Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Central, North and South all win on Day 2 of Top Prospects

Press Release

It was another exciting day at the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament in Troy, Michigan, as all 120 players did their best to show the hundreds of scouts in attendance what they could do.  At the end of the day, it was the North and Central teams who both won to move their respective records to 2-0, setting up a final day showdown for all the marbles on Wednesday and the title of Top Prospects Champions.  The South team also picked up their first win of the Tournament on Wednesday moving them to 1-1.  Here is a recap of the Day 2 action:

Central 2 vs. NAHL 18U Selects 1 – The 18U Selects again proved that despite having a team with an average age of just 17-years-old, they gave a tough Central squad all they could handle.  Nick D’Avolio (Alexandria) scored the first goal just :46 seconds into the game.  New Mexico’s Adam Chapie increased the Central lead to 2-0 with an awesome, sharp angle shot that squeezed over the shoulder of Fresno’s Tomas Sholl, who got the start in goal for the 18U Selects.  At the halfway point, the two teams switched their goalies as Anthony Stolarz (Corpus Christi) came in for Sholl and Tyler Bruggeman (Austin) came in for Tommy Burke (Bismarck), who did not give up a goal in his 30 minutes.  The remainder of the game was dominated by solid defense and great goaltending.  Amarillo’s Jude Warner picked up the lone 18U Selects goal midway through the 3rd period.  Despite 22 saves from Stolarz, the Selects could not tie the game as the Central skated to a 2-1 win. Boxscore

North 4 vs. West 1 – The size of the North players has played a big role as to why they are 2-0 so far in the Top Prospects Tournament and Tuesday was no exception.  More solid goaltending from the duo of Peter Megariotis (Port Huron) and Joe Ballmer (Jamestown) helped the North to a 4-1 win over the West, sending the West to an 0-2 record.  Kalamazoo’s Brock Raffaele score the game’s first goal on a nice pass from fellow K-Wing Andrew Graves.  Sean Murphy (Traverse City) and Mike Moroso (Port Huron) increased the lead to 3-0 in the 2nd period with goals just :53 seconds apart.  Moroso would add his second goal in the 3rd period to make it 4-0 for the North.  Gabe Levin (Fairbanks) broke the North shutout bid with the West’s only goal late in the 3rd period.  Nick Kulmanovsky (Alaska) made 28 saves in the loss for the West. Boxscore

South 5 vs. Midwest 0 – Thanks to a combined shutout by Topeka’s Peter Traber and Amarillo’s Gregg Gruehl, the South picked up their first win of the Top Prospects Tournament with a blanking of the Midwest.  Aaron Davis (Coulee Region) took the loss in net, but made 39 saves.  After a scoreless 1st period, the South got on the board in the 2nd period with three goals from Dan Dupell (Topeka), TJ Sarcona (Amarillo) and Taylor Herndon (Texas).  Herndon would then add his second goal of the game late in the 3rd period and then assist on his teammate’s goal to make it 5-0 as Jordan Greenberg (Texas) made it a 5-0 final.  Herndon finished with three points and Corpus Christi’s Beau Walker also had a great game, racking up three assists in the win.  Traber ended up making 15 saves, while Gruehl made 16 saves for the combined shutout. Boxscore


 (Nathan can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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