USHL WEEKEND BREAKOUT 11/30-12/2 Junior Hockey News
Published: Monday, 3 Dec 2018
By: Michael Moore
Friday, Nov. 30th
WATERLOO BLACK HAWKS [5], TEAM USA (U17) [3]
The Waterloo Black Hawks got out to an early lead and hung
on to keep a 5-3 victory over Team USA (U17’s). Griffin Ness, Joe Cassetti and Matt Koopman
got the Hawks up by three goals before Chase Yoder found the net for Team USA.
Koopman would go on to snag another goal before the U17’s Landon Slaggert
scored. Waterloo’s Matej Blümel and Team USA’s Jacob Truscott would trade goals
to finish out the game’s scoring.
Jared Moe knocked away 27 of the 29 shots he faced.
CEDAR RAPIDS ROUGHRIDERS [4], DES MOINES BUCCANEERS [2]
RoughRiders begin a new streak with their defeat of the
Buccaneers 4-2 on Friday. Cedar Rapids owned the first thanks to goals from Andrei
Bakanov and Aidan McDonough. Des moines answered back with a pair from Kaden
Bohlsen and Matt Brown. The RoughRiders would finish out the game with goals
from Jack O'Leary and Jason Polin (empty-net goal).
Blake Pietila stopped 28 of 30 shots.
TRI-CITY STORM [7], SIOUX FALLS STAMPEDE [3]
Tri-City wins big over Sioux Falls, Friday night. Filip
Forsmark and Jake Crespi scored for the Storm and Brian Chambers and Jami
Krannila scored for the Stampede in the first. Crespi scored another goal and
Keaton Pehrson joined him for Tri-City in the second. The third began with the
Storm’s grip tightening courtesy of goals from Colton Kalezic and Chase McLane.
Only Sioux Falls' Artem Ivanyuzhenkov managed to score with a PPG. Ronnie
Attard’s empty-net goal was the final Storm nail in the Stampede coffin.
Isaiah Saville made 28 on 31 shots in the win.
MUSKEGON LUMBERJACKS [4], GREEN BAY GAMBLERS [2]
The Gamblers fall in yet another Lumberjacks’ victory.
Muskegon went up by three goals by way of Andrei Golikov and two from Nolan
Sullivan. Green Bay finally got in the game in the third with a pair of
consecutive goals from Nick Leitner and Noah Ganske. Alex Yakovenko provided an
empty-net goal to secure the win.
Brandon Bussi blocked 22 to earn his 16th win.
LINCOLN STARS [4], OMAHA LANCERS [2]
Rivals Lincoln and Omaha face off in another Nebraskan tilt.
Shane Pinto (Stars) and Christian DiCesare (Lancers) matched each other with a
goal apiece in the first. Lincoln then took control with two goals in the
second thanks to Rule and Devlin McCabe. Omaha answered with an Austen Long
goal to close out the second. Matthew
Barbolini got the final goal of the night for the Stars with only 49 seconds
left to play.
Tyler Johnson blocked 40 of the 42 shots thrown his way.
YOUNGSTOWN PHANTOMS [3], FARGO FORCE [2] (OT)
A neck and neck battle ensued Friday between the Phantoms
and the Force. Fargo opened the game thanks to a Hank Crone tally. Youngstown
would answer back with Brett Murray and Craig Needham goals. Michael Mancinelli
would even things up for the Force in the second period. After a scoreless
third the teams went into overtime where for the second time on the night
Murray found the net. This time the goal would win the game for Youngstown.
Goaltender Vinnie Purpura stopped 19 of 21 Fargo shots for the
Phantom win.
CHICAGO STEEL [5], CENTRAL ILLINOIS FLYING ACES [4]
And suddenly it was a dogfight. For the second time in the
week (Saturday 11/24; CHI 4:2 CIL) Illinois two USHL went toe-to-toe. Stephen
Halliday struck first for the Aces nearly five minutes into the first. Not to
be outdone in front of a boisterous home crowd the Steel’s Nick Abruzzese and
Adam Robbins shelfed the next two goals to put Chicago up 2-1 at the end of the
first. Uula Ruikka continued Chicago’s scoring to open the second. Central
Illinois responded with goals from Chad Hillebrand and Philippe Lapointe. The
third found Ryan Doolin tapping in a rebound to earn the Steel the
go-ahead-goal. Four minutes later Matteo Pietroniro added another to increase
the Chicago lead. With just a mere 27 seconds left on the board Cal Kiefiuk
found the back of the net for the Flying Aces. Clock ticking and the goalie
pulled the Aces final effort would fall short and the Steel would win 5-4.
Justin Robbins stopped 16 of the 20 Flying Aces shots he
faced.
Saturday, Dec 1st
TRI-CITY STORM [3], CEDAR RAPIDS ROUGHRIDERS [2]
Storm and RoughRiders fought it out in a close one that
would leave the Storm on top. Ccedar Rapids scored first thanks to Ethan
Wolthers. The next three goals would come from Tri-City’s Colby Ambrosio and
two from Ronnie Attard. An Andrei Bakanov contribution with less than two
minutes on the clock would not be enough for RoughRiders.
