Young Guns Vs Empire Jr. B at Marlborough

            The 2010 /11 Apple Core Young Guns were in Mass last weekend and started the Spring season with three strong outings Vs. Empire Jr. B teams at Marlborough Mass EJHL Showcase the new look Guns played against their

 first opponent the South Shore Kings Empire team and had a real strong showing losing the game 4 to 3 to the Kings who needed to score two five on three goals to beat Apple Core. The Guns playing with a mix of players as some of the regulars were involved in H.S Playoffs for Lacrosse and Baseball, and school finals were not present, but the Guns gave the Kings all they could handle. Fine goaltending by returning goalie Jacob Smart and rookie Peter Fosso who split the net minding duties kept the Core in the game filled with penalties. The Guns taking the lead in the first on a short handed goal by Mike Tsatskin (The first of three) from Eric Krupka.  Mike Tsatskin added another on a rebound from a point shot by Hunter O’Neill and his third was unassisted as the Core fell short four to three. Some strong performances by rookies Eric Krupka and Brian Hurley on “D” Brian throwing two old school hip checks to get everybody on the bench going. Nolan Pues and Jimmy Diamond along with other rookies Matt Cohen and Dylan Stuart had great first showings at their Jr. B début.

            Game two against the Valley Warriors a team that spanked the Guns the season before could not break through the strong goaltending of two rookies Peter Fosso and Ron Sartena, in another game where the two teams could not stay out of the penalty boxes. The Guns playing five on three four times and one stretch for a full four minutes did not give up a goal. Coach’s Carroll and Scall got a real good look at the team and the quality of players he will be coaching this year. The Guns scored the only goal of the game on one of their power plays on a goal by another rookie Mike (WOJO) Wojociechowski (His Name is too long) from returning player Ryan Carroll to give the Core their only win of the Showcase

But the win did set up the Core for the chance to make the cross over game if they could get past the Huskies. The Core again started real strong with a short bench from the penalty filled game before by opening the scoring on a goal by rookie forward Jimmy Diamond, on a play set up by another rookie Preston Rogers a Florida import and returning forward Johnny McCabe for the Cores only tally. The Guns fell short and missed the opportunity to play the Apple Core Empire team for the Empire Championship game on Sunday. By the way congrats to the Apple Core Empire team for winning the weekend going undefeated and beating the Huskies 5 to 1

             The Young Guns are a new look team this year with a great mix of size and skill, the team should be fun to watch this season after a month or so with Coaches Carroll and Scall.

A great weekend for the Apple Core organization as the EJHL two team went a combined 7-2 and the Empire team going undefeated and winning the weekend

Looks like a possible good year for Apple Core.

                                                                                                                                                                      News As Of 11/23/09
Guns Sweep Philly

             This weekend found the Apple Core Young Guns in Philly for the first two games of a four game
 road trip. Apple Core fresh off their first wins of the season against Springfield continued their winning ways
 with a two game sweep of the Revolution. The Core opened the scoring after a scoreless first on the first of
 three by Joey Anzelone off hard work that started the play by Jimmy Moyer and Hunter O’Neill. The
 Guns opened a four to none lead in the second by strong play and goals by team scoring leader Chris Brown
 from Captain Steve Garger, followed by Joey Anzelones second of the game on the power play off a great
 feed from line mate Jimmy Moyer. The Core not done in the second as Mike DeFrancesco scored a short
 hander unassisted to close out the period.

            The third period had Coach Carroll concerned as the Revolution on the power play got one back and
 was taking the play to the Guns, until Kyle Goonan added another for the Core off a nice play by Chris
 Brown to put the boys up by four again, The Revolution again put the pressure on and Rookie Goaltender
 Jacob Smart who held the Philly team off for his first victory, the Guns finished off the Revolution on
 Joey Anzelones third of the game from Moyer (3 assists) and DeFrancesco ( 1 goal, 1 assist). The
 Core played solid and with confidence after the teams first league wins the week before.
 

            The two teams took the ice on Sunday and the Apple Core Guns came out on fire and took the lead
 23 seconds into the period off the rush as Mike DeFrancesco buried the puck off a great pass from Joe
 Petrizzo who got sprung free off a nice play from John McCabe. The Core  was not done in the first period as
 team scoring leader

Chris Brown stole a cross ice pass and blasted one past the Revolution net minder four minutes later. The
 funny part was that the Revolution had the better of the play as the Core took them light after the quick
 opening goal, and forced Dan Vitale to made some big saves to keep the Core in front. The Guns fired again
 when Elias Georgas on the power play scored from a nice corner pass from Joe Petrizzo and the Core lead
 three nothing after one.

