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Cumberland hockey team improves to 4-0 |
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Sunday, 14 December 2008 |
PAWTUCKET – Cumberland’s off to a 4-0 start this season but coach Mark Andreozzi isn’t letting his players become overconfident.
“It’s great to start this way,” he said after Saturday night’s 4-0 victory over Tolman, “but we have 14 league games to go and you never know what’s going to happen. We’re trying to get to the Christmas break, getting a little bit better every day.”
Michael Darlington scored three goals in the win over Tolman. The Clippers outshot the Tigers 42-17 but Andreozzi said that wasn’t indicative of the way the game played out.
“It was a scoreless game until late in the second period,” the coach said. “Every game in our division is going to be a battle.”
The Clippers, who lead Division II with their 4-0 record, should get a better idea of where they stand after the coming weekend’s schedule is completed. Cumberland visits a 2-1 St. Raphael Academy team on Friday night at Lynch Arena and then visits unbeaten Smithfield on Saturday.
“Smithfield only lost one senior from a team that we beat in the semifinals of the playoffs last year,” Andreozzi said. “St. Ray’s is a good team. We saw them play Smithfield in the game before ours (on Saturday night) and it was a good game. I can see North Kingstown and Portsmouth as strong teams in our division this season, too.”
Cumberland, which lost 8 seniors from last year’s state finalists, is playing shorthanded right now with senior forward Ryan Chopy and sophomore forward Joshua Engels sidelined by injuries incurred last weekend. Engels is expected to miss 4-6 weeks while Chopy’s playing status is week-to-week.
Darlington and junior Zach Dohring are leading the offense, which is currently skating “two and one half lines,” according to Andreozzi.
“We need to improve our game in terms of generating more shots, and we need to get better puck movement,” the coach said. “To be honest with you, we need to improve on everything.” |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 19 December 2008 )
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