2024 Top Prospects Tournament Concludes
The 2024 North American Hockey League (NAHL) Top Prospects Tournament came to a close on Tuesday, February 6th at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania.
After a 4-0 win, Team Central finished the event with a 2-0 record and captured the Top Prospects title. Thanks to fantastic play in net from Klayton Knapp (Bismarck Bobcats) and Adam Dybal (Aberdeen Wings), not a single goal was scored on Team Central during the event.
Day 2 recaps
Selects Silver 1 vs Midwest 4: In Tuesdays opening game of the day, Team Midwest took down Selects Silver in a 4-1 final. Midwest netted the lone goal of the fist period with Will Schumacher (Wisconsin Windigo) for a 1-0 lead. In the second, Riley Rosenthal (Odessa Jackalopes) tied the game 1-1. Later in the period, Trey Fechko (Janesville Jets) scored, followed by another from Everett Pietila (Wisconsin Windigo) for a 3-1 Midwest lead. In the third period, Jackson Stimple (Anchorage Wolverines) netted the final goal of the game. Matthew Alberti (Janesville Jets) and Tyler Krivtsov (Tyler Krivtsov) both split time in the crease. Alberti stopped 27 of 28 shots and Krivtsov stopped all 17 he faced.
Selects Gold 3 vs South 7: After scoring four goals in the second period, Team South defeated Selects Gold by a final score of 7-3. The game was deadlocked 1-1 after the first period. Jacob Jastzebski (Wisconsin Windigo) scored for Selects Gold and Medrick Bolduc (El Paso Rhinos) for Team South. The second period was all Team South as Medrick Bolduc, Roman Zap (Amarillo Wranglers), Ryan Burke (Shreveport Mudbugs) and Frank Tafelski (El Paso Rhinos) all scored for a 5-1 lead. In the third period, Ryan Burke added to Team South’s lead, 6-1. Selects Gold added back-to-back goals with Nikita Meshcheryakov (New Jersey Titans) and Jake Merens (Janesville Jets) scoring for a 6-3 score. Later in the period, Topi Puikkonen (Amarillo Wranglers) added the final goal of the game for a 7-3 score. Both Jack Wieneke (Lone Star Brahmas) and Andy Vlaha (New Mexico Ice Wolves) saw time in net. Wieneke backstopped 15 shots and Vlaha stopped 17.
Central 4 vs East 0: Team Central had a clean sweep at Top Prospects 2024 after shutting out Team East by a score of 4-0. Team Central did not have a single goal scored on them in both showings. In the opening period, Ocean Wallace (Austin Bruins) and Weston Turner (Aberdeen Wings) scored to take a 2-0 lead. The second period saw a goal from Damon Furuseth (Austin Bruins) which extended Central’s lead to 3-0. Riley Sharun (Aberdeen Wings) added the final goal of the event for a 4-0 final score. Adam Dybal (Aberdeen Wings) put on a show as he posted a 22 shot shutout win in net.