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Bendorf’s three points help Rebels remain unbeaten with 5 – 3 win over Generals

Jonathan Bendorf’s three-point game helped lead the Philadelphia Rebels to a 5 – 3 victory over the visiting Northeast Generals to keep the Rebels undefeated with an 11 – 0 record on the season.

You missed a lot of the first period if you blinked. The Rebels got off to an extremely fast start just 2:08 into the game when Bendorf received a nice feed from Carter Woolley and took a wrist shot that beat Generals goalie Marko Sturma to give the Rebels a 1 – 0 lead.

Five minutes later Bendorf beat Sturma again on an unassisted goal to give the Rebels a 2 – 0. It was Bendorf’s third goal on the season.

Then one minute later at the 8:23 mark of the opening period the Rebels went up 3 – 0. Aaron Maguyon was working the play downlow when he sent a pass to the top of the near side faceoff circle to Bryant Gunn. Gunn took a shot that was redirected by Zerban in the slot that went passed Sturma for his fourth goal on the season. Northeast then changed goalies replacing Sturma with David Fessenden. Sturma had allowed three goals on eight shots.

Twenty-five seconds later Generals defenseman Patrick Harrington was called for a delay of game putting the Rebels on their first power play of the evening. With time winding down with the extra attacker, Ryan Patrick won the draw deep inside the Generals zone and the puck went back to the point to Carson Moniz. Moniz would pass the puck to the top of the near side faceoff circle to Andrew Bellant who immediately passed the biscuit downlow to Maguyon. Maugyon would pass it back to Moniz at the point who immediately sent a pass over to Bendorf on his right. Bendorf would pass it to Patrick at the top of the slot and Patrick took a wrist shot that was saved by Fessenden but Bellant picked up the rebound and put it in the net to give the Rebels a 4 – 0.

Despite being down 4 – 0 just ten minutes into the game, the Generals didn’t give up. Justin Jallen would score the visitor’s first goal of the game with 4:24 left in the first period. Rebels defenseman Ivan Komarovskii retrieved the puck deep inside his own zone after the Generals had dumped it in for a line change. Komarovskii would bring the puck behind his own net and sent an ill-advised pass up along the far side boards where it was intercepted by Luke Perunovich at the point. Perunovich sent a pass to Harrington who was behind the Rebels goalline. Harrington made a nice pass to a wide open Jallen in the slot and beat Rebels goalie Eli Billing to make it a 4 – 1 game.

The Generals would cut the Rebels lead in half with 1:08 left in the period. Louis Boudon would bring the puck inside the Rebels zone and would skate around the Rebels net. As he circled the net Boudon would throw a pass back to the point to Harrington. Harrington sent a pass back to the end boards to Anthony Quatieri who immediately sent a touch pass to Boudon in the slot. Boudon took a wrist shot that dribbled through Billing’s legs and into the net to make it a 4 – 2 game.

The Generals would make it a one goal game just 2:29 into the second period. Northeast had dumped the puck into the Rebels zone where it was picked up by Komarovskii. The Moscow native sent a pass behind his own net to Kolby Vegara. Vegara started to skate the puck up the far side boards and went to pass the puck to Bellant at the point but it was intercepted by Alex Cohen and the Generals forward skated in all alone on Billing and beat him high, glove side to make it a 4 – 3 game.

Then play started to even out for the rest of the second period. As the third period began the Rebels completely shut down the Generals preventing them from having any shots in the final stanza.

The Rebels would close out the scoring with 6:47 left in regulation. Bendorf skated hard after the puck once it was dumped deep inside the Generals zone where he was met by Matthew Wiesner. Wiesner went to skate behind his own net but he was buried by Eric Olson. Olson would pick up the puck and send it back to Vegara at the point. Vegara would take a shot on net that was saved by Fessenden but Auggie Moore picked up the rebound to make it a 5 – 3 game.

The win puts the Rebels two points behind the Generals for first place with five games in hand.

Billing stopped 13 of 15 shots while Sturma and Fessenden combined to turn aside 29 of 34 shots. Click here for the box score.

