(Walpole, MA) -- The Walpole Express Jr. A and B teams swept their league match-ups over the weekend, each earning four points in key divisional games. The Express A team beat the Hartford Jr. Wolf Pack on Saturday night 3-2 in overtime and cruised to a 5-1 win against the Laconia Leafs on Sunday. The B team also picked up four points as the boys continued their domination of the MJHL North division with 5-0 and 3-0 wins in a home-and-home series with the Hartford Jr. Wolf Pack. The wins gave the Express a sweep of the six-game season series against Hartford.

Junior A Warp-Up
In Saturday night’s hard-fought overtime 3-0 win, Charles LaChance flexed his offensive muscle with two goals, including the game winner with just over three minutes to play in overtime. Scoring on the power play, the Wolf Pack held a 1-0 advantage after the first period. The Express evened the score on LaChance’s first goal as the teams came out for the third period tied at one. The Express surged ahead when newcomer Dan Ranier (one goal, two assists) scored his first goal of the season. The Wolf Pack answered with another power play at 13:08 so the teams headed into overtime where LaChance would end the drama. Express goalie Rich Stine (27 saves) out-dueled Hartford’s Randy Wolcott for the win.

After a tough battle with Hartford on Saturday, the Express quickly took care of business on Sunday against the Leafs, posting a 5-1 win. The Express had five different goal scorers: Mico Solorzano, Lou Malvasi, Dan Rainer, Dino Federico and Chris Comprosky. Steve Charest and Adam Korol each had two assists, and Travis Owens gave his usual solid effort making 12 saves between the pipes.

“Saturday night was a good team win,” said Head Coach Mark Kumpel. “We needed to beat a good team in our division after suffering some losses a few weeks back. Fortunately, the boys have really rallied around each other and it showed with our efforts this weekend.”

Junior B Wrap-Up
As has been the case in a number of Express games this season, the B team started slowly on Saturday against Hartford but allowed explosive offense to take over as the game progressed. Five different players – Georgiy Gurianov, Victor Kamensky, Shaun Gould, JP Kascsak and John Sheehan – contributed goals. Defenseman Joobin Mozaffarimehr had four assists.

On the road in Cromwell, Conn. on Sunday to finish the weekend home-and-home with Hartford the Express played a sloppy game in all three zones but managed to pull out a 3-0 win and sweep the season series with the Wolf Pack. After a scoreless first period, Jordan Fragoza opened the scoring on the power play after some nice give-and-go passing from Gurianov and Mozzafarimehr. Will Harrop added to the Express’ lead 41 seconds into the third period by beating the Wolf Pack goalie through the five-hole. JP Kascsak sealed the victory with and empty net goal. Once again, the Express benefited from exceptional goaltending from Zach Andrews and Joe Gladnick – the top goaltending duo in the MJHL – as both netminders posted shut-outs.

“We needed to bounce back after our loss to the Rockets at the Showcase last weekend and the boys responded to the challenge,” said Head Coach Tony Dalessio. “We discussed this week the need to capture at least eight points in our last four games before the holiday break and the boys delivered. We next face the Pirates, now a much stronger team than when we saw them in September. Coach Ryan McGrath has turned them into playoff contenders and we are going to need to work hard to get points.”

Upcoming Games
Both teams will be back in action this coming weekend before they head out for a much-anticipated holiday break. The A team will host the Boston Bulldogs at Iorio Arena on Friday, Dec. 12 at 8:40 pm, and will play a pair of non-league games at home on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 8:40 pm and Sunday, Dec. 14 at 12:40 pm against the National Sports Academy. The B team will travel to the MHG Center in Maine to face the Portland Jr. Pirates.