finding open areas and finishing. He’s a special goal scorer.”
It is strange also that a freshman would jump out and take over in overtime because the Rams are one of the most experienced teams in the league.
“The seniors have been through wars the last three years,” Montagna said. “They played in every type of game, and they kept things up.
“It shows you that experience matters. They (the seniors) didn’t panic, and they didn’t feel bad for themselves.”
They also contributed to the victory. Before Dachowski finished off the regular season for the Rams, captain Jack Lowery scored a goal in the second period to tie the game 1-1 at that point, and senior goalie Ryan Pico kicked out just enough shots to keep Pennridge in the game when the Golden Hawks took the lead in both the first and second periods.
Council Rock South hurt itself with penalties although Pennridge only scored one power play goal, but the Hawks spent a lot of time in the penalty box.
“We probably played half of the game shorthanded,” said South coach Joe Houk. “You can’t win games like that. It’s a matter of mistakes and we tried to push the envelope and we couldn’t do it.”
South broke a 0-0 tie in the first period with less than a minute to play in the stanza. Mike Constantini - with assists from Julian Weganmann and Kevin Koles - beat Pico for the first goal of the game.
Lowery opened the scoring in the second period at the 1:23 mark but the Golden Hawks got goals from Daniel Filippov and Gavin Nisenzon to forge a 3-1 lead. Cooper White’s goal at 14:59 got the Rams closer at 3-2.
Andrew Savona tied the game early in the third period on the power play and Kevin Pico gave the Rams their first lead of the game at 6:44. But the game wasn’t over.
With 40.1 seconds left on the clock, Daniel Vergules broke in on Pico and scored to tie the game at 4-4. Overtime was on its way.
In the overtime, Dachowski got a pass from Ryan Schuler and backhanded a shot past Carson Lopez for the win. And pandemonium broke loose.
“We knew we weren’t losing tonight,” said Dachowski. “We just went out there and did it. We come to every game ready to win and we did it.”
“That was one of the best games I’ve ever been a part of,” Montagna said. “It was back and forth.
“It was what a championship game should be.”
Both teams will be advancing to the Flyers Cup tournament. Pennridge and Ridley will play at 6:30 on Tuesday, March 8, on Hatfield Gray and South will meet Abington at 8:10 on Hatfield Blue.
Pennridge 5, CR South 4
Pennridge 0 2 2 1 — 5
CR South 1 2 1 0 — 4
First period: 1, Mike Costantini CRS (Julian Wagenmann, Kevin Koles) 10:34 PP.
Second period: 2, Jack Lowery P (unassisted) 1:23; 3, Daniel Filippov CRS (Blaize Pepe) 11:47; 4, Gavin Nisenzon CRS (B. Pepe) 13:53 PP; 5, Cooper White P (Andrew David, Andrew Lizak) 14:59.
Third period: 6, Andrew Savona P (Kevin Pico, Aidan Boyle) 1:57 PP; 7, K. Pico P (Savona, Tyler Manto) 6:44; 8, Daniel Vergules CRS (Kyle Boss) 16:20.
Overtime: 9, Shane Dachowski P (Ryan Schuler) 4:27.
Shots: P 44, CRS 36. Saves: Ryan Pico (P) 32, Carson Lopez (CRS) 39.
- Log in to post comments
