(Walpole, MA) -- The tide has turned for the Walpole Express Jr. B team. Fresh off the heels of a stellar regular season in the MJHL, the B team lost in the semi finals of the Keegan Cup to Jacksonville, 5-2. The boys held it to 0-0 after two periods but the Florida team jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third. Though the Express battled back to tie it on powerplay goals by John Sheehan and Joobin Moaffarimehr, the team was out of gas. “By the third period we stopped forcing the play and played back on our heels,” said Head Coach Tony Dalessio. “Our opponent’s speed and puck movement hurt us in the end.”

The Walpole team is looking ahead to Nationals, which will be held this weekend in Marlboro, Mass. at the New England Sports Center. “We will need to play much better than we did in the Keegan Cup if we want any chance of advancing out of our bracket,” Dalessio said. “We are in the toughest bracket by far, with the second and third-ranked teams from the MJHL and Empire leagues among our opponents. We have to bring our A game if we want to be competitive with these top teams.”

Schedule
• Friday, March 27 @ 12:40 pm vs. Tri State Selects
• Saturday, March 28 @ 11:30 am vs. Jacksonville Ice Dogs
• Sunday, March 29 @ 12 pm vs. NH Monarchs