BURLINGTON, VT -- Both Lumberjacks teams were back in action this past week, after the first weekend of showcase play. The EHL squad had a pair of games where they were looking to gain some ground in the North Conference standings, while the EHLP team looked to maintain their spot at the top with just 1 home game on Friday.
On Friday, the EHL team hosted the New England Wolves in a New England Division matchup. Prior to this game, the Lumberjacks had beaten the Wolves in the previous 2 meetings by a combined score of 13-5. Friday was no different as the Lumberjacks put up 7 goals and held their rival completely off the scoreboard. Kyle McDonald posted his 2nd hat-trick of the season, and was named a TSR Hockey Star of the Week by the EHL. The rest of the Lumberjacks goals were scored by Landon Michniak, Taylor Papesh, Robby Feathers, and Andrew Barber. In net, Chris Stangarone, had 31 saves in the shutout.
In between the 2 league matchups, Andrew Barber was chosen as the All-Star selection for the Vermont Lumberjacks. The '97 defenseman was paired up with Matt Araujo of the New York Bobcats Royals, as Team EHL battled against Umass Boston on Saturday afternoon.
Switching gears over to Tuesday where the boys headed down to Bedford, Massachusetts, to face-off against the East Coast Wizards. Jake Verreault, got the Lumberjacks on the board first, just around 11 minutes into the 1st period. The Wizards would score the next two goals to go up 2-1, before Maxime Bourque tied up the game 2-2 with 17 minutes left in the 2nd period. However, the Wizards would go on to score the next 5 goals and win the game by a final of 7-2.
The EHLP squad also hosted the New England Wolves on Friday, where they looked to extend their winning streak up to 4 games. The Lumberjacks had beaten the Wolves in the previous two meetings earlier this season, winning by a combined score of 8-2. The Wolves scored first and held a 1-0 lead heading into the break. The 2nd period on the other hand, was all Vermont as they put up 4 goals in the frame, and each one came from a different scorer. Matt Amelio notched the 1st tally on the power-play followed by a trio of even strength goals from Tyler Murray, Ryan Murray, and Connor Cameron. The Lumberjacks would tack on 1 more goal in the third period from Ryan Heck and win the game by a final of 5-1. Eric Roy had 21 saves between the pipes, pushing his record up to 3-1-0 for the season.
Looking ahead at the EHL schedule, the Lumberjacks are off for the rest of the month as they don't play until the first weekend in November, when they travel to Laconia for a pair of games against New England Wolves.
The EHLP squad has a pair of games on the road this weekend as they will head up to Laconia on Friday to face-off against the Wolves and then travel down to Tewksbury to play the Boston Jr. Rangers the very next day.
EHL - TSR Hockey Stars of the Week #7