MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – Two games meant two shutouts for the Metro Jets on Saturday.
The Jets blanked the Cincinnati Jr. Cyclones 11-0 at Mount Clemens Ice Arena and then the MJDP team followed that up with a 3-0 win over the Detroit Fighting Irish at Southgate Ice Arena.
On home ice, Matt Cole (pictured front) posted two goals and an assist, Kam Hellman and Owen Limback added a goal and three assists each, and Daniel Miscavish made 18 saves between the pipes.
“The boys played good tonight, and everyone contributed to the win,” said Jets assistant coach Tina Ciraulo. “Sometimes when the score is like that, the game can get a little rougher than normal, but we’re not a team that’s going to sit back and take it. The boys finished strong. Now we will get back to work on Monday and focus on the next weekend.”
Alex Schaumburger, Niko Murgic and Dakota Kott all had a goal and a pair of assists, Jets captain Cody Mastay went for a goal and an assist, and Chad Noetzel and Andreas Fleutot had two helpers apiece.
“When the score gets lopsided, I mean, there’s still so much more to the game – focusing on all the little things like backchecking, handling the puck, crisp passes, blocking shots, winning puck battles, etcetera,” said Limback. “For a team that goes far regardless of any sport, they do all the little things right. We want to be one of those teams. Another thing to focus on was being shutdown in our D zone, and that all starts with Danny. He played a great game, and he deserved the shutout for sure.”
Ryan Messing, Anders Grongstad and Herman Ahokas also scored in the win.
Cincinnati goalie Jack Cooper finished with 42 saves in suffering the defeat.
The Jets head on the road next weekend to play the Pittsburgh Vengeance from the Alpha Ice Complex. Game times are 6:30 p.m. Saturday night and then 11:40 a.m. for the finale Sunday.
In Southgate, Freddy Soderberg put together a 41-save performance for the MJDP.
“Glad we got the road win tonight, but I think we could have been better,” Jets associate coach Jamie Lovell said. “Goalies for both teams were very good and, ultimately, I think Freddy was just better. We need to have more of that killer instinct and put teams away, leave no doubt. We had plenty of opportunities with the man advantage to put the game completely out of reach, but we didn’t do that. We let DFI stay in the game, and we took way too many penalties ourselves, which kills momentum, and just makes the game tougher to manage.
“We will take the two points and use this game to learn and continue to develop, as we have a tough opponent coming up next weekend in Chicago that we will need to be ready for.”
Nick Twombley had a goal and an assist, while Robert Grasso (pictured below) and Owen Ott scored, with Ott’s his first junior hockey goal.
“The boys knew what we had to do right out of the gate,” Ott said. “Special teams did a job on both sides of the puck, and Freddy stood on his head in net. Some bounces went our way and we capitalized on the other team’s mistakes to come out with the two points.
“On my goal, I was in the offensive zone corner and went to pass to the backdoor tap in, but it ended up between the goalie’s legs and in the net. Totally planned.”
Ethan Smith tacked on two assists in the victory.
For the Fighting Irish, goaltender Collin Guelcher made 40 saves.
Next weekend, the MJDP hosts the Chicago Cougars for two games at Mount Clemens Ice Arena. Game times are 7:30 p.m. Friday night and 12:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
All USPHL games are available on HockeyTV.com.
