Thursday Thriller: New Hampshire Kicks the Season Off with a Win

New Hampshire 11 @ Garden State 4 - The New Hampshire Jr. Mountain Kings defeated the Garden State Gamblers 11-4 on Thursday inside the Ice Palace. Kayden Hill opened up the scoring for the Mountain Kings just five minutes into the contest. Following ten minutes of scoreless hockey, New Hampshire took a 3-0 lead going into the first intermission with Jaxon Sardinha and Kayden Hill (second goal of the game) lighting the lamp. In the middle frame, Sedrick Swygert jumped on a loose puck in the slot to give New Hampshire a 4-0 lead. Isaac Emmerich converted on the power play to bring Garden State within three. The Mountain Kings extended the lead with four goals in the middle frame courtesy of Gabe Williams, James Schendorf, Swygert Jr and Kirchner (both short-handed goals). In the third period, Garden State cut the deficit to 8-4 as Filip Piatowski, Matt Labuono and Darius Malecki each netted their first goals of the season. New Hampshire secured the win with third period goals from Talon Schackmann, Kyle Bouiver and Williams. In net, Max Guerra made 27 saves and was credited with the win. Garden State’s Damien Joplin stopped 14 shots in the loss. Dennis Michaels made 12 saves in relief.

Bayou State 3 @ Pelham Prowlers 10 - The Pelham Prowlers concluded a series sweep over the Bayou State Rougarou following a 10-3 rout on Thursday. Jacob Hums collected a natural hat trick in the first period, scoring two goals in the opening two minutes of the opening stanza. Gavin Vernarsky netted his second goal of the season to get the Rougarou on the board to end the first trailing 3-1. The second period began with Jack Powell giving the Prowlers a 4-1 advantage. Just three minutes later, Colton Edman extended the lead with Hums tallying his fourth point of the contest. Bayou State netted the second goal of the game courtesy of Miles Daehn at the 3:56 mark of the middle frame to bring the score to 5-2. The Prowlers continued the pressure holding onto a 6-2 lead during the second intermission when Edman scored his second goal of the game after corralling a cross-ice feed from Colton Hums. Pelham netted four more goals in the third stanza as Benjamin Yerxa, Hums (2) and Brayden Owen. Kamdyn Smith scored the third goal of the game for the Rougarou. In net, Drake England turned aside 22 shots and was credited with the win. Owen Anderson made 47 saves in the loss for Bayou State.