Pennridge strikes fast in Flyers Cup AA 1st round win over CB East

HATFIELD TWP. >> Pennridge scored on four consecutive first-period shifts and skated free and clear to a 6-1 victory over Central Bucks East in the opening round of the AA Flyers Cup.

“The boys were buzzing,” the Rams’ Michael Walker said after his squad outshot the Patriots by a whopping margin of 48-13. “I’ve been playing with (Eric) Slater for nine years now. We’ve been playing on the same travel team and he and I have been clicking forever.

“It’s a fire line. And the rest of the lines were getting lots of shots and lots of opportunities. We just have a solid team. I think we’re doing really well together.”

The victory advances the fourth-seeded Rams to a Thursday night quarterfinal matchup against either Council Rock South or Haverford, back at Hatfield Ice at 8:50.

Walker opened the scoring midway through the first period off assists from Pat McGinley and Slater. McGinley scored less than two minutes later, Slater set up Walker and then Slater scored with 30 seconds left in the first, making it 4-0 and pointing Pennridge toward a commanding victory.

“We wanted the guys to come out a lot more aggressively than they did last week (in a 4-1 win over East),” said Rams coach Jeff Montagna, who was subbing in for coach Tom Coyne. “And I thought they didn’t and I kind of got on them.

“Once they got it going, they just kept going.”

Late in the second, McGinley found a tight opening and scored his second to extend the margin to 5-0. He and Walker finished with two goals apiece.

Rams keeper Luke Stranick had a shutout going until Jasen Cluckey broke the shutout for No. 13 East with 9:40 left in the third. Evan Kehoe completed the scoring for Pennridge.

“Slater, he’s got a heck of a shot and his line is probably one of the top lines in the league,” Patriots coach Ken Latchum said. “We tried to shadow (Slater) in the first period but you can’t keep him down.

“We’re a young team. The future’s bright.”