A Look At The USPHL Premier’s South Region
By Jim DenHollander / USPHL.com
Florida and Southeast Division teams returned from Thanksgiving break with one busy weekend before heading into the Florida Showcase tournament this coming weekend. Before those games begin on Friday, read up on where these teams are coming from.
Friday, Dec. 6
Florida Eels 2 @ Atlanta Mad Hatters 1 (shootout)
Florida Eels 4 @ Atlanta Mad Hatters1
Florida Eels 5 @ Atlanta Mad Hatters 0
All even after 65 minutes, Jake Court (‘00/Fort Myers, Fla.) connected on the overtime winner in the first game of a two-game weekend set in Atlanta.
Gage Dill (‘01/Estero, Fla.) fired three goals for the Eels, including the game winner early in the second period and Jesper Ahlberg (‘99/Gothemberg, Sweden) turned aside 27 of 28 shots faced to secure the win in goal as the Eels took their second of the weekend from the host Mad Hatters.
The Eels wrapped up a three-game weekend sweep as Jakub Kostelny (‘99/Trencin, Slovakia) turned in a 39-save shutout in a wild game that saw teams combine on 84 shots.
Jared Figueroa (‘99/Scotch Plains, N.Y.) scored the only goal the Eels needed 7:38 into the contest, but they went on to add four more to be sure.
Florida Junior Blades 0 @ Tampa Bay Juniors 4
Tampa Bay Juniors 0 @ Florida Blades 2
The teams played through nearly 38 minutes of scoreless hockey before Jonathan Stouffer (‘00/Johns Creek, Ga.) fired the only goal the Juniors needed. Another in the final minute of the period and two more in the third padded the lead and Milton Rosen (‘00/Leksend, Sweden) made it stand up with a 29-save shutout for the Juniors.
After getting shut out in Tampa, the Blades used a 42-save goose egg effort from Patrik Lietava (‘00/Lietava, Slovakia) to return the favor on home ice the following day.
Tristan Roost (‘00/Fort Myers, Fla.) opened the scoring 5:02 into the middle period with the game winner.
Richmond Generals 2 @ Hampton Roads Whalers 6
Richmond Generals 7 @ Hampton Roads Whalers 6
The Whalers grabbed a big win on home ice against the Generals opening a 3-0 lead and carrying a 6-1 cushion to the final frame.
Six different goal scorers checked in for the hosts, including Joe DiGiulio (‘99/San Diego, Calif.) with the game-winner just past the halfway mark of the second period.
The Generals secured a weekend split at Chilled Ponds, rallying back from a 6-4 deficit early in the final period.
Brendan Meyer (‘99/Greeley, Colo.) fired three of the Generals’ goals and it was Charles Massey (‘00/Temiscouata, Que.) putting the Gens in front to stay with 2:17 to go in the contest.
Jacob Kaplan (‘99/Bowie, Md.) scored three for the Whalers.
Charlotte Rush 6 @ Carolina Junior Hurricanes 2
Charlotte Rush 4 @ Carolina Junior Hurricanes 0
The Rush trailed early but was all even at 2-2 after a period and fired four more unanswered over the final 40-minutes.
Sawyer Cutler (‘99/Vernon Hills, Ill.) scored the lone middle period marker seven seconds from the buzzer and that stood up as the game winner.
Jack Riedell (‘99/Greensboro, N.C.) turned in a 35-save shutout effort to lead the Rush to the weekend sweep on the road, Gino DeBlasiis firing the game winning goal 7:39 into the contest.
