18U-A
Old Bridge Jr Knights bested the Atlantic City Sharks in the first game of the day. Old Bridge got out to a commanding lead on goals by Gino Giovannucci (Dylan Diliegro, Owen O’Donnell), Jake Brand (Pat Fattorusso, Jason Wheeler), Jason Wheeler (Seamus Willson), and Christopher Lena (Pat Fattorusso, Ryan Peters). Hunterdon then scored three unanswered goals including a second-period buzzer beater at 0:01 by Braydon Karrer (Sean Cleveland), who also had their third goal (Hayden Sarno). Stephen Nixon (William Christopher) had Hunterdon’s first goal, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit. Logan Schroeder had 24 saves.
The Hunterdon Bears beat the Montclair Blues in an exciting OT win in their first game of the day thanks to a goal by Cameron Smekal (Joshua Kelco, Andrew Collins). This back-and-forth game featured goals by Montclair’s Luca Matullo (Henry Devinsky, Maxsim Ricketts and unassisted) and Maxsim Ricketts (Nikolozi Zakaidze, Luca Matullo), and by Hunterdon’s Joshua Kelco (Dylan Kochenour, Cameron Smekal), Andrew Collins (unassisted), and Liam Orban (Andrew Collins, Jacob Sachs). Goaltender Thomas Wallace gets credit for the win.
In both teams’ second matchup of the day, the Atlantic City Sharks beat the Montclair Blues to earn a spot in Sunday’s finals. Montclair’s two third-period goals were scored by Maxsim Ricketts and Rohan Garg (both assisted by Luca Matullo) and Atlantic City’s offense came from Sean Cleveland (1 A), Braydon Karrer (1 G), Darren McCarthy (1 A), Stephen Nixon (1 G), Cooper Olivieri (1 A), Andrei Radkevich (1 G, 2 A), and Hayden Sarno (2 G). Kristopher Walsh had a 0.926 save percentage in net for the Sharks.
Old Bridge Jr Knights went undefeated in the preliminary round in dramatic fashion on a game-winning goal with 0:21 left in regulation, which was Dylan Vislocky’s third of the game (unassisted); his other two goals came from assists by Ryan Peters and Nicholas Vella, and Old Bridge’s first game was scored by Seamus Willson (Casey Fugere, Jason Wheeler). Hunterdon’s goals were scored by Cameron Smekal (Joshua Kelco), Dylan Kochenour, and Joshua Kelco (both unassisted). Logan Schroeder had a great performance in net with 27 saves.
18U-AA
In the only Championship game of the day the Montclair Blues ran it up, beating Devils Youth 9-3. Scoring contributors for the Blues included Tyler Bergman (1 G, 1 A), Ian Burke (1 A), Michael Capozzi (1 G, 1 A), Gavin Farrell (1 A), Andrew Lisnock (2 G), William Mazzei (1 G), Shane Melly (1 A), David Weinrib (1 G), Blake Wotanowski (1 G), and Matthew Zocks (1 G, 1 A). Players putting up points for Devils Youth include Zachary Battistella (1 A), Luke Brendle (1 A), Adrian Canizares (1 G), Ben Diamond (1 A), Charlie Dunn (1 A), Tyler Hill (1 A), Colin Mullooly (1 G), and Peter Psaras (1 G). Troy Conover played in net for Montclair.
16U-A American
Flyers Youth pulled ahead in the third period and banked three points in their 4-2 victory over the Hunterdon Bears, guaranteeing them a spot in Sunday’s finals. Flyers Youth scoring was led by playmaker Brady Sherman (1 G, 3 A) and Connor Falkenstein (2 G) with contributions from Brody Levine (1 A), Michael Stevenson (1 A), and Luke Tomlinson (1 G). Hunterdon’s goals were scored by Jacob Castillo (Jack Blumenberg) and Jackson Handler (Ryan Gorski). Jansen Rattle was the winning goaltender.
Montclair Blues White held onto the lead for a 2-1 win over Union Thunder White. Montclair’s two second-period goals were scored by Dylan Peterson (Logan Masuicca) and Jayden Sanchez (Donovan Davis), and Union had an unassisted goal by Thomas Hug. Goaltender Carter Donnelly played net for Montclair.
16U-AA American
Princeton Youth Hockey came back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the Hunterdon Bears 3-3, but Hunterdon’s Colin Adams scored with 1:48 left to earn the win for his team. Also contributing to Hunterdon’s win were Ethan Borkes (1 G), James Edwards (1 G), Louis Ferraro (1 A), and Nicholas Silvestre (1 G), along with an assist by Colin Adams. Princeton’s offense was led by Shaun Keker (1 G, 1 A) and Andrei Lumezanu (1 G, 1 A), with additional contributions from Tyler Butcher (1 G) and Jaxon Pinto (1 A). Hunterdon’s goals were scored by Ethan Borkes (unassisted), Nicholas Silvestre (Colin Adams), and James Edwards (Louis Ferraro). Hunterdon goaltender Maxwell Amadeo had an outstanding performance with a 0.906 save percentage.
Cutting Edge King Cobras notched a decisive 4-1 win over Union Thunder. Cutting Edge’s scoring was led by Gage Angley (2 G, 1 A) and Arthur Jase Schroer (2 A), with Shamus Batcha (1 A), Oliver Bussanich (1 G), Baron Dworzanski (1 G), Michael Gilmore (1 A), and Connor Michalkovich (1 A). Union’s goal was scored by Neil Stievater with an assist from John Nocera. Cutting Edge goaltender Joseph Valente saved 26 of the 27 shots he faced.
16U-AA National
In the opening game for this level, third seed Union Thunder White fell 3-1 to second seed New Jersey Colonials. Players contributing to the Colonials’ offense include Caden Ginsberg (1 G), Dillon Stepnowski (1 A), Parker Masson (1 A), Denis Nunan (1 G), and Kevin Pancik (1 G). Union’s goal was scored by Josh Kim from Nate Cortell. Colonials goaltender Sebastian Parillo had an outstanding game with a 0.969 save percentage.
Top seed Princeton Youth Hockey blanked Brick Hockey Club 6-0 with contributions from eight different players: Louis Barrandon (2 G, 1 A), Jacob Rotenberg (2 G), playmaker Ryder Ewanchyna (3 A), Samuel Gibb (1 G, 1 A), Abe Arshan (1 A), Baptiste Demurge (1 A), Dylan Hagt (1 A), and Emil Vecchi (1 G). Mason Roitburg gets credit for the shutout.