Forwards
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Harrison Aller – Team Philadelphia Orange
Aller took the spot as the division’s top scorer (32 points) with a huge weekend in the box score, racking up 10 goals in four games. His total included a ridiculous showcase opener, in which he scored 6 goals, including four in a row to cement a Philadelphia victory. This outburst nearly doubled his goal total for the season, bringing him to 23. If Aller can continue to shoot like this, the division should be on high alert whenever he takes the ice.
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Chase Matheus – Delaware Ducks 2
Scoring in each of the four games his team played, Matheus extended his point streak to eight games and took the point scoring lead on the team. Matheus had a pair of multi-point games, as well, including 2 goals and 3 assists in a 6-3 win against Hollydell Hurricanes White. He has proven to be a diversely talented offensive forward, scoring 11 goals and 15 assists this season, showing both a strong shot and good passing vision.
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Leo Alley Strocher – MYHA Blue
Finding a renewed scoring touch, Strocher scored in each of his four games this weekend, taking the team lead for scoring. Two of these four games were three-point performances, including 2 goals and an assist in a 6-3 win over Brick Hockey Club 2. In that game, Strocher had a hand in each of his team’s first three goals, assisting the first goal before scoring the following two. His efforts kept MYHA competitive in each game and directly led to their win this weekend.
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Defense
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Brendan Becker – Haverford Hawks
Showing off a fantastic sense for the net, Becker jumped up the blue liner scoring chart with 5 goals in the showcase. This performance brought his season total to 11, tying him for second place among defensive players. He netted a hat trick in a win over Brick Hockey Club 2. He also contributed to a sound defensive game plan for the Hawks.
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Goalies
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Owen Korth – Brick Hockey Club 2
Despite his team’s tough weekend, Korth still had a great weekend in net. Over the four games this weekend, he faced a staggering 168 shots, an average of 42 shots per game. Through the heavy workload, Korth still stood strong, saving 144 of the shots he faced, an average of 36 saves each game. His competitive spirit and will allowed his team to stay close in several games.
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Henry Monks – Tomorrow’s Ice North Stars Red
Monks was a superstar for the North Stars. He faced a heavy volume of shots, 118 to be exact, and he made 98 saves. He showed a great amount of composure, utilizing good puck tracking to make saves. He also flashed his athleticism, sprawling to make some spectacular saves. Above all, Monks displayed spirit, helping his team to their first AHF point over the weekend.
Haverford Hawks
In action for the first time in a little over a month, the Hawks didn’t miss a beat, maintaining their perfect record (11-0-0). The team showed resilience in several close games, including two one-goal wins. The first of these came in a shootout win on Friday against St. James’s U12 B squad. Two goals in the third period tied the game for the Hawks before Rocco Galante made two big saves in the shootout. Saturday’s game against St. James’s U12 AA side was won with two goals in the final 11 minutes, including the winner by Brendan Becker.
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Philadelphia Blazers American
Another team that supplemented a perfect record, the Blazers also went 4-0, bumping their record to 10-0-0. The opener game was a close one, but a late comeback effort from Jersey Shore Wildcats Red was stopped short in a 3-2 win. In a victory against MYHA Gold, Colin Pollock netted a hat trick. The closer was also a close decision, this time a 2-1 nod against the New Jersey Bandits. Owen Pirri scored the game winner in this one with 3:34 left on the clock in the third period.
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North Jersey Avalanche Gold
Also going undefeated over four games in the showcase, the Avalanche broke out in a big way by outscoring opponents by a margin of +19. Landon Friedman backstopped a 4-0 win against New Jersey Stars Green to open the showcase and, from there, the team didn’t look back. They earned a last minute 5-3 win over Ashburn Xtreme 2 with three goals in the game’s final 125 seconds. In the closing game, which was a win against Central City Vipers American, Billy Hamilton and Jacob Kim scored hat tricks. The Avalanche upped their record to 7-3-0 after this weekend’s showing.
