Not all the big USPHL Premier games from this past weekend took place at the USPHL Chicago Showcase.https://www.usphl.com/news_article/show/959506

While five divisions battled in the Windy City, the Mid-Atlantic, New England and Northeast divisions saw frontrunners continuing hot streaks in a weekend session that kicked off with a midweek contest in the Boston area.

The only true undefeated team remaining in the region after the weekend, the Boston Bandits played host to the Springfield Pics last Wednesday (Oct. 10) at the Bridgewater Ice Arena doing all its scoring in the first period for a 2-1 edge on home ice.

Clayton Dawe (‘99/Ellisville, Mo.) and Justin LeBoeuf (‘99/Canyon Country, Calif.) scored the first period goals for the Bandits, both on feeds from Keaghan O’Donaghue (‘99/Frisco, Texas) and that was all the Bandits needed, thanks in part to a solid 35-save effort in goal from Raphael Provencher (‘00/Drummondville, Que.)

Defenseman Josh Miller (‘98/St. Augustine, Fla.) fired the only shot to beat Provencher early in the second period but that was as close as they would get, despite a nice performance in goal from Trent Pratt (’99/Scituate, Mass.) who also stopped 35 Bandits chances.

The Bandits, who did not play on the weekend, boosted its still perfect mark to 7-0, but would later suffer their first loss of the season on Wednesday. They are now 7-1.

The Monarchs also played just once on that stretch, going to overtime to pull out a 6-5 edge at the New England Sports Center against the host Jr. Bruins.

Ryan Racy (‘99/North Palm Beach, Fla.) fired the game winner in overtime and the fifth Bruins goal in the third period. Zach Olen (’98/Midland, Mich.) also scored once and assisted on two others with other Bruins’ goals for Nick Kuraly (‘99/Dublin, Ohio); Matthew Anastasio (‘01/Florida) and Valentin Kovalenko (‘01/Moskva, Russia).

For the Bruins, who held its only lead when it scored first, E.J. Miller (‘99/Massena, N.Y.), Defenseman of the Week Adam Romano (‘00/Bellingham, Mass.) and Anthony Sciucco (‘99/Winchester, Mass.) each picked up a goal and two assists, Ian Carpentier (‘00/Worcester, MA) adding a goal and assist and the other goal scored by Peter Nugent (‘99/Bellingham, MA).

That pushed the Monarchs’ overall record to 9-2.

The Northern Cyclones also kept pace with a 4-1 win at Foxboro Sports Center Saturday against the host South Shore Kings. Both teams scored once in the middle period and the Cyclones rallied for three unanswered third period markers to nail down the win.

Brendan Ronan (‘99/Saugus, Mass.) put the Cyclones on the board first with the other goals coming from: Mischa Subotin (‘98/San Jose, Calif.); Ryo Namiki (‘98/Kanagawa, Japan) and Guillaume Bose (‘98/San Jose, Calif.) while Nick Howard (‘98/Burlington, Mass.) turned aside 30 of 31 shots faced in goal for the Cyclones.

Kade Kaminski (‘98/New Bedford, Mass.) countered with the lone Kings’ goal.

The Connecticut Nighthawks still have a donut in the loss column in the Northeast division but have dropped a pair of extra time decisions – one in overtime and one in a shootout. The Nighthawks kept its grip on top spot in the Northeast Division though with a pair of weekend wins, at home against the Hartford Jr. Wolfpack Friday (Oct. 12) at the International Skating Center of Connecticut and made it a weekend sweep with a 7-3 win the following day at the Champions Skating Center, home of the Wolfpack.

In the first game, teams were scoreless until Forward Of The Week Austin Marini (‘99/Hyde Park, Mass.) notched the first, past the halfway mark of the second period.

That stood up into the final frame when Jake Boarding (’99) and Matthew Loftus (’00/Simsbury, Conn.) fired goals about 90 seconds apart in the final seven minutes to clinch the win.

Goalie Of The Week Mike Camasso (‘98/Bristol, Conn.) stopped all 36 shots he faced while Adam Kampersal (‘98/Holliston, Mass.) did all could turning aside 55 of 58 in goal for the Wolfpack.

The following night it was all about the offense as the Nighthawks blasted off with four unanswered first period goals and carried a 6-0 cushion into the final 20. The Hawks tallied all seven of its goals before the Pack rallied for three goals 3:22 in the first half of the final period to make things a little more interesting down the stretch.

Marini led the charge with two goals and two assists, Jordon Fongemie (’98) added two goals and a set up. Andrew Miller (‘99/Waltham, Mass.) picked up a goal and assist and other goals came from Tim Hazelton (‘’98/Commack, N.Y.) and Loftus.

Wolfpack goals came from Josh Kippenhan (‘98/Hibbing, Minn.); Stephen Thibault (‘98/Guildford, Conn.) and John Moffat (‘98/South Lake Tahoe, Calif.)

The wins pushed the Nighthawks overall record to 8-0-1-1 and gave the team a six-point bulge over second place Niagara Falls Thunder while Hartford fell under the .500 plateau at 3-5-0-0.

In the USPHL Elite

The Jersey Hitmen used a pair of lopsided wins against its closest rival – the New Jersey Rockets to move away from the Mid-Atlantic pack in USPHL Elite play this past weekend.

Teams came into the weekend separated by a single point, but an 8-1 win Saturday and 9-2 the following day – both at Rock Ice Arena in Dunellan, N.J., home of the Elite Rockets – left the Hitmen five points clear and three fewer games played.

In the opening contest, the Hitmen scored a pair of unanswered goals in both the first and second periods, adding three more in the third before the Rockets hit the board. On Sunday the Hitmen collected three in each period while the Rockets responded with singles in the first and second.

Forward Of The Week James Fusaro (‘00/Clifton, N.J.) enjoyed a big weekend for the Hitmen, scoring seven goals and picking up an assist on another while Ryan Andrews (‘01/Oakland, N.J.) collected seven assists. Chris Malota (‘01/Warwick, N.Y.) added five assists and Brock Fizer (‘’01/Park City/Utah) scored three goals. Austin Teats (‘00/Emerson, N.J.) fired a pair of goals, Christopher Kourgelis (‘01/Saddle River, N.J.) adding a goal and two assists. Drew Lustig (‘01/Austin, N.J.) notched a goal and assist and the other goal came from Tyler Botta (’01/Ramsey, N.J.)

Richie Modzelewski (‘99/Staten Island, N.Y.); Carson Wahlers (‘00/Berkeley Heights, N.J.) and Raegen Keim (‘00/Acme, Alberta) had the Rockets’ goals.

In the North Division, the first place Boston Bandits enjoyed a weekend off and the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs applied a little pressure on top spot with a 5-1 win against the Jr. Bruins at Tri-Town Arena, home of the Jr. Monarchs.

The Monarchs grabbed a 2-1 first period lead, adding two more in the middle frame and one more down the stretch to put it away.

Ten different players hit the score sheet for the Monarchs, led by Balint Pakozdi (‘99/Hungary) who scored twice and assisted on another. Other goals came from Emile Turcotte (‘01/Sayabec, Que.); Nikita Shubarov (‘00/Riga, Latvia) and Casey Sturgeon (‘00/Manchester, N.H.). Goalie Of The Week Paul Coats (‘00/Lutz, Fla.) stopped all but one of the 29 shots he faced.

Gerald McCarthy (‘01/Marlborough, Mass.) scored the lone Bruins goal and despite being beaten five times, it was a strong effort in goal for Cole McLear (‘99/Paxton, Mass.) who turned aside 51 other chances.