The Week In Review: Premier/Elite Southern Divisions 

By Jim DenHollander/USPHL.com, 11/07/18, 7:30PM EST

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Some key battles in the USPHL Southern (Southeast and Florida divisions) region on the weekend saw the last of the unbeatens fall, as Richmond Generals knocked off the Hampton Roads Whalers and earned a split in their series, while the Florida Eels used an eight-goal come-from-behind explosion to find a way past the DME Swamp Rabbits.

Meanwhile, the Florida Jr. Blades and Tampa Bay Juniors split a pair of weekend matches, both teams collecting a road win. The Junior Blades won by a 4-2 margin Saturday and the Juniors won 3-2 in the shootout the following day.

 

Podrezov hat trick keys Eels win

Before this past weekend, the Eels and Swamp Rabbits had met just once before – a 5-3 win for the Rabbits at Fort Myers Skatium, home of the Eels back on Oct. 7.

The Rabbits also grabbed a 2-1 decision on Friday at Daytona International Skateway and appeared on their way to a weekend sweep with a 4-0 lead just past the halfway mark of the opening period back in Fort Myers on Sunday.

The Eels retaliated with two of its own before the end of the period, adding three more unanswered goals in both the second and third periods to grab their first win against the Swamp Rabbits with an exclamation point.

Demed Podrezov (‘00/Moskva, Russia) fired all three third period markers for a natural hat trick and linemate Nikita Pinimyasov (‘00/Moscow, Russia) assisted on all three. Also enjoying a solid weekend on the score sheet was Colton Crabtree (’98/Summerville, S.C.) and Gabriel Hemstrom (‘98/Stockholm, Sweden), each of whom collected a goal and two assists.

Adam Penc (‘99/Stockholm, Sweden) and Brandon Schwandt (‘99/Rockford, Mich.) both scored a pair for the Swamp Rabbits, Schwandt adding an assist and Jack Wess (‘00/St. Louis, Mo.) picked up three assists.

At Florida Hospital Center Ice in Wesley Chapel, near Tampa on Thursday, the Junior Blades snatched a 4-2 win with a pair of unanswered third period goals as teams played through a scoreless first period and both notched two goals in the middle frame.

The following day, thanks to a 31-shot barrage in the final period, the Juniors rallied back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the score and ultimately wrapped it up in a shootout.

For the Blades, Quinn Shepard (‘00/Gainesville, Fla.) scored twice while Tristan Roost (‘00/Fort Myers, Fla.) picked up a goal and assist and Josh Grund (‘01/Naples, Fla.) collected three assists.

Mark Louria (’99/Sarasota, Fla.) and Zach Puterbaugh (‘00/Prior Lake, Minn.) picked up a goal and assist apiece for Tampa, Matej Dejdar (‘98/Prague, Czech Republic) setting up a pair.

Dejdar and Patrik Tuma (‘00/Prague, Czech Republic) both scored for Tampa in the shootout while the Jr. Blades were blanked.

In goal, Tyler Roy (‘98/Brighton, Mich) picked up the win with a 45-save effort for Tampa while Patrick Lietava (‘00/Svolen, Slovakia) handled 57 of 59 in goal for the Jr. Blades.

 

Florida Division Elite action

In USPHL Elite league play, the Eels captured a pair of lopsided wins, taking a 7-0 decision in Daytona on Friday and a 6-1 win on home ice Sunday.

Jake Court (‘00/Fort Myers, Fla.) led the barrage with a goal and five assists while Gage Dill (‘01/Estero, Fla.) and Adam Burtzlaff (‘00/Broomfield, Colo.) each added three goals and an assist and Anthony Sozio (‘99/Cape Coral, Fla) scored two and set up a pair.

Nahuel Veyan (‘01/Plano, Texas) picked up the shutout and Cedrick Robidoux (‘01/St-Agathe, Que) was in goal for the other Eels’ win.

The other series saw some lopsided wins as well as the Tampa Bay Juniors captured an 8-2 win Saturday on home ice and followed it up Sunday with a 6-2 win at the Hertz Arena.

Leading the way for the Juniors was Roco Selivanov (‘02/St. Petersburg, Fla.) with two goals and three assists and Aiden Kennedy (‘01/Clinton, Md.) with a goal and four helpers. Jonny Scheer (’00 Fan Wood, N.J.); Trent Gephart (‘01/Tampa, Fla.) and Jackson Drysdale (‘02/Tampa, Fla.) added two goals and two assists each.

 

Generals find a way past Whalers

The Hampton Roads Whalers extended their season-opening winning streak to 18 games with a 4-2 win on home ice at the Chilled Ponds Ice Sports Complex Saturday against the Richmond Generals, but the guests finally solved the defending league champs for the first game, grabbing a 6-5 win in Southeast Division play.

Other Southeast Division matchups saw the Charlotte Rush picked up 4-0 and 7-4 wins against the visiting Potomac Patriots at Xtreme Ice, near Charlotte; and the Carolina Eagles entertained the Atlanta Jr. Kings at the Polar Ice House in Wake Forest, grabbing a 4-2 win on Saturday, but falling by the same score on Sunday.

