At even strength, CB East and Souderton were pretty evenly matched.
But a lot of hockey is played with a man up or down. East (2-0) converted its first three power plays while shutting down Souderton’s lone power play opportunity – the Indians couldn’t even get off a shot – in the Patriots’ 5-2 win last Wednesday night in Hatfield.
“Offensively, we were really good at moving the puck tonight,” said captain Stephen DiRugeris. “We held it just long enough to pull the D to us, which opened other guys. Defensively, we stayed home. We didn’t get too far out of the system. That allowed us to break up their passes and break up their plays.”
East has turned in consecutive strong defensive games; the Patriots beat North Penn 3-1 in their opener. Goalie Matt Mangiacapre has stopped 50 of the 53 shots he has faced. The Patriots have yet to yield a power play goal this fall.
“I think the defense is doing a good job. We’re moving the scrambles,” Mangiacapre stated. “The two goals that went in tonight were closer up but as long as the D keeps the shots outside, I felt like I was tracking them and stopping them.”
East went 6-9 last season, although three of the losses were to state champion Pennridge. The Patriots faced Plymouth Whitemarsh in Wednesday’s late game. “We have a lot of chemistry with kids playing with each other on their club teams. We’re scoring goals this year. Last year, we had to put up 50 shots a game to get five,” noted East head coach Jeff Mitchell. “Now, we’re putting up 30 and more are squeaking through.
“We’re spreading it around,” Mitchell continued. The players “don’t care if it’s an apple or if it’s a goal.”
The first period ended scoreless despite East chances. “We didn’t capitalize on the opportunities we had, but we knew if we kept plugging away, we’d eventually get one,” DiRugeris offered.
Jaden Young bookended East’s scoring, putting them up 1-0 with a shot from the right wing and closing with a late empty netter. DiRugeris made it 2-0 barely three minutes after Young’s tracer. The first two goals came on power plays.
“I passed it to DJ (Brown) and he held the puck long enough to draw the defense to him,” DiRugeris recalled. “It gave me a lane to sneak in back door. He gave me a perfect pass back and I put it upstairs.”
Souderton trimmed the lead to 2-1, and then 3-2. “I feel like once we’re moving in the right direction, we start to get a little comfortable and let other teams creep back into the game,” Mitchell observed. “After we score a couple of goals and we keep the momentum going, that’s going to get the other team back on their heels. Scoring goals is great but I’d like to keep the puck out of my net as much as possible.”
Ethan Cenci scored his second goal of the year to make it 3-1 East. Corey Kosick, the Patriots’ leading scorer, notched a third power play goal with 12:28 remaining to put the Patriots up 4-2. Mangiacapre stopped a late second and early third period breakaway to keep the Indians at 2.
Mangiacapre faced only two shots in the game’s opening 12 minutes before Souderton warmed up. He explained how to stay loose, even when he has “quiet” moments. “Each shot, you take as a series of shots. If it’s a dump in, you track it, cover it and control it. When you do that, all of the other shots that come in,” Mangiacapre feels, “you’ll be loose and ready to make a quick reaction to them.”
The Patriots could be 3-0 heading into their Thanksgiving Eve rivalry with CB West. “I feel we have a really solid team with a lot of high caliber players,” Mitchell concluded.
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