/MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – The Metro Jets and MJDP teams played three games at home this past weekend, picking up three wins at Mount Clemens Ice Arena.
Friday night, the MJDP team knocked off the Battle Creek Kernels 3-0, while the Jets beat the Toledo Cherokee 4-1 Saturday night and then finished the weekend with a 5-2 victory Sunday afternoon over the Columbus Mavericks.
“We’ve got a young group with a lot of turnover from last year,” said Jets associate head coach Jamie Lovell. “It’s going to take these guys some time to get used to our expectations and what we think they should be doing at this level.”
In the season opener Friday night for the MJDP, Andrew Parmentier stopped all 24 shots he faced and Robert Grasso, Jacques Lavrack and Josh Boze all scored in the win over the Kernels, who were playing their first-ever game since joining the USPHL over the summer.
“It feels absolutely amazing,” said Parmentier. “Coming to the rink, I definitely didn’t expect to get a shutout in my first junior hockey game. Big shout out to my defense – they played unbelievable and shout out to the forwards for putting pucks in the net.”
Liam Donnelly made 43 saves for Battle Creek along with stopping Anthony Worley on a penalty shot in the first period.
“It was a good win for the guys and good to see a lot of guys get their first junior hockey game under their belts,” said Jets associate coach Adam Morrison. “They were a little nervous at first and came on towwards the end of the game. All-around good effort from everyone.”
Saturday night, Steven Miller and Ugo Lollier each posted a goal and an assist in helping the Jets down Toledo.
Yarne Vaerwyck and Josh German also scored to back Freddy Soderberg’s 38 saves between the pipes.
“I felt really good, wasn’t overthinking anything,” said Soderberg. “I just kind of relied on instinct more than anything else.”
Jason Crossland tallied Toledo’s lone goal and Frank Murphy finished with 30 saves in suffering the loss for the Cherokee.
“Obviously, this was a very competitive game with about 30 years of history there,” Morrison said. “These are the types of games you want to play in. It was fun, fast-paced and physical from both teams. It was a good game and I’m happy we came out on top.”
Wrapping up the weekend Sunday afternoon, Braydin Lewis, Andreas Fleutot and Joey Mocnik all registered a goal and an assist for the Jets.
German and Jadon Barron added goals, while Seve Litz and Alex Schaumburger each had a pair of assists.
In goal, Rocco Stolz started and stopped all three shots fired his way before an injury forced Dylan Eliason into action making his Jets’ debut. Eliason made 19 saves the rest of the way for the win.
Brandon Kididis scored both Columbus goals and Kyle Diehr and Matthew Powell combined to make 38 saves in the Mavericks’ net.
“We’ll take the two points, but we have a lot of learning to do still,” Lovell said.
The Jets host the Cincinnati Jr. Cyclones Saturday at 5:30 p.m. from Mount Clemens Ice Arena, while the MJDP squad hosts Battle Creek Friday at 7:30 p.m.
All USPHL games are streamed on HockeyTV.com.
