MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – The Metro Jets won big and then fell in overtime, while the MJDP team won both of its games – one in overtime – over a busy weekend of hockey action.
The Jets downed the Columbus Mavericks 9-1 Friday night at the OhioHealth Chiller North before losing 3-2 in OT Saturday night back at Mount Clemens Ice Arena to the Toledo Cherokee.
“We put ourselves in that (OT) situation,” Jets associate head coach Jamie Lovell said after the Toledo loss. “We only have ourselves to blame, basically. You can’t take a five-minute major with six minutes to go when you’re protecting a lead. You put yourself in a tough situation. Then we’re down two men with two minutes left, and we did a good job battling through it and played through the adversity, but played too long with fire there.
“Eventually, we got burned.”
Seve Litz and Andreas Fleutot scored for the Jets and Freddy Soderberg made 33 saves.
Toledo tied the game at 18:55 of the third period before winning it 1:31 into the extra session.
Starting the weekend, nine different players scored with Michael Lucia, Joey Carpenter and Dakota Kott all tallying a goal and an assist in the Friday road win.
Dylan Eliason finished with 19 saves and Joey Mocnik, Yarne Vaerewyck and Tyler Husted all picked up two assists each.
“We did a good job getting shots on net and creating some traffic in front of their goalie,” said Jets associate coach Adam Morrison. “We also did a good job taking away time and space when they had possession. Our leadership group does a good job keeping the team checked into the game and we keep our focus on sticking to our process and how we play as a team. It doesn’t matter who we are playing or the score. They want to make sure they are doing things the right way.”
Devon Mastay, Alex Schaumburger, Ugo Lollier, Chad Noetzel and Carson Finney also scored in the win.
For the MJDP squad, Alek John and Oka Forsberg each posted a goal and an assist in a 5-2 home win Friday night over the Fort Wayne Spacemen.
Taylor White stopped 26 shots in goal and Lukas Nies added two assists.
“We struggled a little bit with it being just this team’s third game,” Jets associate coach Tina Ciraulo said. “There are obviously some things to work on, but it was nice to see the boys come out with a big win there.”
Robert Grasso, Robert Vanderdonck and Nolan Bruxvoort chipped in with goals as well.
Saturday night on the road against the Battle Creek Kernels, Forsberg’s second goal of the game 2:40 into overtime game the MJDP a 5-4 win at The Rink Battle Creek.
Bennett Sheppard collected a goal and an assist with Ryan Elmblad and Jacob Lawrence also scoring to back Zach Robert’s 39 saves between the pipes.
“Not every game can go the way we want it to go,” Ciraulo said. “It was the boys’ first road game and we had to battle a little bit to come out on top. Having some guys step up and get their first junior goals is always good to see. Forsberg helped with two goals tonight and one of them being the game winner in OT.
“Overall, a good weekend for the boys.”
Coming up, the MJDP plays the Motor City Gamblers Tuesday night at 9:15 p.m. from Fraser’s Big Boy Arena and then back in Battle Creek Saturday night at 7 p.m.
The Jets also play in Battle Creek, Friday night at 7 p.m.
All USPHL games are available on HockeyTV.com.
