NJ Freeze Peewee A Atlantic District Champions

This past weekend the NJ Freeze Peewee A team was proud to become the Atlantic District Champions. Finishing our league season with an impressive 19-1-2 record making the Pee Wee A's the NJYHL National Division Champions, taking us straight to Districts as the #1 seed. The team's victory was led by Head Coach Walt Keiper and Assistant Coaches John Laden, Kevin St. Germaine and Kevin Keiper. Playing in the round robin preliminaries, NJ Freeze, NJ Colonials and the Red Bank Generals Black played against 3 Delaware Valley teams. The Freeze team's hard play once again led them to placing 1st going into the championship game with an outstanding 12 point spread, playing against the Red Bank Generals Black.
 
Before arriving to Northeast SkateZone in Philadelphia, the NJ Freeze knew they would be facing tough competition. Due to an injury, the team was down a strong defenseman, Zach Mazzarisi. Coach Walt Keiper moved Tyler Hardgrove from forward to defense. Tyler proved to be up for the task.
 
The 1st game on Friday against the Quakers was a 7-3 victory with a scoreless 1st period.  30 seconds into the 2nd period, defenseman Walter Keiper scored the first goal, followed with a goal by defenseman Jarrad Laden with an assist from Jacques St. Germaine. The game was close with a score of 2-1 when Zack Potten scored a shorthanded goal. Another goal scored by the Quakers at the end of the 2nd period, brought the score to 3-2. Anthony Zaragoza opened the 2nd period with a goal, followed by another goal from Jarrad Laden. The Quakers played hard, scoring a 3rd goal, but with shorthanded goals from MJ Melillo, and Cory Chaplin at the end of the 3rd period sealed the victory. 
 
Saturday morning the NJ Freeze PWA team showed up determined to win against the Delco Phantoms. Less than 2 minutes into the 1st period Cole Skelly scored the 1st goal getting them off to a good start as well as ending the period with a goal assisted by Michael Hanley. Brian Andrzejewski and Chris Rupp with back to back goals and assists with each other finalized the score of 7-1, giving the team an overall goal spread of 10 points by this time. 
 
Saturday night's game against the DVHL Champions, the Pocono Pirates proved to be tight competition. Solid goaltending by Adam Katz along with the last goal scored by MJ Melillo assisted by Brian Gruelich put the Freeze at a commanding lead winning the game 4-2.
 
The NJ Freeze advanced to the Championship game as the 1st place team with the highest point spread ready to play against the Red Bank Generals Black. NJ Freeze Pee Wee A players and coaches were pumped up for the final round, with 100 Freeze fans watching and cheering them on. The game opened with a goal scored by Cory Chaplin with less than 1 minute into the 1st period. The nail biter game continued in the 1st period as the team played shorthanded 4 on 5, 10 out of 15 minutes. Brenden Siegel dominated the defensive play working hard to clear the front of the net, ending the 1st period 1-0. The 2nd period continued as a hard fought battle when Zack Potten scored giving the team a lead of 2-0. The Red Bank Generals ended the 2nd period with a goal, cutting the Freeze lead in half. Zack Potten didn't waste any time scoring the 3rd goal at 14:28 of the 3rd period giving the Freeze a 2 goal lead. Gavin Spray was rock solid as he turned in his strongest goaltending performance of the tournament with 23 saves on 24 shots. The game ended with a 3-1 win,making the NJ Freez PeeWee A team the Atlantic District Champions.
 
Congratulations to all the NJ Freeze Pee Wee A players and coaches for winning the Atlantic District Championship. It was the greatest victory with a total team effort of determination and perseverance. It was the best way to end an awesome season finishing with an outstanding record of 48-6-4.

Story by Dianne Melillo

Photo by Bill Greulich