In game one, the Hitmen and the Selects poised like prize fighters, felt one another out, as the play was back and forth until the mid way point of the first. Hitmen leading scorer, Kevin Czepiel, struck at 10:35 for his seventh of the season and that ignited the Hitmen as they outshot the Selects, 22-8 in that stanza. The second period began where the Hitmen left off as the Hitmen continued firing at CD goaltender, Scott Lewan, who was equal to the challenge, until rookie Colin Markison lit the lamp for his 1st of two in the second. The Hitmen would also add a goal from St Louis native, Andrew Kurlanski, and go up for good, 4-1. In the third period, the Selects continued to battle and cut the lead to 4-2 on a nifty breakaway goal by Zach Student, before Brendan Jamison scored his first on the powerplay, with assists to Ansel Ivens-Anderson and Markison, to put the game away, 5-2. After the game we caught up with Hitmen coach Toby Harris who was elated with the victory. "I may sound like a broken record but I am very happy with the direction in which this team is going!" He went on to add, "We ran into a very strong goaltending effort today from Lewan, yet we were able to find a way to persevere and solve him. We are getting scoring from every line, our defenseman are playing a great transition game, and we are getting very strong goaltending. On top of that, I really like how we are competing both in games and in practice."
On Sunday, the teams faced off again to complete their two game set, but from the start this game would take on a different personality. Just three minutes in, Colin Markison, would continue his blazing hot scoring streak lighting the lamp. He would be followed by Jimmy Day, Kevin Czepiel and Dan Monahan, as the Hitmen would opened up a 4-0 lead just 7 minutes in, but the scoring would not commence as Jimmy Day would notch his second of the period at 15:09 to round out the first period scoring. Heading into the second the Hitmen would not take their foot of the accelerator as they would beat Lewan 3 more times (Geraci, Trachsel and Markison) to open up an 8-1 lead, outshooting the Selects 25-6 in the period. In period three the Selects would relieve Lewan, who made 90 saves on the weekend, for Damian Pinhiero who would kick out 16 shots in the 3rd for a bright spot on the CD weekend, as the Hitmen would win 8-2. In the Hitmen win goaltender, PJ Musico, would get his first JR A regulation win making 17 saves in the victory. After the win, coach Harris commented on the weekend, "I tip my hat to the boys on the way that they prepared for today's game. They came out flying, they were hungry, and they stuck to the game plan. I thought PJ was solid in net and once again we got scoring from all four lines."
This weekend the Hitmen travel to Exeter, NH for the prestigious Beantown Classic hockey tournament where they will lock horns with Northern Division leading Boston Jr Bruins in league action Friday night at 7:10pm. The Hitmen will then face off against Bridgton Academy (Saturday 1:40pm) and Northwood Prep (Sunday 1:20pm) in non-league action. Please visit www.jerseyhitmen.net for all the up to date news and team stats.
Tag(s): EJHL