            Between the periods Coach Carroll reminded his team that is hard to win back to back games as you
 tend to slack off the second day and the team that lost comes out to get back the points they lost the game
 before. The Guns came out hard and increased the lead to four when Jim Moyer on an unassisted play
 found the net just 38 seconds into the period. The Guns continued to fire as Joey Anzelone netted his fourth
 tally of the weekend on assists to Chris Brown and Matt Kelerchian less than two minutes after the Moyer
 goal. Apple Core finally playing with confidence added another goal when Kyle Goonan found the net on the
 rush started by Mike DeFrancesco and Chris Brown for a commanding 6-0 Apple Core lead. The
 Revolution who never quit and kept playing hard got one back with five minutes to play in the period only to
 have their goal answered by Big Ed Shinnick’s blast off the break out pass from Steve Garger which also
 drew a power play for the Core. The Guns on the power play forced the play and the Revolution defender
 picked the pass out of the air and buried a short hander behind Dan Vitale.

            The Core answered right back two minutes later on a Chris Brown goal from Joe Anzelone to end
 the period.  The Revolution again scored a power play goal and never quit and kept coming at the Guns but
 again the Core answered back on a goal by Mike DeFrancesco from Petrizzo and John McCabe to
 restore the Guns 6 goal lead. Coach Carroll again telling his players to tighten up on defense made a goalie
 change to change the mode of the game, which worked for about five minutes until the Revolution scored and
 were pressing. Kevin Cramblitt was forced to make a couple of big glove saves to keep the Core ahead, after
 a big Cramblitt save the Core scored another off a big time deflection by Jimmy Moyer off the Kenny
 Boudreau shot from the point off a great corner pass from John McCabe to give the team a little more room.
 The Revolution closed out the scoring with about four minutes left in the third and the Guns who climbed out
 of the basement the week before moved up four more point to an in reach playoff spot.
 

Chris Brown had the big weekend again with three goals and three assists as did  Joe Anzelone who had the
 four goals with 1 assist weekend. Joe Petrizzo back from his injury has been really contributing as he added to
 his point totals this weekend with his four assists after the hat trick the week before. Jim Moyer (2G,3A) came
 out of his scoring drought this week end with as did Mike DeFrancesco (3G,2A), as did some of the other
 Core players who are playing better and with more confidence. Great weekend as the boys are starting to
 click and hopefully they continue the winning ways as they head to Buffalo next weekend with the Apple Core
 Empire team to play two against the Stars who are playing well and in a playoff spot that the Core would love
 to have. 

SPENT SHELLS:
The team got back Pat Donahue this weekend after missing 6 games the boys welcomed back his hard driving
 play. The Core still is without the services of Matt Scapato who is still a few games away from returning
 

Congratulations to the Apple Core Empire team as they swept the Revolution Empire team this past
 weekend at the Arena at Long Beach for their 17^th straight win again they head to Buffalo with the CHA
 boys to meet the Empire Stars

Good Luck ! 

YOUNG GUNS FINALLY FIRE!
                                                                                            News As Of 11/04/09 

