(Walpole, MA) -- The Walpole Express Junior B's fell to the Little Flyers, but topped the Central Penn Panthers in a the weekend showcase. On Friday night, skating flat and uninspired in the first half, the B's lost 4-3 to the Little Flyers team. The Little Flyers capitalized on the Express' lethargy and jumped out to a 3-0 lead. But in the second, the Express battled to 3-2 in the first five minutes on a powerplay goal by newcomer Marcus Egan and an even-strength tally by Dan Bufis. Unfortunately, the Little Flyers scored a few minutes later to go up 4-2. The Express again found the back of the net, making it 4-3. With the goalie pulled, the Express had several chances to tie the game but came up short.

“I felt we made a good effort out there, but you can’t let a team like the Little Flyers build a 3-0 lead," explained Express Coach Mike Tenney. "They are a team with a great work ethic and although we equaled it in the second they outworked us in the first period and that was the difference.”

Saturday featured the long-awaited showdown with Tenney's mentor, Central Penn Panthers Coach Andy Scott. “Our approach was to take it like any other game and not use the backdrop of me and Andy as an excuse to add drama to an already pressure-filled game between two of the top teams in the Met League this year,” Tenney said.

The Express did not let anything derail them on this day as they outworked the Panthers all over the ice for 50 minutes. The game stood at 1-0 for the Express all the way into the 15 minute mark of the second half. That's when lightning struck. During a two-on-one, A.J. Chua shot the puck for a rebound allowing John Sheehan to score into an empty net. Seconds later, Chua pulled a toe drag over the blue line to put the Express up 3-0. “A.J. (Chua), John (Sheehan) and Dan (Bufis) really delivered in the big game today,” Tenney said. "Their line scored four of the five goals to give the Express a 5-1 victory."

On Monday morning, the Express took on the top team from the south, the Atlanta Knights. The Knights were undefeated coming in and remained that way as they shut out the Express 2-0. “Our goaltending and defense were very good but we just could not get it going on the offensive end,” Tenney said. "Despite dropping two games over the weekend, the Express had a strong team showing. The way we are playing right now, I like our chances moving forward into the playoffs. Everyone is contributing and although we did not score against Atlanta it will be tough to keep Carmen, Shamus and the Bufis line off the score board on a regular basis. I like where we are at and look forward to the last three games of the season and the playoffs.”