Photo Credit: @paulspicsnj

Both Huntsmen teams only had one game over the weekend. The EHL Team faced the New Jersey 87s for the fourth time in a row, while the Premier Team battled against the Philadelphia Little Flyers. The EHL Team was looking to end a five-game losing streak and the Premier Team wanted to build off their overtime win against the New Jersey Renegades from the week prior.

EHL vs 87s (Sunday)

There was no scoring in the 1st period. The Huntsmen led in shots 11-4 and ended the period shorthanded, a penalty that carried over into the 2nd. The 87s were setting up the power play and Xavier Tremblay stole the puck, skated to the offensive zone a ripped a shot and the shorthanded goal gave the Huntsmen a 1-0 lead. Ryan Arendes doubled the lead when he stole the puck in the neutral zone, he put a beautiful move on the defense and drove to the net. The initial stop was made, but he scored on his own rebound attempt to finish the play. The 87s answered back with a break away goal making it 2-1. Just over a minute later Damon Warren entered the zone two on one and fed Edward Mirigliano giving the Huntsmen a 3-1 lead. A defensive breakdown led to another 87s breakaway, and it was a 3-2  game. Pennsylvania ended the 2nd with authority. Mirigliano won an offensive zone draw to himself and sent a backhander top shelf to give the Huntsmen a 2-goal lead again. Then :29 later Warren sent a long pass to Devin England, and he scored on the breakaway to cap off a 5-goal period, and the Huntsmen had a 5-2 lead. New Jersey scored in the 3rd, but didn't gain any more momentum and the Huntsmen ended the losing streak with a 5-3 win, as Illus made 33 saves.

Premier vs Little Flyers (Saturday)

The first time these teams met, the Little Flyers won in blowout fashion. The Huntsmen returned the favor. In the 1st period, Cullen Heintz and James Mirigliano both scored 2 goals and Raleigh Radkowski, Devin Schaeffer and Braden Kozlowski added goals, and the Huntsmen were up 7-2. In the 2nd period, Radkowski scored twice giving him a hat trick and Heintz also scored a goal to complete a hat trick. Jaiden Batista and Evan Mostoller tallied for PA and the Huntsmen ran away with a 12-3 victory.

Up Next

               EHL

The Huntsmen have a home and home series against the Philadelphia Little Flyers. The last time they faced Philadelphia was back in late September. This will be meetings 3-4 of the season and the Huntsmen have won the first two matchups, 7-1 and 3-2. After a rough start to the season the Little Flyers have been playing much better recently. They had a 3-game win streak with a pair of wins over the 87s and an OT win at the New York Applecore. The streak ended against Philadelphia Hockey Club (PHC), but they picked up a point in a shootout loss. The Little Flyers rematched with PHC Saturday and lost 4-1. Overall, the Little Flyers are 4-6-2 with 10 points and last in the South Division. The losing streak didn't do the Huntsmen any favors as they are just above the Little Flyers at 6-8 with 12 points. The Huntsmen will look to string together a few more wins and head in the right direction.

        Premier

With back-to-back wins the Huntsmen are now 5-8 and 5th in the South Division. This weekend will be a tough one for the Huntsmen. They will face the New Jersey Bears and New Jersey 87s, two teams that the Huntsmen have yet to win against. They are 0-1 vs the Bears after a 4-2 loss on the road in late October. The Bears are  7-4-1 in 2nd place with 15 points. The Bears picked up a point in a shootout loss to the 87s and then split against the Union Jr. Thunder with a 2-1 win and a 4-0 loss. The Bears will face the New Jersey Renegades before battling the Huntsmen. The 87s are on a 5-game winning streak and are 13-2 with 26 points for 1st place in the division, and ranked 3rd overall in the Premier. The 87s have dominated inside the division and are a perfect 13-0. The two losses they have are against the Adirondak Jr. Thunder and the New England Wolves, both part of the North Division.

Schedule

EHL vs Little Flyers  Wed.  11:30am

EHL at Little Flyers   Fri.  12pm

Premier at 87s    Sat.  7:30pm

Premier vs Bears  Sun.  1:15pm

By: Joe Sindoni

Staff Writer

Play by Play Announcer