ATTLEBORO, MA -- The two teams are pushing for the Coastal Division title in the NA3HL, and have one more game between each other while they sat three points apart as of Jan. 15. The Nordiques were just ahead of the Generals in the NA3HL. The Generals have a game in hand. The two teams will face each other two more times, on Feb. 3 and March 3, both at the Generals’ home New England Sports Village in Attleboro, Mass.

“We play them in the first two games out of the break,” said Northeast general manager Bryan Erikson in December. The Generals and Nordiques split those Jan. 5 and 6 games. “Darryl Locke, our head coach, has done a great job of getting the offense going. We’re really beating opponents with our team speed.”

He certainly has a point, since the Generals were seventh out of the 42 NA3HL teams in goals for, with 158. That equals 4.64 goals scored per game.

Marc Faia, a ’98 from Everett, Mass., leads the team with 21 goals and 48 points in 34 games.

Austin Braley is in his third year with the NA3HL Generals. The ’97 from Bourne, Mass., had 23 goals and 47 points in 29 games.

Erikson was also especially pleased with Braley’s fellow co-captain Alex O’Dowd.

“He’s doing a great job leading the offense,” said Erikson, of the ’97 from Hanover, Mass. He had 39 points in 34 games.

Moscow, Russia’s Fedor Lopaev also had 39 points, and Tyler Rudek posted 14 points in his first 10 games with the Generals.

Thad Marcola (18 points in 29 games) has joined these two in “rounding out our top six forwards.”

In goal, Lucas Souza and Kyle Wagner were in a regular battle for crease minutes. Souza is a ’98 from Somerset, Mass., and Wagner is a ’99 from Smithfield, R.I.

“Lucas played at Somerset-Berkley High School and it took him a little while to adjust to this league,” said Erikson, who pointed to his save percentage of .905 to show how quick of a study he is. “Having Kyle and Lucas doing a good job solidifying the net works in our favor. It’ll help us to continue to get stronger.”

Defenseman Matt Hammel (31 points in 31 games) has gotten a call-up for two games to the Generals’ North American Hockey League team already this year.

“We have other players who will probably get NAHL opportunities this year,” added Erikson.

The NA3HL Generals are on board, however, for this season and thinking about the end goal of winning the Fraser Cup while showcasing their skills for college scouts.

“We built this team to compete for a championship this year or next year, and to maintain a competitive team for years to come,” Erikson added