Warwick embraced its role as the underdog and played like champions.

The Warriors captured the Central Pennsylvania Ice Hockey League (CPIHL) Viola Cup title with a dramatic 3-2 triumph over Penn Manor Feb. 26 in Hersheypark Arena.

Warwick High School's Koby Zimmerman tallied the go-ahead goal on a breakaway with 37 seconds remaining in regulation.

"It just feels great to have such a good team around me," said Zimmerman, who also scored the game-tying goal and assisted on the other.

In its 29th year in the CPIHL, fifth-seeded Warwick won its second championship. The Warriors were a second seed when they won their first title in 2019. "This year it was a better division," Warwick assistant coach Anthony Greco said. "We were the road team for every game, so it became a superstition for us to wear our white jerseys. We played the underdog role to our advantage."

The Warriors went 10-5-1 in the regular season and were 4-0 in the playoffs. Trying for a second straight Viola Cup, Penn Manor was 10-6 in the regular season and lost twice to Warwick in the postseason.

In the title game, Penn Manor had two one-goal leads thanks to a pair of power play goals.

Noah Westermann put the Comets on the board 3:43 into the game by firing in a shot from the faceoff dot to the right of the cage.

Warwick answered eight and a half minutes later when Cole Breckenmaker scored from the right side of the net. Zimmerman picked up the primary assist, and Gavin Tipping was credited with the secondary assist.

The Comets reclaimed the lead at the 7:06 mark of the second period as Jonathon Boozer scored off a rebound from a shot by Sebastian Elias.

The game's turning point came with 2:05 left in the stanza. A Warwick penalty gave the Comets a chance to score a third power play goal and go up by two scores, but it was the Warriors that seized the momentum. A pass from Hunter Popolis sent Zimmerman in on a shorthanded breakaway, and he tied the game.

"We told the guys that if this didn't get them going, nothing would," said Greco. "Scoring like that with two minutes left in the period gave us momentum heading into the third."

Seeking the go-ahead goal, Penn Manor dominated stretches of the third period, but it appeared the game would be decided in overtime. That's when Zimmerman broke free, skated in alone on goal, deked the goalie, and slid a backhand shot into the net.

"I was thinking if I didn't score, we were going to have to go to overtime," Zimmerman said. "And I didn't want to go to overtime."

Greco said, "There was a lot of flow to the third period, and we looked up at the scoreboard with five minutes left and said, 'Where did the period go?' Koby and (Popolis) got together and came up with a play where Pop would flip the puck high in the air to try to spring Koby."

"All I could think of was last year against the E-town Bears when (Koby) scored with four seconds left to win us that game," said Warwick goalie Ryan Trunfio. "I was hoping this would be the same outcome, and it was. I was really happy."

Penn Manor outshot Warwick 42-20. "Trunfio played amazing and kept them in the game," said the Comets' Nick Michener. "It was a back-and-forth game, and either team could have come out victorious."

Trunfio seized the starting job in the first playoff game. "We were fortunate to have two grade-A goalies with Ryan and Austin Enslin," Greco said. "Ryan had the hot hand, so we stayed with him. We went undefeated in the playoffs, so Ryan was well-rested coming into the game. I think he would rather face 45 shots than 25."

Alternate captain Landon Sands said he was proud to represent his school. "It was exciting to win and bring a championship back to Warwick," Sands said.

"At the beginning of the year, our captains met with the coaching staff and our new head coach, Zack (Minjock)," said Greco. "They said their goal was to win the Viola Cup. We got off to a good start but had some losses along the way. The goal never changed. We have three great coaches (Minjock, Greco, and Nate Zoller). The coaches respect the players, and they respect us."

Students on Warwick's roster, along with their respective high schools, are Gavin Tipping (Lampeter-Strasburg), Austin Enslin (Warwick), Landon Sands (Warwick), Brayden Toy (Lancaster County Christian), Ryan Trunfio (Lampeter-Strasburg), Luke Carson (Lampeter-Strasburg), Waylon Sultzbach (Warwick), Hunter Popolis (Ephrata), Cole Breckenmaker (Warwick), Koby Zimmerman (Warwick), Brad Deibler (Warwick), Pierce Zoller (Warwick), Kyle Logue (Ephrata), Cade Breckenmaker (Warwick), Lucas Zoller (Warwick), Dillon Sands (Warwick), Chase Strauss (Warwick), and Ian Hough (Warwick).