The Potomac Patriots Elite are now 7-1 in the two USPHL South showcases this season thanks to a 4-0 record in Tampa this past weekend.  Wins over the Palm Beach Hawks, Roswell Bulldogs, Atlanta Knights, and Florida Eels earned them eight crucial points in the tight Southern Conference standings.

Friday afternoon the Patriots faced the Palm Beach Hawks to start the showcase.  Kevin McDonald would start the scoring at 13:17 of the first period and then roughly four minutes later, while on a 4 on 3 power play, Drew Crilly would bury a one timer past the Palm Beach netminder off a great seam pass by Mikey Carr to give the Pats a 2-0 lead going into halftime.  Kevin McDonald would record an assist on the second goal as well.  7:23 into the second half the P-Pats captain, Nick Gray, would get into the scoring with assists once again to Mikey Carr and Kevin McDonald.  Next the Patriots "Russian Rocket", Sviataslov Turchenik, would score two goals in just over three minutes to put the Pats up 5-0.  Mikey Carr, Justin Mendoza, Nick Gray, and Aleks Stoud picked up assists on the two quick tallies.  Dustyn Moyer was stellar in net, but lost his bid for a shutout with just over four minutes left while the Hawks were on a 5 on 3.  

Saturday morning the Patriots seemingly forgot to wake up for their 9:30am game.  With less than ten minutes left in the game, the Patriots found themselves down 4-1 to the Roswell Bulldogs; their only goal coming from Eric Anderson on a great pass by Devin Melice in the first half.  Jack Strycharz also earned an assist on the goal.  However the Patriots did not quit.  At 15:58 of the second half Nick Gray would score off a pass from set up man Mikey Carr.  Then with less than four minutes remaining the Patriots laid the hammer down.  The first goal scored by Doc Gentzler on an assist by Kevin McDonald.  Then, on a great three way pass play, Devin Melice would finish some pretty puck distribution from Aleks Stroud and Doc Gentzler.  The game would go to a shootout where Brian Parsons would stop two of the three shots and after Mikey Carr had tied the match, Drew Crilly had the game on his stick in the third round.  As he approached the hash marks he unleashed a couple great head and shoulder fakes that got the Roswell goaltender to commit and a simple move to his fore-hand sealed the two points for the Patriots.  After the game Crilly was asked about his game-winning goal, "Well, over the past couple weeks I had someone working with me on shootout moves since our team has been struggling in that department, and, what can I say?  It worked."

Game three for the Patriots was bright and early Sunday morning; 7:00am to be exact.  Though the Patriots started slow once again, Dustyn Moyer held down the fort until the team woke up.  A goal with about thirty seconds left in the first half by Stephen Gerke would give the Pats a 1-0 lead going into halftime.  Sviataslov Turchenik would get an assist on the late marker.  The second half saw Nick Gray score just over seven minutes into the half after some great back hand sauce from Mikey Carr.  Later Sviataslov Turchenik would give the Patriots a 3-0 lead off a pass from Devin Melice.  The Pats would survive some penalty trouble and a late fluke goal to win 3-2.  

Finally just 4 1/2 hours after their first game Sunday, The Pats would face the Florida Eels.  With the Patriots riding a ton of momentum they would come out flying.  Nick Gray would score two goals in the first five minutes with assists going to Doc Gentzler, Sviataslov Turchenik, and Mikey Carr.  Freshman Phenom Devin Melice would score about seven minutes later (assists going to Drew Crilly and JC Paquin) to give the Patriots a 3-0 lead going into the half.  Mikey Carr would give the Pats a 4-0 lead eleven minutes into the second half with helpers credited to Nick Gray and Justin Mendoza.  And finally, after a power play goal by the Eels, the Pats would make it 5-1 with less than five minutes left when Spencer Keogh scored with some help from Aleks Stroud and Devin Melice.  Brian Parsons stopped 26 of 27 Florida Eels shots for the win.

The Patriots go into the winter break with a record of 13-10-0-5.  There next games are at the USPHL Winter Showcase in Marlborough the week after New Years.  P-PATS!

Weekend Player Highlights

Nick Gray, 5G + 2A = 7 Showcase Points 

Mikey Carr, 1G + 5A = 6 Showcase Points

Devin Melice, 3G + 2A = 5 Showcase Points

Sviataslov Turchenik, 3G + 2A = 5 Showcase Poiints

Dustyn Moyer, 2-0 Record, 50 shots, 47 saves, .940 Save%, 1.50 GAA for the Showcase

Brian Parsons, 2-0 Record, 59 shots, 54 saves, .915 Save%, 2.35 GAA for the Showcase