It can be said that for a true hockey player, the ice is
merely their playground.
If that is true, than for Squirt 2 during the second half of
their NIHL seeding round, their playground was pretty simple – it had a seesaw
and a lot of swings.
The seesaw is because of the up-and-down nature of the
second half, which saw the Jaguars splitting their final four games between wins
and losses by going up and down between the two. The swings came from the
number of momentum changes that had the Jaguars going back and forth between
the good and the bad at times during those final four games.
JAGUARS 2, JETS 0
During the first game of that four-game stretch, back on
Oct. 19, it appeared that the Jaguars might be stuck on the up side of the
seesaw, as the Jaguars jumped out to a lead less than halfway through the first
period and then remained on top en route to a 2-0 win. The home victory came rather easily despite
the fact the game was actually played at Johnny’s IceHouse West, the home rink
of the “visiting” Chicago Jets.
Max Sterioti got everything moving in the right direction
against the Jets, converting on a power play with 6:42 to play in the opening
stanza on assists from Kevin Stewart and Ryan Louthan. The score remained 1-0
until just :27 remained in the second period, when Liam Jenkins provided some
insurance for the a Jaguars off an assist from Sterioti.
The teams traded penalties throughout the third period, but
no additional goals as Kenny Zschach made 12 saves between the pipes to ensure
the shutout victory. The Jaguars forced Jets goalkeeper E. Sullivan to make 20 saves in order to keep
the score close.
FALCONS 3, JAGUARS 2
When the Jaguars took the ice Oct. 20 against the visiting
Falcons, they ultimately found themselves on the heavy end of the season
seesaw, enduring a heartbreaking loss in a game where the hockey playground’s
swings were prevalent.
As in the previous game, the Jaguars jumped out to an early
lead. Joey Guldan gave the Jaguars that initial cushion when he took a pass
from Max Krause and put the puck behind Falcon’s goaltender Edward Zygowicz on
a power play less than five minutes into the first period.
The swing, however, drifted backwards for the first time
with 3:29 to play in the second period. Blake Valfer scored for the Falcons on
assists from Ethan Nicholas and Jacob Zechman to make the score 1-1, which is
where it stayed going in the third.
The swing flew back in the Jaguars direction when Max
Sterioti scored with 9:09 to play on an assist from Blake Brenczewski.
Just over three minutes later, however, things swung again
as the Falcons regained the momentum with a tying goal off the stick of
Harrison Menaker. The unassisted goal with 6:03 to play knotted the score at
2-2.
Still riding their upward momentum swing, the Falcons scored
what was to be the eventual game winner with 4:59 left to play. Michael
Wisneski was the goal scorer, while Zachary Sweig was credited with the assist.
Jaguar goaltender ended with 17 saves on the afternoon, two
more than the Falcon’s Zygowicz.
JAGUARS 3, MANIAX 1
The trends continued for the Jaguars on Oct. 21, although in
this outing at Dyer, Ind., it was once again the Jaguars who rode the swings to
the top of the seesaw.
For the first time in the seeding round’s second half,
however, it was the Jaguars who found themselves playing from a deficit early.
With about one minute left in the opening stanza, the Midwest Maniax’s Bill
McCall opened the scoring on an assist from Adyn Konchar.
It would prove to be the only goal given up on the afternoon
by Jaguar goalie Kenny Zschach, who turned
in a brilliant performance by stopping the next 25 shots thrown at him
by the Maniax offense.
It was the Jaguars’ offense that clicked for the rest of the
afternoon, as the visitors saw the momentum swing in their favor during the
second period.
Getting things going in the right direction was Ryan
Louthan, who scored an unassisted goal with 9:28 remaining in the second period
to knot the score at 1-1.
The Jaguars grabbed their first lead when, with 5:02 to play
in the period, Louthan assisted on a goal off the stick of Max Sterioti to make
the score 2-1. Sterioti then added an insurance goal less than a minute later,
with 4:18 to play, this one assisted by Liam Jenkins.
The score remained 3-1 throughout the final period despite
12 shots by the Jaguars and 11 shots off the sticks of the Maniax. The period was
marred by six penalties , which left one or both teams undermanned for the
first two-thirds of the final stanza.
KNIGHTS 6, JAGUARS 3
The final game of the seeding round was also marred by
penalties and marked by momentum swings, although the Jaguars found themselves
once again on the low end of the seesaw … and one player short due to injury by
the end.
The St. Jude Knights fought their way to the early lead
against the Jaguars on Oct. 23, scoring the only two goals of the opening
stanza, both off the stick of Lane Scott. Scott scored with 8:52 left in the
first period, and again with 4:37 to play, both times on assists from Patrick
McDonnell.
The momentum swung to the Jaguars early in the second period
when Max Sterioti scored just 87 seconds into the middle stanza. Ryan Louthan
was credited with the assist on the goal, which cut the score to 2-1. Louthan
took it upon himself to score the equalizer, converting an assist from Joey
Guldan with 2:16 remaining in the period.
St. Jude seized the momentum again, however, swinging it
back in their favor when Logan Pickands scored an unassisted goal with just
1:20 to play in the second.
Things took a turn for the worse in the game and for the
Jaguars in the third period, which saw six penalties including a bench minor
against the Jaguars.
The Knights continued to build on their momentum and their
score as Tyler Pruszewski scored on assists from Scott and McDonnel to make it
4-2 in favor of St. Jude just :16 into
the third period. A fifth St. Jude goal followed with 9:13 to play, as William
Curtin scored on a feed from Michael Layman.
Just eight seconds later, the Jaguars would find themselves
with an unexpected short bench for the rest of the game as defenseman Dylan
Graziano slumped to the ice along the boards to the rear of the Jaguars’ net
after sustaining a hard check in the back and being slammed into the boards.
Graziano was eventually assisted to the bench – and ultimately to the locker room
– as rough play continued on the ice.
The Knights were whistled for three additional infractions,
including a double minor, before the end of the game.
The Jaguars held the Knights scoreless throughout the
nine-minute stretch following Graziano’s injury, until they managed a goal of
their own with just :20 to play to cut the St. Jude lead to 5-3. James Gray Jr.
was credited with the unassisted tally.
Not satisfied with a two-goal victory, however, the Knights
had the momentum swing in the their favor one last time, as Scott completed his
hat trick with an unassisted goal with :09 remaining to bring the final score
to 6-3.
The loss brought the Jaguars’ final seeding-round record to
3-3-2 in the Red Tier of the Silver Level of the Squirt Division in NIHL. The
record left the Jaguars literally in the middle of the pack among the Squirt
teams in all three tiers combined, resulting in the Jaguars being placed as the
top-seeded team in Tier 2 of the Silver Division for the regular season.
The Jaguars will begin NIHL regular-season play
with a home-and-home series against Bloomington on Saturday and Sunday, Nov.
17-18. The teams will play at Inwood at 5:20 p.m. Saturday, before reprising
their matchup at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington on Sunday afterno
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