(Walpole, MA) -- The Express capped off an impressive weekend with the A team beating the top three teams in the AJHL South division. The wins put the Express atop the AJHL North Division leader board with a 10-3-0-1 record worth 21 points. The B team also came away victorious, adding three more wins to their record.

“It was a special weekend for the Express organization as a whole,” said A Team Coach Mark Kumpel. “Everyone – from me and GM Coach Dalessio to Owner Rob Barletta and Asst. Coach Brian Hannafin – is extremely proud of our guys. They put the time and effort into improving their skills and morphing into a unified team. The hard work is definitely paying off for this close-knit group and that’s evident in practice and on the scoreboard.”

A Team Wrap-Up
In Saturday’s game against the New York Bobcats, Steve Charest, Charles LaChance and Dino Federico all tallied goals in the first period on the power play to put the Express up 3-0 on the way to a 4-1 victory. Mico Solorzano scored the winning goal. Travis Owens made 24 saves in net.

On Sunday, the team beat the New Jersey Rockets 7-3 with six different goal scorers, including five in the first period. Lou Malvasi scored twice, while Steve Drago, Steve Charest, Matt Harrington, Ryan Kelly and Dino Federico each contributed a goal. Patrick Hanson provided three assists. Rich Stine made 23 saves in net.

Monday’s 3-1 win against the Washington Jr. Nationals featured goals by Charles LaChance, Steve Charest and Ryan Kelly. Goaltenders Travis Owens, with 10 saves, and Rich Stine, with 17, split the duties between the pipes.

“We played solid, two-way hockey all weekend. We got contributions from a number of different players and our goaltending was there for us as it has been all season,” said Coach Mark Kumpel. “We faced three very strong hockey teams and our guys definitely rose to the challenge.”

B Team Wrap-up
Friday’s 6-3 win against the Long Island Royals featured a disappointing start for the Express. Though down 3-1 after the first period the Express roared back to life with five unanswered goals in the second. Georgiy Gurianov scored twice, while the Express got one each from Matt Bletzer, Jason Methot, James Hubbard and Shaun Gould. Elliot Bock contributed four assists and Will Harrop provided three. Zach Andrews made 42 saves in net.

On Saturday, the team bested the Central Penn Panthers 1-0. J.P. Kascsak scored about three minutes into the second period and the team held the lead to the end. While both Express netminder Joe Gladnick and Central Penn goaltender Phil Heinle were on fire, Gladnick offered a stellar performance with 25 saves for the win in net.

The final game Monday against the Valley Forge Minutemen was a nail biter, with the Express winning 2-1 in an overtime shootout. The Express trailed 1-0 four minutes into the game when Georgiy Gurianov tied the score on a great play down low by Jordan Fragoza and Will Harrop. The game remained tied through overtime and the Express kept there perfect record intact scoring four times in the shootout on goals by Shaun Gould, J.J. Carroll, J.P. Kascsak and the game winner by Gurianov. Zach Andrews had 28 saves in net for the win.

“We knew we were going to face our toughest challenge of the season this weekend,” said Coach Dalessio. “Long Island is the defending National Champion and Central Penn and Valley Forge are the two best teams in the South Conference. Our boys gutted out these wins and really came together as a team this weekend. To see them gel is what I’m most encouraged by.”

Upcoming Games
The A team will be off this weekend but will resume play with two big North Division games the following weekend. On Saturday, Oct. 25 the team travels to Salem, NH to take on the Boston Bulldogs; and on Sunday, Oct. 26 they host the Northern Cyclones at Iorio Arena at 1 pm.

The B team will be back in action this weekend at home when they host North division counterparts, the Binghamton Jr. Senators, at Iorio Arena. This will be the last time these two teams meet this season. Thus far, the Express have won all four match-ups. Game times are Saturday at 8:40 pm and Sunday at 1 pm.