            The Apple Core Young Guns finally broke the Goose Egg in the Win Column in the CHA standings,
 with the team’s first league victory over the Springfield Pics. The Core have finally put up some points and
 climbed from the league basement, the last two games of the three week home stand at the Abe Starke Arena on
 Saturday Halloween night got the monkey off the team’s back. The Core came out tight and flat and played soft
 hockey and the teams traded shot for shot until the Pics broke the ice with the only goal of the first period. The
 two teams left the ice after one period with the Guns trailing; a place the coaching staff has found it’s self all too
 many times this season. The Core out shooting the Springfield team 15 to 14 in the first period were determined
 not to let this one get away. The Core giving Springfield a power play to start the second period did not give the
 team any confidence when the boys fell behind 2 to 0 with the Pics power play goal just three minutes in. The
 Guns finally got on the board at almost the mid-way point of the game on a goal by Kyle Goonan from Chris
 Brown, which was the start of two Core goals that put the Pics on their heels and the Guns into high gear. Core
 forward Mike DeFrancesco scored on some hard work from Steve Garger and tied the game, and the teams
 went off tied at two. The teams came out and traded shots and some great goaltending by rookie Danny Vitale
 kept the game deadlocked until the fifteen minute mark of the third when Core forward Chris Brown from Joe
 Calabrese gave the Guns the lead. The Pics answered right back and the game was tied. Twenty nine seconds
 later Chris Brown answered the bell and put the Core ahead for good off a feed from Ed Shinnick who carried
 the puck end to end and fed Chris for the top corner blast. The Pics came on hard and after killing an Apple
 Core power play they pulled the goaltender for the extra skater and really tested the Core “D” until Joe
 Petrizzo knocked down a pass and carried in for the empty net goal to seal the first league victory for the Young
 Apple Core team. Coach Scall although happy with the win was not happy with the reckless play in the Core
 defensive zone. All season long the team has lost leads and given away victories as well as points because of lack
 of focus and weak play in the Core end. Coach Carroll was glad the team finally won a game and hopes the
 team realizes that they need to play sixty minutes and that leads can disappear as fast as they come, all in all the
 staff was happy with the win. 
          

            The Apple Core Young Guns and the Springfield Pics pick up right where they left off on Halloween
 night, some big body checks to start the period by both teams. The only difference was that the Guns got un-
holstered first and Joe Petrizzo got the Core on the score board first on assists from Mike DeFrancesco and
 Kenny Boudreau. The Core were not done as Joe Petrizzo who was all over the score sheet this weekend
 netted his second of the game again off a feed from Mike DeFrancesco for a two nothing lead after one period
. The Core lead by some very strong play on the back line by Ambrose Plante and Ed Shinnick were off and
 running in the first two to nothing and  a fifteen to eight shot advantage. The Springfield Pics came out hard in the
 second and with a strong fore check and some timely hits they cut the Guns lead in half.            Joe Petrizzo
 scored his third for the hat trick three minutes later on assists from John McCabe and Mike DeFrancesco to
 put the Core up again by two and Apple Core was firing with all Guns. The Petrizzo line was on fire (8 points
 together) as three minutes later off a great break out pass by Kenny(Rainman)Boudreau sent Mike
 DeFrancesco on a break away and unlike      Chris (I’m terrible on breakaways) Brown buried the puck
 behind the Pics net minder, for the 4 to 1lead, DeFrancesco told Brown “he should pay attention on how to
 score on a breakaway”.

 Between periods Coach Carroll reminded the players that they need to finish what they started and not loose
focus and let this weekend slip away. The Core came out harder in the third and added to the lead on a blast from
 Hunter O’Neill off a feed from Steve Garger.

            The Guns were not finished yet as Kenny (Rainman) Boudreau (4 point night 1 goal 3 assists) added
 his goal from a corner feed from Jimmy Moyer. The Guns gave the coaching staff a scare as they took a major
 penalty and then a minor penalty to be two men down. The Guns played the five on three perfect and after the two
 minute minor ended Steve Garger added a short handed goal off another great play by (I can play) Kenny
 (Rainman) Boudreau for his forth point of the night. The Pics never giving up  got one back but the Core
 secured the victory with solid TEAM play and playing for fifty five minutes. The Core moved out of the
 basement and moved up the standings with the two victories.

The Core will be on the road this coming week as they head down to Philly to play the Revolution for two then head  North to Buffalo. Good luck keep up the hard work

GO CORE!

 Spent Shells:

The Core still playing short handed with the flu bug and the injury bug.

Close to returning are forwards Matt Scarpato and Pat (Sternum) Donahue who bring a constant presence to
the team with their hard work. The solid play of the weekend hopefully got the team on track.
Congrats to the Empire Selects for the two game sweep. They are burning up the Northeast

                                                                                                                                                                      News As Of 11/01/09

Young Gun Makes Buffalo D-1 Team

          Young Gun Alumni (2008/09 Team) defensemen Ryan Scall is going to the University at
 Buffalo and has made the ACHA Division 1 Team.  Ryan had a long career of Hockey on Long
 Island, from AAA to Junior “B” playing for the PAL Silver Shields, Long Island Rebels and
 Nassau County Lions Bantam team and the Long Island Freedom AAA select team for five
 years. Ryan came to the Core last year and established himself as one of the team’s best
 defensemen and helped the team reach the final four in the Guns playoff and National run.
 Ryan only played the one season with the Core and has moved to his College career.

