Pennridge 5, Central Bucks South 1

By Rick Woelfel

HATFIELD—It wasn’t a flashy performance. But it was a model of efficiency.

Blake Stewart and Arek Lehrhaupt each scored twice to lead Pennridge to a 5-1 win over Central Bucks South in a SHSHL National/Continental matchup Thursday night at Hatfield Ice.
It was the second win for the Rams (2-1 overall, 0-1 in league play) in two nights.

Rams coach Jeff Montagna was pleased his team stepped up after a subpar, albeit winning effort against Central Bucks West on Wednesday.

“It was boring in a good way,” he said. “I have not been happy at all the first two nights (including an opening night-loss to Pennsbury), especially defensively. They did a really nice job just keeping things simple, and once we got the lead, not giving (South) a whole lot of life.”

Aidan Boyle got things started for the Rams when he beat Madison Ambler with a forehander from midway between the two circles 9:13 into the first frame. Lehrhaupt made it 2-0 at 11:50 with a shot from the edge of the right circle on an odd-man situation.

The Titans got on the board when Garrett Sklar beat Ryan Pico in the Pennridge net 6:31 into the middle period but that was all they could manage.

“We were outworked and outplayed,” said South coach Shaun McGinty, “and only a few players showed up. We need to win the corner battles and the battles in the defensive zone.”

Stewart restored the Rams’ two goal lead at the 7:59 mark of the period., then widened the margin with his second goal of the game 8:10 into the third frame. Stewart, who is the Pennridge captain, was pleased to see his team bounce back after an off night 24 hours earlier, but still wasn’t satisfied

“(Wednesday night) was pretty sloppy,” he said, “but we went home, we thought about the game and came out here and forced things that we needed to do tonight. It was much better, but without being on the ice very much, all that’s a little tough.”

Lehrhaupt finished the scoring with 1:09 left in the game.

The Rams are one of the most experienced teams in the SHSHL Montagna is counting on leadership from his veterans to help them reach their potential. “I told them ‘It’s on you guys’” he said. “Guys that have played for me for three, four years, they have to lead this team and have to set the example … and I didn’t think the first nights they did that.”

Montagna cited Stewart’s leadership abilities but also the responsibility that comes with wearing the captain’s C.

“He has to lead us and a couple of the other guys have to lead us,” Montagna said, “And they did that tonight.”

Pico and Ambler made 21 saves apiece. Ambler was in goal in place of veteran Mason Moyer who has been unavailable for the Titans’ first two games.

Pennridge 2 1 2—5
C.B. South 0 1 0—1
First-period goals: Aidan Boyle (P) from Andrew David, 9:13; Arek Lehrhaupt (P) from Jeff Manto, 11:50.
Second-period goals: Garrett Sklar (CBS) from Aydin Thierolf, 6:31; Blake Stewart (P) from Andrew David, 7:59.
Third-period goals: Stewart (P) from Richie Shanks and Boyle, 8:10; Lehrhaupt (P) from Manto, 14:51.
Shots: Pennridge 26, C.B. South 22; Saves: Ryan Pico (P) 21, Madison Ambler (CBS) 21.

Pennridge 4, Neshaminy 3

BRISTOL—Since the calendar turned to 2020 Pennridge has been a hockey team in the rise. On Tuesday night the Rams took another step forward, a big one, by coming from behind in the third period for a 4-3 win over Neshaminy in a Class AA Flyers Cup first-round game at Grundy Arena.

The 10th-seeded Rams trailed 2-0 and 3-2 before Aeryk Lehrhaupt scored on a shot from the right faceoff circle with 55 seconds left in regulation to send he and his mates into the quarterfinals on Thursday against second seed Haverford (7:00 at the Skatium).

Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna praised his team’s effort after being eliminated in the opening round of the SHSHL playoffs by Council Rick South. “It says so much about them,” he said. “I don’t have words of how proud I am of them. That young, they shouldn’t be making all the plays they did.”

The seventh-seeded ‘Skins used a methodical approach to build a 2-0 first-period lead. David McColgan got his team on the scoreboard 4:46 into the opening period, beating Pennridge goaltender Ryan Pico from close range. Thomas Gallagher gave his team a two-goal lead at 10:07.

The Rams responded in the second frame. Andrew Lizak beat Brian Nelson from the deep right circle off a right corner dump to get the Rams on the board 3:18 mark before Richie Shanks tied the game at 9:51.

Neshaminy retook the lead when Joey DeMatteo scored with 6:10 left in the middle session and stayed in front when Nelson denied Lehrhaupt on a two-on-one with 14 seconds left in the period.

