Weekend Roundup - November 15-16

8U Mites

The 8U Mite-y Hens battled the Easton Ice Hawks this past weekend, coming up just a bit short in a 7-5 defeat. 

Game MVP Stone Giblisco scored four of the team’s five goals and Luke Scott netted the other. Goalie Liam Peipoch stopped 21 of 28 shots.

Up next for the Mites are a pair of early morning games in Downingtown this weekend against Campus Wild.

10U A Squirts

From Coach Chris: 10UA played Snider at home on Saturday.  It was a back and forth affair, but we ended up succumbing to a loss against a team that is far less skilled than us.  We made some defensive mistakes that cost us, played with an aggressive pinch first, high risk/high reward style that they made us pay for, and were ultimately unable to shut down their best player.  We'll look to regroup this week at practice to get our game back this upcoming weekend.

10U B Squirts

The 10UB Delaware Jr. Blue Hens traveled to Wilmington on Saturday morning and defeated the Nighthawks by a score of 11-3. Emma Schultz scored the first goal of the game with an amazing pass from Avery Malone, who was this weekends MVP. After her goal, the Hens never looked back.

Travis Hassler notched a double hat trick, finding the net six times! Jack Anthony scored four goals. Game MVP Avery Malone and Zach Pine both played well, beyond what a scoresheet can show, and each contributed an assist. Goalie Aiden McGrath stopped 13 of 16 shots.

Later that day, the team returned home to host Princeton (NJ), who eked out a narrow 4-3 victory over the Hens. 

Jack Anthony scored twice to lead the offensive attack. Finn Litwin notched the other goal in the third period to cut a 4-2 deficit half with less than 8 minutes remaining, but unfortunately, the Hens couldn’t net an equalizer. Up next for the team is a Sunday home game against Genesis (7AM).

12U A American PeeWee

From Coach Mike: The JBH 12UA team was up early for an away game against the Hatfield Ice Hawks.  I think we were still sleeping in the first period, as we were outshot 9-8 by an inferior team.  The Ice Hawks got on the board just over a minute into the game, and this gave them some juice as we were still trying to wake up.  Fortunately, Miles Parks put 1 in the back of the net shortly after, and we were tied up 1-1 heading to the second period.  Hatfield struck first to take a 2-1 lead, but less than a minute later, Jaxson Holmes had a breakaway and the back checking defenseman threw his stick at him, resulting in Jaxson being awarded a goal.  Can't say I've seen that before, but we'll take it.  Hatfield was able to tap in another, on a puck Mike Monzo thought he had covered, giving them a 3-2 lead.  Once again, we didn't wait long to tie things up.  Ryan Rewkowski made a nifty move right off the face off and beat the goalie high glove with a great shot.  3-3 score heading to the third.  Puck movement got progressively better throughout the game, and after being outshot in the first period, we proceeded to outshoot the Ice Hawks 22-7 the rest of the way.  Just 19 seconds into the third, Jaxson Holmes added his 2nd goal of the day, and the eventual game winner.  Miles Parks also added a 2nd goal, and Chase Bolin and Emerson Vincelli had nice assists on the 2 tallies.  We got away with a lackluster start, but it was a good lesson on needing to bring the energy right from the get go.  A much needed win for our team was in the books.  Next, we look forward to a non-league rematch this Saturday against the Frederick Freeze.

Saturday the 12U Crew faced off against the Hershey Jr Bears at home for a league game. Hershey showed up strong from the start, outshooting us in a big way the first period resulting in two goals. Going in to the 2nd the Hens were ready to regroup and push back, stepping up the offense just a bit. We had an opportunity on a power play at the tail end of the 2nd and Jackson Callahan snapped that up, finding the back of the net unassisted on a sweet breakaway and finally putting us on the board. With the score 3-1 Hershey going in to the 3rd we were fired up and hoping to equalize. On another power play, Bruno Herrera sailed the puck to Jackson Callahan to bring us one point closer to overtaking. Unfortunately we took a penalty late in the third allowing Hershey to pull the same move, and the game ended in a 4-2 loss. We took away the lessons we needed to, and vowed to turn the tables the following day against the Jr Pens.

Sunday morning we hit the road all the way up to Wilkes Barre for our first match up against the Jr Penguins. Rolling in to the very nice Toyota SportsPlex, the team was ready to bring it. Game play was neck and neck the entire first period, with both teams seemingly evenly matched. The Pens pulled ahead shortly in to the 2nd on a lucky shot that snuck past Andrew, but all that did was light a fire under us. Jackson Callahan came in hot, netting the first goal of the game for the Hens and pumping us up even more. The Pens caught us sleeping at the start of the 3rd and sank two back to back goals, which woke us up in a big way. Off an assist from Eastyn Smith, Callahan netted our second goal and just a minute later tallied his 3rd Hat Trick of the season, tying up the game 3-3. Both teams were pushing hard at this point, but Scotty Tatum saw his opportunity to take the lead and he took it. Scoring a beauty of an unassisted goal, and our game winner, the Hens came away with a 4-3 win. Andrew Kulp was a force to be reckoned with in net all weekend.

Next up the 12U Crew hosts Exton early Saturday morning, and the Chester County Cougars on Sunday.