Jake Barczewski made 16 saves on 18 shots.
TEAM USA (U18) [3], WATERLOO BLACK HAWKS [1]
Having defeated the U17’s the night before the Black Hawks would
not fare so well against the U18’s. After a scoreless first period, the U18’s
dominated the second with goals from Case McCarthy, Cole Caufield and Michael
Gildon. It wasn’t until the third when Joe Cassetti would get Waterloo on the
board.
Spencer Knight (split time Cameron Rowe) earned the victory blocking
13 of 14-shots.
FARGO FORCE [4], YOUNGSTOWN PHANTOMS [3] (SO)
Redemption for the Force (who lost in OT the night
previously) would necessitate a shootout. Fargo scored the first two goals via:
Ben Meyers and Ryan O'Reilly. Carter Randklev added to the Force’s total. Brett
Murray and Trevor Kuntar got the Phantoms on the board with a pair of goals
before closing out the first period. The only other goal of the game would come
from Youngstown’s Craig Needham in the third. Overtime would come up empty and
Fargo’s O'Reilly scored the only goal of the shootout.
Ryan Bischel stopped 21 of 24 shots and was flawless in the
shootout.
SIOUX FALLS STAMPEDE [5], DES MOINES BUCCANEERS [3]
A back and forth tilt would see the Stampede victorious over
the Buccaneers. Tj Walsh, Mac Welsher and Matt Brown found the net for Des Moines.
Their efforts would not be enough to
outdo the goals contributed by Jared Westcott Anthony, Romano, Andre Lee, Max
Crozier and Austen Swankler in the Sioux Falls victory.
Jaxson Stauber denied 20 shots in the win.
DUBUQUE FIGHTING SAINTS [7], GREEN BAY GAMBLERS [1]
Dubuque comes up big at home against Green Bay. Where to
begin? Dubuque obviously as they put up all seven goals before Noah Ganske responded
with Green Bay’s only tally. The
Fighting Saints domination worked like this: First Period: Riese Gaber; Second Period: Logan Pietila, Derek Contessa, James
Sanchez and Gaber (his second); Third
Period: Bram Scheerer and Pietila (his second).
Matthew Thiessen stopped
22 of the 23 shots he faced.
MUSKEGON LUMBERJACKS [7], MADISON CAPITOLS [1]
Another lopsided affair took place only this time it was the
Muskegon Lumberjacks owning the Capitols on Madison Ice. Muskegon grabbed a big
lead in the first thanks to goals from Danil Guschin, Alex Gaffney, Colby Bukes
and Oliver MacDonald. The second period featured an Alex Mella goal preventing
Madison from being shutout. Jagger
Joshua made certain that goal did not go unanswered with a goal of his own for
the ‘Jacks. Andrei Golikov and Bobby Lynch put two more on the board in the
third in the decisive Muskegon win.
Ever solid, Brandon Bussi made 27 saves on 28 shots.
CHICAGO STEEL [5], CENTRAL ILLINOIS FLYING ACES [1]
The third matchup of the week for these Illinois rivals
would give the Steel the sweep. Defending their home ice the Aces only managed
to see a goal from Jeremy Davidson.
Prior to that it was all Steel with goals from Jake Schmaltz, John Spetz
and Nick Abruzzese. After Central Illinois got their lone mark on the game,
Chicago netted two more thanks to Mathieu De St. Phalle and Christian Sarlo.
Reilly Herbst manned the pipes for the Steel in this one
stopping 20 of the 21 shots he faced.
Sunday, Dec. 2nd
MUSKEGON LUMBERJACKS [5], DUBUQUE FIGHTING SAINTS [4]
Well this only makes sense. The two teams, responsible for
the week’s two biggest lopsided victories face each other in a showdown.
Dubuque found the net first with a Simon Kjellberg goal. Muskegon answered with
a goal from Nolan Sullivan before Dylan Jackson responded in-kind for the
Saints. The Lumberjacks rallied with four straight goals from Bobby Lynch (with
two), Igor Larionov and Nash Nienhuis. Dubuque would fight to stay in it with
two more tallies from Dallas Tulik, and Matias Maccelli. The effort would fall
short and Muskegon would leave Dubuque ice with the victory.
Brandon Bussi stopped 21of the Saints’ 25 shots.
MADISON CAPITOLS [3], CENTRAL ILLINOIS FLYING ACES [1]
Stunned from their 7-1 defeat the night prior, the Capitols
save a bit of face in their sound defeat of the Flying Aces. Noah Weber opened
the scoring for the Mad Caps in the first. The Aces managed to respond with a Cal
Kiefiuk goal in the second. Madison finished the affair with a pair of goals
courtesy of Alex Mella and Chaz Smedsrud (empty-net goal)
Joseph Lamoreaux kept 36 of the 37 shots from reaching his
net.
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Author:
Michael MooreMichael is a professional hockey scout and advisor with the Heisler Group helping North America’s top hockey prospects fulfill their ultimate playing potential.
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