           Ryan has been a regular in the Buffalo line-up and is playing well for the University
which is  5-1 so far this season and in the top 20 in the ACHA National rankings. 

Best of Luck Ryan we will be watching.

                                                                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                                                      News As Of 10/30/09
Guns Growing Pains Continue

            The Apple Core Young Guns growing pains continue, after returning home from the semi successful
 trip to New Hampshire the Core started a three week home stand. No rest for the boys as the Metro Moose
 came to town and continued their dominance over the much younger Apple Core team, some of the Core
players are picking up the pace and adjusting to the speed of the Jr. B game.

            New Captain Steve Garger has been leaving parts of himself all over every rink the team plays at, as
 does Dan Vitale who has given the team a chance to win every game he has played this season. Coach Carroll
 is seeing some big improvement in the young defensive group with steadily improving players as Elias Georgas,
 Hunter O’Neill and Kenny Boudreau leading the way.  Kenny is finally realizing he can play at this level and
 has been getting more involved. The Guns are still having scoring problems as they can’t finish with the puck in
 the other teams net. Coaches Carroll and Scall are still optimistic as the boys are getting chances but just not
 hitting the net, when a couple go in the gates will hopefully open. Young Gun forwards Chris Brown and Joey
 Anzelone have been firing from every where and Jimmy Moyer is still playing the grinding game and his luck
 should change from all his hard work. The team is home this weekend against the Frederick Freeze then move
 to Abe Starke to finish out the home stand Vs. Springfield  Pics
 

Spent Shells;

 The team is wishing Matt Scarpato a fast recovery from his injury to his knee and according to sources he is
 close to coming back as is Pat Donahue, the team is missing both their grit and hard work. The Core got some
 much needed leadership and help up front as Lucas Kawa has returned to play with the Guns. The Coaching
 staff was delighted to get the Canadian import back in the lineup. Lucas brings some fire, experience and grit
 that was missing from the team welcome back Lucas.

            The injury bug still has the Guns short handed though as Joe Calabrese has joined the walking
wounded, the injuries have caused the coaching staff to move players out of positions and patch work the lineup

 Good Luck this weekend  Go Core !

 The Guns want to congratulate the Big Boys of the EJ team as they are on a roll coach Cosentino has the
boys in full stride, the Guns want to also recognize the Apple Core Empire team for the start they are off to. The
Empire with Guns alumni are really contributing and getting it done for the Core as they are on a tear in the
Empire league keep up the great work

                                                                                                                                                                                         News As Of 10/16/09
Guns still come up short

           The Apple Core Young Guns season now 9 games old are still winless as some of the players are adjusting to the faster pace. The Guns headed North this past weekend to New Hampshire after being blanked last weekend on the road first in Abe Stark by the Moose and then by the Blazers in Philly. The Guns played two games at the showcase Vs. the Monarchs who are also struggling this season. The Core came out hard and played even hockey until the Monarchs took a two goal lead and the Guns found themselves in an all too familiar position of coming from behind. Dan Vitale gave the Guns every opportunity to win with two strong games this weekend as the Coaching staff went with Dan the entire weekend. The Core came back on a goal by Chris Brown with assists going to Rob Mazinsh and Ken Boudreau, only to fall behind for good 6 minutes later. Steve Garger who is always working hard made the score closer adding a power play goal with help from Joe Calabrese and surprise new comer Hunter O’Neill.

             Game two on Saturday the Core came out real strong and with confidence that this was going to be the first win of the season. Again the Guns fell behind in the first playing catch up. The Core with a real short bench forced Coach Carroll to juggle lines and players, Kyle Goonan coming out of the penalty box broke up a pass and scored his first of the season and the Guns had the New Hampshire team on their heels. John McCabe playing up front scored his first of the season from Chris Brown and Joe Calabrese to tie the score but again the Core let up and the Monarchs came back 33 seconds later to take the lead again. Apple Core answered right back on a tally by Joe Anzelone from McCabe and Steve Garger to tie it at three. The teams traded scoring chances for ten minutes but the Monarchs on the power play took the lead for good and added another late in the period with the Core pressing for the tying goal. After the game Coach Carroll said that the players are still in the learning process and adjusting to the speed at which things happen, this is a big jump for almost all the players on the Core roster, most making a big jump from where they played before. The Staff is seeing improvement every game but the team has to step up and close the gaps and start to believe in the systems and the other players they play with.

