MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – All three Metro Jets teams were in action over the weekend, with the squads combining for four victories.
The Jets Elite team took both ends of a home-and-home series with the Fort Wayne Spacemen, while the MJDP team split its home-and-home with the Spacemen and the Jets defeated the Columbus Mavericks at Mount Clemens Ice Arena.
Friday, the Jets Elite took a 6-2 win at home over Fort Wayne as McKenna Baker went for two goals and an assist and Eliot Duerr made 26 saves between the pipes.
Blake Botterill and Peter Spiridonakos each had a goal and an assist, Hunter Folgmann and John Spiridonakos also scored, and Jackson Hinkle and Max Rastello posted two assists apiece.
For Fort Wayne, Aidan Clark and Timur Teplitskyi scored and Brendan Kusbel finished with 31 saves in goal.
The next night at the SportONE/Parkview Icehouse, John Spiridonakos’ second goal of the game at 17:07 of the third period stood as the winner as the Jets skated away with a 4-3 win.
Rastello had a goal and a helper and Baker also scored in the victory to back goaltender Ben Vanderdonck’s 23 saves.
Cooper Angelelli recorded a goal and an assist and Joe Richardson and Stepan Kuznets also scored for the Spacemen and Justin Mackley made 33 stops in goal.
“We got the sweep, which is great for the boys, and yes, we are rolling here, but we didn’t play 60 minutes each game,” Jets associate coach Tina Ciraulo said. “We battled back Saturday after being up 3-0 and giving up three goals in the second. To get one late in the third for the win, the boys didn’t let down, just took off 20 minutes. We need to work on playing 60 minutes so we don’t put ourself in those situations. The boys definitely deserve the rest day (Sunday) and then back to work Monday to prepare for Motor City on Tuesday.”
Robert Grasso and Jake Taylor both had a goal and an assist Friday as the MJDP doubled up Fort Wayne 4-2 on home ice.
Andrew Parmentier turned aside 25 shots and Royal St-Cyr and Jack Noonan also scored.
Fisher Moore and Alexis Toussaint scored for the Spacemen and Maxim Zinchenko finished with 30 saves in goal.
Back in Fort Wayne Saturday night at the SportONE/Parkview Icehouse’s newly christened Rink 47 in honor of former Jets defenseman and Fort Wayne native Braydin Lewis, the Spacemen downed the MJDP 4-3.
Noonan, Pierce Ashcroft and Oka Forsberg netted the goals for the MJDP and Austin Muirhead kicked out 22 shots in net.
Toussaint scored twice for the home team, Noah Takitani and Broderik Burge added goals, and Ludovick Janvier chipped in two assists as Zinchenko fashioned a 26-save effort for the win.
“Thought we did a lot of good things this weekend,” said Jets associate coach Jake Howie. “Played with a lot of pace and were able to tilt the ice in our favor for a large chunk of both games. At the end of the day, some nights you get the bounces and other nights you don’t, but we did a lot of good things that we can build off of this week with a game against Motor City early in the week and then prepare for a good showcase in Vegas.”
Finishing the weekend, the Jets downed the Columbus Mavericks 14-1 Friday night at Mount Clemens Ice Arena.
Luke Gaffney, Michael Lucia (pictured below) and Alex Bedenko all had a goal and three assists, Carson Redd and Ethan Hellman each posted two goals and an assist, and Carson Finney and Alex Bautko each struck for a goal and two assists as Carson MacKenzie stopped 14 shots in goal, only allowing a Flechyr Bonwell goal in the second period.
Emrik Froding scored two goals, Mason Cole and Seve Litz (pictured front) each had a goal plus a helper and Yarne Vaerewyck also scored in the win.
Columbus goalies Garrett Ambrose, Kyle Diehr and Anders Smith combined to make 44 saves.
This week, the Jets Elite and MJDP teams head to Big Boy Arena in Fraser for games against the Motor City Gamblers Tuesday at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. The MJDP hosts the Battle Creek Kernels Friday at 2:30 p.m. The Jets host the Buffalo Stampede Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
Both the Jets and MJDP then head out west for the USPHL Las Vegas Showcase Dec. 18-21 at City National Arena, playing four games each.
USPHL LAS VEGAS SHOWCASE SCHEDULE
All USPHL games, including showcase games, are available to stream at FloHockey.tv.