The Rams got their second power play chance of the third period at the 8:31 mark when Neshaminy drew a bench minor for having too many men on the ice. Blake Stewart, the Rams’ captain, scored the tying goal with 5:40 left in regulation as the prelude to the finish.

Stewart noted that Pennridge opened its season back in October with a loss to Neshaminy but had natured since then. “We came to this game a much stronger team,” he said. “We just wanted it more, we came out hungry, and we just wanted to move on. No one really wanted us here and no one thought we would be here.”

It was a frustrating evening for Neshaminy coach Matt DeMattteo. “They were the hungrier team today,” he said of the Rams. “They skated harder. They did the things you need to do to win the game and we just did not play a good game as a team.”

Pennridge 0 2 2—4
Neshaminy 2 1—3
First-period goals: David McColgan (N) from Rob Seewagen and J.J. Hathaway, 4:46; Thomas Gallagher (N) from Matt Buchinski and Joey DeMatteo, 10:07;
Second-period goals: Andrew Lizak (P) unassisted, 3:18; Richie Shanks (P) from Blake Stewart and Andrew David; DeMatteo (N) from Nolan Geria and Seewagen, 11:50.
Third-period goals: Stewart (P) from Shanks, 10:20 (pp); Aeryk Lehrhaupt from Jack Lowery and Conrad Frisch, 15:05.
Shots: Pennridge 32, Neshaminy 30; Saves: Ryan Pico (P) 27, Brian Nelson (N) 28

Pennridge Wins SHSHL Class AA title

By Rick Woelfel

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP—The combination of solid defense and quality goaltending will win a lot of hockey games, especially in the postseason. The Pennridge Rams utilized that formula to become champions Thursday night.

Luke Stranick stopped 35 shots and Matt Guinette and Michael Eissler provided the necessary scoring as the Rams downed Central Bucks South 2-0 in the Suburban High School Hockey League Class AA championship game at Hatfield Ice

It’s the second SHSHL title in history for the second-seeded Rams, who improved their record to 14-2-3. The top-seeded Titans (13-4-2) were attempting to capture an unprecedented fifth straight SHSHL crown and their ninth in history.
After shutting down one of the most potent offenses in the area, the Rams were savoring their success.

“I’ve only gone here for two years, and it feels great to me” said junior defenseman Frankie Rota, who transferred from Quakertown prior to last season. “I can imagine the guys that have been going here for four, I imagine it feels incredible.”

The Rams outshot the Titans by just 40-35 but the efforts of the blueline corps limited South’s quality chances and made life easier for their goaltender.

“My defense played perfect,” Stranick said. “They did everything I could have asked for. They kept the shots to the outside, they kept the screens out of my way, they made it real easy.”

The Titans had the better of things early on until the pace picked up midway through the opening period. Guinette got the Rams on the board at the 8:18 mark of the first frame with a shot from midway between the tops of the two faceoff circles that beat South netminder Oscar Levin, who had a solid game between the pipes despite the defeat.

Pennridge’s second goal, which came 3:30 into the middle period, was the result of a picturesque individual effort by Eissler, who went up the middle and over the blue line before deking around a South defender and beating Moyer. That was all the scoring there was but that was all that was needed.

“Defensively, we gave up some chances,” said Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna, “but we did a real good job not giving up second-chance opportunities. Our defensemen blocked a ton of shots in this game and we swept everything up.

“(South) is a hard team to hold off for 51 minutes and we did.”

Notes: The Rams won their first league crown in 2008 …Both teams will see action in the Flyers Cup tournament next Wednesday. The second-seeded Titans will face 15th-seed Downingtown West on Wednesday at Revolution Ice Gardens at 7:15. The fourth-seeded Rams will take on 13th seed Garnet Valley the same evening at Hatfield Ice at 8:40 … Shaun McGinty was not behind the Titans’ bench Thursday night because of work commitments. Assistant Tyler Skronski stepped in for him.

Pennridge 1 1 0—2

C.B. South 0 0 0—0

First-period goal: Matt Guinette (P) from Eric Slater, 8:18

Second-period goal: Michael Eissler (P) from Jeff Manto, 3:30

Shots: Pennridge 40, C.B. South 35; Saves: Luke Stranick 35 Oscar Levin (CBS) 33

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Pennridge Holds Off North Penn 5-4

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP— Two of the top teams in the Suburban High School Hockey League demonstrated Thursday night why they earned that distinction.