 Next up for the Core the Moose at home for two at the arena at Long Beach

 Spent shells

             The Core playing short due to the injury bug wishes a speedy recovery to Joe Petrizzo A/C shoulder sprain and Pat Donahue bruised sternum as well as Mike DeFrancesco injured elbow. The flu bug also seems to have hit the team with players missing being sick and M.I.A.

 The Apple Core Young Guns are now living in their new home at the arena. The Core now has its own locker room that is almost 100 % complete the boys are settling in and practicing and playing out of the room that is getting the finishing touches. Special thanks to Bob Petrizzo for all his help as well as Bill Georgas, Brian O’Neill and Frank O’Donnell and the Vitale family for all their support $$$$$.                                            In speaking with the coaching staff the room cost a lot more than anticipated due to the extra space given to the Core by the Arena. The room had to be moves fifteen feet to allow access for the rink staff so the extra space cost extra $$$ and the parents stepped up to make it happen !!!

 Pictures of the new locker room on the web site soon !!! 

Lets go Core !

                                                                                                                                                                               News As Of 10/16/09
Young Guns Captains

   The Apple Core leadership is now in place, the team has it’s 2009/10 Captains in place to lead the team through the season.

   Congratulations to 09/10 Captain Steven Garger who earned the nod from the staff due to his never stop work attitude and team leadership. Steven has demonstrated the leadership the staff was looking for with this young group of players.

   We would also like to also congratulate the alternate Captains Joe Petrizzo and Kyle Goonan, who both have also shown leadership and have worked hard to earn their letters. With the leaders in place the Staff is hoping the new Captains can carry the team to the playoffs. The Coaching staff has sat and expressed with the three the HONOR and PRIVELIGE as well as the RESPONSABILITY that comes with the letters, that they are now being held to a higher standard by the Coaching staff and that they need to stay the leaders of the team, and that their rolls on the team has different meaning.

 Congratulations to the 09/10 Apple Core Young Guns Captains

                                                                                                                                                                                         News As Of 10/13/09

Apple Core Young Guns 09/10 season begins 

          The 2009/10 Apple Core team is picked and has been struggling through the spring and pre-season schedule. The Core is a whole new team except for returning players James Moyer and Ambrose Plante. The boys as last years team played the same pre-season schedule matching up against Empire and MJHL teams and holding their own to the point that the coaching staff felt the team was ahead of schedule. 

            Some very promising prospects in goal for the Guns in young net minders Jacob Smart, Dan Vitale and Kevin Cramblitt all fighting for the # 1 spot. The Core also with some surprises on “D” with a young all new  group, lead by Ed Shinnick has been solid through the pre-season run along with John McCabe, Artie Among, Elias Georgas, Ken Boudreau, Ambrose Plante and Hunter O’Neill all working hard to play at the Junior level. The boys are finding out that the decision making and movement of the puck has to happen a lot faster, there is not a lot of time to play with the puck.  The Guns are reloaded up front as well with all new forwards, lead by Steve Garger, Kyle Goonan and Joe Petrizzo. The Core picking up players Mike DeFrancesco, Joe Calabrese and Chris Brown (Chris is leading the team in goals) from the Moose “C” team and are adjusting to the faster pace at the “B” level. The other new additions up front are making the effort to get up to speed include shifty forwards Joe Anzelone playing with Matt Scapato with Latvian import Rob Mazinish. The Core forwards are rounded out with Jim Moyer, Mike Laudner, Pat Donahue and Matt Kelerchian up front. The season has been a struggle to this point but the team is coming together and starting to really grasp the system concept and that you need to play a team game by bring their individual skills to the team game and not trying to do it all themselves. Returning coaches Carroll and Scall are seeing progress and have seen some close games slip away due to the young team’s inexperience at this level. Coach Carroll stated that once the team starts to believe in the systems and themselves the season will turn around, the players have to “make it happen” and follow through on the team concept and game plan.

 Good Luck to the New Apple Core Young Guns team this season

 GO Core!