CINCINNATI, Ohio – Ryan Messing and Nick Ceccarini each recorded two goals and an assist to lead the Metro Jets over the Cincinnati Jr. Cyclones 9-3 Sunday night at Heritage Bank Center.
Kam Hellman and Matt Cole posted a goal and two assists apiece to back Louis-Pierre Fortier’s 20 saves between the pipes.
“We started out really sloppy, but the boys started to realize the time and space Cincy was giving us, and took advantage of it on the scoreboard,” said Messing. “Good teams find ways to get it done, and that’s what we did here tonight.
“It felt great to put a couple in tonight, but a lot of credit goes to my lineys ‘Gronger’ (Anders Grongstad) and ‘Cess’ (Ceccarini) because we were all finding offense tonight. Time to get back to work this week and prepare for our home showcase this coming weekend.”
Alex Bedenko and Grongstad chipped in a goal plus a helper, while Andreas Fleutot also scored, and Braydin Lewis tacked on two assists in the win.
“All in all, it was not our cleanest game,” Jets coach-GM Justin Quenneville said. “We made a few mental mistakes and missed assignments in our zone. Credit to the Cincy goalie (Blake Mitchell) for making some big saves and keeping them in it early, but as the game developed, we took over offensively as a group. Messing, Ceccarini and Grongstad scored some big goals for us and led the charge, and Fortier made some timely saves in the second when we were in penalty troubles.
“We will take the two points and move on and redirect our focus to the important showcase weekend at home coming up.”
Mitchell made 47 saves, Brendan Walk scored twice, and JT Hosack added the other goal for the Jr. Cyclones.
Earlier Sunday, the Decatur Blaze jumped out to a 5-0 lead on the MJDP and salvaged a weekend split with a 7-3 win at the Decatur Civic Center.
Robert Grasso scored twice in the loss, while Joey DeMitchell also scored, Matt Vanderworp had two assists, and Ethan Ryan and Mason Kelly combined to stop 28 shots in the Jets net.
Decatur goalie Randon Striplin made 45 saves for the win.
Both teams will be in action this weekend at the USPHL Detroit Showcase, hosted by the Jets at Mount Clemens Ice Arena Friday through Sunday.
More showcase info is available at Detroit Showcase (www.metrojetshockey.com).
All USPHL games are available at HockeyTV.com.
