We’re recapping how the top Southeast and Florida Division teams performed at the 2022 USPHL Florida College Showcase in Estero, Fla., which started Friday, Dec. 16, and wrapped up on Monday, Dec. 19. We’re featuring teams with .500 or better records and also taking a look at top performers for all teams.
Charlotte Rush (4-0-0-0)
Charlotte won their last seven of eight total games in December, including all four at the Showcase, one of only two Premier teams to pull off the sweep at the event (and their Elite team matched it for an 8-0 organizational success story). They started with a 7-1 win over Tampa Bay, followed by a 5-2 defeat of Atlanta. They just narrowly edged the Florida Eels in a marquee matchup, winning 4-3, before putting up a decisive shutout win over the Florida Jr. Blades.
Top Scorers (by position): Cam Perez D (1-6-7), Matthew Esquerre (3-3-6), Bryce Battaglia (3-3-6), Carter Schram (2-4-6)
Top Goaltender: Devin Stephens, 3-0, 60 saves on 63 shots (60/63), .952 save percentage (SV%), 1.00 goals against average (GAA)
Potomac Patriots (4-0-0-0)
The Patriots stand in a tie for second in the Southeast and they are on a 5-0 streak, including all four of their games at the showcase. They started by beating the Columbia Infantry, 7-4, then moved on to take down the Tampa Bay Juniors, 5-3, both on Friday. They defeated the Atlanta Mad Hatters 7-2 and the Palm Beach Typhoon, 8-2.
Top Scorers: Siamion Marschanok F (4-7-11, led all Florida College Showcase players), Joshua Kingsburry D (0-7-7)
Columbia Infantry (3-1-0-0)
The Columbia Infantry had a fantastic weekend, with three straight wins to close it out after an initial 7-4 loss to the Potomac Patriots. They came back to put up a huge win against the always strong Richmond Generals, 5-1. They defeated the Hampton Roads Whalers in a shootout, 3-2, and then finished with a decisive victory against the Isanti Outlaws. They remain in sixth in the Florida Division right now, but their 20 points would be good for fourth in two other divisions.
Top Scorers: Quinten Shaffer F (4-4-8), Zachary Brady D (1-4-5)
Top Goaltenders: Cade Corbin, 1-0, 40/41, .976 SV%, 1.00 GAA; Brian Brady, 2-0, 72/76, .947 SV%, 1.92 GAA
Florida Eels (3-1-0-0)
The Eels enjoyed a strong showing at the showcase, with the only blemish being on their “old friends” from the 2021 National Championship game. The Charlotte Rush defeated the Eels 4-3, but that was only after the Eels had already defeated the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes, 4-1, and the Richmond Generals, 6-1. After earning two more points against the Hampton Roads Whalers, their almost perfect December ended at 9-1-0-0.
Top Scorers: Jacob Godbout F (1-7-8), Collin Patterson F (6-2-8), Kyle Ziemba D (1-4-5)
Top Goaltenders: Tobias Bell, 1-0, 35/36, .972 SV%, 1.00 GAA; Duncan Rolleman, 2-1, 83/89, .933 SV%, 175 GAA
Florida Jr. Blades (3-1-0-0)
The Jr. Blades continue to have a fantastic season, sitting in second place behind only the Florida Eels. The Jr. Blades won their first two games on Dec. 16, 5-3 over Nashville and 6-4 against the Isanti Outlaws. The hosts of the USPHL Florida College Showcase got back to business on Sunday with a 7-4 win over the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes before falling in a decisive shutout defeat against the Charlotte Rush.
Top Scorers: Charlie Chinian F (5-5-10), Braden Mayer D (0-2-2), Connor Brown D (0-2-2)
Top Goaltenders: Sal Carabelli, 2-0, 79/87, .908 SV%, 4.00 GAA
Palm Beach Typhoon (3-1-0-0)
The Typhoon started the showcase six points behind the fourth-place Tampa Bay Juniors. They are now just two points back of what will end up being the final playoff spot. They kicked off their showcase run Saturday with an 8-2 win against the Isanti Outlaws, but then fell by the same score on Sunday to the Potomac Patriots. They were right back up on top with a 5-1 win against the Nashville Spartans and closed with a 4-3 shootout win against the Hampton Roads Whalers.
Top Scorers: Anton Egle D (7-3-10), John Brace F (2-3-5), Vesse-Wincent Lampen F (2-3-5)
Top Goaltenders: Victor Appleqvist, 2-0, 75/79, .949 SV%, 1.92 GAA; Ethan Haglund, 1-0, 27/29, .931 SV%
Atlanta MadHatters (2-2-0-0)
The MadHatters kicked off with a big shutout win against the Isanti Outlaws, 6-0, but later that same Dec. 17, they fell 7-2 to the Potomac Patriots. After a Sunday loss to the Charlotte Rush (5-2), they finished Monday on the winning side, battling it out with the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes to a 7-5 victory.
Top Scorers: Ben Baker F (4-2-6), Owen Larsen D (2-3-5)
Top Goaltender: Patrick Colburn, 1-1, 58/63 shots, .921 save percentage, 2.50 GAA, 1 shutout
In Other Action
The Carolina Jr. Hurricanes earned their sole victory on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Juniors, winning 4-2, but otherwise took losses to the Florida Eels, Florida Jr. Blades and Atlanta MadHatters. Carolina was led by a seven-point effort by Zach Nicholls. Max Geddes was in net for their win.
For Richmond, the third game was the charm for the Generals, winning 4-2 against the Nashville Spartans. They weren’t as successful against the Tampa Bay Juniors, Columbia Infantry or the Florida Eels. Defensemen Zachary Correia and Jonathan Beiber each led in scoring with four points. Lenny Perno, who faced 99 shots in the showcase, went 1-1.
Tampa Bay’s only win came in their opener against the Richmond Generals. They also faced Potomac, Charlotte and Carolina, but could not bring away further points. Beau Courneya led the way with four goals and six points in four games. Onni Taskila earned the win in net.
The Nashville Spartans took their two points from the event against the Hampton Roads Whalers in a 5-4 shootout victory. They had a pair of close losses against the Florida Jr. Blades and Richmond Generals and also were defeated by the Palm Beach Typhoon. Niko Schoner and Jakob Holley each registered five points. D.J. Lyons brought home the win in net.
The Hampton Roads Whalers had the odd distinction of playing in three shootouts out of their four games, and unfortunately for the squad, they could only bring a point out of each. They had shootout losses against Columbia (3-2), Nashville (5-4) and Palm Beach (4-3), while additionally losing in regulation to the Florida Eels. Wyatt Teubert had an impressive 3-4-7 showing for the weekend. Braxton Singleton finished the showcase with an impressive .939 save percentage.
The Isanti Outlaws came from Minnesota standing in third place in the Midwest West Division. After going 0-4 in Florida, they were fortunate to head home still in third place, albeit now in a tie with the Minnesota Moose. They’ll come back in 2023 fighting to hold onto their top four spot towards potential home ice advantage in their divisional playoffs. Tyler Schmitt posted a 1-5-6 line to lead the team.
