The visiting Aston Rebels used four players who had two goals apiece to propel them to a 10 – 1 rout of the Northeast Generals. The win enabled the Rebels to clinch a tie for the East Division championship. A win tonight will give them their second straight regular season division crown.
This game was over in a hurry.
Drew Blackmun would get the Rebels on the board first. After battling for the puck in the Generals far side corner Andrew Bellant came out with it and took a shot that was saved by Northeast’s goalie Peter Ciccarelli. The deep rebound came back out to the point to Ryan Solomon. Solomon passed the puck down low to Bellant who had skated behind the Generals net. Bellant brought the puck up along the near side boards and he found an open Blackmun in the slot who beat Ciccarelli far side to give the Rebels a 1 – 0 at the 6:46 mark of the first period.
Two minutes and nineteen seconds later the Rebels took a 2 – 0 lead. Carson Briere picked up the puck in the Generals far side corner after Ginaluca Esteves had just won a faceoff. The Haddonfield native passed it behind the Generals net to Auggie Moore. Moore tried a wraparound that was saved by Ciccarelli but the rebound came out to Esteves who tucked in the rebound for his fourteenth goal on the season.
Esteves would give the Rebels a 3 – 0 with 7:46 remaining in the first period. The Generals had dumped the puck into the Rebels zone where Gvido Jansons gloved it, dropped it to the ice and passed it over to his left to Brennan Kapcheck. Kapcheck passed the puck up to Esteves who gained a burst of speed in the neutral zone. Esteves brought the puck up along the Generals far side boards and he then cut across the goal mouth and slid the puck behind Ciccarelli for his second goal of the game.
After the Generals’ Kyle Martin was called for roughing with 6:21 left in the period to put the Rebels on the power play, Kapcheck would make it a 4 – 0 game. Jansons would take a shot from the point that went just wide of Ciccarelli’s stick side. Kapcheck picked up the puck in the near side corner and passed it behind the net to Ryan Patrick. Patrick would skate the puck up around the far side circle and take a shot that was saved by Ciccarelli but Kapcheck entered the play and picked up the rebound and put it though Ciccarelli’s five hole for his fifteenth goal of the season with 5:12 remaining in the opening period.
As the Rebels dumped the puck deep inside the Generals zone, Bellant gave an extraordinary effort to prevent it from being an icing. He picked up the puck before it crossed the goalline and went behind the Northeast net. As he circled out he found Andrew Hart in the slot who beat Ciccarelli to make it a 5 – 0 game with 3:04 left in the period.
Blackmun, Esteves, Hart and Patrick had two goals apiece. In all, Patrick had four points on the night (2 goals and 2 assists), Bellant (3 assists), Blackmun (2 goals and 1 assist), and Moore (3 assists) had three points respectively.
The ten goals tied a team record for most goals in a game. The last time the Rebels did it was back on January 30, 2016 when they defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights 10 – 2.
Mareks Mitens stopped ten of eleven shots whild Ciccarelli turned aside 35 of 45 shots. Click here for the box score.
If the Rebels win tonight or Johnstown loses the Rebels will clinch the regular season East Division championship.
