A local goaltender is shining in the USHL, a Pittsburgh junior club is bringing home a championship and more in news and notes from the action over the weekend.
?Goaltender Chad Veltri (Fox Chapel, Pittsburgh Penguins Elite) started back-to-back games for the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL and came away with a clean sheet for the weekend.
Veltri made 27 stops in a 3-0 win at Des Moines on Saturday and then turned around and made all 24 saves in a 3-0 win over Central Illinois on Sunday.
HIGHLIGHTS: February 24, 2019 vs Central Illinois https://t.co/lSmDiWy1r8
— Youngstown Phantoms (@YtownPhantoms) February 25, 2019
Veltri, who just joined Youngstown in January after previously playing for Sioux Falls this season, has an .894 save percentage and a 3.03 goals-against average in 13 games with the Phantoms. He is committed to play college hockey at Niagara.
? Tyson Springer and Dylan Frazier each had a goal and an assist and Matthew Purdue scored the game-winner, as the under-16 Pittsburgh Vengeance took down the New York Aviators, 4-3 in the final of the UPSHL U16 playoffs in Bridgewater, Mass.
#USPHL16U #USPHLPlayoffs Final Update (Bridgewater): @pittvengeance win the title 4-3 over @aviatorhockey.
Congratulations to the Vengeance on their 16U championship pic.twitter.com/9VmTUbhxvG
— USPHL (@USPHL) February 24, 2019
? Pittsburgh native and former Plum defenseman Mason Proskin has signed a tender to play for the Northeast Generals of the NAHL for the 2019-20 season.
Proskin, who will be 17 in April, has been playing for the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers U18 and U16 teams in the T1EHL this year.
?The Robert Morris women remain in first place after their weekend split with rival Mercyhurst. The Colonials have 25 points, while the Lakers and Syracuse are tied with 22 points. The top two teams in the CHA get byes into the semifinals of the CHA Tournament.
The Colonials are hosting Syracuse this weekend and will need one point to clinch a bye and two points to clinch RMU’s third consecutive CHA regular-season title.
?An 0-1-1 weekend at RIT has left Robert Morris men’s team needing two wins and to get some help in order to secure a home playoff date in the Atlantic Hockey postseason.
With 20 points, the Colonials are in 10th place in the 11-team conference, and are two points behind Army and Holy Cross, who are tied eighth place and the final home playoff spot with 22 points.
Robert Morris needs at least three points and to get some help. Army has a two-game series at home against second-place Bentley, while Holy Cross is visiting third-place Air Force for a pair of contests.
?Oliver Benwell had a hat trick on Friday and Carson Briere scored his 35th goal of the season on Saturday, as the Johnstown Tomahawks beat the Maryland Black Bears, 5-2 and 4-2 to sweep their two-game series.
Benwell, who has not committed to a college, now has 60 points in 49 games with the Tomahawks.
With 11 games to play, the Tomahawks have already clinched the NAHL’s East Division and are eight points ahead of the Amarillo Bulls for the best record in the league.
? The Esmark Stars, members of the North American Prospects Hockey League, will be holding tryouts for all levels this April at Pittsburgh Ice Arena in New Kensington, Pa.
The Stars field teams at the bantam minor (born in 2006), bantam major (2005), midget under-15 (2004), midget minor (2003-04) and midget major (2002-01) levels and are affiliated with the Johnstown Tomahawks of the NAHL.
The Stars have alumni currently playing in ACHA college club hockey, Canadian Jr. A, the NAHL, NCAA Division I and Division III.
Tryouts will begin on April 15 with 2004 and 2005 birth years and run through April 24. A full schedule and more information are available at EsmarkStars.com.
