Flyers surprise Red Sabres, Picone shines in net

The Pee Wee Flyers put together their most complete effort of the season and relied on fantastic goaltending from Joe Picone to pull off a 3-0 victory over the highly touted Red Sabres on Sunday afternoon.

After a hard fought first period, the scoreboard was still blank due to the efforts of Picone and Red Sabres goalie Michael Heyden.

Early in the second period, the Flyers were the first to tally a goal when Lauton Rushford finally beat Heyden on a pass from Alex Cleeland. The goal was scored while the Flyers were short-handed.

The Flyers' special teams continued to shine when Rushford scored his second of the game on the power play to put the Flyers up 2-0.

The game continued to be close throughout the remainder of the second period and into the third because of the great goaltending. The play was aggressive and the defense fierce as Mike Hourigan of the Red Sabres and Vinny Dirienzio of the Flyers made several solid defensive plays.

Finally, Jake Alessandra added to the Flyers' lead with 2:53 remaining with a shot from the blue line that eluded Heyden after hitting a Red Sabres player in front of the net. The play was set up with assists from Mitch Yoder and Stephen Soos.

The Red Sabres continued to fight to the end with constant pressure and a pulled goalie in the last two minutes. However, Picone denied them on every opportunity to preserve the victory and the shutout.

Both teams look to be putting the final touches to their "A" game as the playoffs arrive in a few weeks.