MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. — The Metro Jets defeated the Red River Spartans in two straight games at Mount Clemens Ice Arena over the weekend to move on to the USPHL Great Lakes Division championship series next weekend in Toledo.
In other weekend series, the MJDP team was swept by the Chicago T-Rex on the road at the Summit Ice Center in Lockport, Ill., and the Metro Jets Elite team was swept on the road by the Fort Wayne Spacemen at the PSM Icehouse in Fort Wayne, Ind., eliminating both teams from the postseason.
On home ice, the Jets won 8-5 Friday night and 6-1 Saturday night.
“Happy for our guys,” Jets associate head coach Jamie Lovell said. “They played well and earned the right to play in the finals of our division. Red River is a very good team, and I don’t think the scores were indicative of how difficult it was to win both these games.
“We will enjoy this moment and get back to work Monday to prepare for the next test.”
In the opener, Jaxon Stone scored three goals and added an assist and Luka Pivec had a goal and three assists as goaltender Philip Hall finished with 23 saves.
Aidan Charron and Enrick Fournier each posted a goal and an assist and AJ Zaccagni and Ayden Hartzell scored one each.
For Red River, Bryson Walz recorded two goals and an assist and Sander Korrell and Jett Jock notched a goal and two assists apiece as Hunter Oger made 29 saves in goal. Hunter McKnight also scored.
Wrapping up Saturday night, Noah Bodurka tallied a goal and three assists and Ryan Glomboske added a goal and two assists to back Hall’s 21 saves.
Jets captain Jake Taylor had a goal and an assist and Zaccagni chipped in two assists. Sutton Majeske, Jayden Provencher and Pivec all scored one each.
Walz scored for the Spartans and Oger finished with 32 saves.
All games next weekend for the best-of-three series will be at the Team Toledo Ice House – Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday, if necessary, at 3:30 p.m. The winner will get an automatic berth to USPHL Nationals at the end of the month at the Ice Vault in Wayne, N.J.
In suburban Chicago, the MJDP fell 6-4 Friday night and 6-0 Saturday night.
“Tough weekend for the guys,” Jets associate coach Jake Howie said. “We just didn’t do enough of the little things this weekend to be successful, and that’s what playoff hockey comes down to. Proud of this group, though, for the year they had.
“Our model is all about development and every single guy in that room is not only a better hockey player, but a better young man as well from when they got here in September.”
Vince Pica and Cory Anderson both registered a goal with an assist and Caleb Simpson and Clovis Gamelin scored one each with goalie Logan D’Andrea stopped 30 shots.
Ilia Moskvin scored two goals for the T-Rex and Mikita Amelka added a goal and assist as netminder Austin Senay finished with 21 saves. Jason Gongol rang up three assists and Samuel Harper tacked on two assists.
Xavier Lafleur, Mack Olivier and Valentin Val Kurbos added goals for Chicago.
Finishing up Saturday, T-Rex goaltender Kiryl Zamana pitched a 47-save shutout.
Gongol went for two goals and an assist, Harper popped two goals, and Amelka had a goal and an assist. Damion Busch also scored and Moskvin recorded two assists.
Jets goalie Cam Cyrus turned aside 31 shots.
The Jets Elite started with a 3-1 setback Saturday afternoon before being eliminated with a 4-1 loss Sunday afternoon from the PSM Icehouse.
Conor Mulligan scored the lone goal for the Jets and Brendan Dreisbach made 38 saves between the pipes in the loss Saturday.
Kegan Power, Dylan Davis and Hayden Stratman scored for the Spacemen and goalie Austin Schaertel finished with 29 saves.
Sunday, Jarrett LaGrow scored and goaltender Arnaud Paradis made 23 saves.
For Fort Wayne, Power had a goal and two assists, Stratman, Jake Haydon and Camden Blauvelt added goals as goalie Aiden Karst collected 28 saves.
“First things first, it was an absolute pleasure to coach and work with this group this year,” Jets associate coach Danny Vanderwiel said. “I think we had a very close team, and it was a lot of fun to show up and work every day. Obviously, from a win-loss perspective, we didn’t get the ultimate result we were looking for. I don’t like to look at it that way, though. Yes, it is a team game, but it is a group of young individuals and the individual growth from start to finish is so noticeable and to me, it translates to on-ice team success and a competitive team night in night out. That is what makes it fun for me.
“I love my life, I love my job, and I could not be more blessed to be a part of the Jets organization. I look forward to turning my attention to the Jets now and seeing how far we can go.”
All USPHL games are available at BlackBearSports.tv.
Top two photos/Sara Vasseur; Bottom photos/Beverly Buchinger (Chicago)/@misenbargerphotography (Fort Wayne)
