PeeWee A’s Win Bronze in Lake Placid!

The Danvers PeeWeeA Falcons, led by coaches Mark Jones, Mike Conway, Ted Kontos, and Duke St. Pierre, traveled to the American Cup Youth Tournament in Lake Placid this past weekend and returned home with the Bronze Medal.

Game 1 – Wheatfield Blades 3 Danvers Falcons 0
On Friday morning, the Falcons faced their first formidable opponent, the Wheatfield Blades from New York. Despite the tough, physical play of Jason Carucci, Kyle Larson, and Will Walfield to start the game, Danvers got off to a rocky start with two quick goals by Wheatfield in the first four minutes of play. The Falcons settled down, however, and began to play effective two way hockey. Constant pressure from D.J. Yost, Chris Kontos, and Derek Witwicki as well as great defense by Dan Arnold and Kevin St. Pierre finished out the period for the Falcons.
Sharp passing by Brad Vautour, Patrick McBride and Joe Szela opened up the second period. The Falcons had multiple scoring opportunities, but could not capitalize due to the strong play of the Wheatfield goaltender. The continued pressure of the forwards, the solid defense of Luke Sutherland, Taylor Brown, Tom Conway, and Zach Ryan, and the outstanding goaltending of Mike Allain held the score to 2-0 in favor of Wheatfield.
Allain opened up the third period with a tremendous save on a Wheatfield breakaway. Although the Falcons continued their high pressure offense and solid defense, Wheatfield managed a third goal 6 minutes into the third period. Despite a great play by Ryan on a Wheatfield breakaway, an excellent rush by Kontos and relentless backchecking by Vautour, Yost and Walfield, the Falcons fell to the Blades by a score of 3 to 0. Brad Vautour was awarded the Player of the Game.

Game 2 – New Jersey Colonials 3 Danvers Falcons 1
On Friday afternoon, the Falcons faced their second opponent of the tournament, the New Jersey Colonials, on the historic “1980” Olympic rink. Again, Danvers got off to a tough start with a New Jersey goal two minutes into the first period. The Falcons picked up their play with tough offensive pressure from Yost, Kontos and Witwicki keeping the Colonials on the defense. A great defensive play by St. Pierre, strong shots by Ryan from the point, and a nifty rush by Vautour highlighted the first period.
New Jersey got off to a quick start in the second with a goal 30 seconds into the period. The line of Vautour, McBride, and Szela continued their fine passing causing havoc with the New Jersey defense. Larson, Walfield, and Carucci kept the pressure on with their speed and physical play. Despite another great defensive effort by Sutherland, Brown, Conway and Arnold, the Colonials scored another goal to finish out the second period.

The Falcons scored their first goal of the tournament in the third period. A goal by Larson assisted by St. Pierre brought Danvers to within two. Although the Falcons dominated the play and Allain turned in another strong performance between the pipes, the PeeWee A’s lost their second game by a score of 3 to 1. Kyle Larson was awarded the Player of the Game.

Game 3 - Danvers Falcons 2 New Hampshire Jr. Monarchs 2
The Falcons were up early Saturday morning to face the NH Jr. Monarchs in their third game of the tournament. Strong defensive plays by Tom Conway and Luke Sutherland, along with solid goaltending by Mike Allain, led the Danvers squad in the first period. Despite relentless pressure by all three lines, Danvers fell behind 1–0 to end the period.

The Falcon line of Larson, Carucci and Walfield kept up the pressure on the Monarchs to begin the second period. Great passing by Kontos, Yost, and Witwicki led to several scoring opportunities only to be turned away by terrific NH goaltending. The Monarchs went ahead 2-0 with a minute and a half remaining. The Falcons answered with a goal of their own to end the period when Carucci scored on a pass from Larson with 30 seconds remaining.

The line of Vautour, McBride, and Szela opened the third period with strong skating and checking while the entire defensive unit of Brown, Ryan, St. Pierre, Arnold, Sutherland and Conway kept the Monarchs scoreless during the third period. Larson evened the score with an unassisted goal with four minutes left in the game. With only a minute and a half remaining, goaltender Mike Allain made a huge stop on a NH breakaway. The game ended in a tie: Danvers 2 Monarchs 2. Jason Carucci was named Player of the Game.

Game 4 – Consolation Game: Danvers Falcons 4 NJ Colonials 1
The Falcons, who dominated play throughout the tournament, arrived Sunday morning to battle for the Bronze Medal against the NJ Colonials. Once again, the Danvers line of Larson, Walfield and Carucci set the tone with constant pressure, speed and physical play. Four minutes into the period, Yost scored on a perfect pass from Witwicki while Kontos occupied three NJ defenders along the boards. It was a very physical first period with Danvers dominating the play leading 1-0.
Two minutes into the second period, NJ scored to tie things up 1-1. Outstanding defense by the tandems of Conway and Arnold, Sutherland and Brown, and St. Pierre and Ryan shut NJ down for the rest of the period. Carucci notched his second goal of the tourney 10 minutes into the game with a formidable rush through the NJ defense. The duos of Walfield and Larson along with Carucci and Yost did a tremendous job of penalty killing not allowing one shot on goal for two minutes. Vautour increased the Falcon lead to 3-1 with an unassisted goal beating the NJ goaltender top shelf. His linemates, Szela and McBride, made it possible with their strong physical play.

The third period proved to be too much for the NJ Colonials. Danvers never let up playing physical, heads up hockey. Kontos put the nail in the coffin scoring a goal with two minutes left to play. He was assisted by Witwicki and Yost. Allain put forth another solid performance between the pipes to secure the win. The final score was Danvers 4 NJ Colonials 1. Zach Ryan was awarded the Player of the Game.

Throughout the tournament, The Danvers PeeWee A’s represented their town and the DYH program with class and dignity. They can hold their heads high knowing they outplayed each of their opponents with constant pressure, teamwork, and physical, heads up play. Unfortunately for the Falcons, the puck didn’t always bounce their way.