Monday, May 20, 2013

Recruits Capture Junior Titles

Future college stars claim titles in Clark Cup, RBC Cup and Robertson Cup.

Recruits Capture Junior Titles
The Dubuque Fighting Saints won their second Clark Cup in three years.

Future college players – including more than 30 current commitments – celebrated championships in the CJHL, NAHL and USHL in the last two weeks as the Brooks Bandits, Amarillo Bulls and Dubuque Fighting Saints captured their respective league titles.

Fighting Saints Win Clark Cup | USHL.com

Friday night the Dubuque Fighting Saints – led by incoming Denver head coach Jim Montgomery – defeated the Fargo Force in overtime to complete a 3-0 series sweep in the Clark Cup finals. Frankie DiChiara, who will be a freshman at Yale in the fall, scored the series-clinching goal, while Northeastern recruit Mike Szmatula was named the playoff MVP.

Szmatula is one of three Northeastern commits on the Fighting Saints, along with Matthew Benning and John Stevens. Wisconsin (Keegan Ford and Seamus Malone) also had multiple recruits on the Dubuque roster.

It’s the second Clark Cup in three years for Montgomery and the Fighting Saints, whose previous championship team included the likes of Boston College teammates Johnny Gaudreau and Michael Matheson and Northeastern’s Vinny Saponari.

The Fighting Saints feature 17 players who have already secured college commitments:

Matthew Benning (Northeastern), Brandon Carlson (Alabama-Huntsville), Frankie Dichiara (Yale), Michael Downing (Michigan), AJ Fossen (Clarkson), Keegan Ford (Wisconsin), Eric Freschi (Cornell), Dylan Gambrell (Denver), Karson Kuhlman (Minnesota Duluth), Seamus Malone (Wisconsin), Kyle McKenzie (Providence), Niklas Nevalainen (St. Cloud State), Jarris Privatera (Boston University), Peter Quenneville (Quinnipiac), John Stevens (Northeastern), Michael Szmatula (Northeastern), Jeff Taylor (Union)

Bandits Claim RBC Cup | RBC Cup Site

The Brooks Bandits won the RBC Cup Sunday night with a 3-1 victory against the host Summerside Western Capitals in Summerside, P.E.I. The RBC Cup features the top teams from the CJHL Junior A leagues across Canada.

It marked the first national championship for Brooks, which became the eighth team from the AJHL to win the title.

College commits Anthony Petruzzelli (Vermont) and Dakota Mason (SUNY Plattsburgh) both scored in the championship game for the Bandits. Clarkson commit Anthony Paskaruk shared the team and tournament scoring lead with nine points in six games.

Six Bandits are committed to Division I schools, two more to Division III, and 10 others are uncommitted and have not played in the CHL. The college commits:

Tanner Hicks (Manhattanville), Patrick Lee (Massachusetts), Dakota Mason (SUNY Plattsburgh), Chris Muscoby (Vermont), Anthony Paskaruk (Clarkson), Anthony Petruzzelli (Vermont), Corey Scammon (UMass Lowell), Maddison Smiley (Massachusetts)

Bulls Win Robertson Cup | NAHL.com

The Amarillo Bulls won their first national championship with a 5-0 victory against the Wenatchee Wild in the NAHL’s Robertson Cup on May 13 in Frisco, Texas.

Thirteen Bulls are committed to college, 11 of them to Division I schools. All-Tournament selections from the Bulls included Holy Cross commit Paul Berrafato in goal, Princeton commit Joe Grabowski on defense and Trinity College commit Ryan Cole at forward. Cole was also named the tournament MVP.

Nine Division I programs had future players win titles for the Bulls, led by Army and Robert Morris with two each.

Amarillo’s college commitments:

Paul Berrafato (Holy Cross), Clint Carlisle (Army), Ryan Cole (Trinity), Tyler Deresky (Bentley), Brady Ferguson (Robert Morris), Geoff Fortman (Canisius), Joe Grabowski (Princeton), Hampus Gustafsson (Merrimack), Garret Peterson (Army), John Rey (Robert Morris), Tyler Rostenkowski (Air Force), Thomas Sarcona (Niagara), TJ Sherman (Trinity)