Originally published on Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 9:13pm
Jaguar squad goes 2-2 in Detroit
They had a hard time getting there and left earlier than they wanted to, but in between Jaguar Mite #2 found success in the suburbs of Detroit.
With all but a few members playing in their first out-of-state tournament – and everyone enduring a slippery, snowy, elongated trip to Michigan – the Jaguars recorded a 2-2 record en route to a semi-final berth and third-place finish in the Motown Cup Tournament held over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend Jan. 13-16, 2012.
The Jaguars’ only losses at the event came to the eventual tournament champion St. Jude Knights, who play in the White Tier of the Silver A Level of the Northern Illinois Hockey League, a level above the Jaguars, who are in first place in the White Tier of the Silver B Level of NIHL.
Conversely, the Jaguars topped the only unfamiliar teams they encountered, beating both the Canton-Akron Penguins and the Barrie Junior Colts on the opening day of the tournament.
GAME 1: JAGUARS 11, PENGUINS 1
It was Penguins who were late arriving at the rink, delaying the start of the tournament opener by nearly 20 minutes, but it was the Jaguars who found themselves trailing early on.
The Penguins tallied first, when Jacob Blumer took a Dagan Parker pass and pushed it past Jaguar goalie Luke Brzezinski at the 7:58 mark of the opening 12-minute period. That was, however, the last shot that would find its way behind Brzezinski on the afternoon.
The early goal by the Penguins provided the wake-up call the Jaguars – some of whom had made the 5-plus hour drive to Detroit that morning – needed. The Jaguars responded two minutes later with the equalizer off the stick of Ryan Louthan, who converted on a Blake Brenczewski pass to know the score at 1.
By the time the period ended 5:58 after that first Jaguar goal, the Joliet-based squad was enjoying a 5-1 lead. Other Jaguar markers in the period were scored by Jarrett Goodwin, on an assist from Trevor Hudak, at the 4:10 mark; Brenczewski, who was assisted by Evan McDonald and Louthan, at the 2:40 mark; and Louthan, who completed his hat trick with goals at 1:08 and 41.3. The first of those two goals was assisted by Brenczewski and McDonald, while the second was unassisted.
The Jaguars added five additional goals in the second period, to bring the score to 10-1 after the first 24 minutes of play. Putting the puck past Penguin goalie Michael Pelc were Goodwin, at 9:55; Hudak, on an assist from Guseman, at 6:05; Hudak (Goodwin assist) at 4:00; Louthan (Guseman assist) at 3:36; and Goodwin, who completed his hat trick with an unassisted goal at 1:33.
Going into the third period of play, Coach Bob Ambroffi began shuffling lines, moving defensemen into forward slots and putting the frontline skaters. Despite the unfamiliarity with their positions, the Jaguars still remained tough on defense and kept the pressure on net. The only tally of the period came with 5:00 to play, as Louthan recorded his fifth goal of the game off Guseman’s third assist in the contest.
GAME 2: JAGUARS 5, JR. COLTS 2
Perhaps it was a bit of awe about stepping onto the ice against a team from Canada, or maybe it was the fact the Jaguars were short-handed for half of the opening 12 minutes of the hockey game, but it took the Jaguars more than a period before they jumped out in front of the Barrie Junior Colts.
The first goal of the game, the second of the day for each team, did not come until the 8:41 mark of the second period, when Ryan Louthan tallied an unassisted short-handed goal to give the Jaguars’ a 1-1 lead. The fact the opening tally came while the Jaguars were shorthanded may have been inevitable, given the fact the Jaguars were whistled for six penalties in the first two periods and seven in the game.
Nevertheless, the remainder of the goals in the game – for both teams – came while the squads were at even strength, beginning with a Jarrett Goodwin goal with 2:44 to play in the second. Grace Gonzalez was credited with the assist on the goal, which made the margin 2-0 in favor of the Joliet-based team.
The Junior Colts cut the lead in half before the end of the period, however, as Tanner Kowalski managed to slip the puck past Jaguar goalie Luke Brzezinski with 2:18 to play. Assists went to Aiden Pethick and Jacob Coughlin.
Goodwin returned a two-goal cushion to the Jaguars with a little more than eight minutes to play in the game, converting a Trevor Hudak feed in to a goal.
The Junior Colts responded a little more than five minutes later, as Ben Armatage scored at the 2:59 mark on assists from Issac Nevin and Marcus Stolte to again cut the margin to one, at 3-1.
Hudak provided the breathing room the Jaguars needed with a goal at the 2:05 mark, and then added the clincher when he found the empty net with 1:18 to play. The first of Hudak’s goals was assisted by Goodwin, while the empty netter was unassisted.