It was Pennridge that prevailed, by building a three-goal lead in the third period before hanging on to defeat North Penn 5-4 in a Class AA game at Hatfield Ice.
It was the fifth straight victory for the Rams, who improved to 5-1-1 overall and 4-1 in league play. The loss was first in league play for the Knights (5-2-1, 4-1) who saw a three-game winning streak snapped.

It was the second regular season meeting between the two teams, who played to a 4-4 tie in a. non-league encounter on November 9

Pennridge defenseman Jeff Manto scored his first goal of the season Thursday night. He said the win over an elite opponent was a signal to the rest of the league. “We’re trying to prove we’re the best team in the league,” he said. “We are trying to stand out.”

The first period featured close checking at both ends and limited offensive opportunities; the teams combined for just 14 shots. Nathan Oh opened the scoring for North Penn with 3:30 left in the period but it took Michael Walker just 21 second to respond for the Rams.

Michael White gave Pennridge a 2-1 lead just 30 seconds into the second frame, only to see Jake Nelson tie the game for North Penn just 51 seconds later. Manto’s shot from just inside the blue line during a power play put the Rams up for good with 3:35 left in the period.

Eric Slater scored his Class AA-leading 17th goal of the season 5:48 into the third period to put Pennridge up 4-2. But by that point, the Knights had demonstrated an ability to keep Slater and Walker more or less under control. Blake Stewart extended the Pennridge lead with 5:09 left and Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna was quick to point out the importance of having multiple offensive threats

“We were able to win on a night when they neutralized Eric and Michael,” he said. ” They got their goals but (North Penn) really did a good job neutralizing Eric and Michael.”

Having veteran goaltender Luke Stranick between the pipes didn’t hurt the Rams’ chances. “When you make mistakes, you don’t have to worry about them ending up in the net all the time,” Montagna said. “He’s the rock back there, he’s the given on our team.”

Trailing by there goals, the Knights were in no mood for a concession speech. Luke Van Why scored with 1:25 remaining and then, with their goaltender out, the Knights received a power-play chance when Manto drew a roughing call with 48 seconds left. Jared Albano beat Stranick at the 15-second mark and the Knights swarmed again following the ensuing faceoff before the final buzzer came to the Rams’ aid just as Tyler Greenstein, North Penn’s sniper-in-chief, was teeing up a shot from the high slot.

“The guys continued to battle to the very end,” said North Penn coach Kevin Vaitis. “We never give up. We got down 5-2 with a couple minutes left and could have easily packed it in, but the boys continued to battle.”
North Penn 1 1 2—4
Pennridge 1 2 2—5
First-period goals: Nathan Oh (NP) from Jared Albano and Will Hughes, 12:30; Michael Walker (P) unassisted, 12:51.
Second-period: Michael White (P) unassisted, :30; Jake Nelson (NP) from Josh Kaufhold,
1:21; Jeff Manto (P) from Nick Eissler, 12:25 (pp).
Third-period goals: Eric Slater (P) from Matt Guinette, 5:48; Blake Stewart (P) from Michael Walker, 10:51; Luke Van Why (NP) from Ryan Cunningham and Nelson, 14:35; Jared Albano (NP), from Tyler Greenstein and Oh 15:45.
hots: North Penn 26, Pennridge 27; Saves: Nick Ebbinghaus (NP) 22, Luke Stranick (P) 22.

By Rick Woelfel

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Pennridge Downs Central Bucks East

HATFIELD TOWNSHIP— Pennridge and Central Bucks East tested themselves against each other Thursday night. It was the Rams who passed the test and left Hatfield Ice with a 6-2 win in a Suburban High School Hockey League encounter.

Eric Slater scored three goals for the Rams (4-1-1, 3-1 in SHSHL Class AA) but the story of the evening was his team’s ability to keep the Patriots under constant pressure.

Slater and Matt Guinette scored goals to give the Rams a 2-0 first period lead but the most interesting numbers on the scoreboard were the shot totals that read 20-0 in favor of Pennridge.

“Good defense started in our offensive zone,” said Pennridge coach Jeff Montagna, “and with guys being in position where they can attack the puck and still be in good defensive positions if we do turn the puck over.

“That first period was as well as we’ve put together all year.

Ken Latchum, East’s veteran coach, said the pressure took a toll on his troops, who dropped their first decision of the season.. “They pressured us,” he said, “and their feet never stopped moving. They didn’t glide once.

“Those guys, even their third line, were just full of pressure. Those guys just motored and that’s what I want these guys to learn. You’ve got to motor.”