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Team Philadelphia Orange
Team Philadelphia had a very strong weekend despite losing their first game of the season, earning points in every game by going 3-0-1. After a win in the opener, the team went to the wire with St. James’s U12 B team as Harrison Aller got the game winner in a 6-5 affair. After a shootout loss to Rockets Hockey Club in which Philadelphia overcame a late deficit to force the skills competition, they rebounded with a strong performance in a 3-1 win against Delaware Ducks 2. The team remains at the top of the division on points with a 13-0-1 record (27 points).
TEAM PHILADELPHIA (14-2-0-0; 95 GF, 30 GA): With a division-leading plus-65 goal differential, Team Philadelphia played a well-round season in the AHF. Andrew Pisano led the way in scoring with 21 assists and 29 points on the year, while Tucker Graham topped in the goal-scoring duties with 13 goals. Dante DeFruscio and Alex Denny stood strong in net with a combined 1.88 goals-against average behind a solid defensive corps that let in the least amount of goals in the 16U AA division.
MYHA BLUE (13-3-0-0; 72 GF, 31 GA): MYHA spread out their goal scoring with five players having seven or more tallies on the season with Patrick McNeice hitting the 10-goal mark. Andrew Renzi was the key guy on special teams with three power play goals while adding two assists with the man-advantage. In net, Devin Brown was a workhorse facing 250 shots in 13 games, most among goaltenders in the playoffs. Brown also maintained a 1.92 GAA throughout the season.
ASHBURN XTREME (12-3-0-1; 90 GF, 46 GA): Special teams was the key for Ashburn with 23 power play goals and nine shorthanded goals, leading the division in both categories. On the power play side, both Sam Segar and Will Schneider had four power play goals a piece, with Jarrett Ireland potting eight power play points. From the blue line, Aidan Harrison and Spencer Combs were solid on the power play with four assists and three assists respectively. Down a man, that’s where Paul Allison shined, as he had four shorthanded markers and one assist while on the penalty kill.
NJ SKYLANDS KINGS NAVY (11-3-0-1, 55 GF, 38 GA): A core four group of scorers– Ayden Greenberg (10), Brendan Boudreau (9), Aaron Shulman (9), and Robbie Myshoff (9)– were instrumental for the Skylands Kings scoring, combining for about 65% of the team’s scoring. Johan Bars, Will Garrison, and Michael Piccinich anchor a defense that allowed only 2.53 goals a game with Rylan Gibbons and Tyler Paluzzi splitting time between the pipes.
HAVERFORD HAWKS (11-3-0-0; 63 GF, 41 GA): Another team that spreads the scoring around, Haverford was led in goals by Sean Tooke, who had 10, as Colin Rink, Coleman Peskin, and Ian D’Ambrosio all added eight through the year. AJ Moleski was atop the defensemen in scoring, while also being in a tie for the power play goals lead, contributing three goals with the extra man– tied with Tooke and leading scorer Dylan Kouba.
IGLOO JAGUARS BLACK (10-4-0-0; 65 GF, 31 GA): CJ Compagnola finished the AHF season leading the division in goals with 15, all of them being even strength. Tate Baer and Tommy Angelone led in power play goals with three each, while Colton Weiss’ six goals and 14 points led all defensemen in the 16U AA division. In net, Robert Kennedy had a .926 save percentage, which is the highest amongst the six playoff teams
MYHA Blue vs. Igloo Jaguars Black: The Jaguars have had MYHA’s number this season, beating them twice already this season by a score of 4-2 and 5-3. CJ Compagnola and Colin Pape scored in both games and Tate Baer had a goal and two assists over the two games for the Jaguars. MYHA was led by Andre Serra and Cody Keegan, who both had two points in the two games. It remains to be seen if there will be pressure on the Jaguars, as it’s tough for teams to win three in a row against another, especially with so much on the line.
