Weekend Roundup - October 25-26

8U Mites

10U A Squirts

From Coach Chris: From Coach Chris: 10UA played in 2 matchups this weekend, a non league game against the Delco Phantoms on Saturday, and a DVHL rematch against the Campus Wild on Sunday.  Delco is in the 10UA American division of the DVHL, and were significantly outmatched by us.  The boys managed themselves well, and I was proud of them for continuing to maintain good sportsmanship even when frustration from the Delco players began to show.  On Sunday, we played in our second matchup against the Campus Wild.  Although we ended up falling by a score of 4-2 with an empty net goal at the end, I thought this was one of the best games they've played as a team all season.  Each goal had a primary and secondary assists, which came as a direct result of picking our heads up, scanning the ice, and moving into open space.  We spent a lot of the game with them pinned in their own zone, our back checking game was on point, and we also had a number of A+ opportunities but missed the net, fumbled the puck, or shot into the goaltenders chest.  Final shot count was 25-12.  Ultimately our demise was a couple of defensive coverage mistakes in front of our own net that allowed them to pounce on rebounds, which we will continue to stress and work on in practice.

10U B Squirts

The 10UB Delaware Jr. Blue Hens dropped a tough one on Sunday against the Central Penn Panthers in Lancaster, PA.

The Hens jumped to an early 1-0 lead thanks to one of two goals by Game MVP Finn Litwick, but a spirited Panthers team answered back with an equalizer, followed by a second goal with only five seconds left in the first period.

The Panthers scored two quick ones to start the second, and cruised to an 11-3 victory. Zach Pine scored the third goal for the Blue Hens, with Adam Fares providing the assist. Goalie Aiden McGrath stopped 15 shots. The Hens host the Panthers on Sunday, November 2 in a rematch at the Gold Rink (8:40 AM).

12U A American PeeWee

From Coach Mike: The JBH 12UA team was up bright and early on Sunday morning for a home game against the Exton Kings.  We got off to a good start, with Ryan Rewkowski and Miles Parks depositing goals in the first period to give us a 2-0 lead heading to the second.  Maybe it was the 7am start, but we were not able to keep the same energy that we've been seeing over the previous few games.  Exton got on the board with 2 goals of their own during the second period to tie things up 2-2 after 30 mins of play.  Neither team had a lot of shots during the third, but there were quality chances from both sides, and good goaltending by both teams throughout the game.  We were finally able to break through with just over 3 minutes left.  Ryan Rewkowski beat the Exton goalie 5-hole on a nice feed from Graeme Shannon.  Unfortunately, the lead was short lived.  Exton struck again with the goalie pulled, and just over a minute left in the game to tie things up 3-3.  So we headed to our first OT game of the season.  Despite a few good scoring opportunities early on, we were unable to cash in.  Exton, on the other hand, took advantage of a 2 on 1 break, and scored the game winner with just 50 seconds left.  This loss hurt, but sometimes facing adversity only makes you stronger.  The team learned a lot from this game (good & bad), but we'll look to build on the positives as we host Genesis this Saturday.

12U B National Peewee

The PeeWee B team hit the road for an away game against the Central Penn Panthers in the absolute ice box that is Regency Sportsrink. Despite coming out pumped up and ready to go, Panthers had us on the run from the start. One of their skaters got a goal within the first minute of the first period and that seemed to take the wind out of our sails, sending us in to a spiral we couldn’t recover from. We managed to get off a decent number of shots on goal but their goalie must have had RedBull for breakfast because he was absolutely impenetrable. We played hard to the bitter end but ultimately couldn’t get one past, and walked away with a loss and a promise to change the outcome next time we meet them.

Next weekend we have an extremely early away game at Princeton the morning after Halloween, so we shall see how that plays out.