The Rebels now have week off and won’t play their next game until Wednesday, October 25 at 2:30pm when they visit the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights.

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Rebels win 10th straight game with 5 – 1 victory over Tomahawks and sweep weekend series

Backed by two, third period goals from Brandon Stanley, the visiting Philadelphia Rebels defeated the Johnstown Tomahawks 5 – 1 to sweep the weekend series against their rival from Western Pennsylvania and run their record to 10 – 0 on the season. The Rebels are the only undefeated team in the North American Hockey League.

The Rebels took an early lead again in this game on Eric Olson’s first goal on the season at 2:23 into the opening period. After Olson won the draw deep inside the Tomahawks’ zone, the puck came out to Ryan Patrick on the right-hand side of the near side faceoff circle. Patrick sent a cross-ice pass back to Bryant Gunn. Gunn took a wrist shot that Johnstown’s goalie Britt League made the initial save but Olson picked up the rebound and tuck it in the net to put the Rebels out front 1 – 0.

The Tomahawks would even the score off of an Alex Singley goal.  After Andrew Andary won the scrum along the near side boards in the Rebels zone, he passed the puck back to Hunter Carrick at the point. Carrick took a slap shot that was redirected by Singley in the slot and passed Rebels goalie Ryan Keane with 5:17 left in the first period.

As the game entered the second, Carter Woolley would give the Rebels back the lead. After Johnstown dumped the puck deep inside the Rebels zone it was retrieved by Gunn in his near side corner. Gunn would pass it up to Mack Byers at his own blueline. Byers sent a pass to a streaking Woolley in the neutral zone and the Bloomfield Hills, MI native beat League blocker side for his second goal on the season.

The old adage in hockey is the best defender on a 5 on 3 is your goaltender, and that old adage was correct today. Diarmad DiMurro was called for hooking at 8:34 into the second period and then Byers was called for holding 45 seconds later to give the Tomahawks a 5 on 3. Keane had to make at least three-point blank saves to keep the Rebels on top.

It then was the Rebels turn to go on a 5 on 3 advantage. After former Rebel Carter Dwyer was called for roughing at 12:17 into the second, teammate Nic Azarovitz was called for slashing seventeen seconds later. Twelve seconds into the 5 on 3 Hugh Quinn would make it a 3 – 1 game.

After Andrew Bellant won the draw deep inside the Johnstown zone he passed the puck to his left to Aaron Maguyon, sent the puck back to DiMurro at the point. DiMurro skated deeper into the Tomahawks zone and passed to Maguyon on his left. Maguyon fed a pass back to Quinn at the top of the faceoff circle and beat League blocker side with 7:18 left in the second period.

Stanley would put the game out of reach with his first goal of the game the 9:54 mark of the third period. As Tomahawks forward Brendan White tried to bring the puck out of his own zone, he was checked hard into the boards by Maguyon and puck went back to Stanley at the point. Stanley lobbed a shot on net that League misplayed and the biscuit went past him and into the net to make it a 4 – 1 game.

With time winding down in the game the Rebels would go on the power play. After the puck went into the Johnstown far side corner, Maguyon would fight for the puck and send it back to Carson Moniz. Moniz would pass it over to his right to Quinn who took a one-timer that was deflected by Stanley in the slot to make it a 5 – 1 game with 3:44 left in regulation.

Keane, who allowed only one goal all weekend, stopped 22 of 23 shots while League turned aside 9 of 14. Click here for the box score.

The Rebels will play the first-place Northeast Generals on Wednesday night at 7:00pm at the Class of 1923 Arena.

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Weekend Preview: 10/13 – 10/15; Rebels travel to Johnstown for Tomahawks Home Opener

The Rebels will travel to Johnstown to play a pair of games this weekend against the Tomahawks. Saturday’s game will start at 7:05pm while Sunday’s game will begin at 1:05pm. This will be the third and fourth games this season between the two teams. The roles will be reversed this weekend, however, with the Tomahawks hosting the Rebels for their home opening weekend. The Tomahawks will have National Hockey League Hall of Famer Paul Coffey drop the ceremonial first puck at the beginning of Saturday’s game.