GAME 3: KNIGHTS 3, JAGUARS 0
Defense and strong goaltending kept the Jaguars in the game against a familiar foe, but like the game in which St. Jude topped the Jaguars during the NIHL seeding round, the Joliet squad was held scoreless in the Saturday morning contest. Despite the defeat, the Jaguars’ 2-0 showing on the first day of the event was enough to advance them to the semifinal round.
The Knights had numerous opportunities turned away by the Jaguars and goalie Luke Brzezinski, although no official save totals were available. They were, however, able to convert on one opportunity in each of the game’s three 12-minute periods.
Their first-period goal came at the 4:36 mark, when Nick Capuano scored a Power Play goal. The successful shot was assisted, but it was credited to a player number not on the St. Jude roster.
The Knights scored even-strength goals at 4:54 of the second period and 8:06 of the third. Dominick Lococo scored in the second on an assist from E. Vogrich Schultz, while Conor Haggerty scored in the third on a feed from Ryan Hegeduis.
The St. Jude win, combined with a victory in the other semi-final by the Chicago Jets, meant the Knights would receive the No. 2 seed in the semifinals, setting up another matchup with the No. 3-seeded Jaguars early Sunday morning.
SEMI-FINAL: KNIGHTS 4, JAGUARS 1
Stepping onto the ice at 6:20 a.m. Chicago time may have impacted the early play of both Chicago-area teams, as the St. Jude Knights and Joliet Jaguars skated to a scoreless tie in the opening period of the second game between the two teams in approximately 21 hours.
It was early in the second when the Jaguars broke through for two firsts – their first goal and their first lead against St. Jude in the three games they have played this season. Trevor Hudak did the honors for the Jaguars, pushing the puck past goalie Owen Flaig with 10:05 to play in the period. Jarrett Goodwin assisted on the goal that gave the Jaguars a 1-0 lead.
With 8:20 left in the middle period, Aidian Devlin scored the equalizer on an assist from Nick Capuano. The Knights took their first lead of the game, a 2-1 margin, at the 3:13 mark of the second on a goal off the stick of Anthony Roti, who was assisted by Capuano.
A Power Play goal just 13 second into the third period doubled the Knights’ lead to two. Dominick Lococo scored the goal, which was assisted by Timmy Whalen and Jake Ryan. The Jaguars hung with St. Jude for much of the period, however, until Anthony Rotti scored the clincher with 2:41 to play to bring the score to the final 4-1 difference.
With the win St. Jude moved on to face the Chicago Jets later that day in the championship. St. Jude also won that game to claim the tournament title.
They had a hard time getting there and left earlier than they wanted to, but in between Jaguar Mite #2 found success in the suburbs of Detroit.
With all but a few members playing in their first out-of-state tournament – and everyone enduring a slippery, snowy, elongated trip to Michigan – the Jaguars recorded a 2-2 record en route to a semi-final berth and third-place finish in the Motown Cup Tournament held over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend Jan. 13-16, 2012.
The Jaguars’ only losses at the event came to the eventual tournament champion St. Jude Knights, who play in the White Tier of the Silver A Level of the Northern Illinois Hockey League, a level above the Jaguars, who are in first place in the White Tier of the Silver B Level of NIHL.
Conversely, the Jaguars topped the only unfamiliar teams they encountered, beating both the Canton-Akron Penguins and the Barrie Junior Colts on the opening day of the tournament.
GAME 1: JAGUARS 11, PENGUINS 1
It was Penguins who were late arriving at the rink, delaying the start of the tournament opener by nearly 20 minutes, but it was the Jaguars who found themselves trailing early on.
The Penguins tallied first, when Jacob Blumer took a Dagan Parker pass and pushed it past Jaguar goalie Luke Brzezinski at the 7:58 mark of the opening 12-minute period. That was, however, the last shot that would find its way behind Brzezinski on the afternoon.
The early goal by the Penguins provided the wake-up call the Jaguars – some of whom had made the 5-plus hour drive to Detroit that morning – needed. The Jaguars responded two minutes later with the equalizer off the stick of Ryan Louthan, who converted on a Blake Brenczewski pass to know the score at 1.
By the time the period ended 5:58 after that first Jaguar goal, the Joliet-based squad was enjoying a 5-1 lead. Other Jaguar markers in the period were scored by Jarrett Goodwin, on an assist from Trevor Hudak, at the 4:10 mark; Brenczewski, who was assisted by Evan McDonald and Louthan, at the 2:40 mark; and Louthan, who completed his hat trick with goals at 1:08 and 41.3. The first of those two goals was assisted by Brenczewski and McDonald, while the second was unassisted.
The Jaguars added five additional goals in the second period, to bring the score to 10-1 after the first 24 minutes of play. Putting the puck past Penguin goalie Michael Pelc were Goodwin, at 9:55; Hudak, on an assist from Guseman, at 6:05; Hudak (Goodwin assist) at 4:00; Louthan (Guseman assist) at 3:36; and Goodwin, who completed his hat trick with an unassisted goal at 1:33.
