The Portsmouth hockey team skated into its league game schedule Friday night and picked up its first win of the season with a dominating 6-1 performance.  The league games are those that count for the standings and the Patriots will play sixteen of them before the playoffs begin.

Opening on the road, Portsmouth faced off with the Gulls, the co-op team from Narragansett – Chariho, at The University of Rhode Island’s Boss Arena,  The team began work quickly.  Just 55 seconds into the first period Shane Temple notched the team’s first goal of the season.  And he was just getting started.  As the game progressed, he added two more goals, including the game winner, to complete his second Hat Trick as a Patriot, then was credited with assists on two goals scored by Hayden Krzych.  Temple’s five-point effort led all scorers in the game and was the sophomore’s best performance of his high school career.

Along with his two goals, Krzych also picked up an assist to finish with three points for the first time.

Team captain Aidan Toner rounded out the goal scoring for PHS with Andrew Alvanas providing the assist.  Joey Levreault also had two assists in the game.

Portsmouth goalie Steve Dutra had an outstanding game between the pipes allowing Narragansett - Chariho just a single goal on 22 shots.   Dutra carried a shutout bid through two and a half periods before it was spoiled,  Along the way he made a number of saves worthy of the highlight reel, including a terrific one to stone the Gulls on a third period breakaway.

The Patriots found themselves in two penalty killing situations during the game.  The squad handled both successfully with strong defensive play that allowed the Gulls only a single shot while they had the man-advantage.  Portsmouth had no power play opportunities during the game.

Four players made their league game debuts for Portsmouth during the contest.  Sophomore Aidan Abraham, and freshmen Oliver Melanson, Finn O;Connor, and Connor Rogers all skated regular shifts in the game.

PHS will be back in action on Sunday, December 11, at 2:00 pm at the Abbey for the team’s first home game of the season.  The Patriots will host the Ponaganset Chieftains, the regular season first place team in D-III last season.  The Chieftains are a high scoring team with a solid defense and good goaltending.  The game will be a good test for the Patriots as they look to make it two wins in a row early in the new campaign,  Come on out to the Abbey and cheer for Portsmouth!

See you at the rink.