BALLERS ELITE

VLC Blue: 5
VLC White: 2
MVP: George Mulligan, Ryan Newell

In the first game after the holiday break, the VLC boys are shaking off the rust as we’re starting in a defensive struggle. VLC White breaks through with a great goal. Blue quickly responds with an awesome around the goal take from Ryan Newell! We’re knotted at 1-1 to finish the first period. The second starts with more solid team defense on both sides, as it carries through to 1:30 in the period. Ryan Newell finally breaks through with a top cheddar rip to put Blue up 2-1! George Mulligan quickly responds with a great take to the middle to end the 2nd 2-2!! Nolan Meeker responds with a sick goal and puts Blue up 3-2. Grayson Sippel capitalizes on Blue’s momentum and scores to give Blue a 2-goal cushion with less than 5 minutes to play. Newell sniped to finish off his hat trick and ice the game for Blue.

Game 2 
Thunderbirds: 2
Blazers: 1
MVP: Vincent Carman, Evan Keith

In the second game back from break, the Thunderbirds take on the Blazers in a battle of undefeated teams for first place. Landon Han toe drags and finishes far post to give the Blazers a 1-0 lead early. With both defenses dominating, the score stays that way and the period ends 1-0. James Dauer gets the 2nd period going early with his speed and scores a breakaway goal for the Thunderbirds, evening the game at 1-1. Jax Graham keeps it going for the Thunderbirds at the midpoint of the period, scoring another breakaway goal and making the score 2-1. Defenses continue to play well and the period ends 2-1, advantage to the Thunderbirds. With Evan Keith leading, the Thunderbirds defense grinds all period and shuts out the Blazers to win 2-1.

Game 3 
VLC Red: 4
Warriors: 2
MVP: Graham Strunk, Xander Brooks

VLC Red takes on the Warriors in a battle of two teams trying to climb the standings. VLC Red strikes first to go up 1-0, with Mason Orchant finishing inside. Xander Brooks follows Orchant’s lead, scoring a goal of his own moments later and VLC Red is up and running at 2-0.  Brooks capitalizes again, and Red is cooking with gas, going up 3-0 before the midpoint of the 1st period. But the Warriors are able to settle in, and Archie Wiedemann picks up a ground ball and scores a goal on the crease, cutting into the deficit and making the score 3-1. Graham Strunk takes a strong shift and scores to add to the Warriors tally and makes it a 3-2 game heading into the 2nd period. Defense dominates the second period, and both sides cannot find a way to break through. The score holds at 3-2 heading into the 3rd period. Mason Orchant breaks the drought, scoring a tough goal to put Red up 4-2 early in the final frame. VLC Red’s defense shut out the Warriors for the rest of the period to win the game. 

FUTURE ELITE

Game 4
VLC 2030: 3
VLC 2031 Red: 2 
MVP: Wes Graham, Callan Steelman

VLC 2030 takes on VLC 2031 Red to kick off the Future Elite division. Conor Heinle scores on a nice lefty finish to give 2031 Red a 1-0 lead early in the 1st period. Defenses played tight and the period ended 1-0 2031 Red. Andrew Delco keeps it going for 2031 Red, adding a goal with a sweet tally to put his team up 2-0. Dylan Weader responds for VLC 2030, cutting in and scoring to get them on the board and make the score 2-1. Edward Zhang capitalizes on his chance for VLC 2030, and the game is knotted up at 2-2 heading into the 3rd period. Intensity and defense dominates the third, and the game heads to a shootout. Callan Steelman scores the lone shootout goal and wins it for VLC 2030.

Game 5
Seals: 5
Swarm: 4
MVP: Dauer / Yun, Quinn Riihimaki

The Seals take on the Swarm in another Futures Elite matchup. Clark Wright snipes from the outside, and the Seals score early to go up 1-0. Tight defensive play is the story of the game so far, as the 1-0 score held into the second period. The Seals go up 3-0 when Jaxson Morgante breaks the goalless streak with a great finish, and teammate Clark Wright adds another right after. Brody Ganderson stops the bleeding and gets the Swarm on the board to make it 3-1, but Lucas Laudier responds on the ensuing faceoff for the Seals to put his team up 4-1 going into the 3rd period. Swarm attacker Jude Dauer gets his team back to 4-2 with a great goal early in the period. With under 5 minutes to play John Auville keeps the momentum going for the Swarm with a goal of his own to cut the deficit to 4-3. Louis Brown sets up a wild finish when he evens the score for the Swarm 2 minutes later, knotting the game at 4-4 and sending his team to a shootout. Wyatt Carter scores a patient shootout goal and saves the Seals from a disastrous collapse, as they win 5-4.

Game 6
Rock: 5
VLC 2031 White: 4
MVP: James Cornell, Augie Patru

First place Rock takes on VLC 2031 White in the final game of the Futures Elite division. VLC 2031 White opens the scoring early to take a 1-0 lead. Wes Martin scores to put VLC up 2-0, then scores again to give them a 3 goal lead heading into intermission. Teegan Stewart opens up the scoring in the 2nd period,  giving VLC a 4-0 lead. Augie Patru responds immediately, finishing a fast break goal off the faceoff. Patru scores a beautiful behind the back goal, and seconds later scores again on a crease dive to bring his team all the way back within one goal at 4-3. The period holds at that score, with Rock down a tally to start the 3rd. Tight defense keeps the first half of the final period scoreless. But Augie Patru again comes up big, and scores his 4th of the game to tie things with less than 2 minutes to go, sending the game to a shootout. Patru again scored in the shootout, and Rock took home a 5-4 SO win.

JUNIOR ELITE

Game 7
Mammoth: 8
VLC 2029 Red: 3
MVP: Matthew Gibbons, Ben Neal

Mammoth took on VLC 2029 Red in to kick off the Junior Elite division games for the day. Tripp Horning gets things going right of the bat, finishing inside to give Mammoth a 1-0 lead. Gabriel Springer scores a tough goal inside to extend the lead to 2-0. Mammoth quickly adds 2 more goals, taking a commanding 4-0 lead midway through the first period. VLC responds via a Jacob Koroluk breakaway finish to cut the lead to 3, but Zephryn Marsh scores for Mammoth right away, making the game 5-1. Koroluk scores another goal late in the period, and the frame finished 5-2 in the Mammoth’s favor. Ben Neal scores to open the 2nd period on a nice dive and make it 6-2 for Mammoth. Springer scores on a power play as time expires to give Mammoth a 7-2 lead going into the 3rd period. Quinn Todd stops the bleeding with a tough goal for VLC, cutting the deficit to 4 to start the last period. But Tyler Kim scores with under a minute to play to ice the game, and Mammoth win.

Game 8
Knighthawks: 14
VLC 2029 White: 6
MVP: Brandt Zobroski, James Lincoln

Knighthawks take on VLC 2029 White in the final game of the day. Knighthawks jump out to a early lead as Beckett and Mason each scored a pair of goals to open the game. After both teams trade goals, the score stands at 5-1 at the end of the period. James Lincoln finishes a hat trick early in the 2nd period to put the Knighthawks up 8-1. The Knighthawks continuing onslaught continues, as they pile on __ more goals. But VLC responds with a quick pair from Matthew Gibbons to end the Knighthawk run. Knighthawks take a 10-4 lead into the final frame. VLC scored to open up the period, and goalie Brandt Zobroski continued to battle in net, making a ton of saves.