The Rebels won the first two games by a combined score of 8 – 3.  The Schmidling brothers (Ben and David) lead the Tomahawks in scoring against the Rebels with two points each (Ben has one goal). Johnstown has yet to score on their seven chances on the power play. The Tomahawks goaltending tandem of Vinnie Purpura and Jack Faulkner have a combined 3.50 goals against average and .877 save percentage against the Rebels.

Carter Woolley leads the Rebels in points against the Tomahawks this season with three (1 goal and 2 assists). Four players (Andrew Bellant, Diarmad DiMurro, Adam Peck and Justin Smith) each have two points against Johnstown. The Rebels are 27% (3 for 11) on the power play. Rebels netminders Ryan Keane and Eli Billing have a combined 1.50 goals against average and .930 save percentage against the Tomahawks.

Johnstown Overview
The Tomahawks currently reside in last place in the East Division with a 2 – 10 record with four points. They are 16 points behind division leading Northeast Generals. Johnstown has scored 20 goals (17th in the league) on the season and they have allowed 47 (most in the league). Forward Joe Kile leads the team in points with five (all goals). He also leads the team in goals. Mitchell Hale has the most penalty minutes on the team with 47. Johnstown is ranked thirteenth in the league on the power play having converted on 20% of their chances while they are ranked nineteenth in the league on the penalty kill preventing the opposition from scoring 71.7% of the time.

Johnstown goalies have a combined 3.67 goals against average and a .892 save percentage with no shutouts.

Rebels Overview
Despite coming into this weekend with an 8 – 0 record for 16 points, the Rebels are in second place in the East Division and trail the Generals by four points, although the Rebels have four games in hand. Philadelphia has scored 25 goals on the season (ninth in the league) and they have allowed 13 (tied for first with the least allowed in the league). Defenseman DiMurro tops the team in points with seven (2 goals and 5 assists). Bellant, Ryan Patrick and Jensen Zerban each have three goals. Bellant has the most penalty minutes on the team with 30 while DiMurro has the best +/- with a +7. The Rebels are tenth in the league on the power play having scored on 22.6% of their chances while they are ranked fourth in the league on the penalty kill having prevented the opposition from scoring 84.8% of the time.

Rebels goaltenders have a combined 1.62 goals against average and a .930 save percentage with one shutout.

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Rebels run record to 7 – 0 with 2 -1 victory over Knights

The Philadelphia Rebels beat the visiting Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights last night by a score of 2 – 1 to keep the team undefeated with a 7 – 0 record on the young season. The Rebels are the only unbeaten team in the North American Hockey League.

Coming into the game with a 5 – 1 record, the vastly improved Knights worked tirelessly up and down the ice. They held the Rebels at bay through the first period virtually matching shot for shot with the Rebels having eight in the period while the Knights had seven. Each team had their chances to score but Knights goalie Christian Stoever and Rebels netminder Ryan Keane had to make several point-blank saves to keep the game scoreless after one.

After Knights defenseman Paul Luebke was called holding at the 7:17 mark, the Rebels would draw first blood at 8:37 on a power play goal from Adam Peck. Auggie Moore would bring the puck up along the far side boards and send it down low to Andrew Bellant. Bellant circled back up to the faceoff circle and then made a soft pass back along to the boards where Moore picked up the puck and sent it back into the corner to Peck. Peck would pass the puck back to the circle to Bellant who would pass it back to Carter Woolley at the point. After noticing the passing lanes being blocked up the middle, Woolley sent a pass back to Bellant at the circle. Bellant took a wrist shot that was saved by Stoever but Moore kept digging at the puck which ultimately squirted out to Peck who put it passed Stoever to give the Rebels a 1 – 0 lead.

A bench minor was called on the Rebels at 9:46 of the third period to negate a power play and have each side play four on four hockey. After a deep rebound off of Keane came out to Jimmy Glynn, Glynn would send a cross-ice pass up to Julian Makary, who carried the puck into the offensive zone on a 2 on 3 with Glynn. Makary dumped the puck down into the far side corner where Glynn picked it up and circled around the net. He sent a drop pass to Makary at the goal line who skated to the faceoff circle and sent a cross-ice pass to Diarmad DiMurro. DiMurro would take a wrist shot that beat Stoever high long side to give the Rebels a 2 – 0 lead with 9:38 left in the game.

