WAYNE, N.J. — The Metro Jets’ season is over.
After starting out 2-0 in the USPHL National Championships at the Ice Vault, the Jets lost 6-0 to the Springfield Pics in the final round robin game Saturday night and were eliminated from going to the semifinals.
The Jets beat the Tampa Bay Juniors 4-3 in a shootout Thursday afternoon and then defeated the PAL Jr. Islanders 2-0 Friday afternoon.
Opening up against Tampa Bay, Jaxon Stone scored at 19:30 of the third period to pull the Jets into a 3-3 tie and then Pierce Ashcroft and Luka Pivec scored in the shootout to give the Jets a 4-3 win.
Rostislav Efremov made 38 saves, and then both in the shootout for the win between the pipes.
Isaiah Winters scored two goals, Stone had an assist for a two-point game, and Ashcroft added two assists.
“We will take the two points,” said Jets associate head coach Jamie Lovell. “It’s not ideal in this format; there is very little room for error. We played well in the second period but took our foot off the gas and almost let it get away. Proud of how we battled at the end to tie and got a lucky bounce.
“You need some luck every now and then to win championships. We definitely got that today.”
Jason Johnson posted a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay and Dawson Osborn and Aki Jokela added goals.
Juniors goalie Savva Serdiuk finished with 29 saves.
In Friday’s win, Stone scored 25 seconds into the game and Evan Cote scored in the second period to back Efremov’s 25-save shutout.
“Played well today,” Lovell said. “Obviously got a good start scoring on the first shift. I felt we got even better as the game went on but just weren’t getting rewarded on the scoreboard.
“We are going to need to keep elevating our game as each game from here on out has to treated as an elimination game.”
Avery Hite stopped 35 shots in goal for the Jr. Islanders.
Wrapping up Saturday night, Springfield exploded for four goals in the second period to top the Jets and advance to the semifinals.
Efremov made 24 saves through 28:16 before Austin Muirhead took over and stopped 12 shots over the final 26:45.
Jacob Carey had two goals and two assists for the Pics, while Ryan Zabchuk added a goal and an assist and Chris Foster, Christian McKinley and River Sciarrotta scored single goals. Nick Zanin and Justin Hooper collected two assists apiece.
Springfield goaltender Troy Huber pitched a 31-save shutout.
The Jets qualified for the USPHL National Championships for the seventh straight year, tying a league record, and won the Great Lakes Division regular-season and playoff titles this season as well.
“First off, I would like to thank all the coaches, scouts, staff, game day staff, volunteers, our amazing facility and Jets family. We are a proud organization that carries over 35 years of rich history and success.
“Sunday was a bad day to have a bad day, but we leave USPHL Nationals with a 2-1 record and heads held high. These nationals don’t reward the best teams, just the better team that day. That’s life. We ran into a strong group that day that got hot at the right time, they got some lucky bounces and had a hot goalie. But I measure success by sample size and this year’s path and group was special.
“We faced adversity, a difficult schedule and won a hard-fought battle to win the toughest division championship in the country for an opportunity to fight for another national championship.
“A huge thank you to the all the players with all three teams who committed to our program and made significant strides as the season progressed. This group of young men came in and improved tremendously. In a rebuild season, you never know how fast or how long it will take your group to develop, but we had a special group this year that showed why we were a top contender again. Our loyalty was proved again by investing in our group from Day 1. We didn’t waver or bring in players down the stretch like other teams.
“None of this is possible without surrounding yourself with a top-tier support system that believes in our model. And once again, our hockey staff showed why we have the best environment for players. The commitment from our president Pete Cammick and our coaches Jamie Lovell, Randy Wilson, Jake Howie, Danny Vanderwiel is what sets us apart. I am lucky to work with them every day and be challenged to continue elevating our model.
“In the end, we continue to work for our players and have more college commitments to be announced soon. Thank you to all and we are excited for this upcoming offseason with new things to announce for next year soon.” – Jets GM Justin Quenneville
Stay tuned to MetroJetsHockey.com and all the Jets’ social media pages for all offseason news, including player advancements, player signings and team announcements.
