MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – The Metro Jets played their home opener Saturday night and defeated the Toledo Cherokee 5-2 in front of a packed house at Mount Clemens Ice Arena.
Alex Bedenko scored twice and Braydin Lewis added a goal and an assist to back Louis-Pierre Fortier’s 26 saves in goal.
“It’s always a good win when we are playing a competitive team like Toledo,” Jets associate coach Jamie Lovell said. “That’s a rival for us, just down the highway, and it was our home opener, so everyone was feeling good about tonight. The atmosphere was great, and that’s why we made the move here. We have a smaller, more intimate setting and the guys were up for it.
“Tonight was a lot of fun.”
Alex Schaumburger and Matt Cole also scored, and Niko Murgic collected two assists in the win.
Lucas Rumberger and David Crandall scored for Toledo, Kieran Carlile assisted on both, and Joey Cormier took the loss in net, finishing with 40 saves.
“We respected the game plan, and we knew this was a big game for us,” Fortier said. “We practiced hard this week, and our players played very good in front of me.”
Earlier Saturday, the MJDP completed a two-game sweep of the Midwest Blackbirds with a 3-2 win, also at Mount Clemens.
Stone Bishop, Austin Combs and Robert Grasso scored, and Mason Kelly stopped 23 shots between the pipes.
Troy Clements and Kevin Uhlir tallied Midwest’s goals while Nick Meyering made 37 saves in goal.
Friday night, Combs and Josh Boze had a goal and an assist each, Grasso scored twice, and Freddy Soderberg finished with 17 saves as the MJDP knocked off Midwest 6-1 at Mount Clemens.
“I liked how we competed and finished our chances,” said Lovell. “We got pucks in behind their ‘D’ and supported each other well in the neutral zone. We were able to finish, so it was a good game and a good bounce-back from last Friday night (an 8-7 overtime win over Motor City).”
Steven Miller and Carson Finney added goals and Duke Allen, Nick Twombley and Ville Karlsson notched two assists apiece.
“We moved the puck really well tonight and created a lot of shots and a lot of offense,” Combs said. “We kind of struggled with the penalties, and those led to their goal there, but we’re good, we won 6-1 against a good, physical team. That’s what you expect in junior hockey.”
For the Blackbirds, Mason Perri scored early in the second period and Meyering made 34 saves in taking the loss in goal.
The Jets and MJDP both hit the road next week as the Jets are in Toledo on Wednesday at 7 p.m., at Columbus to play the Mavericks Friday at 7:30 p.m. and then Sunday in Cincinnati to play the expansion Jr. Cyclones at 4 p.m. The MJDP plays the Decatur Blaze Saturday at 8:30 p.m. EST and Sunday at 1:15 EST.
All USPHL games are streamed on HockeyTV.com.