With 2:05 remaining in regulation, the Knights would make the game interesting. Having pulled Stoever for the extra attacker, Curtis Carleson cut the Rebels lead in half with his third goal on the season. With each team trying to control the puck behind the Rebels net, the puck would be kicked free to Carleson in the far side corner. Carleson would send the puck back to Matt Kidney at the point. Kidney would pass the puck over to Kiryll Ulanov on his right. Ulanov took a shot that was saved by Keane but Carleson picked up the rebound to make it a 2 – 1 game.

The knights would keep Stoever on the bench for the extra attacker but it wasn’t enough as time ran out to end the game. Stoever would stop 35 of the 37 shots he faced while Keane turned aside 22 of 23. Click here for the box score.

The Knights and Rebels will meet again tonight at 7:35pm at the Class of 1923 Arena at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Woolley named East Division Star of the Week while Smith is honorable mentioned

The North American Hockey League announced today its Divisional Stars of the Week for week ending October 1 and Rebels forward Carter Woolley was chosen as the East Division’s Star of the Week while teammate Justin Smith was named honorable mentioned.

Woolley had three points (1 goal and 2 assists) in this weekend’s sweep over the visiting Johnstown Tomahawks. The 6’0/185 lbs. native of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, had an assist in Saturday’s 3-1 win and a goal and an assist in Sunday’s 5 – 2 victory.

“Carter has been a great player for two years” stated Rebels head coach Joe Coombs. “It’s nice for him to finally be getting some recognition for his hard work,” concluded Coombs.

Smith, the 6’1”/185 native of Lansing, MI, had two points this past weekend. He had an assist in Saturday night’s game and the returning Rebels’ defenseman scored his first NAHL goal in Sunday’s victory.

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Rebels remain unbeaten with 5 – 2 win over Tomahawks

The Rebels used a balanced scoring attack to give them a 5 – 2 win over the visiting Johnstown Tomahawks last night. The victory gives the Rebels a perfect 6 – 0 record on the young season. They are the only undefeated team in the North American Hockey League.

Former Rebel Carter Dwyer helped his old team in the very beginning of the game when he took a slashing penalty at 4:41 into the opening period. The Rebels were having good puck movement on the powerplay but were unable to get any shots on net due to Johnstown’s defense. Then the puck went back to Diarmad DiMurro at the near side point. As he started to walk the blueline to his right he passed the puck back to Jensen Zerban, who promptly passed it downlow to Aaron Maguyon at the bottom of the faceoff circle. Maguyon found a wide open DiMurro at the top of the slot and he took a wrist shot that beat Tomahawks’ goalie Vinnie Purpurra blocker side to give the Rebels a 1 – 0 lead at 5:43 into the opening period.

A little over four minutes later Adam Peck would give the Rebels a 2 – 0. After Rebels goalie Eli Billing made a nice back-door pass save to keep the Tomahawks off the board, the rebound came out to Julian Makary who skated up the far side boards. Makary sent a cross-ice pass to a streaking Jimmy Glynn along the near side boards. As Glynn skated to the faceoff dot he passed the puck to Makary in the slot. Makary took a shot the was saved by Purpurra but Peck picked up the loose puck and put it behind Purpurra for his first goal of the season.

Despite being outshot 12 – 7 after one period of play, the Rebels entered the second period with a two-goal lead. After a battle in the corner the puck skirted out to Carter Woolley who promptly passed it back to Justin Smith as the far side point. Smith crossed the puck over to DiMurro who took a shot that blocked in front of the net. Mack Byers picked up the rebound and passed the puck back to the slot to a breaking Smith who took a snapshot that beat Purpurra long side to give the Rebels a 3 – 0 lead at 6:33 into the middle period. It was Smith’s first-ever NAHL goal.

