December 8-9

The rain cleared out overnight, Thursday morning was sunny but cold and windy. Stopped by the athletic office at McCaskey to get a copy of the basketball rosters now that they are official. The season-opening varsity roster features twelve players (five seniors and seven juniors), ten of them played at the varsity level for JPM last year. The junior varsity squad has eleven players including three returnees from last season. Had lunch with Jenny in Quarryville, in the evening we were at the Sovereign Center as the Trenton Titans made their first regular-season appearance in Reading since 2007. The Trenton franchise began as the Titans in 1999, over the past few years the team had a different nickname which was largely unpopular with the fanbase (the original nickname was restored during the off-season). On this night at the SC the Royals' winless skein reached nine games as Trenton won in overtime 3-2. Dale Mitchell gave the club an early 1-0 lead but the Titans led 2-1 in the third period before Dennis McCauley scored the tying goal. In overtime the Royals killed a Trenton power play opportunity before the Titans netted the game-winner in the final seconds. Mark Owuya returned to the lineup after a six-week stint in the AHL and took the tough-luck loss in goal. The Royals are now 0-5-4 in their last nine, the saving grace is that you earn a standings point for losing in OT or a shootout (0-5-4 is better than 0-9-0) but in the record it's still a loss. The boys play Wheeling in a home-and-home set this weekend, the game in Reading is on Sunday afternoon. Not much going on Friday, stopped in at practice at McCaskey in the afternoon as JPM gets ready for the Saturday afternoon home opener against Harrisburg. Take care, thanks for reading.