Avon Grove bounces back to cruise past CB East in Flyers Cup

WEST GOSHEN >> Coming off a loss to West Chester East in the Ches-Mont final, Avon Grove was looking to get back on track as they opened up Flyers Cup AA play against sixth-seeded Central Bucks East on Tuesday. The Red Devils scored seconds into the game, then reeled off four straight goals in the second period en route to a 6-3 victory at Ice Line.
Avone Grove, the No. 3 seed, advances to Thursday’s quarterfinals against the winner of the Owen J. Roberts-Central Bucks South contest.
“We didn’t play bad against East, but we definitely wanted to put the game in the win column,” said Brendan Chandler, who had a pair of goals on the night along with Ian D’Ambrosio. “Come strong and play well. We fought from behind all year. That’s who we are.”
Before the crowd got comfortable from standing for the National Anthem, Avon Grove gave the best reason to get up again, Right off the faceoff, Nathan Crossan broke in and snapped a shot that beat CB East goalie Matt Mangiacapre for the quick lead.
“Scoring on the first shift is always a great way to start a game,” said Avon Grove coach Sean Cannon.
CB East equalized nearly 10 minutes later, Corey Kosick broke through the defense with an inside-outside move, then fed Charlie Keiser in the slot, who fired the puck into the empty net.
With 2:23 left in the first, CBE took the lead on the power play. Defenseman David Brown’s shot from the point hit the crossbar, dropped down and dribbled across the goal line past goalie Justin Mackley.
Mackley was called on a short time later to keep the Red Devils one-goal down. Kosick broke in on a breakway while killing a penalty. He tried to beat Mackley over his glove hand, but was denied by a splendid glove save.
Avon Grove then started to take control. They tied it up as Chandler broke a scoring slump by netting a goal from a sharp angle on the backhand.
“We were talking before the game about how a goal scorer just needs one to get going and that’s what happened,” said Cannon. “Hopefully, he’s got it back now.”
Chandler then gave AG the lead for good a couple of minutes later as he jammed in a loose puck in the slot to make it 3-2.
D’Ambrosio then scored in front to build the lead to a 4-2 advantage.
“We stayed positive on the bench and put a couple in,” said D’Ambrosio. “Scoring a couple feels pretty good. I feel like I contributed tonight and we’ll be even better Thursday.”
Jack Dembroski added a power-play tally to end the onslaught and pad the lead to 5-2. Ethan Cenci clawed one back for East before the end of the period.
But, CBE was held scoreless in the third as Avon Grove held them to minimal chances. D’Ambrosio added his second to seal the scoring and book the Red Devils’ spot into the quarterfinals.
Avon Grove has reached the semifinals the last couple of seasons and hope that experience can lead them even further this year.
“Oh, yeah,” D’Ambrosio said when asked if they could make a run. “Last year, we lost in the semis, so I think we’re going to try to go a little bit farther this year.”

Avon Grove 6, Central Bucks East 3
Central Bucks East 1 2 0 – 3
Avon Grove 1 4 1 – 6
Central Bucks East goals: Keiser, Brown, Cenci.
Bishop Shanahan goals: D’Ambrosio 2, Chandler 2, Crossan, Dembroski.
Goalie saves: Mangiacapre (CBE) 23; Mackley (AG) 21.