USPHL Premier Players Of The Week: West Region

Summaries Provided By Joshua Boyd, Grace Mello and Brendan Price

Week of Oct. 12, 2022

Northwest Division 

Forward: Austin Tessier, Seattle Totems

Tessier (‘03/Airdrie, Alb.) put together a hat trick plus an assist in their second win of the weekend against the Bellingham Blazers, including the GWG. Earning multiple votes from division coaches, he put up a line of five goals and four assists for nine points. The second-year Premier player has already passed his 2021-22 goals total. 

 

Defense: Kyle Russell, Vernal Oilers

The second-year Oiler, an ‘02 from Dallas, Texas, was a +11 for the weekend and put up three goals and five assists for eight points over the weekend. Like Tessier, he received votes from multiple teams this week. 

 

Goaltender: Antonio Tarantino, Vernal Oilers

Tarantino (‘02/Fremont, Calif.) is another player who received multiple votes, coming off a weekend that saw him stop 57 of 58 shots, including all 28 against Rogue Valley on Oct. 9. He is 3-0 overall in this, his second USPHL Premier season. He has a 0.85 goals against average and a .978 save percentage on the year so far. 

 

Pacific Division 

Forward: Christopher Miraldo, Fresno Monsters

Back in Fresno for another season, Miraldo (‘02/Montreal, Que.) has already begun to help his team put the puck in the net. This weekend he earned five assists, bringing him up to 12 points in just six games.

 

Defense: Yuri Stalev, Long Beach Shredders

Here for his first year in the USPHL, Stalev (‘02/Moskva, Russia) helped the Shredders grab a few wins over the weekend. Earning five goals against Lake Tahoe, he brings his point total up to 16. He is currently tied for sixth in points in the USPHL Premier.

 

Goaltender: Jacob Baxter, Long Beach Shredders

Baxter (‘03/Madison, Ala.) went 1-1 on the weekend for the Shredders, stopping 43 of 47 shots. He also earns a #ShutoutShoutout for his 21 save game in the Shredders 9-0 win over Lake Tahoe.

 

Mountain Division 

Forward: Jake Meure, Ogden Mustangs

Meure Magic moved into the top-10 in franchise history in points with style over the weekend. The Fremont, Calif., product had four goals and two assists, punctuated by his first career hat trick in Ogden’s 9-2 victory over Rock Springs on Saturday night. Meure leads Ogden with nine points (4-5-9) through their first five games.

 

Defens: Xavier Fortin, Northern Colorado Eagles

Fortin (‘02/Candiac, Que.) showed up and showed out against NoCo’s rival, Pueblo, in both games this weekend. He notched back-to-back multi point games, finishing the series with one goal and three assists. Fortin already has four multi-point games out of eight played and is on a point-per-game pace to start the season.

 

Goaltender: Owen Yancey, Ogden Mustangs

Yancey (‘02/Gilbertsville, Pa.) had to wait until last weekend to get his first start with Ogden and didn’t disappoint. He pitched a 25-save shutout last Thursday in the team’s win over Provo. His encore against Rock Springs wasn’t too shabby either; he finished with 18 saves on 20 shots and finished the weekend 2-0-0 with a dominating .956 save percentage.