Mite Division
Hurley scores twice, Rangers remain unbeaten

Offense prevailed in an early season match-up of Mite unbeatens on Sunday.

Brennan Hurley scored twice to lead the Rangers (3-0) to a 6-4 triumph over the Stars.

The Rangers stunned the crowd by piling up a 5-1 lead through two periods before the Stars mounted a furious third period comeback that ended up too little, too late.

Hurley got the scoring underway just two minutes into the contest when he picked up a loose puck at the Stars' blue line and skated in alone before sliding the disk under Stars goaltender Bryce Baker.

Michael Gagliano tied the game less than a minute later when he broke in on the left side and beat Ranger netminder Jacob Kantor stick side.

Ranger defenseman Drew Elliot, who had a stellar all-around game, kept the game tied when he hustled back to foil a breakaway by Stars' sniper Connor Bender.

The Stars again nearly went ahead a couple of minutes later when Nick Kieffer threw the puck up the boards and sent away Hunter Endres, but Kantor made a fabulous save to keep the game knotted after one period of play.

The Rangers took the lead for good three minutes into the second stanza when defenseman Alex Streng lugged the puck up ice and over the blue line before shooting it into the corner. The Rangers pursued the puck with a frenzy and Patrick Rosen found Will Mann in front of the net.

Baker made a great save but Mann followed up and banked in his own rebound to give his team a 2-1 lead.

Several minutes later, Ranger defenseman Patrick Greeley made a great play at the point to keep the puck in the offensive zone before Mann found Cam Kiefer in the slot and Kiefer drilled it home to make the score 3-1.

A heady play by yet another Ranger defenseman allowed the blue shirts to increase their lead to 4-1 with two minutes left in the period as Elliot, deep in his own zone, got the puck up the boards to center Chris Dirienzo, who hit Ranger sniper Matt Cohen in the neutral zone. Cohen raced in and scored his team-leading fifth goal of the young season with a shot up high that handcuffed Baker.

A defenseman contributed to a fourth consecutive Ranger goal when with one minute left in the period, Streng pushed the puck to Hurley, who went in two-on-one with linemate Jason Koginos before putting it home for his second goal of the game and the Rangers' fourth of the period.

With a 5-1 lead after two periods of play, the Rangers appeared to have the game well in hand but the never-quit Stars kept plugging away.

Bender picked up a loose puck at center ice and buzzed down the left side, scoring top shelf to cut the lead to 5-2 with 10 minutes remaining.

The Rangers answered back when Michael Kreuz broke away with Hurley two-on-none and made the score 6-2 with eight minutes to go. But Bender found Cam Carney in front of the net and Carney blasted it home to bring the Stars back within three goals, and then Turner Dirrigl poked home a loose puck from a scrum in front of the Ranger net to bring his team to within two with three minutes remaining. The Rangers locked down defensively after that and emerged with the hard-earned victory over their formidable foe.

Nine Rangers got on the score sheet, with Hurley, Streng, and Mann tallying two points apiece. Ryan Arrastia, Jonathan Phillips, and Mark Venditti also played very well for the Rangers.

Gagliano and Bender had two points apiece for the Stars.

Mite Rangers come

from behind to beat Sharks

Outshot but not outdetermined, the Mite Rangers came from behind to nip the Sharks, 4-3 on Sunday, Nov. 19 at the Amherst Pepsi Center.

Matt Cohen started the scoring on a breakaway just 48 seconds into the contest when he stole the puck at center ice and lifted the puck high over the shoulder of Sharks' goaltender Nick Daigler.

The Sharks' Bennett Levy tied the game 35 seconds later. Michael Woods gave the Sharks the lead two minutes in after Rangers goalie Jason Koginos made a spectacular save off of a laser shot and Woods slipped home the rebound.

The frenetic pace continued as Jonathan Phillips tied the game for the Rangers at the five-minute mark of the first period. Ranger center Chris Dirienzo won a faceoff just outside the Sharks' blue line and linemate Cohen slipped the puck to Phillips, who broke away from traffic and slid it home.

The game settled down after that as both teams tightened up their defense. After a scoreless second period, the score remained 2-2 until the Sharks' Holden Greene scored early in the third to put his team ahead again.

The Sharks milked their one-goal lead as the clock ticked away but Cohen and Dirienzo took over with time running out. With 4:34 left, Cohen scored off of a Dirienzo feed to tie at it 3-3 then scored the game winner in the last minute with Dirienzo assisting.

The linemates combined for seven points - Cohen (three goals, assist) and Dirienzo (three assists).

The Sharks outshot the Rangers, 16-7, in the game but Ranger netminder Koginos turned away many Shark scoring chances to keep his team in the contest. Rangers forward Patrick Greeley was all over the ice, and Michael Kreuz, Brennan Hurley, and Alex Streng also contributed excellent games for the blue shirts. Drew Elliot, Ryan Arrastia, Cameron Kiefer, Jake Kantor, Patrick Rosen, Mark Venditti, and Austin Stanley also played well in the team victory.

Dylan Utz and Jacob Barberio played exceptionally well for the Sharks.