NEVILLE TWP., Pa. — The Ringgold Rams have punched their ticket to the PIHL Division 2 championship, beating the Neshannock Lancers 5-0 on Monday at RMU Island Sports Center.
Ringgold’s Evan Eberlein opened scoring with a power-play goal in the first period that held up as the game winner, as Rams goaltender Evan Cook completed a shutout stopping 19 saves on the night.
“He played really well, got us a shutout when we needed it” Ringgold coach Rick Kalinosk said.
Neshannock did not help itself early in the second period as a bad turnover allowed Bradley Budjos to score on an odd-man rush. Eberlein added his second goal of the game just 34 seconds later to give the Rams a 3-0 lead going into the second intermission.
The Rams continued their strong play through the third period as Noah Schroeder and Ryan Marek picked up goals. Eberlein picked up an assist on the fourth goal.
“Starting with the first shift we knew had to come out hard, kept the pressure on and just kept going the whole game”, Eberlein said.
The Rams will face-off against the Burrell Buccaneers on Monday, March 18 at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. Eberlein knows they have a tough matchup ahead of them against Burrell.
“We’ve got to play perfect the whole game, can’t give them any odd-man chances, have to stay on them the whole game,” he said.
