Pennridge scores 6 goals in 2nd period, rolls past Upper Dublin

HATFIELD TWP. >> It took a period before the Pennridge ice hockey team’s offense got warmed up Wednesday night.

“We didn’t start off as strong as we wanted to but second period we just jumped on it,” Rams forward Andrew David said.

Tied 1-1 with Upper Dublin after the first 16 minutes, Pennridge erupted for six goals in the second period as the Rams scored the contest’s final six goals to pull away and beat the Cardinals 9-2 at Hatfield Ice.

“We had that one shift where we I think we got three there and that kind of put the nail in the coffin,” Pennridge forward Jack Lowery said. “From there we got our confidence. We just thought like all right we got this now we just got to play some defense and bring it home.”

David and Lowery each recorded hat tricks with the sophomore pair each adding an assist for four-point nights as the Rams won their third straight — scoring at least five goals in each victory.

“We’ve had a few games where we had five-plus goals but the past couple games we really started to come on offensively,” Lowery said.

Upper Dublin pulled within 3-2 at 6:16 in the second when Zachary Keenan’s scored off a Jack Bocul assist but the Rams answered with three goals in a 1:43 span.

“We played a little more relaxed,” Pennridge assistant coach Tom Coyne said. “Really the second period was how we should of played in the first period with that energy and just a little more jump on the puck kind of stuff. And then defensively we stopped running around.”

Cooper White collected three assists while Ryan Schuler and Aeryk Lehrhaupt both had a goal and an assist for the Rams, who graduated 13 seniors for last year’s team that won the SHSHL AA title and reached the Flyers Cup AA semifinals.

“We got good play from every line,” Coyne said. “They’re still kind of getting to know each other, we got some new players, some younger players that came up from last year’s team which was pretty talented so there were some big skates to fill there. They’re starting to kind of get the chemistry going now and hopefully keep it going.”

Pennridge goalkeeper Ryan Pico stopped 18 of 20 shots while UD goalie James Haak had 38 saves on 47 shots.

Fourteen seconds after Keenan’s goal, Richie Shanks put the Rams back up two while 18 seconds later David registered his second of the game to make it 5-2. Lowery proceeded to tally his second at 4:19 on a shorthanded breakaway.

“I just came down, I saw that he was leaning towards the right side of the net so I went far side low,” said Lowery, who transferred to Pennridge after attending La Salle his freshman year.

Schuler’s shot found its way through traffic and into the net with 1:35 left in the second to make it 7-2 Pennridge.

David completed his hat trick at 11:55 in the third while Lowery finished his with the game’s final goal with 1:06 remaining.

“One goal led to another,” David said. “Just momentum, just my linemates I got to give props to Cooper White and Richie Shanks in setting me up for my hat trick.”

Upper Dublin scored Wednesday’s opening goal at 8:23 in the first period as Oren Serafin put the puck into the top right corner to finish a shorthanded breakaway. David, however, scored off a rebound to pull the Rams level at 3:34.

Lowery gave the Rams the lead just 52 seconds into the second period as he skated into the zone and unleashed a shot that went into top right corner.

“I tried to change the angle on the shot a bit so I pulled it towards me and I was surprised it went in,” Lowery said.

Lehrhaupt scored off a Lowery assist at 9:21 for a 3-1 Rams advantage. Keenan got the Cards within one at 6:15 but the quick three-goal burst in less than two minutes blew things open in Pennridge’s favor.