MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – The Metro Jets and Pittsburgh Vengeance were tied 2-2 late in the second period, only for the Jets to then rattle off seven unanswered goals to down Pittsburgh 9-2, sweeping the series and advancing to the USPHL National Tournament later this month in Hudson, N.H.
Chad Noetzel led the way with a goal and three assists, while Dakota Kott and Owen Limback each scored a pair of goals. Anders Grongstad added a goal and two assists and Jets captain Cody Mastay chipped in three assists.
“We knew this game would be tough, and we knew Pittsburgh wouldn’t let up,” Jets coach-GM Justin Quenneville said. “Obviously, winning in playoffs is always going to be hard, but closing a series is always the hardest. We feel that we’ve done what we needed to do to prepare for these types of moments, but when you’re in it, the emotional ebbs and flows just become different types of challenges. Our guys did a good job holding off Pittsburgh’s push there in the second for a little but got some big saves from ‘LP’ (Jets goaltender Louis-Pierre Fortier) keeping it 2-2.
“Credit to Pittsburgh for being an opportunistic team and trying to force some plays and got a little bit lucky, but our guys responded well, and we got back to the game plan, keeping it simple.”
Andreas Fleutot had a goal and an assist, Tim Washburn and Austin Ieuter scored one each, and Cristian Adragna and Josh German tacked on two assists each.
Fortier finished with 18 saves, with Daniel Miscavish playing the final 14:14 and stopping all five shots he faced.
“Pittsburgh had that 5-7 minutes where they just came at us, and we weathered it,” said Jets defenseman Patrick Hays. “We knew from there we were going to be fine.
“We know we’re not done, and it was a little sentimental being the last home game, but we still have a long way to go. We’re going for that national championship.”
Nationals start Thursday, March 24 with the schedule forthcoming once all division playoffs across the USPHL have been completed.
Also Saturday, the Fort Wayne Spacemen evened their series with the MJDP, taking an 8-0 win at the SportONE/Parkview Icehouse. Freddy Soderberg and Ethan Ryan combined to stop 28 shots between the pipes.
The deciding Game 3 is Sunday at 12:30 p.m. back in Fort Wayne.
All USPHL games are available on HockeyTV.com
