Miceli, Cifuentes point Hawks towards gold

The battle for the top seed in the JCC of Bayonne’s Jr. Division Floor Hockey Championship Tournament was still up for grabs when the (4-3) Blackhawks faced off against the (2-4-1) Red Wings with the Red Wings primed to play the role of spoiler. Both teams traded goals in the early going with the Blackhawks’ Harsh Easwar and Alejandro “See Ya” Cifuentes netting goals while the Red Wings answered with two scoring strikes by Jake Peregrin as Jordan Neustein and Victor Mendolaro notched assists. Knotted at 2 all, the Blackhawks’ Matt Miceli levitated an amazing wrist shot for a score which was quickly followed by Alejandro Cifuentes’ 24th goal of the season as the Hawks buillt a 4-2 advantage. At the halfway point, the drama heated up as the Red Wings’ defense rallied with Sebastian Valles, Alejandra Valles, and Micahel Egan spearheading the effort. The Red Wings’ bolstered defense soon paid off as an intercepted pass turned into Jake Peregrin’s third goal of the bout cutting the Blackhawks’ lead to 4-3. With less than five minutes remaining, the Blackhawks stretched their lead to 5-3 as Michael “Stonewall” McCollum sailed a pass up court to Aaliyana Cifuentes who cashed in with her ninth goal of the season. Down by two goals, the Red Wings fought back to make it 5-4 as Peregrin drilled in his fourth goal of the game. With time running out, the Red Wings tried to lower the game tying boom, but key defensive plays by the Blackhawks’ Roman Popowski, Declan Good and Harsh Easwar foiled the Wings’ comeback surge. With their hard fought 5-4 victory, the Blackhawks advance to the “Gold” medal round while the Red Wings must face the Bruins in a play-off bout to advance.

Week 6 Jr. Division
Offensive Player of the week – Megan Feeley – Bruins
Defensive Player of the week – Arya Deshmukh – Bruins
Teamwork/ Leadership Player of the week – Sebastian Valles – Red Wings

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