In the first game at Chilled Ponds, the host Whalers opened a 3-0 first period lead but the Generals struck back with a pair of unanswered second period tallies. USPHL Premier leading scorer Brandon Osmundson (‘98/Chesapeake, Va.) put it away with his clincher for the Whalers with 7:44 to go in the final period.

The following day, Richmond grabbed a 3-2 lead in the opening period and teams stayed even the rest of the way, both adding two in the second and one more in the third. The clincher for the Generals came from Dylan Brink (‘99/Ashburn, Va.) with 4:47 to play.

Osmundson wrapped up the weekend with two goals and two assists for the Whalers, Oliver Freden (‘98/Helsinki, Finland) scoring once and assisting on three. John Moncovich (‘98/Wilmington, N.C.) scored three times while Jaxon Rutkowski (‘98/Rome, N.Y.) and Brady Mistler (‘99/Lake Stevens, Wash.) each added a goal and assist.

For the Generals, Brink wrapped up the weekend with three goals and an assist, Austin Mourar (‘99/Spring City, Pa.) adding a goal and three assists. Lucas Solanik (‘99/Gunnison, Colo.) picked up a goal and two assists, Gideon Cooper (‘98/Ridgefield, Conn.) notching three assists.

At Charlotte, the Rush relied on a 24-save shutout from Anthony Keating (‘’00/Farmingville, N.Y.) while pounding Potomac keeper Karla Elvinas (’99/Zarasai, Lithuania) with 68 shots for the 4-0 win Saturday. The following day saw the home team score the lone first period goal and expand its lead to 5-1 in the second, Potomac gaining some consolation with a 3-2 edge down the stretch.

Offensively, the Rush was paced by Jimmy O’Kane (‘99/Chicago, Ill.) and Shane Hemmer (‘00/Chicago, Ill.) with four assists each. Gino deBlasiis (‘99/Rome, N.Y.) fired three goals, Mark Kishko (‘98/Inman, S.C.) adding two goals and a helper and Billy Berry (‘99/Redding, Conn.) had three assists.

For the Patriots, Kieran Furlonger (‘99/Mill Bay, B.C.) had two goals and two assists, Kalen Guimond (‘00/Fort Alexander, Man.) adding a goal and assist.

In the first game at the Polar Ice House, the host Eagles grabbed a 2-0 first period lead and carried a 3-2 cushion into the third before Matt Miller (‘99/Apex, N.C) sank the clincher with 8:33 to play in the third.

The following day, teams were scoreless through 20 but made up for it with five second period goals, three of them from the Jr. Kings. The clincher came from Luke Babilon (‘00/Glen Allen, Va.) about eight minutes into the final period.

For the Eagles, Miller finished the weekend with two goals and an assist, Alex Lazier (‘98/Pt. Claire, Que.) and Collin Plyler (‘98/Manor, Pa.) adding a goal and assist each.

For the Jr. Kings, Babilon wrapped up a two goal, one assist weekend with Yevhenii Govorushko (‘00/Kiev, Ukraine) and Aaron Szalankiewicz (‘99/Louisa, Va.) adding a goal and assist each.

 

Southeast Division Elite action

Three teams captured weekend sweeps in Elite League play, led by the Carolina Eagles who captured 6-2 and 5-2 decisions against the Atlanta Jr. Kings.

The Charlotte Rush started out with a 3-2 overtime win against the Potomac Patriots, still winless in 20 games so far this season, but sitting with four points with overtime and shootout defeats. In the second game, the Rush captured a 7-2 win and the Whalers swept the Richmond Generals with a pair of 4-3 decisions, the first in overtime.

Shaun Houk (‘02/Wake Forest, N.C.) set up five goals for the Eagles and Jackson Collins (’02/Wake Forest, N.C.) scored three.

Myles Davidson (‘00/Stuart, Fla.); Mike Villanova (‘01/Winston-Salem, N.C.) and Luke Houk (‘00/Wake Forest, N.C.) picked up a goal and two assists each.

Nicholas Garzon (‘01/Alpharetta, Ga.) scored twice for the Kings, Noah Hirst (‘00/Victoria, B.C.) added a goal and assist and Andrew Lawrence (‘01/Toronto, Ont.) set up a pair.

For the Rush, Blake Blevins (‘01/Springfield, Va.) scored his first junior hat trick and added one assist, one of his goals was Sunday’s game-winner.

Davis Smidt (‘00/Nashville, Tenn.) picked up two goals and two assists, and sank the overtime winner of the opening contest. Jake Ballway (‘01/Waxhaw, N.C.) fired a goal and two assists with Julian Miranda (‘99/Salt Lake City, Utah) setting up three.

For the Patriots, Benjamin Cunningham (‘01/Venetia, Pa.) scored a pair and assisted on another.

The Whalers were led by D.J. Randle (‘00/Phoenix, Ariz.) who scored once and assisted on three, Mark Strazisar (‘99/Lubljana, Slovakia) chipped in with two goals and a helper, Ruslan Abyanov (‘01/Russia) scoring the overtime winner and setting up one.

For the Generals, Matt Dougherty (‘99/Philadelphia, Pa.) scored once and set up a couple others.