USHL Honors - Week 9

Press Release

The United States Hockey League today announced the CCM and Reebok player awards for the ninth week of the 2012-13 USHL regular season.

Award winners include Taylor Cammarata and Zach Stepan of the Waterloo Black Hawks, named co-recipients of CCM Forward of the Week; Ryan Lowney of the Youngstown Phantoms, selected as CCM Defenseman of the Week; and Sean Romeo of the Youngstown Phantoms who earned honors as Reebok Goaltender of the Week.

Cammarata collected nine points (3g, 6a) and posted a plus-four rating as the Black Hawks won two of three games during the week.  He scored a goal and dished out two assists in Wednesday’s 6-5 loss to Des Moines.  The 17-year-old then had a goal and two assists in the 4-3 win over Cedar Rapids on Thanksgiving.  Cammarata finished his week with another three-point game (1g, 2a) in Saturday’s 7-3 victory against Cedar Rapids.  His goal in the third period was the 100^th regular season point in his USHL career.  The Plymouth, Minnesota native is riding a seven-game point streak, all of which have been multi-point games, and he now leads the USHL in scoring with 31 points (11g, 20a) in 14 games this season.

Stepan scored nine points (4g, 5a) and registered a plus-two rating over three games for Waterloo.  He dished out three assists in the 6-5 loss to Des Moines on Wednesday.  The 18-year-old then had a USHL career high four-point game (3g, 1a), including his first hat trick, in the 4-3 win over Cedar Rapids on Thursday.  His third goal proved to be the game-winner and he now leads the League with five game-winners this season.  Stepan added two points (1g, 1a) in Saturday’s 7-3 victory against Cedar Rapids to extend his point streak to nine games.  The Hastings, Minnesota native has been held off the scoresheet just once in his 15 games this season and is currently fourth in USHL scoring with 27 points (12g, 15a).

Lowney recorded seven points (1g, 6a) and a plus-five rating to help the Phantoms capture three victories during the holiday week.  He assisted on all five goals during Wednesday’s 5-3 win against Indiana.  The five-assist night equaled a USHL Tier 1 era (2002-present) record for assists in a game and is the most by a defenseman during that span.  Lowney then recorded a goal and posted a game high plus-four rating in Friday’s 6-0 win over Team USA.  The 18-year-old from Redford, Michigan closed out the week with one assist and helped Youngstown record their second straight shutout in the 3-0 victory against Team USA on Saturday.  He is currently third in scoring among USHL defensemen with 13 points (3g, 10a) in 20 games this season.

Romeo posted a 1.00 goals-against-average and .963 save percentage as he was in net for all three Phantoms victories.  He made 31 saves in Wednesday’s 5-3 victory over Indiana, his third straight game making 30-or-more saves.  The 18-year-old then stopped all 23 shots he faced in the 6-0 victory over Team USA on Saturday to record his first USHL career shutout.  Romeo remained unbeatable on Saturday when he recorded another shutout with a 24-save effort in the 3-0 win against Team USA.  The Cary, North Carolina native has won each of his last four starts and is currently riding a streak of 137:42 minutes of game action without allowing a goal.


 (Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)