In hockey we have a term . . . ‘playing a good road game’.  It defines the road team playing close to the vest, focusing on possession, defense and being opportunistic when the goal scoring chances show up.  Jensen Beach played a very solid road game last night as they raised their record to 2-2, while struggling Pope fell to 1-3 on the season.  Jensen was able to pull away in the second half of a one-goal game at halftime by shutting down Pope’s offense.  JB head coach Matt Sofarelli singled out sophomore Jake Ferguson in particular for his efforts.  Pope hurt themselves with a lack of patience in the second half as very few possessions were in settled situations, trying to force a little too much instead of being protective of the ball. JB’s Jared Welsh played a great game, putting up 3G/2A while also riding strongly.  One of his goals was off a Pope clearing attempt that he read perfectly, setting up a clear path to the goal.  Kyle VanWagner added a hat trick and Liam Walls went 2G/2A as the Jensen attack meshed very well.  Chris Castellon responded with 3G for Pope but star middie Drew Minchew was held off the score sheet.  Wyatt Weiseman won a spirited faceoff battle 12-8 over Johnny Hanlon.  Niko Morfogen kept Pope within striking distance in the second half with 8 saves. All in all a game that will set Jensen up very well going forward.  

  Pope John Paul took the lead at 8:31 as Ryan McMahon took off from near midfield and came straight down the field, scoring from about ten yards out for 1-0.  Jensen then went on a 4-goal run.  At 7:04 VanWagner took a feed on the right crease from Welsh off a fast break and finished into an open net.  Then at 5:32 Walls found a loose ball on a scramble in front and scooped it in for 2-1.  With 1:17 left LSM Jack Staab (who seems to inhale ground balls instead of scooping them) took off down the left wing, cut to the middle and fired home to the low left corner and just 8 seconds later Walls received a pass on the top left from Weiseman and he stepped down into it, just eluding Morfogen, who had gotten a piece of it.  With 24 seconds left Castellon took advantage of an EMO, taking Patrick Brower’s right wing feed to hit the low left corner to make it 4-2 after the first. PJP cut the lead to one just 28 seconds into the second as Brower took Castellon’s right wing feed as he cut to the middle and finished in the low left corner.  Jensen responded quickly at 10:26 as VanWagner hit the far corner with a bullet from the right wing off a Weiseman feed and at 8:14 JB stretched the lead to three as Welsh also hit the low left corner from a Walls pass.  Pope responded with two of their own as Castellon ran down the left wing and hit the far side from 10 yards out at 6:15 and 27 seconds later he completed the hat trick on the right crease, taking Jared Chaloux’s feed, as Chaloux dodged from the left wing to the middle to open up the lane and the half ended with Jensen holding a 6-5 lead.     Jensen started to break the game open with three goals in less than three minutes in the third quarter.  At 8:40 Welsh took a feed in the middle at full speed, dodged two players and went clear on in, finishing to the high left corner.  Then at 7:08 Welsh picked off a clearing attempt at the restraining line and went down the left alley before hitting the lower right corner.  At 5:51 JB spread the lead to 9-5 as Joseph Bradley cut down the right wing and took Walls’ right GLE feed and hit the lower left corner to finish the third. Jensen took their biggest lead just 32 seconds into the fourth as long pole Chris Cariello split two defenders down the right alley and hit the low left corner.  The two teams then traded goals to make the final 11-6.  Johnny Hanlon scored at 3:41 on a three-man EMO, taking advantage of a loose ball on the crease and VanWagner completed the scoring while Jensen was running down the clock, taking Welsh’s feed on the crease and that’s how the game ended. For Pope, a need to regroup and realize they are a talented team that just needs to get back to basics and look forward, not back.  For Jensen a solid win as they start their district play next week. Jensen hosts American Heritage/Boca Thursday in a match-up that will likely decide a Top 20 spot in the next poll while PJP travels to Oxbridge tomorrow.  

  Team Statistics   Faceoffs:  Jensen 12 – PJP 8 Shots:  Jensen 34 – PJP 18 Shots on Goal:  Jensen 25 – PJP 12 Turnovers:  PJP 20 – Jensen 14 Penalties:  PJP 7 – Jensen 5   Individual Statistics   Jensen Beach Jared Welsh  3G/2A Liam Walls  2G/2A Kyle VanWagner  3G Wyatt Weiseman  2A Jack Staab, Joseph Bradley and Chris Cariello  1G each   Pope John Paul Chris Castellon  3G/1A Patrick Brower  1G/1A Ryan Mcmahon and Johnny Hanlon  1G each Jared Chaloux  1A   Austin Brodie made 6 saves for Jensen and Niko Morfogen made 14 saves for Pope   Thanks to Coach Sofarelli and Coach Bolger for talking to me before and after the game!   On to Jupiter hosting Stoneman Douglas tonight at 6:00pm!  If you are in the area come on out and watch!