Team Philadelphia vs. Haverford Hawks: These two did not meet in the AHF schedule but have faced off against each other in the DVHL with Team Philadelphia besting Haverford 5-1. Haverford comes into this match-up as one of the hotter teams with four straight division wins going into the playoffs. Team Philadelphia is on a five-game winning streak, as well as a balanced attack on both sides of the puck. One of the biggest features will be how Haverford will be able to break through Team Philadelphia’s defense, while trying to hold off Team Philadelphia’s potent offensive prowess.
Ashburn Xtreme vs. New Jersey Skylands Kings Navy: While separated in the standings by two points, Ashburn has the upper hand with a 6-2 victory in their only AHF match-up of the season in September. Landon Street had two goals for Ashburn, while Paul Allison had a goal and assist in the victory. The Skylands Kings, however, got on a roll in December winning four of their five games in the month rolling towards the playoffs. Robbie Myshoff and Aaron Shulman potted four goals each in that span to help the team stay hot going into the playoffs.
A masterful playoff performance that saw them give up only three goals against in the playoffs, Team Philadelphia took home the inaugural AHF 16U AA Championship. Their title run started in the first game on Saturday with a 5-0 victory over Haverford in a game that saw Carter Sabato and Derek Boyd-Volz net two goals a piece and Alex Denny getting the shutout thanks to the Team Philadelphia defense allowing only nine shots on goal in the contest.
Other Day One Morning results had the Igloo Jaguars beat MYHA for a third straight time, this time by a count of 1-0 in a shootout with Robert Kennedy from the Jaguars and Liam Jukus from MYHA putting on a display in net. CJ Compagnola netted the lone shootout goal. Ashburn Xtreme and North Jersey Skyland Kings Navy put on a spirited affair, as the Xtreme edged out the Skyland Kings 4-3 thanks to three shorthanded goals from Ashburn– two from Sam Segar and the game-winner from Kyle Tinschert with only 1:25 remaining in regulation.
The afternoon session saw Team Philadelphia take a 7-1 victory over Igloo thanks to two goals from Tucker Graham and multi-point performances from Sabato, Boyd-Volz, and Andrew Pisano. MYHA bounced back with a 3-1 win over the Skyland Kings with goals from Ethan Birndorf, Andrew Renzi, and Patrick McNeice. Ashburn closed out Day One with a 8-3 win over Haverford with Paul Allison, Shane Siwik, and Landon Street with two goals apiece.
Sunday morning was the last of the round-robin games and Team Philadelphia was taken to the limit by the Skyland Kings, but booked their spot for the final thanks to a Kain Walker goal in overtime to win it 1-0 for Philadelphia despite 31 saves from North Jersey goalie Tyler Paluzzi. MYHA help their cause by shutting out Haverford 3-0 with Jukas getting a 22-save shutout with goals from McNeice, Birndorf, and Caden Blazer. The Igloo Jaguars played spoiler for Ashburn, as the Jaguars scored five unanswered goals, including two goals from Andrew Sizmur, to beat Ashburn 6-1. Alec Rittenhouse made 24 saves in the Igloo victory.
That set the final between Team Philadelphia and MYHA, where MYHA got out to a 2-0 lead after the 1st on the back of goals from McNeice and Connor Hall. However, Team Philadelphia charged back with five unanswered goals– three on the power play– from five different goal scorers (Pisano, Boyd-Volz, Sabato, Walker, and Peter Boctor), to top MYHA 5-2 and take home the 16U AA division crown.
Team Philadelphia ended their AHF season with a 18-2-0 record, a goal differential of plus-80, three 15-plus goal scorers (Sabato, Boyd-Volz, and Graham), and five players with over 25 points (Pisano, Sabato, Boyd-Volz, Walker, and Graham). Their defense allowed just over 17 shots a game in 20 games and the goaltending of Denny and Dante DeFruscio finished with a combined 1.59 GAA and .915 save percentage.