Friday night saw the Somers Point Lightning Beaver “A” hockey club taking their act on the road to the hockey rinks of Marlton.  Nestled just off the congested route 73 highway are the football field size rinks.  Well maybe they are not the size of football fields but to the boys of Somers Point they seem that way.

The night’s opponent was the “B” team from Marlton who over the years always had good showings in tournament play.  The first period was up and down as the Lightning struggled to adjust to the size of the rink.  The period ended with neither team scoring although Riley McGuigan managed to get a minute in the box for tripping which padded his team lead in penalty minutes for the season.

The second period did not feature much more scoring although Somers Point did manage to grab the lead on the strength of a goal by the always dependable Sammy Maiman.  The Lightning was able to break it open in the third with four goals.  Two came from the “scoring machine” otherwise know as Chris Woolston, Sam grabbed another one, and John Plenzick also lit the lamp.  Marlton was able to knock one in to ruin the shut out for Point.  Final score 5 to 1.

Saturday morning had the boys making the short trip out to EHT to go up against the well coached and well disciplined Phantoms “A” team.  The first period saw the Lightning hustling and working real well as a team.  A score from Chris Woolston with an assist from Erik Sammartino put the Lightning up half way through the first period.  The coaching staff was delighted with the play of their squad and began counting on winning the point for the period.  But then a single misstep and the Phantoms took advantage by putting one in the net with just 16 seconds left on the clock.  With the scored tie 1 to 1 the period ended and so did the hustle and team play on Somers Point side.

Over the last two periods EHT was able to dominate every aspect of the game.  By putting up 11 more scores the Phantoms made it a rout and a lesson for the Lightning.  The boys can not get away from hustling and playing a team game and expect to compete with the elite teams in this traveling season.  The Lightning did manage to put two more in themselves.  John Plenzick scored with an assist from Dan Johns while Chris Woolston scored again to get another multiply goal game under his belt.  Sam Maiman had the assist on the second Woolston goal.

Saturday afternoon’s opponent was  the EHT Sharks.  In their last meeting the Sharks were able to give the Lightning a challenging game.  But this time the Lightning was on top of their game from start to finish.  Scoring in the first period for the Lightning was Chris Woolston with an assist from Ryan Seckinger; Dan Johns put one in unassisted, and Riley McGuigan scored with an assist from Chris.

The second period featured Ryan Seckinger netting a hat trick.  His first goal was assisted by John Plenzick, Dan Johns fed him on the second one, and Chris Woolston and Riley McGuigan helped with the third.  John Plenzick had a goal of his own with an assist from Sam Maiman.

The third period was a defensive battle as neither team was able to get one in.  Robbie Erskine earned a shut out in the net with help from a strong defensive contingent of Paddy Milligan, Erik Sammartino, Dan Vanlieshout, and JJ Rutkowski.  

Sunday had the Lightning traveling back to Marlton to take on the Chiefs’ “A” team.  The Chiefs were able to score just 13 seconds into the game as a man got left alone in front of our net.  JR Hauser answered back 6 and half minutes later for the Lightning.  The Chiefs then netted two more before the period came to an end.

The rest of the game featured some of the better play that the Lightning has show the whole season.  The teams both scored twice in the second and once in the third.  Chris Woolston had two and Sam Maiman had the other for our team.  The game ended with the Chiefs up 6 to 4.  Somers Point played their hearts out and left their coaches pleased despite the final score.

Once again Somers Point Cadet "A" team managed to earn a 3-1 all-star weekend.   Friday's night game was against Marlton's own Cadet "A" team in which Somers Point just escaped a tie with only 9 seconds left in the 3rd period with the game winner being scored by Dustin Peterson.  Pat Johns is credited with the win between the pipes while also receiving a penalty for roughing one of Marlton's wingers.  Somers Points defense struggled with the unfamiliar size of the courts with Marlton knowing how to lob the ball behind the defense and then chasing to the net.

Saturday was a double header with "S.P." playing both of EHT's A and B teams respectively.  Game 1 had EHT  A "POUNDING" our guys to a miserable 7-1 loss even though the team still had a lot of  fun and managed to keep the penalties almost even.  Colin Halliday scored  the lone goal for "S.P."  The twilight game had "S.P." squaring off against EHT  B team and coming away with a 5-1 win that "once again" kept the penalty box door busy.  Anthony O'Donnell earned 6 minutes for the night and was tossed for the remainder of the game.  Dustin Peterson netted a pair of goals along with Steve Campbell, Artie Elwell, and Adam Abril each adding one for the team.

Sunday's matinee game against Marlton "B" proved to be more then just another B team game with "S.P." struggling to get their points in the last minute of the game with a score of 4-1.  Dustin Peterson and Mike Lamey each scored 1 for Point while Colin Halliday added 2 to earn the win for Point. Marlton "B" did a great job of keeping us off balance in the game.

Somers Point Cadet "A" Team almost swept their series this past weekend with a strong showing and a hard played 3-2 loss against the EHT Cadet "A" team.  This team continues to impress the coaches with their team play but cannot manage to stay out of the penalty box at crucial times of the game.

