Thomas Porto and Zach Goetze each scored two goals to lead the West Haven Squirt A team to a 7-1 victory over the Jersey Colts in the Steel City Columbus Day Shootout championship on Monday at the PPL Center in Allentown, PA.
West Haven went 4-0 overall in the Shootout. The Westies also outscored their opponents 41-2 and never trailed at any point in the four games.
In the championship game, defenseman Dylan Link opened the scoring 1:28 into the game with a laser from the point after Ethan Kelly fed Link with a faceoff win. Porto knocked home a nice feed from Goetze at 3:52, before Ryan Pniewski gave the Blue Devils a 3-0 lead at 6:40 with Sean Studley and Ethan Kelly assisting.
The Colts converted a penalty shot with just under five minutes remaining in the period, before a breakaway and nifty move by Goetze gave the Westies a 4-1 lead at the first intermission.
Both teams went scoreless in the second period as the West Haven defense, consisting of the pairings of Matthew Kelly with Link, and Dylan Bosworth with Connor Moriarty, clamped down on the Colts.
In the third, Porto made it 5-1 by depositing Goetze’s pass at 4:21. Two minutes later, Brady Price made a nice move at the blue line and roofed his breakaway for a 6-1 lead. Goetze finished off Porto’s assist to cap the scoring with 1:49 left in the game.
West Haven goaltender Jacob Silva made five saves in the game and was mobbed by his teammates as the final horn sounded.
In pool play, the Westies defeated the Hershey (PA) Jr. Bears, 10-0, on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday, they beat the Long Island (NY) Icecats, 15-0, and the Jersey (NJ) Colts, 9-1.
All ten skaters for West Haven scored at least one goal in the tournament. Goetze led the team with 21 points (8 goals, 13 assists), Porto had 16 points (13 goals, 3 assists), Price had 13 points (4 goals, 9 assists), and Ethan Kelly had 12 points (3 goals, 9 assists). Sean Studley had seven points (2 goals, 5 assists), Dylan Link had six points (5 goals, 1 assist), Ryan Pniewski had three points (3 goals), while Matthew Kelly, Connor Moriarty, and Dylan Bosworth each had two points with one goal and one assist each.
The West Haven Peewee A travel hockey team won the Steel City Columbus Day Shootout with a 4-0-1 record this past weekend in Pennsylvania.
The Westies entered Monday needing a win over Dix Hills, New York to reach the championship contest. Trailing by two goals, the Westies scored five unanswered goals to win, 5-2.
Mickey Dowd cut the deficit in half off an assist from Cade Simone with 1:34 left in the first, Jayden Spreyer evened the game off an assist from Colin Deane 44 seconds into the second, and Dante Hardt scored a shorthanded goal with five minutes left in the second. Shane Repetto scored for a 4-2 lead with 8.5 seconds left in the second.
Michael Madera capped the scoring 1:16 into the third period when he scored off an assist from Simone. Brenda Smith made 19 saves in the win.
The Westies never trailed in winning the title game 4-2 over the same Dix Hills, NY team later in the afternoon at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Nolan Cole scored three times in the win, giving West Haven a 1-0 lead 47 seconds into the game off an assist from Deane, and a 2-1 lead off an assist from Spreyer with 6:05 left in the second. Cole’s unassisted tally put the Westies on top 3-2 two minutes into the third, before Dave Brown sealed the win with an empty net goal. Smith made 17 saves in the win.
West Haven opened the tournament with a 5-3 win over the Jersey Shore Wildcats. Dante Hardt and Cole led the offense with two goals apiece, while Kyle Droney also scored. Brown and Bruno Martone each had two assists, while Repetto and Madera picked up one assist apiece.
West Haven won its second game 8-1 over the Pottstown Penguins. Cole led the way with two goals and two assists, Madera scored twice, and Sean Bosworth, Spreyer, Repetto, and Simone each scored once. Dowd, Spreyer, and Deane each had two assists, while Bosworth, Hardt, and Jason Alling each picked up an assist.
West Haven also tied the Jersey Colts, 4-4, with Deane, Bosworth, Brown and Simone scoring, and Simone also grabbing an assist.