/MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – A 10-game stretch last weekend and into this week saw the Metro Jets, MJDP and Metro Jets Elite teams all go undefeated in regulation time.
The lone setback was an MJDP overtime loss on Sunday at home to the Decatur Blaze.
Hitting the road to suburban Nashville, the Metro Jets swept the Red River Spartans Friday-Sunday in games played at the Ford Ice Center in Clarksville, Tenn.
Friday night, the Jets took a 7-1 win as Tim Monaghan went for two goals and an assist, Sutton Majeske a goal and two assists, and Jack Noonan a goal with an assist.
Brycen Smith added three assists and Matt Brougham, Harry Dembowski and Pierce Ashcroft all scored. AJ Zaccagni and Luka Pivec chipped in two assists apiece.
Andrew Parmentier made 22 saves in goal for the win.
For the Spartans, Gino Indelicato scored the lone goal and goaltender Andrew Young finished with 42 saves.
Then Saturday, Evan Cote and Ashcroft each had two goals and an assist in a 9-2 win.
Jake Taylor, Dembowski and Smith all had a goal and an assist, and Jaxon Stone, River Lewis, Alek John and Brougham each tallied two helpers.
In goal, Austin Muirhead made 26 saves and added an assist in the victory.
Blake Martino and Jesse James Aitken scored for Red River and Young and Nicolas Bonneville combined to make 51 saves between the pipes.
Finishing up Sunday afternoon, Stone and Majeske both recorded a goal and an assist and captain Jack Rivera, Isaiah Winters and Smith all scored one apiece in a 5-1 win to sweep the series.
John added two assists and Rostislav Efremov turned aside 25 shots in goal.
Indelicato scored for the Spartans and Young made 42 stops.
“That was a really good weekend of hockey displayed by our guys,” said Jets associate head coach Jamie Lovell. “Don’t let the final scores of each game fool you, though. Nashville is a strong team and the games were closer than that, especially the last game. Each game, the scores were tied after one period, but we started to separate ourselves in the second with our effort on the forecheck and puck management in the offensive zone. We got better and better as the games went on and it was fun to watch the plays we were making in all three zones.
“We definitely had breakdowns and made mistakes, but they didn’t hurt because our goaltending was excellent all weekend. We have a three-headed monster in net and our guys have full confidence in all three goalies back there, which is a great feeling as a player to know you can rely on those guys back there to make that timely big save when we make mistakes. That being said, we made a few too many mistakes to my liking and we need to learn from those moving forward. Having great goaltending makes it hard sometimes for our players to learn from their mistakes because it doesn’t end up in a goal against, but we will do our best as coaches and as team this week as we prepare for two big games against our division rival in Toledo next weekend.”
On home ice at Mount Clemens Ice Arena, the MJDP team opened with a 10-1 win Friday night over Decatur.
Chris Otero had three goals and two assists and Raphael Belley-Pelletier added two goals and two assists to back Ethan Carlone’s 30 saves in goal.
Chase Martin added a goal and two assists, while Gianni Brisson and Will Lobanov both scored twice.
Jacob Belley-Pelletier had three assists and Marshall Maracle, John Cirigliano and McKenna Baker each tacked on two assists.
For Decatur, Jack Powers scored the only goal and Mason Cottreau and David Racan combined to make 39 saves.
Saturday night, the MJDP defeated the Blaze by a 3-1 count.
Raphael Belley-Pelletier, Ludovick Dussault and Baker all scored and Eliot Duerr made 28 stops in goal.
Jaret George tallied the Decatur goal and Cottreau finished with 27 saves.
Then Sunday afternoon, Liam Hilts was the overtime hero, lifting Decatur to a 4-3 win.
Otero, Lobanov and Maracle all scored and Evan Peacock stopped 23 shots in the MJDP crease.
Jace Prindle and Jesper Frunck each had a goal and an assist for Decatur and Mikhail Gorbunov added a goal as Cottreau made 35 saves.
Wrapping up the first part of November this past Tuesday afternoon, the MJDP used two late goals in the third period from Raphael Belley-Pelletier (game winner at 17:15) and Brisson to snap a 2-2 tie and held on to beat the Motor City Gamblers 4-2 on home ice.
Martin and Chris Kobayashi also scored and Carlone made 30 saves.
Braeden Goers and Kyle Boring netted the Motor City goals and Luka Straser stopped 34 shots in net.
“I think we played four hard-fought games in the last five days, and to be able to come out with seven of the eight available points is a nice step for this group,” said Jets associate coach Jake Howie. “I look at the steps we’ve taken from the beginning of the year to now and am happy with the growth within this group, but with that said, we have a younger group this year and still have some growing to do. Our forecheck has been much better lately, and guys have been reloading over pucks to hem teams in. We’ll need another strong effort this weekend with four games in Fort Wayne.”
The Jets Elite team started the weekend with a 7-0 win over Decatur Friday afternoon at Mount Clemens Ice Arena as Tabor Hatch was hot to go with a 15-save shutout.
Jarrett LaGrow collected three goals, Tyler Dix added a pair, and Ronnie Lubbers went for a goal and an assist.
Johnny Tackett also scored and Landon Graham, Ryder Tracy and John Legebokoff all registered three assists.
Blaze goalie Giovanni Bottalico made 47 saves.
Saturday afternoon, Cam Cyrus and Jean-Sebastien Dube combined on a 15-save shutout in a 9-0 win over Decatur.
Cory Anderson had a goal and three assists, Daniell Luska four assists, and Graham collected two goals and an assist.
Lubbers added two more goals, while Owen Coulter and LaGrow each tallied a goal and an assist and Tackett and Tracy added goals of their own. Dix chipped in two assists.
In net for Decatur, Evan Keen finished with 41 saves.
The finale Sunday afternoon saw LaGrow score three more goals and add two assists in a 9-1 win to sweep Decatur.
Connor Wheeler registered four assists and Anderson, Dix, Lubbers, Luska and Dominic Collins all rang up a goal and an assist. Justin Ward also scored and Brendan Dreisbach and Dube combined on a 14-save effort between the pipes.
Alan Faulkner scored for the Blaze and Charles Landers made 52 stops in goal.
This weekend, the Jets play a home-and-home series with the Toledo Cherokee for the Coney Cup (see the Jets social media pages), starting Friday at 6:30 p.m. from the Team Toledo Ice House and wrapping Saturday at 7 p.m. back at Mount Clemens.
The MJDP now heads to the Fort Wayne Showcase at SportONE/Parkview Icehouse – Friday vs. Chicago Cougars, 4:45 p.m., Saturday vs. Chicago Crush, 9:45 a.m., Saturday vs. Decatur, 4:25 p.m., Sunday vs. Florida Eels, 11:25 a.m.
The Jets Elite is also in Fort Wayne for five showcase games – Friday vs. Chicago Crush, 1:05 p.m., Friday vs. Fort Wayne Spacemen, 8:05 p.m., Saturday vs. Florida Eels, 6:05 p.m., Sunday vs. Chicago Cougars, 9:45 a.m., Sunday vs. Fort Wayne, 2:45 p.m.
All USPHL games are available to be streamed at FloHockey.tv.
