Pennridge in control in win over Central Bucks West

HATFIELD TWP. >> They’re a perfect 10, by virtue of an impressive 8-1 victory over rival Central Bucks West Wednesday night.

But Aeryk Lehrhaupt believes Pennridge’s best is ahead.

“We know we can play better than that,” the forward said after his team’s dominant performance at packed Hatfield Ice. “We couldn’t find the back of the net. We had 65 shots – we just gotta find a way to put it in.”

Maybe it wasn’t Pennridge’s best shooting night, and the Rams still found a way to rack up eight goals against their rival. Lehrhaupt scored a pair and six others contributed a goal each as Pennridge raised its record to 10-0, including a perfect 5-0 mark in the Suburban High School Hockey League’s Continental Conference.

“It feels great. We worked real hard for this and after all the work we put in, getting to 10-0 is a big moment,” said Lehrhaupt, as celebratory music rocked from the locker room behind him.

The Rams out-shot the Bucks by a 65-28 margin. Goalie Kyle Fasolak had a busy night for West.

Fasolak made 22 saves in the first period alone, but Pennridge got three shots to go by, one each by Cooper White, Aidan Boyle (power play) and Tyler Manto. William Loughnane scored for the Bucks (0-5 Continental), making it 3-1 after the first.

Pennridge goalie Ryan Pico stopped all remaining 27 shots that came his way and the Rams methodically added to their lead. Andrew Savona and Lehrhaupt each scored for the Rams and Lehrhaupt added a power-play goal to make it 6-1 Pennridge after two.

“We take a lot of pride in our offense, but we like to keep the teams off the scoreboard,” Lehrhaupt said. “We score a lot but we try to keep the other team scoring as little as possible because we take pride in our defense.”

With the defense digging in, the Rams continued to control the puck into the third period. Pierce McGinley and Shane Dachowski scored third-period goals to finish things off for the Rams.

Dane Fitchet had three assists for Pennridge and Kevin Pico had a pair of assists for the Rams, who have shown a little bit of everything thus far, minus a weakness.

“When you look at our roster, on paper, we look really good,” Lehrhaupt said. “It was a good performance tonight. I wouldn’t say it was our best. We know we can play better than that.”

Pennridge skates again on Wednesday at Revolutionary Ice Gardens against Central Bucks East at 7:50 p.m. West is back in action on Thursday, Jan. 20 against Neshaminy, back at Hatfield Ice at 7:10 p.m.