The Patriots (5-1-1, 2-1) didn’t get their first shot on goal until 29 seconds into the second period when they were on a power play. Slater gave the Rams a 3-0 lead 4:51 into the middle period by skating up the middle of the offensive zone and weaving his way through traffic.

“He’s lethal,” Montagna said. “You give him an inch, he’s lethal and you add that shot that his his offensive ability and it’s almost impossible to shut him down.”

Slater, who had two assists to go with his three goals, now has 16 goals and four assists in his team’s six games. He said he focuses on finding open ice. “I’ve always tried to,” he said. “It helps playing with teammates that open up so much space for me.”

Rob Kern solved Pennridge goaltender Luke Stranick with 6:13 left in the middle session. The score stayed that way to the end of the period but Frankie Rota and Slater (while his team was shorthanded) scored third-period goals to make it a 5-1 game with 7:43 remaining in regulation.

East’s Nick Locastro and the Rams’ Conrad Fisch traded goals to finish the scoring.
The Rams had a 36-9 edge in shots.

C.B. East 0 1 1—2
Pennridge 2 1 3—6
First-period goals: Eric Slater (P) from Blake Stewart, 9:55; Matt Guinette (P) unassisted, 14:33.
Second-period goals: Slater (P) unassisted, 4:51; Rob Kern (CBE) from Nick Locastro and Sean Gorman, 9:47.
Third-period goals: Stewart (P) from Frankie Rota and Slater, 2:20; Slater (P) unassisted, 8:17 (sh); Locastro (CBE) from Phil McIntyre and Owen Connor, Conrad Fisch (P) from Slater.
Shots: C.B. East 9, Pennridge 36

Pennridge 10, William Tennent 0

WARWICK— Pennridge got off to a slow start in the Suburban High School Hockey League this season. But the Rams have a lot of firepower in the lineup and Friday night they put that firepower on display.

Eric Slater scored five goals to lead his team to a 10-0 shutout over William Tennent at Revolution Ice Gardens. The game was halted 3:40 into the third period due to the 10-goal mercy rule. Pennridge now stands at 3-1-1 both overall and in SHSHL Class 2A league play. The Panthers are now 2-4 overall and 1-3 in the league.

After starting the season with a loss and a tie the Rams have won three straight, scoring 27 goals in the process.

Slater, who has scored 13 goals in his team’s five games, admitted it took he and his teammates some time to get used to each other at the start of the season.

“It was a challenge I guess to start playing as a team,” the senior winger said. “Most of us play club and we’re on different pages, club-wise (but) we finally got clicking; we’ve been playing good lately.”

Jeff Montagna is Pennridge’s third head coach in two seasons. He also coaches two club teams and a number of his club players are on the Pennridge roster. He admits that finding the right formula early on wasn’t easy.

“I know some guys know what I want,” he said, “and I have to be patient with the guys who aren’t used to what I want and that’s been an adjustment for me as well.

“Being able to teach those guys what I want but being with it. It’s not easy.”

Evan Kehoe opened the scoring for the Rams by scoring directly from a faceoff in the right circle 6:03 into the opening period. Slater scored back-to-back goals 35 seconds apart and Conrad Fisch scored 20 seconds after that to put Pennridge up 4-0 with 2:22 still to go in the first frame.

Slater completed a hat trick 5:23 into the second stanza before Andrew David made it a 6-0 game 48 seconds later.

Michael Walker added two goals 21 second apart, the first on a power play, to put Pennridge up 8-0 after two periods.

Slater scored twice in the third period to being down the curtain on the evening.

Tennent goaltender Trey Smith had the task of dealing with all this. A junior who is playing organized hockey for the first time, Smith faced 26 shots over the course of the evening.

“You play a team like Pennridge that can score at will almost against any goalie in the league and it’s going to be a challenge,” said Tennent coach Nick D’Aurizio. “We put up a fight. Our guys battled as much as they could but their big guns eventually took over.”

By Rick Woelfel

Pennridge 4 4 2—10

William Tennent 0 0 0—0

First-period goals: Evan Kehoe (P) unassisted, 6:03; Eric Slater (P) from Frankie Rota and Nick Eissler, 12:43; Slater (P) unassisted, 13:18; Conrad Fisch (P) from Richie Shanks and Andrew David, 13:38.

Second-period goals: Slater (P) from Michael Walker, 5:23; David (P) from Eissler, 6:11; Walker (P) from Rota and Matt Guinette, 10:48 (pp); Walker (P) from Slater and Guinette, 11:09.

Third-period goals: Slater (P) from Eissler, :09; Slater (P) from Walker, 3:40