USAHockey.com 3/17/09: Atlantic District boys story
March 17, 2009
By Aaron Bracy
Special to USAHockey.com
Their team name is Ice Dogs, but they were another kind of “dog” in the Atlantic District Midget 16-and-under Tier II championship series: underdogs.
However, the Ice Dogs overcame the favored Delaware Ducks as Tyler Markley scored the series-clinching goal at the 8:40 mark of the first overtime to lift the Dogs to a 4-3 victory in the second game of the best-of-three series on March 7 at Ice Line in West Chester, Pa.
The Dogs, who are based out of Colmar, Pa., advance to the USA Hockey National Tournament presented by Easton and McDonald’s. The tourney is set for April 1-5 in Chesterfield, Mo.
The higher-seeded Ducks finished just ahead of the Ice Dogs atop the East Division of the Delaware Valley Hockey League regular-season standings, with 47 points (23-1-1), while the Dogs had 43 (21-3-1).
So, Dogs coach Ray George knew winning the district crown and earning the organization’s first trip to nationals wouldn’t be easy.
“The Ducks were the favored team,” George said. “I felt we had to play our very best hockey, as much as possible mistake-free hockey, to have a chance at beating the Ducks.
“I wasn’t 100 percent confident we would be able to beat them, but if we gave it our all and limited mistakes I thought we could. And that’s pretty much what guys did.”
Ten players contributed points in the series for the balanced Ice Dogs, who overcame a 67-37 shot disadvantage to advance. Dogs goalie Paul Sjorstrom had a whale of a series, making 62 saves in the two games—40 alone in the 4-2 opening-game victory on March 5.
“He stood on his head,” George said of Sjorstrom. “He’s an outstanding goalie for us and has been huge all season.”
Rather than accepting the accolade, the Dogs’ netminder credited his defense for the outstanding performance.
“I was seeing the puck well and my defense was playing well in front of me,” said Sjorstrom, who resides in Jenkintown, Pa. “The Ducks are a really good team and they got a lot of shots. But [the defense] was keeping the shots to the outside and clearing all the traffic out in front, just doing everything a regular defense should do.”
Meantime, the offense did just enough for the Dogs to move on.
Markley, one of two Dogs to register two goals in the series, provided the heroics when he found himself wide-open in the slot and unleashed a right-handed slap shot that beat the Ducks’ goalie five-hole and started a wild, on-ice celebration.
“It was insane, all I saw everyone was running after me,” Markley, a resident of Doylestown, Pa., said of what followed his series-clinching tally. “It was wild, everyone jumped on top of each other.”
Ice Dogs captain John Connolly matched Markley with two goals in the series, and he has high hopes for nationals.
“We know we can do well out there if we play our best game,” the Philadelphia resident said.
First, though, the Dogs will have to recover from the high of winning districts.
“[Saturday] was one of the best days of our lives,” Connolly said. “We’re living a dream right now.”
TEAM COMCAST COASTS TO TIER I 16-U TITLE: Kyle Smith and Jamie Hill combined for 26 points in Team Comcast’s two-game sweep of the Little Flyers. Team Comcast capped the sweep with a 14-5 series-clinching win on March 7. Team Comcast won the opener of the best-of-three series 8-2 on March 5.
Smith finished with eight goals and five assists in the series, while linemate Hill had three goals and 10 assists.
Team Comcast (45-6-1), based in Pennsauken, N.J., expects to be a contender at nationals.
But coach Jared Beach knows his highly acclaimed squad will have to focus on its play on the ice, and not what’s being said off it.
“We’re No. 1 or No. 2 in the country in every one of those rankings, but I don’t see much value in those,” Beach said. “I keep telling them don’t get caught up in that stuff. The No. 1 team in the country is the one that wins the national championship.”
And Beach expects Team Comcast to be right in the mix for the title.
“I think we’re going to have a really good showing,” he said.
HOLLYDELL HURRICANES CAPTURE TIER II 18-U CROWN: Buddy Robinson scored in double-overtime to lift Hollydell to a 5-4 victory over the Jaguars on March 7 in Game 2 of the best-of-three series, clinching the Hurricanes’ first-ever trip to nationals.
The Hurricanes (47-7-4), who finished second by a point to the Jaguars for the New Jersey Youth Hockey League regular-season title, won the opener 3-1 on March 5.
Robinson finished with three goals and an assist in the series, while Jimmy Privito netted a pair to go with an assist. In all, 10 Hurricanes registered points in the series.
In the clincher, Hollydell took a 4-3 lead with two minutes left in regulation when Privito converted a penalty shot. The Hurricanes were penalized after the goal for excessive celebration, and the Jaguars scored on their ensuing power play to send the game to OT.
Robinson provided the heroics in the extra session, blasting a slap shot from the top of the circle that beat the goalie to the left side.
Hollydell, based out of Sewell, N.J., advances to the nationals, April 1-5 at the Robert Morris University Island Sports Center in Pittsburgh.
“We have a bunch of kids that really worked hard to get where they’re going and it’s well-deserved for every kid,” Hollydell coach Pat Sullivan said. “There are no superstars, just a bunch of kids that get along very well. They work great together and they work hard and they deserve it.”
PHILADELPHIA JR. FLYERS WIN TIER 18-U TITLE: An organization that’s no stranger to the national tournament, the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers earned their 13th trip to nationals with a three-game sweep of the New Jersey Colonials in the best-of-five series in the Tier I 18-Under division.
David Macalino scored a pair of goals for the Jr. Flyers (43-16-2) and Billy Latta contributed two assists in the 5-2 clinching victory on March 1. The Jr. Flyers opened the series with a 5-2 win on Feb. 27, and then prevailed 6-2 in the second game the following night.
Latta tallied three goals and three assists in the series, while Sean Coll and Kyle Curley also netted three. Thomas Seravalli notched three assists, while Macalino and Eric Knodel each had a pair of helpers.
Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
