Dragons Celebrate Emotional Victory On The Ice

Following a Brick victory against Christian Brothers Academy a day earlier, Freehold Township came to town on Friday hoping to catch the Dragons off guard.  Instead, Brick was ready to all challenges, winning 6-0, extending their winning streak to 15 games.

"I still think we came out a little slow," said head coach Bob Auriemma. "The adrenaline was not there at the start, but we picked it up as the game went on."

The Dragons held a 2-0 lead after the first period by virtue of the Kearns brothers. 

Nearly six minutes into the game, David Kearns took a pass from Andrew Reiss in the corner and one-timed it home. For the freshman, it was his third goal in as many games.

The Dragons doubled their lead with 2:28 remaining as Patrick Kearns jumped into the play and buried a rebound past Freehold Township goaltender Sean Heck.

Brick not only led, but dominated possession and held a 19-2 lead in shots.

Just over a minute into the second period, the 'gnats' struck again. Austin Blanco ripped a wrist shot from the slot that Heck could not get a piece of. Blanco's play of late has been strong, scoring four in the past three games.

"That's exactly what they are," said Auriemma, of the 'gnat' nickname Patrick Kearns gave the second and third lines. "They're tiny so a lot of teams try to hammer them, but they are too quick for that. Not only that, they do an excellent job covering for each other."

Reiss upped the score to 4-0 after he took a stretch pass from Patrick Kearns and beat Heck top right corner, on a breakaway.

Patrick Kearns scored again with three minutes before the intermission as he took a cross ice pass on the power play and finished.

Netminder Eddie Rafferty had a relatively easy night after the hectic effort a day earlier, stopping all four shots he saw through two periods on Friday. Freshman goalie Jake Lampasi came in to play the third, stopping four shots and preserving the shut out for the Dragons.

"It was good to get him some minutes," said Auriemma of his young back up goaltender.

David Kearns scored again in the third period for his second goal of the game. Along with Blanco, David Kearns has four goals in his last three games -- a sign of how deep the Dragons have been this season.

Brick was perfect on the penalty kill going three for three on the evening. The power play was one for two, as the specialty teams were still hot from the win over CBA. Brick led in shots 46-8.

The Dragons will travel to Gold Coast Arena on Sunday, Feb. 13, to take on the Middletown North Lions at 4:15 p.m.