There was lots of action underway this past week with a lot to report. Roster spots are still being fought for, goals are flying everywhere, and player introductions are flashing across the big screens.
The Lincoln Stars took on their in-state rival, the Tri-City Storm, and came away with a 2-1 victory. The Stars Jake Boltmann recorded an assist with Brock Gremer scoring a goal and Christophe Fillion scoring what would turn out to be the game-winner. Samuel Vyletelka was also stellar saving 21 of 22 shots. For the Storm, Colby Ambrosio recorded the lone goal on an assist from Chikara Hanzawa, and althought they did lose, they did outshoot the Stars 22-16. Noah Giesbrecht also stopped 14 of the 16 shots on goal for the Storm.
In game two versus the Storm, the stars fell 6-4 thanks in-part to two goals from Cody Sherman. Nick Capone, John Lundy, Andruis Kulbis-Marino, and Carter Mazur recorded the other four goals for the Storm with Nicholas Donato also recording an assist. The Stars’ Brayden Nicholetts, Brock Bremer, Ty Glover, and Christophe Fillion joined the scoring party as they netted their shots. Fillion scored his second of the preseason while Jake Boltman recorded his first assist.
For the Storm, their third preseason game came against the Buccaneers where Carter Mazur and Tyler Coffey scored once while Asa Kinnear scored twice in a 4-3 victory. The Bucs’ Matt Choupani, Frederick Paine, and Ryan Robinson did their part to score but came up just short. Closing the week with a 2-1 preseason record and outscoring their opponents 11-9, the Storm have to be feeling good with several more preseason games to be had.
The Buccaneers also found themselves on the losing side to the Stampede in a 5-4 OT thriller. The Bucs’ Vincent Salice, Alex Laferriere, Patrick Schmiedlin, and Jonathan Panisa scored to push the game to overtime but unfortunately, it was the Stampede’s Jakub Lewandowski who scored the OT winner. Ryan Sullivan, Cameron MacDonald, Luke Weilandt, and Garrett Pinoniemi also notched one under their belt in this one.
The week wasn’t spoiled for the Bucs though as they obliterated the RoughRiders, 10-2. For the RoughRiders, it was Michael Posma and Tyler Rollwagen who put one in the back of the net in the losing effort. For the Bucs, it was Yaroslav Alexeyev, Blaine Warnert, Matt Choupani, and Cooper Fensterstock with one goal while Alex Laferriere, Vinny Salice, and Joey Strada all had two.
Moving on to the Saints, they’re going to be a fun team to watch this season. With a high powered offense, Mark Cheremeta and Riese Gaber are going to be the dynamic duo to keep an eye on. Gaber scored what turned out to be the game-winner versus the Rapids and had an assist, while Antonio Venuto and Matthew Kopperud also found the net. Ryan Beck and Ben Schultheis did their part by recording an assist too. Cheremeta has 5 points thus far in the season and the regular season should only see that number increase each day.
Heading to Omaha, the Lancers picked up a 6-2 win against the Black Hawks where Alex Campbell, Zach Plucinski, Rhett Pitlick, and Ryan Lautenbach were able to showcase an early-season celly. Jack Jensen netted two goals and their netminder, Jakob Dobes was 31 for 33 on shots against. The Hawks’ John Waldron and Justin Thompson were the lone scorers in this one.
In addition to their preseason game, they’ve also hired Dustin Manko as their goalie coach who has a long history of success. Working with goalies from rookies to seasoned professionals, and with more accolades than one could count, he’ll look to add the Clark Cup to his resume this year.
Bouncing around the country up to Chicago, the Steel were in an OT thriller when they defeated the Lumberjacks 4-3. Matthew Samoskevich, Gunnarwolfe Fontaine, Frendan Brisson, and Sean Farrell all recorded a point. The Lumberjacks’ Tanner Edwards, Alex Gaffney, and James McIssac all had one as well. The second game of the home-and-home series was not as kind to the Steel as the first, however. Josh Doan, Elis Hede, and Brendan Brisson weren’t able to score enough in a 4-5 losing effort. Alex Gaffney, Alex Konovaloc, and Tanner Edwards each had one while their returning high scorer, Danil Gushchin scored two.
And another hop, skip, and jump leads us to Waterloo when the Black Hawks took on the Capitols in a 7-5 losing effort. Ondrej Psenicka, Keighan Gerrie, Xander Lamppa, Ryder Rolston, and Ryan Drkulec each netted one for the Hawks. It was William Margel and Cole Kodsi leading the charge for the Caps’ with two goals while Ricky Lyle, Verners Egle, and Branden Suter each had one apiece.
And rounding out the week is the announcement of the Dupaco Cowbell Cup. Starting in October, the RoughRiders, Black Hawks, and Saints will compete for Eastern Iowa hockey supremacy where each team receives 2 points for a victory and 1 point for OT or a shootout loss. “Supporting community events and bringing value to our members are both important Dupaco initiatives. This partnership helps us provide excellent family-friendly events to our members and the community at large,” said Joe Heam, President and CEO of Dupaco Community Credit Union.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter @Nwinansw for all things junior hockey. See you next week.
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