Setting the stage for a playoff run

Mite #2 opens with 7-0 win over Sabres #3

William Shakespeare wrote that “All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players.”

There was little drama on Sunday morning for the boys and girls who are the players on Jaguar Mite #2, but with their 7-0 win over Sabres #3 the first stage is complete in their pursuit of the Silver B-level Wolves Cup. It could be said that winning the championship would mean the world to the team.

Up next is a second-round game at 4:40 p.m. Saturday, March 3, against the Chicago Jets at Rocket Ice Arena in Bolingbrook. The Jets are the second seed in the playoffs, while the Jaguars are the third seed.

In Sunday’s opening round game, the Jaguars got the scoring started shortly after the curtain was raised on the contest. The initial spotlight shone on the Jaguars’ Jarrett Goodwin, who scored just 17 seconds into the game, on assists from Trevor Hudak and Lukas Bomba.

There was, however, no single leading man in Sunday’s performance, which featured more of an ensemble cast as the Mite #2 team took center stage at Inwood Ice Arena.

Blake Brenczewski was the next to draw the attention of the crowd, however, scoring at the 9:36 mark, and again on the Power Play with 2:05 remaining. On both goals, Ryan Louthan was the supporting actor.

Louthan and Brenczewski both got assists as Evan McDonald scored with :38 remaining to increase the Jaguar lead to 4-0 as the curtain dropped on the opening act.

The score remained the same as the action played out in the second period, until the climax with just :44 remaining, as Louthan scored a Power Play goal on an assist from Brenczewski to make the score 5-0. The five-goal margin as the final act began mandated a running clock until the deficit was reduced.

Instead of allowing the Sabres to reduce the deficit, however, the Jaguars increased it to 6, with a goal by Trevor Hudak, on an assist from Bomba, with 5:05 to play. Louthan then brought the score to the final 7-0 margin with 4:15 to play. Brenczewski and McDonald were credited with the assists.

The win was the fourth shutout of the season, dating back to the seeding round, for goaltender Luke Brzezinski, who recorded 10 saves on Sunday. His counterpart, Payton Aldridge, who was forced into goaltending duties due to the absence of the Sabres’ regular goalie, had 20 saves on the morning.

The win extended to 10 the unbeaten streak in NIHL play for the Jaguars, who have gone 8-0-2 since losing to the Bruins, 3-1, on Dec. 4, 2011. Since that loss, Mite #2 has compiled an overall record of 13-3-2, including a third-place finish in the Motown Cup tournament in January and a second-place finish in the Chi-Town Cup earlier this month.

The only team to beat the Jaguars in the past three months has been the St. Jude Knights team that plays in the Silver A level of NIHL, one level above the Jaguars. The Jaguars did manage to beat the Knights, 2-1, in preliminary round play at the Chi-Town Cup tournament, before falling to them 2-0 in the championship game.