Top seeds claim Day 1 wins at Silver Cup
Metro Jets goalie Andrew Kormos made 31 saves in a 3-0 shutout on Day 1 of the Silver Cup.
#1 Metro Jets 3 vs. #8 Granite City Lumberjacks 0 – Metro Jets goalie Andrew Kormos shut the door on the Lumberjacks in the opening game of the 2017 Silver Cup as he made 31 saves in a 3-0 win. The win moved Metro to 1-0 in pool play, while Granite City dropped to 0-1. It did not take the Jets long to get on the scoreboard as just over three minutes into the game veteran forward Mathias Tellstrom lit the lamp. Less than two minutes later, it was forward Chas Distelrath with a goal to make the score 2-0. Granite City would settle down, but could not find the back of the net thanks to some great saves from Kormos. Late in the 2nd period, the Jets lead increased to 3-0 as Hayden Winch scored. Kormos did the rest in the 3rd period, which included 12 saves in the final frame and 31 saves overall in the shutout. Lumberjacks goalie Mac Berglove made 24 saves in the loss. Boxscore
#4 St. Louis Jr. Blues 4 vs. #5 Atlanta Capitals 2 – Two goals from forward Joe Papa led the St. Louis Jr. Blues to a 4-2 win over the Atlanta Capitals in the opening game of the Silver Cup Championship for both teams. Papa opened the scoring for the Jr. Blues late in the 1st period to make the score 1-0. After a scoreless 2nd period, the action was turned up in the 3rd period as the teams combined for five goals. Early in the 3rd period, Papa scored his second goal of the game to make it 2-0 for the Jr. Blues. However, Atlanta didn’t go away and thanks to the power play, ended up tying the game at 2-2 thanks to goals from Tristen Poliseno and Sascha Figi. The Jr. Blues regained the lead back with less than five minutes remaining in the final period thanks to a goal from Daniil Ovchinnikov. Defenseman Joe Nolan scored an insurance goal to make the final score, 4-2. Jr. Blues goalie Sawyer Schmidt made 22 saves in the win, while Nolan Bivolcic made 29 saves in the loss. Boxscore
#2 Binghamton Junior Senators 8 vs. #7 Long Beach Sharks 1 – Ryan Flanagan and Conor Landrigan had big nights as the Binghamton Junior Senators flexed their offensive muscles in a 8-1 win in the opening game for both teams at the Silver Cup. Binghamton jumped out to a 3-0 lead with three, 1st period goals including two from Landrigan and one from Flanagan. The Sharks put a brief stop to the scoring barrage as Oskar Lindberg struck back late in the 1st period as the Junior Sens led 3-1 heading into the 1st intermission. Two more goals from Binghamton increased the lead to 5-1 in the 2nd period as Flanagan found the back of the next a second time and Zach Satalino also scored. In the 3rd period, the offense continued as Binghamton pushed the lead to 6-1 with goal less than a minute in from Ryan Reifler. Five minutes later, Stephen Aponik scored to make it 7-1. Jeremy Wilber got his first goal of the Championship to make it 8-1. In goal, Binghamton goalie Sal Lauretta was solid, making 24 saves in the win. For the Sharks, Zach Young took the loss with 17 saves and Kyle Van Wagner made 13 saves in relief. Boxscore
#3 Yellowstone Quake 4 vs. #6 North Iowa Bulls 2 – Three straight goals in the late 2nd and early 3rd period propelled the Yellowstone Quake to a 4-2 win over the defending Silver Cup Champion North Iowa Bulls in the final game of the opening day of the Silver Cup. Tony Dahlberg scored twice for the Quake, which included the games opening goal in the 1st period as the Quake jumped out to a 1-0 lead. The Bulls briefly took a 2-1 lead in the 2nd period with back-to-back goals from Brendan Studioso and Connor Clemons. However, the lead was short-lived as just over a minute later, the Quake tied the game at 2-2 in the late stages of the 2nd period on a goal from Curt Greenbush. In the 3rd period, the Quake took control, which included Dahlberg’s second goal of the night and one from Pablo Pantoja. Quake goalie Nick Ottenbacher was another big difference in the game as he stopped 31 of 33 shots, while North Iowa goalie Drew Scites made 21 saves in the loss. Boxscore
