Week 5 Recap: 16U Division

HACKENSACK, NJ — It was another exciting weekend in the tightly contested 16U Division. With five of the eight teams within one game of each other, each game could be the difference between slipping down the standings or rocketing to the top. Let’s see how things shook out this weekend:

New Jersey Colonials vs. North Jersey Avalanche (Elite)

The third place New Jersey Colonials were able to keep things rolling against North Jersey Avalanche. The Colonials got two goals each from Alexander Benkert and Dmytro Murenets in the 6-2 rout.  They now improve to 4-1 and are now knocking on the door of the second place Philadelphia Hockey Club. The Colonials must feel good about their chances of seizing that spot in the near future, as they have more goals scored and less points allowed than Philadelphia, and the two teams are separated by a mere tie. On the other side of the rink, the Avalanche fell to a disappointing 0-5 on the year. There’s still plenty of time for them to get back on track, but they must improve their offense…they’ve only mustered five goals in their five games.

Philadelphia Hockey Club vs. New Jersey Devils Youth (Elite)

Speaking of the Philadelphia Hockey Club, they and the New Jersey Devils dueled to a thrilling overtime stalemate. The Devils’ Egor Adreev delivered two lightning strikes to give the Devils a quick 2-0 lead in the first period. Philadelphia had their backs to the walls after an ill-timed misconduct penalty but was miraculously able to score a clutch short-handed goal to escape the second period 2-1. The Devils were able to find the back of the net twice in the second period as Aidan Kelleher chipped in an assist and a goal to make it 4-1, but Philadelphia’s Ethan Coots did the same…diming up a teammate for his second assist and then scoring himself to make it 4-3 entering the third period. Then Philadelphia’s Ryan Frey scored a massive late goal in the third (off yet another dish by Coots) to knot the game up at the end of regulation. Neither team was able to score in overtime, and the game ended in a draw. Although both teams are doubtless frustrated by the draw, there’s plenty to be optimistic about as well.  This tie is the only thing staving off the Colonials for second place, keeping Philadelphia in pole position for now. And for the Devils, this tie pulled them ahead of the Long Island Royals for fourth place in the division. 

Long Island Royals vs. New Jersey Jr. Titans (Elite)

In a tightly contested struggle, the New Jersey Jr. Titans were just able to edge the Long Island Royals 5-4. It was a huge win, as not only did the Titans win their first game of the season, they did so against a team with a winning record (the Royals were preciously 3-1).  One of the real stories of this game was that the Titans were able to pull off the victory even with the exorbitant number of penalties they accrued. The Titans stacked up eleven penalties in total, including five roughing penalties, three for game misconduct, and two for fighting.