DALLAS - The Philadelphia Jr. Flyers will face off against Shattuck-St. Mary’s on Monday in the championship game of the Chipotle-USA Hockey Girls Tier I 19U National Championship at Comerica Center.
The Jr. Flyers have dominated as the No. 1 seed in the NHL division, going 5-0-0 and outscoring their opponents 21-9. Shattuck-St. Mary’s has an impressive record of their own, as the No. 1 seed of their USA division, and having a perfect 15 points going into the championship game.
The championship matchup will take place at 1 pm ET. Watch live on USAHockeyTV.com. To view the Girls Tier I 19U homepage, click here.
Four different lead changes saw Shattuck-St. Mary’s come out on top against the East Coast Wizards, 4-3, despite a three-goal second period for the Wizards.
East Coast's Samantha Taber broke the scoring open a little over thirty seconds into opening frame for the early 1-0 lead. Caroline Aufiero broke up a pass, sending it up ice to Taber high in the slot, who sent the puck home over the shoulder of Shattuck netminder Genevieve Klein.
Shattuck got their first of the night on the power play with Maria Pape getting rewarded and tying the contest with 10:56 left in the first period. Adding to the score, Shattuck’s Sydney Putrah fired in a high shot from the top of the circle off a pass from Jackson Kinsler with just over three minutes left in the period.
The middle frame saw the Wizards begin the period with a goal at 15:46, with Aufiero scoring from the high slot to make it a 2-2 game.
The Wizards captured the lead 7:05 into the second, with Antonina Dinges sending a no-look pass back to Monique Lyons, who buried the go-ahead goal.
Shattuck’s Delaney Fleming tied the contest at 3-3 for her second point of the night with 3:07 remaining in the second, off a Margaret Scannell pass behind the goal to Hannah Fetterolf low in the crease.
The fourth and final lead change of the night came from Shattuck’s Hannah Fetterolf, who scored in the waning minutes of the third period at 4:44 on the clock. Fetterolf slammed home the game-winning goal to send Shattuck to the championship game.
A hat trick from the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers’ Ava Thomas helped send the Jr. Flyers to a 4-2 win over Rochester Youth Hockey, earning them a spot in the the championship game of the Chipotle-USA Hockey Girls Tier I 19U tournament.
The Jr. Flyers got on the board first, scoring two goals in three minutes in the final minutes of the opening frame. Thomas made it 1-0 with an unassisted wraparound goal, banking the puck home five-hole. Continuing their first period domination, the Jr. Flyers' Kaylee Lewis faked a shot just below the blue line and sent a pass to Thalia Delia, who made it a two-goal lead with a shot from the circle.
Rochester cut the lead in half at 14:09 into the second thanks to a goal from Ashley Mandeville.
The Jr. Flyers’ response came at 9:01 into the second, when Thomas scored her second of the night, intercepting a Rochester pass in the high slot of the Jr. Flyers’ defensive zone. Thomas raced down the ice on a 2-on-1, faked a pass, and sent the puck to the back of the net to tie the contest at 2-2.
Just 58 seconds later, Peyton Compton took the puck from end to end off a pass from Rose Dwyer, dekeing between the defender’s legs to go five-hole and give the Jr. Flyers a 3-2 lead.
Completing her hat trick, Thomas scored her third goal of the night with 2:43 remaining in the second period, on her second 2-on-1 opportunity that came after breaking up a Rochester pass in the defensive zone.
Despite a valiant comeback attempt by Rochester in the final period, the Jr. Flyers secured the 4-2 victory and their spot in Monday’s championship game.