14U A American Bantam

On Saturday the team had a Non-League game against Campus Wild. First Period started off with a goal from Campus Wild. Henry Jin answered back with 2 goals, 9 minutes apart, to take the lead. Second Period started off with a goal from Riley McGrath with an assist from Zachary Wright. Rafa Mocorro then scored with an assist from Chance Scarborough, making the score 4-1. Andrew Nicholson scored, now 5-1. Henry Jin then got a hat trick with his goal, making the score 6-1. Third Period started off with a big lead. Henry Jin wasn’t finished. He scored again. Vincent Trettel scored making the game 8-1. McKayla Mellon was in net and played well. Connor Profiri was great on defense.

Sunday’s game was in Colmar, PA against Genesis. First Period, Genesis scored 3 times. Second Period was uneventful for both teams. Third Period started with us down 3-0. Chase Watkins scored our first goal with an assist from Chance Scarborough. Henry Jin then scored with assists from Ethan Grosser and Cash Scarborough. The final score was 4-2.

16U A American Midget

The 16U A American boys headed out to Voorhees for a match up against Flyers Youth. Homecoming is still our nemesis, we had a short bench but still came ready to play hard. The first period was neck and neck, with equal pressure from both teams having spectators feeling like they were at a volleyball match. Play was pretty steady, they would push, we would push back and vice versa. The first period ended 0-0. 2nd period kicked off with an entirely different tone than the first, skaters were hungry and made it known. Play became more aggressive, and penalties started rolling in. Flyers Youth managed to get two past Brody early in the 2nd which lit a fire under us. We weren’t interested in leaving them with a two point lead, so Kaiden McCoury passed across the blue line and up the middle to Jeet Patel on a fantastic breakaway that caught their goalie off guard. With the score now 2-1 with less than 2 minutes left in the 2nd, we knew we could make this happen. Not 30 seconds later the boys found themselves in exactly the same position, so Kaiden and Jeet pulled off a repeat tying up the score as we entered the 3rd. We kept the pressure on for the remainder of the game, but so did Flyers. With an astounding 94 combined shots on goal, the score remained tied and sent us to a short 3 minute 3v3 overtime. Three minutes wasn’t enough time for either team to make anything happen, so we ended in the tie and called it a night. We are confident that had we had a full bench, the outcome would have been different, and we will gladly take the opportunity to prove it next time we meet up.

Next weekend we enjoy a home game versus Hersey Jr Bears on Saturday, November 1st.

16U A National Midget

The 16U National Blue Hens had a grueling back-to-back this past weekend — a late 9:00 PM home game on Saturday against Genesis, followed by an early-afternoon road matchup in Wilkes-Barre on Sunday. With limited skaters and tight turnaround time, the boys battled hard to make every shift count.

SATURDAY vs. Genesis

Despite being seven skaters short of a full bench, the Hens held strong through most of the opening period — until Genesis broke the silence with a goal in the final minute. They doubled their lead early in the second on a power-play strike, but the Hens answered back. Conner Stearns connected with Max Lignelli for his second goal of the season to cut the deficit and halt the shutout bid.

Genesis came out firing to start the third, tallying two goals just 25 seconds apart to lock in the win and hand the Blue Hens a tough loss to close out the late night.

Final: Genesis 4, Blue Hens 1

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SUNDAY @ Jr. Penguins

After a three-hour trek north to Wilkes-Barre, the Hens came out hungry. The Jr. Penguins opened the scoring just a minute in, but late in the first, Jackson Simon buried his sixth of the season to send the teams into the intermission tied at one.

Simon struck again just two minutes into the second — assisted by Landon Austin — to give the Hens their first lead of the weekend. The Penguins quickly answered back, but Conner Stearns reclaimed the advantage with his first goal of the season, courtesy of David Lavieri.

Special teams, however, loomed large. Wilkes-Barre capitalized on two of their three power-play opportunities, knotting the game once more. Lavieri responded with a highlight-reel unassisted goal to preserve a point and push the game into overtime.

The Hens dominated puck possession in the extra frame, though the biggest sparks came from the lively fan antics in the stands as the clock ticked down scoreless.

Final: Blue Hens 4, Jr. Penguins 4 (OT)

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Looking Ahead

The boys now get a couple of weeks to reset and recover before a rematch with Snyder. Heading into their next matchup, the focus remains on:

    •     Smart puck movement and strong passing

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