Monarchs Improve to 17-2 with 4 Wins in 4 Days

Hooksett, NH -The New Hampshire Junior Monarchs improved to 17-2 on the season and claimed 1st place in the EJHL with 4 wins this past weekend.

The team would travel to the Haverhill Valley Forum to take part in the Valley Junior Warriors Showcase where they would face the New England Huskies, Springfield Pics and South Shore Kings.

Friday’s game against the Huskies would be all Monarchs as they would score first and never lose the lead, prevailing by a score of 9-1. 12 players would have points in the game including 5 multipoint scorers: Alex Gacek (3g 1a), Trevor van Riemsdyk (1g 2a), Zak Stone (1g 2a), Trent Ruffolo (3a), and Brice O’Connor (2a).

Saturday’s game would be against the always-tough Springfield Pics, and this game would be no different than past meetings. The Monarchs would have their hands full as they would find themselves down twice within the first 10 minutes of the game. Once they gained the lead, the Pics would come back to tie the game 3 times, forcing the contest into overtime. It would Brice O’Connor, already a hero in regulation with 3 points, who would again come to the rescue, taking a feed off the stick of Pat Doherty and burying it in the back of net just over 1 minute into the extra frame.

On Sunday, 2 of the league’s heavyweights would go head to head, as the Monarchs would face the South Shore Kings. The last meeting between these 2 resulted in a thrilling 5-3 victory, and this game would prove just as thrilling. The Monarchs would go down 1-0 just under 6 minutes in, but they would bounce back at the 16 minute mark of the half on a goal by Zak Stone from Trent Ruffolo. Ruffolo would get his 2nd point of the contest and 5th of the series just over a minute later as he would net his 11th goal of the season from Ryan Randall and Stone. Jamie Ferullo would convert a great feed from Pat Kiley with less than 5 minutes to go in the 1st half to give the Monarchs a 3-1 lead at the break. In the 2nd the team on the shoulders of goaltender Brian Billett would shut the door on the Kings. Alex Gacek would put the proverbial nail in the coffin when he would fire a feed from Pat Kiley into the Kings empty net with just 57 seconds remaining in the game.

Monday would be the team’s 4th game in 4 days, and the Monarchs would come out sluggish against a Philadelphia Revolution team who had earned 2 hard-fought ties at the Warriors Showcase. The Monarchs would spot the Revs 2 power plays in the first 5 minutes of the period. After killing off both, the team would go on to take a 2-0 lead into the locker room at the end of the 1st. Things in the 2nd looked like they would be just as hard as the 1st when the Revolution would score to cut the Monarchs’ lead to 1, until the team would explode for 6 goals in less than 10 minutes to finish the period with an 8-1 lead. The Monarchs would add 2 more in the 3rd to defeat the Revolution by a score of 10-1.