Lotito’s Pair Leads Monarchs Over Valley

Hooksett,NH- George Lotito scored twice and Brian Billet made 20 saves to lead the New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs to a 4-1 win over the Valley Jr. Warriors.

Lotito struck 5:37 into the game when Ferullo sent him skating into the zone on a 2-on-1. Lotito faked a pass to draw the defenseman to the open skater and sent the puck past Valley goaltender Ryan Casey.

Casey was perfect for the rest of the period, denying several Monarchs opportunities, however, the Monarchs defense only allowed three shots on goal and goaltender Brian Billett stopped all of them, denying the Warriors the equalizer.

Both Billett and Casey played an excellent second period, and the Warriors threatened, but Billett was up to the task and received help from the goal post on two occasions. The Monarchs were able to stretch the lead to two when Kyle Mountain jammed the puck past Casey for a power play goal with 7:45 remaining in the period. Brice O’Connor and Mike Cornell received assists.

Kyle Beattie made it 3-0 with 12:02 to play when Brian Dumoulin hit him in the slot and one-timed a power play goal. Adam Shemansky also assisted on the goal.

One and a half minutes later, Lotito scored his second of the game when he rifled a shot from the circle past Ryan Casey, courtesy of Mike Cornell and Jamie Ferullo.

Valley got on the board with 2:04 on the clock when Eric Peterson scored from Jordan Sims and Chris Wilcox on a power play.

The win is the Monarchs’ seventh straight and improves Billett’s record to 7-0. Both teams are off until after the Thanksgiving holiday.

-Mike Klein, easternjunior.com