Pennridge's Andrew Savona, 77, fights with Shane Dashowski, 22, during the Flyers Cup AA semifinal game against Downingtown West on Thursday, March 14, 2024, at Hatfield Ice. Jumping into the glass while celebrating his first goal. (Mike Cavley/Media News Group)
Hatfield Twp. — It didn’t take long for Shane Dachowski to know it was going to be the Pennridge ice hockey team’s night.
“After the first shift, we really hit the ground running,” the Rams junior forward said. “We just went deeper and the space became so much bigger. We knew right then and there that we could do this.”
Andrew Savona gave the Rams a breakthrough 3:04 into Wednesday's Flyers Cup AA semifinal game against Downingtown West, and from there, the No. 1 seeds continued to score goals in the early going.
Dashowski scored the next two points, then Josh Kelley scored and Nolan Shaw extended the lead to five points. Dashowski completed the hat trick in the final minute of the game, sending the Rams into the second period with a 6-0 advantage over the No. 4 Whippets.
“I think we jumped on them very quickly, and they followed suit and opened everything up for us,” Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna said.
Dashowski added his fourth goal and he and Kevin Pico both scored five points as the Rams cruised to a 10-1 victory at Hatfield Ice and advanced to their third straight Flyers Cup Final.
“I've said it over and over again for three years that with this group, they show up for every big game, even in the games we lose,” Montagna said. “It's been like this for three years. To do what they did tonight and get us back to the Flyers Cup final for the third year in a row, it's very hard to win and this tournament It's a very hard thing to beat and they were unbelievable tonight from the first drop of the puck. Everybody.”
Pico had four assists and scored his third goal of the night. Shaw had two goals, Tyler Mandt had a goal and two assists, and Colin Dashowski had two assists as the Rams advanced to a 3-1 win over No. 3 Boyertown against No. 2 Council Rock South. – 8:45am Wednesday afternoon at Hatfield Ice.
“I felt like we were all faster than them, especially on the rush,” Shane Dachowski said. “I think we all felt that, especially in this moment.”
It was the fourth time this season the Rams and Golden Hawks faced off, with Pennridge winning the first game 7-3 on December 12th, but CR South won the last two games, leading to overtime on February 7th. They defeated the Rams 8-7 and went on to win 7-2. in the SHSHL National Division Finals on February 29th.
“It's kind of a rivalry at this point,” Mandt said. “We play with each other all the time. It's going to be a fun game. We want to win as seniors, but we'll see.”
Pennridge and CR South also met in the 2022 Flyers Cup AA Championship, with the Rams winning 5-1 and defeating Thomas Jefferson in double overtime to claim the state title. Last season, Pennridge lost to Pennsbury 5-3 in the Flyers Cup final.
“This year, from day one, this was the only way it was going to end,” Montagna said. “And I wanted South to win tonight, not because I thought we were better than them or any other reason. I wanted this to be the Suburban League final and we I wanted to fight in person because we are the two best teams and that is what you want to see.”
Downingtown West made it 6-1 at 14:19 of the second period on Joseph Butter's power-play goal, assisted by Steven Prusak. The Whippets struggled to close the gap even further, but were unable to get past Rams goalie Jacob Winton, who stopped 30 of West's 31 shots.
“They came so hard out there that I was staring at the clock in the second period. It took forever,” Montagna said. “But when you're 6-1 with 12 minutes left in the period and Jay has to make three or four (saves), that's when it's 6-2 and it gets interesting.”
But Shane Dashowski scored his fourth point on a power play at 10:05, giving the Rams a six-point lead. Shaw scored the first goal and scored the second, making it 8-1 with 5:50 left in the second period.
The Rams scored two more goals in the fourth. Manto scored at 12:45, and Pico's puck from behind the net went into the goal at 10:57.
After Savona gave the Rams a 1-0 lead at 14:56 of the first period, Shane Dashowski doubled the advantage on a 5-on-3 power play, going around from the corner and shooting from the right side. hit. 13:05.
“It's always nice to start in the lead, it kind of defies expectations,” Mandt said. “And we rode that momentum into the game.”
Pennridge extended its lead to 4-0 with back-to-back shorthanded goals in 48 seconds.
“Every time we're short-staffed, we're told to go immediately,” Shane Dachowski said. “We’re really good at that.
The first goal came at 7:40 when Pico reached the puck in the left corner and cut it toward the net, allowing Shane Dashowski to score the second goal.
“There were no single-effort goals. It was all down to my teammates,” Shane Dashowski said. “The puck was always there.”
The next score was assisted by Shane Dashowski, who slid a pass to Kelly, who took the shot at 6:52.
Just 1 minute and 37 seconds later, Shaw put Pennridge up 5-0 on a wraparound. Shane Dashowski scored his third goal of the period with 51.8 seconds to play, making it a six-goal lead.
