Girls Tier I 16U Notebook: Play Continues in West Chester

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Behind multi-goal efforts from Cassandra Hall, Kaia Malachino and Ella Blackmore, Detroit Little Caesars defeated the Florida Alliance, 8-1, to remain undefeated in pool play at the Girls Tier I 16U Chipotle-USA Hockey National Championship.

“I think we’re coming along nicely,” said head coach Kenny Ryan. “It’s a tournament and you want to get stronger as the tournament goes along. I think the girls are playing well and really coming together as a team.”

The goals came early and often for Little Caesars, and Hall got the scoring started. She corralled the puck in the slot and fired a shot to the back of the net. Shortly after, Malachino extended the Little Caesars lead to 2-0 with her first goal of the game.

Ava Stevenson scored three minutes later to push the lead to 3-0, but the lead reverted back to two just 30 seconds later. Following a shot from the point, the Alexis Fitzsimmons corralled it and fired it home.

Hall added her second of the period later on. She would add a helper in the second period on Blackmore’s first goal. Hall found Blackmore on the left dot, and the righty fired a one-timer in to extend the Little Caesars lead to 5-1.

Malachino’s second goal came a few minutes later. After she stole the puck at the blue line, Malachino made a toe drag move toward the slot and fired a shot off the cross bar. The puck then bounced a couple of times and eventually found its way across the goal line.

In the third, Malachino made a nice move at the goal line and Blackmore put in the rebound which pushed the Little Caesars lead to 7-1. The scoring concluded with just under two minutes remaining as Ava Perrone collected a blocked shot and put it in.

“I think just believing in each other, trusting in each other and playing that team game from start to finish should put us in a good position [heading into Saturday],” said Ryan.

Little Caesars will take on Pittsburgh and Florida will match up next against Anaheim.

HIGHLIGHT: Hall nets her first of the game.

Other Action

Minnesota Elite Vegas 5, Gilmour Gladiators 3: Whitney Tuttle bookended the game with goals for Minnesota. Katelyn Roberts, Sami Bowlby and Sloane Matthews also scored for Minnesota. Alaina Giampietro scored twice for Glimour and Lyla Tsu added a tally.

RYA at Selects Academy 7, Team Colorado 0: Angeline Digirolamo recorded a hat trick and Isabella Vasseur scored twice in the RYA at Selects Academy shutout. Olivia Rubinstein and Isabelle Krause also scored. Chloe Lewis recorded a shutout.

Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 9, Anaheim Lady Ducks 2: Katherine Khramtsov scored twice and added two assists for Pittsburgh. Hannah Fetterolf also had a multi-goal game. Laura Beecher and Isabelle Power each had a goal and two assists while Addison Murdoch, Dylan Green and Alyssa Fetsko added the other goals. Lexy Ace and Megan Martodam.

Shattuck St. Mary's 2, New Jersey Titans 1: Jordyn Petrie and Sophie Morrow scored for Shattuck in the first and second periods. Molly Riggi scored in the third period for New Jersey, but Genevieve Klein stood tall the rest of the way in net.

Mid-Fairfield Stars 3, Chicago Young Americans 0: A goal in each period helped Mid-Fairfield. Alexandra Whalen, Amanda Quan and Margaret Johnson were the goal scorers. Stephanie Ionescu earned the shutout.

Chicago Mission 3, Team Wisconsin 2 (SO): A close contest ended with Chicago earning a shootout win. Mckayla Zilisch scored the first two goals for Team Wisconsin before the Mission tied it up on Margot Norehead and Molly Henderson goals.

East Coast Wizards 5, Philadelphia Jr. Flyers 1: Jackson Kinsler, Ava Decoste, Mia Langlois Emerson Oleary and Elisabeth Rourke all scored for East Coast and Elizabeth Sullivan and Ainsley Moulton split time in net. Angelina Mirto scored for Philadelphia.