14U A American Bantam

What an exciting weekend for the 14U team. They played with fever and purpose. On Saturday they played the Exton Kings at home. They started off with a bang. First Period, thirty seconds in, Cash Scarborough scored with assists from Ryan McCoury and Ernesto Boyd. The Kings scored to tie the game. Second Period the Kings got a penalty shot to take the lead. Ryan McCoury, assisted by Ernesto Boyd, answered back with a break away making the game 2-2. Third Period the Blue Hens took the lead with a goal by Henry Jin, assisted by Andrew Nicholson.  The Kings scored again to tie the game.  Henry Jin scored again, assisted by Zachary Wright and Chase Watkins, taking a 4-3 lead. The Kings pulled their goalie allowing Chase Watkins to score on an empty net. The defense line of Carter Mast and Vincent Trettel was outstanding. McKayla Mellon was in net. Several players commented on how well she played. What a game!

On Sunday we traveled to Philadelphia to play Snider Hockey.  It was another great game. First Period Chase Watkins started it off with a goal from an assist by Pippa Hall. Snider scored to tie the game 1-1. Second Period Snider scored to take the lead. Henry Jin then scored with an assist from Connor Profiri. Henry scored again to take the lead. Snider tied it up to end the period. Third Period, with six minutes left, Snider took the lead to win the game 4-3. What a heartbreaking loss. Clayton Sowders was also great in net.

Next weekend, Saturday an away game against the Reading Royals and Sunday, a home game against the Susquehanna Stampede.   Go Blue Hens!!!

16U A American Midget

The 16U American boys traveled up to Hershey on Saturday morning for another match up against the Jr Bears. A few of the actual Hershey Bears were on the ice before us so seeing them skate so informally was pretty cool. The team hit the ice ready to go but were quickly outpaced by the Jr Bears, managing only 6 shots on goal to their 15. Big Mike Brzozowski sank one in midway through the first period, netting what would be our only goal for the game. Hershey took advantage of a power play in the second, and we couldn’t recover coming away with a 1-3 loss after a very physical game.

Pulling a double header, the boys met back up at the Skate Club of Wilmington Saturday night for their first game against the Nighthawks of the season. Feeling the burn from the loss earlier in the day, no one felt good coming in to this one and it was not our best showing. On a pass from Paxton Hafner, Josh Revis kicked off the scoring 9 minutes in to the 1st period, but the Nighthawks answered back with 4 before that period would end. Riding that wave, the Hens were on the run the rest of the game and despite Brody Szyjka tipping one in on a pass from Tristan Fischer, this would end up being our 2nd loss of the day.

Hopefully the boys can regroup and recover this week for their match up’s against Snider on Saturday and Quakers on Sunday.

16U A National Midget

The 16U boys faced off at home this past weekend after having two weekends off, ready for a rematch against the No. 1–seeded Snider Hockey. Snider struck first, capitalizing on a power play just three minutes into the opening period. But the Blue Hens answered quickly—two minutes later at full strength, Jason Tamin buried a shot off a feed from Jackson Persoleo to lock the score at 1–1.

Despite going shorthanded three times in the first, the boys’ defensive unit shut Snider down, allowing no shots on goal during the second and third penalty kills. With just 30 seconds remaining in the period, Persoleo and Max Lignelli connected with Tamin once again, setting him up for his second of the game and sending the Hens into the first intermission with a 2–1 lead.

The second period remained tight until the halfway mark when Snider snuck in a goal to tie things at 2–2. Later in the frame, Lucas Solimini found a clean shooting lane and fired a long wrist shot from the blue line, giving the Blue Hens a 3–2 edge heading into the final period.

The third period went back and forth with little excitement until midway through the frame, Solimini struck again. After a clean face-off win by Lavieri, he jumped on the puck and ripped a one-timer slapshot into the top-right corner, sealing the game-winning goal and earning a nomination for the DVHL Play of the Week.

Goaltender Luke Johnson stood tall throughout the matchup, turning away 27 of 30 shots and securing his fifth win of the season.

The boys will remain at home next weekend as they face Exton for the second time this year. The keys to success remain the same: continue working as a unit, move the puck, stay disciplined, and keep penalties to a minimum.

16U AA Midget 

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18U AA Midget 

The Delaware Jr. Blue Hens U18s had just one matchup this weekend, taking on the DVHL’s top-seeded Genesis at Hatfield Ice. Despite a strong effort, the Hens fell 5–2, but goalie Dylan Morrison was outstanding, keeping the game within reach while facing 47 shots. Offensively, the Hens got on the board with a goal from Nate Ponden, assisted by Brennan Austin, while Cian Harp added a second tally unassisted. Penalties proved costly, as Genesis struck four times on the power play, ultimately making the difference. The team now looks ahead to a home matchup against the Chester County Cougars at UD on Saturday at 6:45 PM.

In Other News...

We are thrilled to announce the Winter Giveback Classic, partnered with CV3 Hockey Development to benefit the Child Life Department at Nemours Children's Hospital in Wilmington. 100% of the proceeds from this event will go to Nemours, and it's going to be a blast. We hope you can join us, your teammates and friends, for the Skills Competition and 3v3 Mini Tournament. More details to come, click HERE to register!