/DECATUR, Ill. — The Metro Jets, MJDP and Metro Jets Elite teams skated in eight games over the weekend — seven on the road — and came away with eight wins.
The Jets started their weekend with the lone home game, defeating the Fresh Coast Freeze 8-1 Friday night at Mount Clemens Ice Arena.
Pierce Ashcroft and Tim Monaghan each posted a goal and two assists and Alek John and Sutton Majeske recorded a goal and an assist each to back Rostislav Efremov’s 26 saves between the pipes.
Luka Pivec, Jaxon Stone, Gabe Outman and Brycen Smith also scored and Jake Blum, Jake Taylor and captain Jack Rivera each added two assists each.
Emersen Lippert scored for the Freeze and goaltender Elijah Smith Verwys finished with 35 saves.
Then Sunday from the Queen City Sportsplex, the Jets came from behind in the third period to beat the Cincinnati Jr. Cyclones 6-4.
John and Stone each had a goal and an assist and Austin Muirhead made nine saves to get the win in net.
Taylor, Monaghan, Evan Cote and Jack Schnur added goals and Ashcroft, Miran Janezic and Jack Noonan compiled two assists apiece.
Cameron Klein and Cameron Coogan each had a goal and an assist for Cincinnati, Denver Gallegos and Tyler Yeo scored one each, and Tyler Hilliker added two assists.
Jr. Cyclones goalie Caleb Whitson finished with 49 saves.
“We will take the four pointe and be happy about it, but that is really the only positive to come out of this weekend of games,” said Jets associate head coach Jamie Lovell. “We did not play to the standard that we set when it comes to this program, and we haven’t been for a while now.
“Our program prides itself on development and working to get better a little each day and no matter who the opponent is, take it as an opportunity to work on yourself on both a physical and mental aspect.”
The MJDP and Jets Elite teams both went on the road for three games each with the Decatur Blaze from the Decatur Civic Center.
Opening up Friday night, the MJDP defeated Decatur 7-4.
Chris Otero scored twice and Ethan Carlone finished with 21 saves in goal.
Max Rastello and Raphaël Belley-Pelletier had a goal and an assist each and Noah Bodurka, Ryan Jacobson and Chris Kobayashi potted one goal each.
Caleb Simpson chipped in two assists in the win.
Saturday night, Otero and Belley-Pelletier had a goal and an assist each in a 6-3 win over the Blaze.
Brandon Consolo, Matt Hopersberger, Rastello and Bodurka also scored and Jacobson tacked on a pair of assists.
Goaltender Evan Peacock made 24 saves in the victory.
Kaleb Ellard had two goals and an assist for the Blaze, while Mikhail Gorbunov recorded a goal and an assist to go along with two assists from Petr Treutner.
Decatur goalie David Racan made 38 stops.
Sunday afternoon, Will Lobanov’s goal at 16:41 of the third period stood as the game winner and the MJDP swept Decatur with a 2-1 win.
John Cirigliano scored the other goal and Eliot Duerr made 35 saves in goal.
Kieran Prichett netted the Blaze goal and Racan stopped 50 shots.
“Really happy with the weekend,” said Jets associate coach Jake Howie. “Obviously, winning on the road is never easy and to come in and take all three is a strong accomplishment for our club. We’ve been stressing to the guys as a staff here the importance of maximizing your points down the stretch to give yourself the best shot in the playoffs. Ultimately, I thought we were overall very solid this weekend, but our special teams left some to be desired. That being said, the power play scored a big goal late in the Sunday game to give us lead and ultimately, the win.
“Moving forward now, it’s just about being a tough team to play against night in night out and treating every game like it’s a do-or-die playoff game.”
The Jets Elite started the weekend in Decatur with an 11-1 win Friday afternoon.
Cory Anderson went for two goals and an assist, while Connor Wheeler, Johnny Tackett and Ryder Tracy all scored twice.
Owen Coulter added a goal and three assists and Jarrett LaGrow chipped in a goal and two assists. Tyler Dix scored and Landon Graham and Justin Ward had two assists apiece.
In goal, Cam Cyrus made 16 saves.
Seeger Trendley registered Decatur’s goal and goalies Giovanni Botallico and Evan Keen combined to make 49 saves.
Saturday, the Jets Elite took a 6-1 win over the Blaze.
Ronnie Lubbers scored two goals and Aidan RaCosta, Graysen LaPrise, Anderson and Tracy all had one each.
LaGrow and Wheeler tacked on two assists each and Shawn Bromley made 29 saves in goal.
Alan Faulkner III tallied the lone Blaze goal and Keen and Patrick Boyle combined on a 58-save effort between the pipes.
Finishing up Sunday, Lubbers’ hat trick and Brendan Dreisbach’s 26 saves in goal gave the Jets Elite the sweep with a 6-1 win over Decatur.
Anderson, Tackett and Brody Jamruk also scored, Tracy added three assists and Sam Hanson put up two helpers.
For the Blaze, Gavin Meisner scored and Boyle stopped 41 shots.
“I thought the boys did a great job managing the situation and playing our game,” Jets associate coach Danny Vanderwiel said. “I thought our penalty kill was in good shape. It’s always great to go in and sweep a weekend and those are six big points.
“Hopefully, we can keep it rolling into the week as we are right back at it Wednesday and Thursday.”
Coming up, the Jets host Cincinnati at Mount Clemens Ice Arena Friday at 4:30 p.m., the Jets Elite plays the Motor City Gamblers Wednesday at 11 a.m. from Big Boy Arena in Fraser before hosting the Fort Wayne Spacemen Thursday at 12:45 p.m., and the MJDP travels to play Motor City Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.
All USPHL games are available on FloHockey.tv.
