Monarchs Take 3 at Jr. Bruins Showcase

The New Hampshire Junior Monarchs enjoyed a 9-point sweep of the Springfield Pics, CD Selects, and Jersey Hitmen this past weekend at the Jr. Bruins annual showcase in Marlboro, MA.
The weekend began Friday morning with the Monarchs taking on the new-look and renamed Springfield Pics. The Pics would score first at nearly the 15-minute mark of the 1st half and take a 1-0 lead. The Monarchs would surge back quickly as they would capitalize on a powerplay with a goal from Alex Gacek, assisted by Brice O’Connor and Pat Doherty just 3 minutes later in the half. In the 2nd it would be all Monarchs, as they would take the lead 7 minutes in on a Zak Stone goal assisted by O’Connor and Ryan Randall. They would then add a shorthanded tally just 5 minutes later as Gacek would score goal number 2 from Pat Kiley and Jacob Rutt. The game would end 3-1 in the Monarchs favor. Brian Billett would kick out 20 of 21 shots faced in the contest
Saturday morning, Monarchs’ rookie goaltender Chris Eiserman of Newburyport, MA would get his first regular season start between the pipes for the defending National Champions, and he would get plenty of offensive support as the team would defeat the CD Selects handily by a score of 13-3. Eiserman would stop 18 of 21 in the game, and the team would have a whopping 13 multi-point performances, including a near-natural hat trick from Aaron Kesselman.
The Monarchs’ final game of the weekend would be played Saturday evening against the defending league playoff champion Jersey Hitmen. The team would weather an early storm of Hitmen rushes and 3 straight powerplays, on the back of all-star goaltender Brian Billett. They would then capitalize on their 1st and only powerplay of the half, as Zak Stone would hammer home a feed off the stick of Alex Gacek. The 2nd half would be a back and forth one as the two teams would trade two goals a piece with the Monarchs striking first on a powerplay goal by Aaron Kesselman from Brooks Herrington. Alex Gacek would score what would prove to be the game-winning goal a little over half way through the frame with a powerplay goal assisted by Pat Doherty. The Hitmen would pull within one goal at the 18 minute mark of the 25 minute half, but Billett would shut the door after that and the Monarchs would hold on to win their biggest game of this young season by a score of 3-2.
The team is off this weekend, but will be back in action next Saturday, the 10th of October as they travel to Haverhill, MA to face the Valley Jr. Warriors.