The first game on Saturday against the "chippy" Mays Landing team ended in a 5-1 win but not before Somers Point Racked up 15 penalty minutes and the loss of 2 of it's players.  The defense did an outstanding job of clearing the ball thru out the game with all 3 front lines passing the ball fast and clean!!  Goals were scored in the 1st and 3rd periods only which contributed to 1 point lost in the 2nd period to Mays Landing.  Zack Freeman, Joe Falls, Scott Barrie, Dustin Peterson and Captain Artie Elwell all scored for Somers Point.  M.Planatella scored the lone goal for Mays Landing.

The 2nd game of the day against EHT "B" was much quieter penalty wise and ended in a 3-0 shut out.  EHT "B" team plays very well together and should not be taken lightly.  The Lightning did a great job of controlling the game with Pat Johns earning his second "shut out" of the NSHA season.  Scott Barrie scored twice in the game in the 1st and 2nd periods to steal both points with the Big "O"  Anthony O'Donnell scoring in the 3rd to make it a 5 point win.  Jeff Zale and Adam Abril are credited with the assists. 

The Best Game of the weekend by far was the "Match Up" Between The Lightning and the Phantoms. Once again Somers Point won in penalty minutes earning 7 for that game with EHT only pulling 3.  Dustin Peterson scored first to set the tone at 10:48 in the first period with EHT answering back at the 3:59 mark in the 1st to tie the period.  It looked like EHT would win the 2nd with a point when Kyle Flannigan blistered a slap shot from the right point on the power play to tie the game at 2 all with 39 seconds left.  EHT had the game winner with a beautiful cross over that no goalie would have stopped at the 10:18 mark in the 3rd that stood until the end.  Both defensive ends did a great job of clearing their zones with both goaltenders, Murray for EHT and Johns for Somers Point coming up big for their teams.  Mckenna, Gerhardt, and Demayo all had goals for the Phantoms.

It was Friday night and the Somers Point Beaver “A" team was itching to get back in action after having such great success in West Deptford last weekend.  First up for the Lightning were the Thrashers from Mays Landing.  Ryan Seckinger opened up the scoring for Somers Point with a hard quick shot past the Mays Landing goalie earlier in the first period then Justin Smith got in the act by knocking one in with an assist from his line mate and regular season teammate Ryan Mazzeo.  But the Thrashers let it be known that they would not go quietly into the night and answered late in the period with a score.  The first ended 2 to 1 in favor of the home town boys.

The second period belonged to the Lightning as they added two scores to there total while shutting down the Thrashers.  Seckinger got his second of the night with an assist from Justin Smith and Sammy Maiman put one in with assists from both of his line mates Chris Woolston and Riley McGuigan.

The third was hotly contested.  Again the Maiman line lit the lamp.  This time Woolston banged it home as Sam and Riley helped with the assists.  But Mays Landing just wouldn’t lie down as they responded with two quick goals in the third minute of the period.  As the score for the game stood at 5 to 3 in favor of the Lightning and 2 to 1 for the period in favor of The Thrashers Ryan Seckinger came thru to recapture the half point of the period with his third goal with an assist again from Justin.  The score let the Somers Point coaches breathe a little easier and assured the victory.

The 6 to 3 win was highlighted by the excellent defensive play of Paddy Milligan and Dan Vanlieshout as well as another solid effort by Robbie Erskine in the net.  Also worth noting was the ferociousness of the play of Chris Woolston as he seemed to really out hustle everyone in the rink tonight.

Now let’s go to Saturday morning’s action.  A different day and seemly a different team.  The Lightning did not have their usual jump in their step today.  The hustle just was not there and they paid for with a 5 to 0 lost to the EHT “A” team.  To compound the problem the Lightning racked up four penalties on the day.  One bright note was that Somers Point was able to grab a half point by holding the Phantoms scoreless in the second period. 

Sunday morning's opponent was the Beaver “B” team from EHT, the Sharks.  The Lightning was rejuvenated as they rang up a score of 5 to 0 in the first period.  Excellent passing and hustling was back and the coaches couldn’t be happier.  Five different players scored.  Sam Maiman, Chris Woolston, Paddy Milligan, John Plenzick, and Ryan Seckinger each netted one.  Assists were earned by Riley McGuigan, Sam Maiman, John Plenzick, and Ryan Seckinger with two.

But then the Lightning seemed to let up.  The hustle was gone.  The crisp passing was gone.  And it cost them.  The Sharks had the lone goal in the second to earn the point and the third ended in a tie with each team scoring once.  For the Lightning it was Justin Smith unassisted.  Final score 6 to 2 in favor of Somers Point.

Overall it was good weekend of hockey for The Somers Point Beaver “A” as they earned two wins against one loss.  But it was the tale of two teams.  Hopefully we see more of the hustling team that plays a well rounded fast pace game rather then the laid back squad.  Next weekend we can look ahead to Marlton and more EHT.

See the pictures of the action here, here, here, here, here, and here.