16U-AA National
Princeton Youth Hockey captured the championship in a 4-0 win over the NJ Colonials and will go on to represent the NJYHL at District playoffs in the spring. Princeton goals were scored by Abe Arshan (Louis Barrandon, Samuel Gibb), Lukas Yarnall (Abe Arshan), Louis Barrandon (Jacob Rotenberg) and Dylan Hagt (Samuel Gibb). Princeton goaltender Xavier Hoekzema earned the shutout.
At the same time, Brick Hockey Club and Union Thunder White were playing on the other rink to see who would advance to the elimination game, and Brick came out on top of that contest 5-2. Players contributing to Brick’s offense include Jack Acropolis (1 G), Ryder Barnfield (1 G, 1 A), Brody Douma (1 A), Preston Ginzburg (9 A), Tyler Heyward (1 A), Matt Lopes (2 G), and James Sammarco (1 G), and goaltender Dylan Amato gets credit for the win with a solid 0.946 save percentage. Union goals were scored by Daniel Demskie (Luke Germond) and Nate Cortell (Christopher Sennett).
In the last game of the tournament, Brick blanked the Colonials 2-0 to earn a spot at District playoffs on goals from Jack Acropolis (Sidney Zito, Brody Douma) and Ryder Barnfield (Sidney Zito). Goaltender Dylan Amato made 30 saves.
16U-AA American
In an early morning match-up, Princeton Youth Hockey piled on 8 goals for an 8-1 win over the Cutting Edge King Cobras. Arthur Jase Schroer (Gage Angley) scored the Cobras’ goal, while Princeton’s Christian Maione scored four goals, Andrei Lumezanu scored three, and Shaun Keker scored one with assists by Michael Esposito (2), Brandon Harrison (2), Shenhao Lou (1), and PJ Ross (1). Keker also had two assists for a three-point game, and Jake Smythe was the winning goaltender.
Meanwhile, the Hunterdon Bears shut out the Union Thunder to finish the preliminary round undefeated. Several players contributed to the Bears’ win including Ethan Borkes (1 G, 1 A), James Edwards (1 A), Louis Ferraro (1 G), Logan Golembiewski (1 A), Kellen McKenzie (1 G), Alexander Sales (1 G), Nicholas Silvestre ((1 A), and Owen St Louis (1 A). Hunterdon goaltender Marc Galante notched the win.
In the championship game, Louis Ferraro had both goals for Hunterdon including the overtime winner in their 2-1 victory over Princeton Youth Hockey. Princeton’s goal as scored by Paul Turchetta with assists from Ryan Kalachik and Gavin Sutter, and Hunterdon’s Maxwell Boyce had the assist on Ferraro’s first goal. Hunterdon goaltender saved 26 of 27 shots for the win.
16U-A National
Old Bridge Jr Knights advanced to the elimination game with a 3-1 win over the Jersey Wolves. The Old Bridge offense was led by William Andruzzi (2 points), James Casper (1 point), Leo Lefebvre (1 point), Daniel Luo (1 point), and Nicholas Pietrzykowski (1 point). The Wolves’ goal was scored by Cole Parisi with an assist from Daniel Podvey. Goaltender Matthew Vassallo earned the win for Old Bridge.
In the longest game of the weekend, it took Union Thunder Blue seven overtimes to beat Nutley Clifton Horse Pirates and clinch the Championship on a goal from Benjamin Gross (Michael Carew). Union’s other goal was scored by Daniel Lasco (Owen Pipher, Jacob Handwerker) and Nutley Clifton’s goal was scored by Lucas McGraw (Jackson Berliner). Both goalies – Union’s Kyle Ricci (68 saves) and Nutley Clifton’s Alexander Madsen (41 saves) – deserve kudos for their performances.
After their marathon game earlier in the day, Nutley Clifton found the energy to rack up nine goals to beat Old Bridge Jr Knights and secure a spot in District playoffs. Lucas McGraw led Nutley Clifton’s scoring with a hattrick, and Mike Sandels had four points (two goals and two assists). Other players who contributed to the win were Jackson Berliner (1 G, 1 A), Matthew Burns (1 A), Ryan Coon (1 A), Peter Danzo (2 G), Brody Follen (1 G), Dean Vanikiotis (1 A), and Brandon Wong (1 A). Old Bridge’s Cameron Healy had two goals, and one point was posted by Maddox Abe, James Casper, Aidan Ebbighausen, Gunner Shotland, and Vincent Tedaldi. Nutley Clifton goaltender Alexander Madsen was the winning goaltender.
16U-A American
Montclair Blues White held the lead for most of the game, but Flyers Youth scored two unanswered in the third to win 2-1 and clinch a spot in the finals. Flyers Youth goals were scored by Thomas Loutzenhiser (Luke Tomlinson, Madden Rauchut) and Liam Coombs (unassisted), and Montclair’s goal was scored by Dylan Peterson (Nicholas Petrino). Goaltender Ryan Giannini earned the win.
Hunterdon Bears handily beat Union Thunder White 6-2, led by a hattrick from Jack Blumenberg and two goals by Jackson Handler. Other point-scorers for Hunterdon included Austin Antonoff, Jacob Castillo, Ethan Gardner, Shae Samtani, and Aidan Smith. Union’s goals were scored by Shawn Friedman (Aaron Rudnick) and David Simon (Joshua Tyburski). Christian Mercado had 24 saves in his winning performance.
Flyers Youth’s Connor Falkenstein scored in overtime to cinch the championship for his team in their 3-2 victory over Hunterdon Bears. Flyers Youth’s regulation goals were both scored by Luke Tomlinson (Liam Coombs, Matthew Cole), and Hunterdon’s offense was generated by Aiden Antonoff, Austin Antonoff, Jacob Castillo, and Jackson Handler. Jansen Rattle was the winning goaltender.
18U-AA
NJ Devils Youth earned a spot at District playoffs with a 3-0 win over Brick Hockey Club in the elimination game. All three goals were scored within a two-minute span in the second period, led by Charlie Dunn (1 G, 2 A) with contributions from Zach Battistella (1 A), Colin Mullooly (1 G, 1 A), Shane Posner (2 A), and Peter Psaras (1 G). Goaltender Thomas LaFrance got the shutout with 27 saves.
18U-A
The Atlantic City Sharks captured the championship and a spot at District playoffs with an overtime goal by Andrei Redkevich in their 6-5 win over Old Bridge Jr Knights. Atlantic City’s Hayden Sarno had a hattrick, William Christopher posted two goals, and Andrei Radkevich had three assists in addition to his game-winning goal; Braydon Karrer and Cooper Olivieri both contributed to the win with two assists each. Old Bridge’s offense came from Gino Giovannucci (1 G, 1 A), Thomas Lena (1 G, 1 A), Dylan Diliegro (1 G), Joseph Heiser (1 A), Christopher Lena (1 A), Ryan Peters (1 G), and Seamus Willson (1 G). Old Bridge’s Logan Schroeder made a great effort in net with 33 saves, but ultimately Jeremy Lennon got the win.