Pine-Richland entered the PIHL playoffs as the undisputed No. 1 team. The Rams, who have yet to taste defeat, figured to cruise past the No. 16 seeded Big Macs of Canon McMillan, who needed to win or tie their final regular season game to make the playoffs.

The Rams got more than they bargained for, but once again showed why they are the team to beat in AAA hockey, as they twice rallied from a goal down to triumph 5-2.

Canon McMillan took a 1-0 lead early in the first period when Nate Bohn found the net.

The lead didn't last long, as Ty Loney got the Rams going with a goal off an assist from Tyler Deal and Jordan Shelleby.

Canon McMillan would not lie down, and scored again to take a 2-1 lead. When the first period ended, the Rams had 15 shots and one goal. Canon McMillan had two shots and two goals.

"I was surprised how hard they came out," said Bob Kennedy, Pine-Richland head coach. "They were aggressive when they needed to be."

The Big Macs defense and goalie Ryan Palonis played as good a game as humanly possible, but the Rams just kept coming. In the second period, forward Dylan Trombetta took the defense with him and made a perfect pass to George Saad, who cashed in to tie the game at 2-2 heading into intermission.

"Dylan and I have played together since were were freshmen," Saad said. "When he went around the defense, I swung to the back door because I knew he was going to give it to me."

Heading into the third period, Saad returned the favor, as he assisted on Trombetta's goal, which gave the Rams their first lead of the game.

Saad struck again moments later as his unassisted goal put the Rams up by two.

"That was a critical part of the game," Saad said. "It was a big goal that sealed the deal. It felt good."

Loney added an empty netter with under a minute to play.

The Rams will face the lowest remaining seed at home on Wednesday.