League Recap, Week 4: Dieppe / Memramcook wins the showdown in Cap-Pelé and pulls two points clear

The race at the top of the U 13 AA standings lasted one week. Dieppe / Memramcook and Shediac / Cap-Pelé finished Week 3 level on seven points, and on Friday night in Cap-Pelé they met for the first time. Dieppe / Memramcook won 4–1. The next morning it beat Moncton 2–1 in its first home game of the season, and it heads into Week 5 two points clear and as the only team in the division without a loss.

It was a short week, four games on Friday and Saturday, but not a quiet one. There were 30 goals and, for the first time since the opening weekend, no ties. Shediac / Cap-Pelé and Moncton both lost for the first time, and Kent Sud, the last team without a point, won for the first time, 8–4 over Lewisville.

The showdown: Dieppe / Memramcook 4, Shediac / Cap-Pelé 1

Shediac / Cap-Pelé came into Friday's 6:00 p.m. game unbeaten at 3–0–1 and playing at home. Dieppe / Memramcook won 4–1. It was Shediac / Cap-Pelé's first loss of the season, in its sixth league game.

The score was familiar for Dieppe / Memramcook. It has held its opponent to one goal or none in five of its six games; the only exception was a 3–3 tie in Moncton in Week 2.

Dieppe / Memramcook: home at last, and still unbeaten

Dieppe / Memramcook opened its season with five road games. On Saturday at 11:45 a.m. it finally played at home, at the Uni Plex, and beat Moncton 2–1, less than 18 hours after the puck dropped in Cap-Pelé. The teams had tied 3–3 in their first meeting.

Six games in, Dieppe / Memramcook is 5–0–1, with 28 goals for and six against. Its goal differential of +22 is nearly three times that of any other team, and it has allowed one goal a game.

Shediac / Cap-Pelé bounces back

Shediac / Cap-Pelé did not wait long to answer. At 9:20 the next morning, at home in Shediac, it beat Kent Sud 7–3, its second win over Kent Sud this season after a 3–2 win on opening day.

At 4–1–1 and nine points, Shediac / Cap-Pelé is second, two points back of first with the same six games played.

Kent Sud breaks through

Kent Sud came into the week as the only team without a point, with three goals in three games. On Friday night at home in Cocagne it scored eight, beating Lewisville 8–4 for its first win of the season. Five days earlier, Lewisville had beaten it 4–1 at the Kay Arena.

The eight goals are the third-most by a team in a game this season, behind Shediac / Cap-Pelé's nine against Kent Centre in Week 1 and Dieppe / Memramcook's nine in Richibucto in Week 3. The 12 goals in the game are the second-most in any game, behind the 14 in that Week 1 game, a 9–5 Shediac / Cap-Pelé win.

The turnaround did not carry over to the next morning. With a 9:20 a.m. start in Shediac, Kent Sud lost 7–3. Still, it scored 11 goals in two games after three in its first three, and it is off the bottom of the table, level on two points with Moncton.

Moncton's first loss

Moncton had not lost in the league, with ties in both of its first two games: 3–3 with Dieppe / Memramcook and 2–2 with Riverview. Saturday's 2–1 loss at the Uni Plex was its first, and it left Dieppe / Memramcook as the only unbeaten team.

At 0–1–2, Moncton has played three games, the fewest in the division. That changes in Week 5.

The rest of the division

Lewisville gave up eight goals in Cocagne, the most it has allowed in a game this season. At 1–2–2 it stays fourth with four points, one behind Riverview.

Kent Centre did not play. It slipped to last with one point, one behind Moncton and Kent Sud.

The Blues: a week off

Riverview did not play in Week 4, a week of rest after three games in five days. The Blues stay third at 1–1–3 with five points, six back of first, and they have played five games, one fewer than the two teams ahead of them.

Two numbers stand out. Only Dieppe / Memramcook has allowed fewer goals a game than the Blues' 2.20. And the Blues are still looking for their first league win at home: they are 0–1–2 in Riverview, and their only win came in Richibucto, 4–2 over Kent Centre.

Who moved

• Up: Kent Sud, from seventh to sixth, now level on two points with Moncton.
• Holding: Dieppe / Memramcook stays first, now alone. Shediac / Cap-Pelé stays second, Riverview third, Lewisville fourth and Moncton fifth.
• Down: Kent Centre, from sixth to seventh, without playing.

The numbers behind the table

Five or six games is still a small sample, so read these as signals rather than verdicts.