Going into the third period of play, Coach Bob Ambroffi began shuffling lines, moving defensemen into forward slots and putting the frontline skaters. Despite the unfamiliarity with their positions, the Jaguars still remained tough on defense and kept the pressure on net. The only tally of the period came with 5:00 to play, as Louthan recorded his fifth goal of the game off Guseman’s third assist in the contest.
GAME 2: JAGUARS 5, JR. COLTS 2
Perhaps it was a bit of awe about stepping onto the ice against a team from Canada, or maybe it was the fact the Jaguars were short-handed for half of the opening 12 minutes of the hockey game, but it took the Jaguars more than a period before they jumped out in front of the Barrie Junior Colts.
The first goal of the game, the second of the day for each team, did not come until the 8:41 mark of the second period, when Ryan Louthan tallied an unassisted short-handed goal to give the Jaguars’ a 1-1 lead. The fact the opening tally came while the Jaguars were shorthanded may have been inevitable, given the fact the Jaguars were whistled for six penalties in the first two periods and seven in the game.
Nevertheless, the remainder of the goals in the game – for both teams – came while the squads were at even strength, beginning with a Jarrett Goodwin goal with 2:44 to play in the second. Grace Gonzalez was credited with the assist on the goal, which made the margin 2-0 in favor of the Joliet-based team.
The Junior Colts cut the lead in half before the end of the period, however, as Tanner Kowalski managed to slip the puck past Jaguar goalie Luke Brzezinski with 2:18 to play. Assists went to Aiden Pethick and Jacob Coughlin.
Goodwin returned a two-goal cushion to the Jaguars with a little more than eight minutes to play in the game, converting a Trevor Hudak feed in to a goal.
The Junior Colts responded a little more than five minutes later, as Ben Armatage scored at the 2:59 mark on assists from Issac Nevin and Marcus Stolte to again cut the margin to one, at 3-1.
Hudak provided the breathing room the Jaguars needed with a goal at the 2:05 mark, and then added the clincher when he found the empty net with 1:18 to play. The first of Hudak’s goals was assisted by Goodwin, while the empty netter was unassisted.
GAME 3: KNIGHTS 3, JAGUARS 0
Defense and strong goaltending kept the Jaguars in the game against a familiar foe, but like the game in which St. Jude topped the Jaguars during the NIHL seeding round, the Joliet squad was held scoreless in the Saturday morning contest. Despite the defeat, the Jaguars’ 2-0 showing on the first day of the event was enough to advance them to the semifinal round.
The Knights had numerous opportunities turned away by the Jaguars and goalie Luke Brzezinski, although no official save totals were available. They were, however, able to convert on one opportunity in each of the game’s three 12-minute periods.
Their first-period goal came at the 4:36 mark, when Nick Capuano scored a Power Play goal. The successful shot was assisted, but it was credited to a player number not on the St. Jude roster.
The Knights scored even-strength goals at 4:54 of the second period and 8:06 of the third. Dominick Lococo scored in the second on an assist from E. Vogrich Schultz, while Conor Haggerty scored in the third on a feed from Ryan Hegeduis.
The St. Jude win, combined with a victory in the other semi-final by the Chicago Jets, meant the Knights would receive the No. 2 seed in the semifinals, setting up another matchup with the No. 3-seeded Jaguars early Sunday morning.
SEMI-FINAL: KNIGHTS 4, JAGUARS 1
Stepping onto the ice at 6:20 a.m. Chicago time may have impacted the early play of both Chicago-area teams, as the St. Jude Knights and Joliet Jaguars skated to a scoreless tie in the opening period of the second game between the two teams in approximately 21 hours.
It was early in the second when the Jaguars broke through for two firsts – their first goal and their first lead against St. Jude in the three games they have played this season. Trevor Hudak did the honors for the Jaguars, pushing the puck past goalie Owen Flaig with 10:05 to play in the period. Jarrett Goodwin assisted on the goal that gave the Jaguars a 1-0 lead.
With 8:20 left in the middle period, Aidian Devlin scored the equalizer on an assist from Nick Capuano. The Knights took their first lead of the game, a 2-1 margin, at the 3:13 mark of the second on a goal off the stick of Anthony Roti, who was assisted by Capuano.
A Power Play goal just 13 second into the third period doubled the Knights’ lead to two. Dominick Lococo scored the goal, which was assisted by Timmy Whalen and Jake Ryan. The Jaguars hung with St. Jude for much of the period, however, until Anthony Rotti scored the clincher with 2:41 to play to bring the score to the final 4-1 difference.
With the win St. Jude moved on to face the Chicago Jets later that day in the championship. St. Jude also won that game to claim the tournament title.
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