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.