Goals per game, for and against:

• Dieppe / Memramcook: 4.67 for, 1.00 against (+22)
• Shediac / Cap-Pelé: 4.33 for, 3.00 against (+8)
• Kent Sud: 2.80 for, 4.60 against (−9)
• Lewisville: 2.40 for, 3.60 against (−6)
• Kent Centre: 2.25 for, 5.75 against (−14)
• Riverview: 2.20 for, 2.20 against (even)
• Moncton: 2.00 for, 2.33 against (−1)

Share of the goals. Dieppe / Memramcook has scored 82.4 percent of the goals in its games. Shediac / Cap-Pelé is next at 59.1, then Riverview at exactly 50, Moncton at 46.2, Lewisville at 40.0, Kent Sud at 37.8 and Kent Centre at 28.1.

Points versus goals. Comparing each team's points percentage (points earned out of points available) with what its goals for and against would predict (goals for squared, divided by goals for squared plus goals against squared):

• Dieppe / Memramcook: .917 in the standings, .956 by its goals.
• Shediac / Cap-Pelé: .750 in the standings, .676 by its goals, still a little ahead of its goals.
• Lewisville: .400 in the standings, .308 by its goals. With a −6 goal differential, its two ties and a win have been worth more than its goals suggest.
• Moncton: .333 in the standings, .424 by its goals, the furthest below what its goals predict. Two ties and a one-goal loss will do that.
• Kent Sud: .200 in the standings, .270 by its goals, also a little below.
• Riverview: .500 on both counts.
• Kent Centre: .125 in the standings, .133 by its goals, a record that matches its goals.

Home ice finally showed up. Home teams went 3–1 in Week 4, their best week of the season. They are now 5–7–5 overall, against 7–5–5 for road teams.

Fewer ties. After five ties in the first 13 games, Week 4 had none. Five of the 17 games have now ended level, and Riverview has been in three of them.

By the numbers

• 11: points for Dieppe / Memramcook, two clear of Shediac / Cap-Pelé.
• 6: goals Dieppe / Memramcook has allowed in six games.
• +22: its goal differential; no one else is better than +8.
• 8: Kent Sud's goals against Lewisville, more than twice its total for the season coming into the week.
• 30: goals in Week 4's four games, 7.5 a game.
• 0: ties in Week 4.
• 106: goals in the division's first 17 games.
• 1: unbeaten team left, Dieppe / Memramcook.
• 3: games Moncton has played, the fewest in the division; it plays three more in Week 5.

Where things stand

The full standings are above. Dieppe / Memramcook leads with 11 points, Shediac / Cap-Pelé is second with nine, Riverview third with five and Lewisville fourth with four. Moncton and Kent Sud have two each, and Kent Centre one.

Week 5: what's next

Five league games are on the schedule from Monday, November 9 to Sunday, November 15:

• Monday, Nov. 9, 7:45 p.m.: Moncton at Riverview (Riverview Lower)
• Wednesday, Nov. 11, 6:30 p.m.: Shediac / Cap-Pelé at Lewisville (Kay Arena)
• Saturday, Nov. 14, 9:20 a.m.: Moncton at Shediac / Cap-Pelé (Shediac)
• Saturday, Nov. 14, 11:45 a.m.: Riverview at Dieppe / Memramcook (Uni Plex)
• Sunday, Nov. 15, 12:15 p.m.: Kent Sud at Moncton (4 Plex, rink C)

The Blues' biggest week yet. Monday's home game is a rematch of the 2–2 tie with Moncton at the 4 Plex on October 29, the Blues' first game in 10 days and another chance at that first league win at home. On Saturday morning they get their first league look at Dieppe / Memramcook, the unbeaten leaders who allow one goal a game, on their ice at the Uni Plex.

Moncton's catch-up week. Moncton plays three games in seven days: Monday in Riverview, Saturday morning in Shediac and Sunday at home against Kent Sud. It will double its games played and meet two teams it has not faced yet, Shediac / Cap-Pelé and Kent Sud.

The chase for first. Dieppe / Memramcook plays once, at home to Riverview. Shediac / Cap-Pelé plays twice: Wednesday at Lewisville, a rematch of their 2–2 tie on October 31, and Saturday at home to Moncton. Two Shediac / Cap-Pelé wins would pull it level on points with the leaders if Dieppe / Memramcook beats the Blues, and put it in first if it does not.

Kent Centre waits. For the second week in a row, Kent Centre has no game. It last played on November 1.

After Week 5, the Blues head to the Tournoi Commémoratif Claude Gallant Memorial Tournament in Shediac / Cap-Pelé, November 19 to 22.

League Recap runs every week of the season, with the week's scores and the updated standings.

See the Blues' full schedule · Live league standings