P.A.L. Jr. Islanders 4, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights 2
The Jr. Islanders won Game 1 of their USPHL Premier Atlantic Division series with the WBS Knights, taking a 4-2 victory to start. Brett LoGelfo and Thomas Miller each scored a goal and added an assist, and William Prange and Dominic Mastromonica also scored goals. Marks Dinsdorfs stopped 31 of 33 shots for the win. Gusts Valantis made 24 saves on 27 shots.
Metro Jets 2, Toledo Cherokee 1
the Metro Jets won 2-1 against their historic rivals the Toledo Cherokee, so we are headed to a Game 3 to settle the #USPHLPremier Great Lakes Division Championship. A.J. Zaccagni scored the GWG, Pierce Ashcroft had two assists and Rostislav Efremov made 27 saves on 28 shots for the win. Austin Nowak stopped 31 of 33 shots for the Cherokee. Game 3 faceoff time is 2 p.m. EST on Sunday!
Universel Sherbrooke 4, Montreal Black Vees 1
The first-ever USPHL Premier Canada Division Playoff Champions defeated the regular season champion Montreal Black Vees in a three-game series, finishing it Saturday night with a 4-1 victory. Noah Trempe scored the GWG and added two assists, Mattia Gaier had a goal and an assist, and Victor Proulx set up two of the goals with assists. Goaltender Carlo Giordani stopped 32 of 33 shots in net for the win. For Montreal, Nathan Rutter-Richardson was strong with 36 saves on 40 shots. Sherbrooke is also the Canada Division’s first-ever USPHL Nationals qualifier. They’ll be playing at the Nationals in Wayne, N.J., which run March 20-24.
Minnesota Squatch 5, Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings 2
The Squatch have closed out their series against the Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings in two games, winning 5-2 on Saturday night for a 2-0 series sweep. Jay Ellingson scored a goal and added two assists, Cannon Bonifay put up a goal and an assist, Jacob Sinclair sent home the GWG and Anyon Bennett stopped 38 of 40 shots in net. Dominic Hite made 36 saves on 41 shots for the Riverkings. The Squatch will make their second straight trip to the #USPHLNationals, which takes place March 20-24 in Wayne, N.J.
Fort Wayne Spacemen 3, Chicago Crush 2
The Fort Wayne Spacemen became the third USPHL Premier team to close out their series on Saturday night, winning in two games against the Chicago Crush to advance to USPHL Nationals for a third straight year. They won Game 2 by a 3-2 score. Tucker Tone scored twice, and Ivan Barnashov scored the game-winning goal. Christopher Gingras made 16 saves on 18 shots. Next stop for the Spacemen is Wayne, New Jersey, site of the 2025 USPHL Nationals. The Spacemen defeated the Chicago Cougars in the first two games of the playoffs. From there, they defeated the Crush in Game 1, 8-1, setting up the Game 2 final.
Summaries by Joshua Boyd
