The Buffalo Stars Midget U15 team participated in the Niagara University Invitational Tournament this past weekend and claimed victory in a wild weekend of hockey.
In game one on Friday, the Stars opened with a decisive victory over the Niagara Coyotes 6-0. Anthony Gallo recorded a hat trick and single tallies were earned by Josh Hussar, Nathan Gentile and Elliott Whittaker. Connor King was solid in net turning back 17 Coyotes shots to earn the shutout.
The Stars played twice on Saturday and barely squeaked by with a pair of 1-1 ties. The first game of the morning saw the Stars come out flat against a very determined Clarence Mustangsteam. The Stars had already beaten and tied the Mustangs in this early pre season and they were on a mission to end that pattern. However, the stellar goaltending of Alex Paul kept the Stars in the game as Buffalo came from behind off the stick of Will Mann to record the tie.
In the evening contest the stars faced off against the Wheatfield Blades and once again, the Stars came out flat. Only stellar goaltending, this time from Connor King, kept the Stars in the game. Once again, Buffalo rallied from behind to tie as Ethan Alexin tallied late in the third period to advance Buffalo to the Championship round.
The division was tight and a Wheatfield victory would have kept Buffalo out of the Championship game. The Blades pulled their goaltender in a desperate attempt to gain victory but King stood tall and snatched victory for the Stars.
On Sunday, the Stars would face the Coyotes for the gold. The Coyotes had made a determined preliminary round rebound claiming victory over Clarence and a hard fought tie with Wheatfield to propel into the final game. However, the Coyotes rally was not to be as the Stars came out and dominated the game from the opening faceoff. The Stars scored in the first two shifts off the stick of Anthony Gallo and Ethan Alexin. Buffalo never looked back as Will Mann and Devin Conrad added a pair and Josh Hussar tallied once and the Stars skated to a convincing 7-0 victory. Alex Paul turned back 15 Coyotes shots to earn the shutout.
Buffalo is back in action this evening at Holiday Twin Rinks as they take on the Saints Independent team at 7:45pm. The game will be broadcast on the Stars UStream.tv network. You can view the game free of charge at:http://www.ustream.tv/channel/buffalo-stars-junior-hockey%20
In other news, the Stars U16 team will open the regular season against Cheektowaga this evening at 9:15 at Holiday. That game will also be broadcast.
The Stars U18 team also participated in the weekend tournament and came out with a 1-3 record. The Stars fell to Bud Bakewell 6-4; Caz 4-0 and Clarence 3-2 before rebounding with a solid 5-2 victory over the Purple Eagles on Sunday.
You can follow the Buffalo Stars on line at:www.buffalostars.com