Jonathan Bendorf would make it a 4 – 0 game with 9:23 left in the second. Zerban would bring the puck up along the far side boards and cut across to center ice as he entered the offensive zone. He took a shot that was saved by Purpurra but Bendorf tapped in the rebound for his first goal as a Rebel.

Johnstown’s Chase Davidson was called for holding with 5:19 left in the second. Thirty-four seconds later Woolley would make it a 5 – 0 game. With Johnstown looking to clear the puck it was blocked by Peck and the puck went to Auggie Moore along the far side boards. Moore passed the puck back to DiMurro at the point. DiMurro started to move closer into the offensive zone where he saw an open Woolley at the top of the near side faceoff circle. Woolley stepped up and took a snipe of a shot that beat Johnstown’s Jake Faulkner short side for the Rebels second power play goal of the game.

The Tomahawks would make it 5 – 1 just 34 seconds later, and they added their second goal with three minutes remaining to finish the game’s scoring.

Billing would stop 25 of 27 shots while Purpurra and Faulkner would combine to stop 21 of 26 shots. Click here for the box score.

The Rebels will be home this upcoming weekend playing a total of three games, two against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights and one against the New Jersey Titans.

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Rebels home opener begins with a bang in 3 – 1 win over Tomahawks

Andrew Bellant had two points and goaltender Ryan Keane stopped 15 shots to lead the Rebels to a 3 – 1 victory over the visiting Johnstown Tomahawks. It was the Rebels first ever regular season home game at the Class of 1923 Arena at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Rebels opened the night in class when Philadelphia Flyers legend Bernie Parent dropped the ceremonial first puck. Prior to the game Parent mingled with all the fans and showed he is as great as person off the ice as when he was on it, telling stories of his glory days and reminiscing about the ’23 arena since it was there the Flyers practiced in the team’s glory years.

The defending NAHL East Division champions looked to get off to a quick start in their new building and Ryan Patrick did it for them. Auggie Moore brought the puck up along the far side boards into the Johnstown zone. He head manned the puck to Patrick who passed it down low back to Moore in the corner. Moore send a wraparound pass to Andrew Bellant at the near side faceoff circle. Bellant sent it back to Justin Smith at the point. Looking to take shot, Smith walked the blueline and passed the puck over to Diarmad DiMurro. DiMurro made nice head fake and sent a pass to Patrick in the high slot and the returning Rebel took a wrist shot that beat Johnstown goalie Vinnie Purpura long side to give the home team a 1 – 0 lead with just 4:25 into the opening period.

Although Johnstown entered the game with a losing record, head coach Mike Letizia has his team playing sound defense. The Rebels had their chances to score more but Purpura needed to make some key saves to key his teammates in the game.

With time winding down in the first, Roman Kraemer was able to tie the game at one. David Schmidling won the draw deep inside the Rebels near side faceoff circle. The puck went into the corner where it was picked up by Schmidling’s brother Ben who passed it down low to Kraemer. Kraemer tried a wraparound that was initially saved by Keane but the rebound came out quickly back to Kraemer who put the puck in the back of the net with 2:54 remaining in the opening period.

With both goaltenders having to make key saves to keep their team in it, the game entered the third period still tied. Then with nine minutes remaining in the game, Ben Schmidling was called for high sticking to put the Rebels on the powerplay. Looking to set up the play, Moore took a quick wrist shot from the near side faceoff circle that Purpura had to make a nice glove save but the puck bounced out of it. The puck skirted into the corner to Bellant, who then passed the puck back to the point to Carter Woolley. Woolley sent it back to Bellant who was at the faceoff dot. Bellant made a nice cross-ice back back to Carson Moniz. Moniz took a shot that beat Purpura long side to put the Rebels up 2 – 1 with 8:03 left in the game.

Looking to tie the game, Johnstown pulled Purpura for the extra attacker. Bellant was able to intercept an errant Johnstown pass at center ice and cross over the blueline and sailed the puck into the empty net to give the Rebels a 3 – 1 win.

Keane turned aside 15 of the 16 shots he faced while Purpura stopped 29 of 31 shots. Click here for the box score.

The two teams will be back at it tonight at the Class of 1923 Arena. Game time is 6:20pm.

