With 16 wins, zero losses, and one tie, the Pennridge Ice Hockey team is making its way through the 2022 playoffs. The boys won their first-round playoff game against Central Bucks East High School on Wednesday, February 23, 2022. Goalie, Ryan Pico, had 39 saves and let in one goal. Last week, Pennridge Ice Hockey took on the Pennsbury Falcons on Wednesday, March 2 for their semi-final game. Because they won, they played Thursday, March 3, and won the Championship game. 

How was the team preparing for their big game, you may ask? Pierce McGinley, a senior forward on Pennridge Ice Hockey, said,  “To get to the Championship, we needed to win the March 2 game.. We were looking at this game like we would any game, come out hard and play defense. We thought to ourselves, if we pull out the win, we get to play Thursday for the Championship. Like I said before, we just had to get out on the ice and do what we do. We know we have the talent but this game would be a rematch of our last game of the year that tied CR South 3-3.” He believes that the boy’s chemistry helped greatly to get them to the Championship game.  Pierce also talked about the boy’s clock. The clock is a clock that the boys give out to the most valuable player of the game. McGinley believes that “Sometimes, it may motivate us too much. Some of our players try to go for highlight-reel goals instead of making the play that can for sure get us the goal. But overall, it keeps the competition and rivalry between everyone alive”. While talking with a few other players on the team, senior defensemen, Aidan Boyle, is extremely confident in himself and his players as well. He mentioned that “the young ones are on fire right now” and they played a big part in the semi-final game and also the Championship game. Boyle recognized his young players, such as sophomore forward Kevin Pico,  who has 16 goals this season and 13 assists; sophomore defensemen Colin Dachowski, who has two goals and 14 assists; and freshman forward Shane Dachowski who has 15 goals and six assists. Boyle was super excited to see his young players take the ice and take the team to the Championship.

The players on the ice don’t have all the control of the game. Pennridge Ice Hockey has grown its fan base with its winning streak. Jeffery Stritzl goes to most of the boys’ games. When asked how the team has a winning season reflects on the number of fans and support the team has he said “This team definitely built up a lot of hype for themselves from the way they have been playing this season. Having such a strong team has encouraged so many fans to come out for the games and continue to provide support for the players and teams”. The players interacting with the fans also have encouraged many more people to come and watch them play. I would say the amount of high school students that go to the games is almost equal to the number of high school students that go to the Pennridge football games. I believe that the fans have a lot of faith in the team, and they were ready for them to win the championship. The effort that the Pennridge Ice Hockey has put into their sport is incredible, and I am excited to see how the Flyer’s Cup goes, with them now being the number one seed.