Atlantic Youth Hockey League

SEWELL, N.J. — Overtime was the theme of the weekend in the 18U division, as regulation wasn’t enough to resolve these instant classics.

Long Island Royals vs. Philadelphia Hockey Club (Elite)

The Long Island Royals and Philadelphia Hockey Club (PHC) dueled wire-to-wire in an overtime barn burner that saw the Royals narrowly pull out the victory.  Brady Ort put the Royals up early with two goals in the first and second periods. PHC was able to answer in the second period but still took a 2-1 deficit into the third period. They didn’t take long to roar back, however, as they scored twice within the first two minutes of the period to not only tie the game, but take the lead as well. The Royals were able to tack on a goal to tie the game up and send it to overtime.

The two teams battled back and forth in overtime before Jack McCormick, who had been racking up assists all day, finally got a goal of his own, delivering the game winning score to secure the win for his Long Island Royals. 

New Jersey Devils Youth vs. New York Saints (Elite)

In what will doubtless be one of the highest scoring games of the entire year, the New Jersey Devils Youth and the New York Saints battled well past regulation, with the Saints barely pulling out the win, 8-7. The Saints got a contribution from just about every player on the team, as their eight goals were scored by seven players — Won-Hee Cho, Sean Creeden, Daniel Downey, Conor Keenan, Nicholas Feeney, Riley Brooks (who scored the overtime game winner) and Lucas Spinnelli (who had two goals). The Devils were a more top-heavy affair  — Danill Shlapak and William Murray each scored hattricks for their team. A relatively tranquil first period was interrupted by a blistering second period that saw seven goals scored between each team. Each team scored an additional two goals in the third to send the game to overtime, where Riley Brooks ultimately won it for the Saints.

Long Island Royals vs. Philadelphia Hockey Club (Elite)

 Perhaps not content to just play four quarters with one another, the Royals and PHC ran it back once again for another slugfest, and once again, they couldn’t settle it in regulation. In fact, they couldn’t decide a winner at all, as after four periods of action, neither team was able to outscore the other. The game was a draw. PHC was hoisted by a star performance from Robert Romarino, who accounted for three of his team’s four points with a hat trick. Raymond Sherwood responded with two of his own for the Royals, as the two teams battled to 4-4 stalemate through three quarters.