MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. — It was a weekend of wins for all the Metro Jets teams as the Jets swept with the Fresh Coast Freeze in a home-and-home series, the Jets Elite swept the Chicago Cougars on the road and the MJDP split with the Cougars in the Windy City.
Up 4-1 after 40 minutes Friday night, Chicago scored three goals in just under four minutes in the third period before Clovis Gamelin’s second goal of the game at 15:17 lifted the MJDP to a 5-4 victory at the Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville, Ill.
Raphaël Belley-Pelletier had a goal and two assists and Jacob Belley-Pelletier and Chris Otero posted two assists each.
Ludovick Dussault and Matt Hopersberger added goals to back new goalie Will Belitski’s 40 saves in net for his first win in a Jets uniform.
For the Cougars, Jordan Trakosas, Rocco Romita, Aiden Middendorf and Griffin Delfosse scored, Will Stornello added two assists, and Cam Boville stopped 21 shots in goal.
In the finale, goalies Evan Peacock and Eliot Duerr made 17 saves in a 5-0 loss to the Cougars at Triphahn Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill.
Delfosse and Austin Plumert each scored two goals and Trakosas also scored. Brett Tumbrink added three assists and Alex Musyakevych chipped in two assists.
Chicago goalie Nick Gingold registered a 31-save shutout.
“At the end of the day, winning at this level, and especially on the road, is never easy,” Jets associate coach Jake Howie said. “I thought we played pretty solid hockey this weekend but unfortunately, only got one win. Hockey is a game of mistakes and unfortunately, we just didnt recover from enough of ours Saturday, and couple that with untimely penalties, it becomes tough to recover from.
“There are definitely some things we can clean up here down the stretch and into the playoffs.”
After two scoreless periods Friday afternoon, the offense came alive as Cory Anderson scored two goals and Landon Graham one in the third period as the Jets Elite team beat Chicago 3-1 at the Edge Ice Arena.
Owen Coulter added two assists and Brendan Dreisbach made 27 saves between the pipes.
Nico Romita scored for the Cougars and goalie Nate Maurin finished with 21 saves.
In the finale Saturday, Anderson scored two more goals and Tabor Hatch made 31 saves in goal as the Jets Elite took a 4-2 win at Triphahn Arena.
Ronnie Lubbers had a goal and an assist, Graham scored again, and Jarrett LaGrow and Tyler Dix each posted two assists.
For the Cougars, Nico Romita and Caleb Lind scored and goalie Andrew DiSilvestro finished with 30 saves.
“I thought overall, it was a great bounce-back weekend from our last few games,” said Jets associate coach Danny Vanderwiel. “The effort was there and we had a lot more energy.
“Today, we did a great job battling the adversity and getting the job done. Looking forward to getting to work this week and getting back after it on Thursday.”
Starting off Wednesday afternoon at Mount Clemens Ice Arena, the Jets blanked the Fresh Coast Freeze behind a hat trick from AJ Zaccagni and a 14-save shutout from goaltender Rostislav Efremov, who also chipped in two assists in the win.
Harry Dembowski added two goals and Pierce Ashcroft, Isaiah Winters and Brycen Smith all had a goal and two assists.
Jaxon Stone and Sutton Majeske each tallied a goal and an assist and Gabe Outman and Jack Schnur scored one apiece.
River Lewis added three assists and Jake Taylor contributed a pair of helpers.
Fresh Coast goalie Brooks Smyrski finished with 45 saves.
Then back at Griff’s Ice House West in Holland on Friday night, the Jets took a 10-0 win as Ashcroft scored a natural hat trick in the first period and goaltender Austin Muirhead pitched a 14-save shutout.
Zaccagni, Lewis and Alek John each had a goal and an assist, Majeske registered three assists and Miran Janezic, Matt Brougham, Dembowski and Schnur all put up two assists each.
Smith, Rivera, Jack Noonan and Luka Pivec each added a goal in the win.
Freeze goaltenders Elijah Smith Verwys and John Cordova combined to make 50 saves.
Coming up, the Jets host the Battle Creek Kernels on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. and then the Toledo Cherokee Friday at 7 p.m.
The MJDP team hosts the Fort Wayne Spacemen Friday at 4 p.m. before taking on the Cherokee Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. from the Team Toledo Ice House.
The Jets Elite team is home for two games, playing the Motor City Gamblers Thursday at 12:30 p.m. and Fort Wayne Friday at 1:30 p.m.
All USPHL games are available on FloHockey.tv.
