NJ 87s Week/Weekend Recap

EHL:

The 87s EHL team comes off two weeks of Eastern Hockey League play with each week presenting mixed results.  In the first week of February, the EHL team had a tough week suffering a 6-2 loss to the Connecticut RoughRiders at the SoNo Ice House in Nowalk, and a tough, 4-3 nail biter of a game in dropping a game at home to the Philadelphia Little Flyers. 

The 87s EHL team bounced back strong the week after with a 3-0 win against the Protec Jr Ducks with Owen Hains leading the way with a 26 save shutout.  The 87s offense was paced by Matt Zdanowicz, Kyle Folkerson, and Tobin Winslow who picked up goals in the win.  Following the Protec game, the 87s came back strong against the RoughRiders with a 5-1 home win.  Jeremy Connor was strong in net again, while the 87s had a balanced attack with goals from Devlin O’Kane, Everest Schneider, Hayden Watson, Robbie Seewagen, and Zdanowicz again.

The EHL team started this week out strong, with another win against division rival Team Maryland at Piney Orchard Ice Arena.  Owen Hains again was strong in net with a second consecutive shutout, while Folkerson, and O’Kane’s two goals paced the offensive with an important 2 points.

EHLP:
The 87s EHL Premier team had 3 important league games in which they were able to pick up 2 points twice against the Renegades and then suffered a heartbreaking Overtime defeat to the Philadelphia Little Flyers this past Saturday. 

In the first game against the Renegades, the 87s peppered the net but were stonewalled by the Renegades goaltender on shot after shot.  Finally the 87s broke the ice on a goal from Geoff Bokor to tie the game in the 3rd.  They would not stop, as the 87s scored 5 consecutive goals to wrap up a convincing 6-1 win.  Dominic Saputelli made 22 saves to pick up the win in net.

In the second game against the Renegades, the 87s came out with a resounding effort building off Saturday and it would lead to an 8-1 win.  The 87 effort was very strong on Sunday as they picked up multi-point games from Pat Olenski, Vincent Ciampi, Geoff Bokor, Will O’Brien, Shay Keating, Iden Ottmann, Roman Kirilytchev, and a dominant effort from Alex Haar.  Jason LoRicco was solid stopping 21 saves in the victory.

Finally, the 87s suffered a tough 5-4 OT loss against the Philadelphia Little Flyers last Saturday.  A strong start by the 87s led to Lucas Barnett and Anthony O’Brien goals to take a 2-1 lead into the second period.  After the Little Flyers tied the game, Alex Haar put the 87s ahead late with 30 seconds remaining in the period.  An Ian Lindberg gave the 87s a 4-2 lead, before two late goals tied the game for the Little Flyers before an Overtime goal sank the 87s in a bitter loss.

U18:

The 87s U18 participated this past weekend in the February Eastern Exposure Series.  The U18 team had an up-and-down weekend, with many highs and lows.

The 87s U18s opened the weekend against a tough Pittsburgh Predators squad.  In a defensive battle where offense was hard to come by, the 87s fell in a 3-1 game against the Predators on Friday afternoon at the Flyers SkateZone Pennsauken.

The U18s came back with a strong effort on Saturday against the Mercer Chiefs U18 Premier team.  In another tough, hard nosed, defensive battle, the 87s and Chiefs played to a zero-zero draw.  The team defenses and goaltending were outstanding and made life difficult on both teams offenses all game long.  This was an entertaining and physical battle that was back and forth.

The U18s on Saturday evening came back against the Washington Little Capitals U18 team.  After two tough defensive efforts, the 87s couldn’t quite find their rhythm on Saturday evening.  While the game was tight all along, as the teams were locked in a tight 2-1 battle, the Capitals were able to pick up some insurance and pull away late to a 4-1 win.

Finally, the U18s got on the board on Sunday with a strong 3-0 win over the Tri-State Spartans.  After having a tough go of everything offensively all weekend, the floodgates opened for the U18s.  Some good plays early and a little bit of confidence helped the 87s get on the right end of things early in the game and put the game away early ending a successful weekend.