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Rebels win 4 – 2 over Wings to take one game lead in semi-finals

The Aston Rebels used three points from Drew Blackmun and a strong performance by goaltender Mareks Mitens to lead them to a 4 – 2 win over the Aberdeen Wings The victory gives the Rebels a one game to none advantage in this best-of-three semi-final series.

The Rebels would get on the board first. Kolby Vegara would bring the puck up through center ice and into the Wings zone. As soon as he brought the puck in the zone he passed it to Drew Blackmun on his right. Blackmun would dump the puck into the far side corner where Vegara chased it. Vegara would pick up the puck and send it back to Blackmun along the boards. The Rebels’ assistant captain passed it over to a wide-open Carter Woolley in the slot and he took a one-timer that beat Aberdeen goaltender Forbes Ploszaj short side to make it a 1 – 0 game with 5:57 remaining in the first period. It was Woolley’s first goal of the playoffs.

After a save by Mitens the rebound was picked up by Ryan Patrick. Patrick would bring the puck up through the neutral zone on a two-on-one with Gianluca Esteves. As Patrick brought the puck in the offensive zone he passed it to Esteves on his right. Esteves caught Ploszaj moving and the Winnipeg, MB native took a wrist shot that beat Ploszaj long side to make it a 2 – 0 with 2:37 remaining in the first.

The Rebels would take a 3 – 0 lead on Dom Garica’s first goal of the playoffs. After a draw deep inside the Wings far side zone, Aberdeen defenseman Jack Kelly went to pass the puck up to a teammate but it was intercepted by Garcia in the neutral zone. Garcia brought the puck along the boards and took a wrist shot that beat the netminder high, short side with 6:20 left in the second period.

The momentum of the game then changed to the Wings benefit. After peppering Mitens with shots, the Central Division playoff champions would get on the board with 3:16 left in the middle stanza.

Garcia was called goaltender interference 2:58 left in the period to give the Wings the extra attacker. Colton Fletcher would bring the puck up out of his own end and it the Rebels zone to the top of the near side faceoff circle. Fletcher passed it down low to Carter Roo. Roo started to go to his left but immediately stopped and passed the puck back to Fletcher who was near Mitens blocker side. Fletcher took a shot that beat Mitens long side to make it a 3 – 1 game.

With time running out on the second period and the Rebels playing on their heels, the Wings cut their deficit in half with a second remaining. Blackmun picked up a rebound and brought it behind the Rebels net. As he tried an outlet pass it was intercepted by Kevin Fitzgerald at the far side faceoff circle. Fitzgerald moved slightly forward and beat Mitens for his fourth goal of the playoffs.

Trying to capitalize on their success at the end of the second period, the Wings started the final period strong but Mitens had to make a couple of Grade A saves to maintain the Rebels one goal lead. The Rebels then began to play shutout defense and limited the Wings to minimal shots in the third. Blackmun would then score an empty net goal forty-eight seconds left in the game to make it a 4 – 2 game.

Mitens would turn aside 30 of 32 shots while Ploszaj stopped 20 of 23 shots. Click here for the box score.

The Rebels need one more win to advance the NAHL’s Robertson Cup finals. They play the Wings in game two tomorrow at 5:30pm ET.

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Weekend Preview: 4/21 – 4/22. Divisional Semi-Finals shift to WBS. Rebels need one win to advance

The scene shifts this weekend for the North American Hockey League’s East Division semi-final series between the Aston Rebels and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights. The Rebels, who have a 2 – 0 lead in the best of five series, will travel to play the Knights Friday at 7:30pm and possibly on Saturday at 7:30pm. If the Rebels win Friday night the series will be over. If they lose, the series will go to a game four on Saturday. Should the Rebels lose both games in Wilkes-Barre the deciding game in the series will be played on Monday, April 24 at 7:00pm at IceWorks. The winner of this series will advance to the divisional finals against the winner of the Johnstown Tomahawks and New Jersey Titans, which the Titans have a 2 – 0 lead as well.

Both games have been extremely close, in terms of scoring (the Rebels have outscored the Knights 5 – 2) and play. They have been up and down games while the Rebels’ Mareks Mitens and the Knights’ Grant Valentine have played exceptionally well in the nets to keep their respective team competitive.

