West wins NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament
The NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament came to a close on Wednesday with the conclusion of the final two games as the East battled the Central and the South took on the West.
The NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament was played in conjunction with the North American Hockey League's (NAHL) Top Prospects Tournament, along with the North American Prospects Hockey League's (NAPHL) Championship Series. The event has quickly become one of the most highly-scouted events of its kind, with over 200 junior, NCAA and NHL in attendance this past week. Combined with the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament and NAPHL Championship series, it made for an exciting week of hockey and provided a great opportunity for every scout and coach to get a closer look the talent in the three leagues.
In the opening game, the Central team jumped out to a 5-1 lead and withstood a furious East comeback to win 6-4 and finish the event with a 2-1 record, while East finished 1-2. Cincinnati Swords forward Hunter Schneider had two goals in the Central win. Tyler Zalecki got the East on the board first, which was answered by a power play goal from Zack Johnson of the Central. Schneider scored twice, which was sandwiched by goals from Zane O’Bryan and Andrew McGlynn to push the Central lead to 5-1. In the 3rd period the East cut the lead to 5-3 on goals from Mark McGee and Carter Reid, but a goal from Nathan Chasteen made it 6-3. Cody Black added the final goal for the East to make it 6-4. Boxscore
In the other late morning game, the West Division completed a perfect and dominant run through the event by beating the South 8-1 to win the Top Prospects event with a perfect 3-0 record. The South finished with an 0-3 record. North Iowa’s Richie Marenis led the way with a four-point game, which included two goals and two assists. The west led 3-0 after one period on goals from Calvin Miska, Tim Santopoalo and Matt Kroska. Marenis was part of a four-goal barrage in the 2nd period, which made it 7-0 along with goals from Joe Anderson, Jace Childs and Garrett Skinner. Kyle Shreve scored the lone goal for the South late in the period to make it 7-1. Marenis added his second goal of the contest in the 3rd period to make the final 8-1. Childs led the tournament in scoring with nine points, which would followed by Marenis, Miska and Christian Mohs with eight points each. The West also had the event’s top two goalies in North Iowa’s Chris Amsden and Granite City’s Austin Wilson. Boxscore
