The New Jersey 87's Premier team had an impressive week by defeating the New England Wolves 10-2 and the Valley Jr. Warriors 8-2. Brad Heuer was named an EHLP star of the week as the team has now won three straight games. Meanwhile, the EHL team split the weekend with a win over New York Applecore and a loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights.

Premier team building momentum with three impressive wins

The Premier team capped off a stretch of four consecutive road games by travelling to New Hampshire to face the New England Wolves, one of the top teams in the New England Conference. The 87's wasted no time as they jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first period, added four more in the second and scored three more times in the third period. Cameron Satkowski, Brad Heuer and Tom Swartwout finished the night with two goals each, and Swatwout added two assists for a total of four points. Jeremy Connor made 17 saves on 19 shots to secure the 10-2 victory. 

The following day, the 87's faced the Valley Jr. Warriors at Paul T. Gilmartin Arena and jumped to a 2-1 lead by the end of the first period. Brad Heuer and Anthony Tavares each scored twice in the second period, as part of a five-goal barrage to give New Jersey a 7-2 lead after 40 minutes. Cameron Satkowski scored the lone goal in the third period while Cameron Carmen finished the night with 16 saves on 18 shots.

To say that head coach Adam Houli was pleased with his team's performance would be an understatement. 

"The team had a tremendous weekend on the road, beating the number one rated team and finishing the job the following day," Houli said. "They are beginning to execute the way we envisioned they would. It's a compliment to them as they are continuing to buy into our process and see the development ladder working."

Heuer was also named an EHL star of the week for his efforts, scoring two goals in each of his last three games.

EHL team splits the weekend with showcase approaching

The EHL team returned home after a stretch of 10 road games, facing New York Applecore on Friday. They wasted no time in their return, scoring five goals in the first period, ultimately chasing Applecore's starting netminder Andrew Gargiulo. Joe Collins and Zach Egber--recent additions to the team--made the most of their home debuts by recording three points each. The 87's dominated play the entire 60 minutes while Dalton Jerzak made 24 saves in the 8-1 victory.

Two days later, the 87's traveled to the Revolution Ice Centre to face the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights. Things did not go as smoothly as the previous game, and the Knights managed to shut out the 87's by a score of 3-0. It was the first time the EHL team was shut out this season, and Dalton Jerzak stopped 38 of the 41 shots he faced in the losing effort.

"We played exceptionally well on Friday and beat a good Applecore team and simply did not follow that up with a strong game on Sunday. We had a chance to get four points on the weekend and could only get two," Houli said. "Wilkes is a very good team and you have to be ready to play every day in this league, and we couldn't do that on Sunday."

This coming week, the 87's will face the Seahawks Hockey Club and Connecticut RoughRiders in the next EHL Showcase in Newington, Connecticut. Houli spoke about the event, and the opportunity it provides for his team to play in front of college recruiters.

"This is a tremendously important showcase for our boys. It is getting down to crunch time for schools right before break and we hope that our play will garner some important attention," he said.