The Rebels won the first game in the series by the score of 3 – 1 and then won game two 2 – 1. “The Knights have played very well” stated Rebels head coach Joe Coombs. “WBS’ compete level has been outstanding! We’ve played okay in this series. We played well in the first game but not in the second. We were outplayed in the second game but we were fortunate enough to win it. We cannot afford any mistakes up there or they will make us pay for it. WBS is a very good team and have an excellent coaching staff. We are fighting for our lives” concluded Coombs.

The Knights’ goals have been scored by Curtis Carlson and Joe Schuler. Six different Knights (including Carlson and Schuler) have one point. WBS is 0 – 8 on the power play. Mike Gelatt leads the team in penalty minutes with four while five different players have a +1 +/- ratio. Valentine has a 2.50 goals against average and a .903 save percentage.

Aston’s goals have been scored by Jensen Zerban (2), Drew Blackmun, Gianluca Esteves and Andrew Hart. Blackmun, Hart and Zerban each have two points. The Rebels are 2 for 7 (29%) on the power play. Auggie Moore has the most penalty minutes on the team with four. Carter Woolley, Hart and Zerban each have a +3 +/- ratio. Mitens has a 1.00 goals against average and a .953 save percentage.

If the Rebels advance to the divisional finals, the series will begin on Friday, April 28th and Saturday, April 29th – both games at IceWorks. The Rebels have home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

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Rebels take game one of divisional semi-finals as Zerban scores two goals

The Aston Rebels took game one of the best-of-five divisional semi-final series by a score of 3 – 1 over the visiting Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights behind two goals from Air Force Academy commit Jensen Zerban.

The first period was going very fast with each team playing tight checking and forcing the other to take perimeter shots. Then with 2:55 remaining Elijah Latimer was called for interference putting the Rebels on the power play. With time running down with the extra attacker, Ryan Solomon brought the puck out from deep inside his own zone. He passed it up to his right to Drew Blackmun. As Blackmun skated through the neutral zone he passed to it Gianluca Esteves along the far side boards. As Esteves entered the zone, he made a cut-back move at the top of the faceoff circle and passed the puck down low to Blackmun in the corner. Blackmun brought the puck slightly up the boards and cut across the faceoff circle and took a wrist shot that beat Knights’ goalie Grant Valentine high, short side to give the Rebels a 1 – 0 lead with 1:22 remaining in the opening period.

The Knights would tie the game at 7:17 into the second period. With the Rebels applying pressure in the Knights Zone, Andrew Bellant had the puck in the far side corner and passed it back to the point to Gvido Jansons. Jansons went to take a shot but essentially whiffed on it and the puck went to Matt Kidney who passed it up to Curtis Carleson. Carleson skated with a burst of speed through center ice and into the Rebels zone. He skated to his right to the top of the far side faceoff circle and took a shot that beat Mareks Mitens high, short side to make it a 1 – 1 game.

Zerban then would score his first of two goals.

Andrew Hart and Carter Woolley were battling for the puck with two Knights in the far side corner. Woolley would come out with it and then he passed it back to Hart. As Woolley skated towards the slot, Hart passed the puck up the boards to Zerban. Zerban then passed it to Woolley who made a nice touch-pass back to Zerban at the top of the crease and Zerban beat Valentine to make it a 2 – 1 game 5:51 remaining in the middle stanza.

The third period was extremely tight with limited shots but Mitens and Valentine had to make key saves to keep the other team from scoring. With a minute left in the game the Knights set up behind their own goal. As the Knights’ defender brought the puck into the neutral zone he was stripped of the puck by Zerban. Zerban raced into the Knights zone with a defender on him. As he got to the top of the crease Valentine attempted to poke check the puck. Before he could, Zerban put the puck behind him to make it a 3 – 1 game.

Both goaltenders played well. Mitens turned aside 22 of 23 shots by Valentine stopped 23 of 26. Click here for the box score.

The second game of the divisional semi-final series between these two teams will be at tonight at 7pm at IceWorks.