Flames Squirt White Wins Inaugural Steelpot Tournament
September 15-16, 2012
Steel Ice Center, Bethlehem, PA
Players and Coaches celebrate with the Championship Banner of the Steelpot Tournament
Bethlehem, PA – The Lehigh Valley Flames White opened their season with a 3-0-1 record in the
inaugural Steelpot Tournament on September 15-16 in Bethlehem. This record propelled them to the
title, even after some tense moments in their final game against the co-host Flames Red team, who
opened their season 2-1-1 for a second place finish in the tournament, marking the first time in Flames
history that two teams in the same division have finished first and second in a tournament.
The Flames White team opened the tournament on Saturday morning with a convincing 4-2 victory over
the Berks Bruins, outshooting the Bruins by a 25-10 margin. Luke Shingles earned the first of his 3
victories on the weekend with a solid opening performance. The Flames White offense was triggered by
four different goal scorers – Hunter Engelman, Jacob Wehn, Ty Russell and Nathan Stark-Buehl. Luke
Tucker contributed two assists for the home squad in the opener. The Flames Red opened with a 5-3 loss
to the Wissahickon White team. The Flames were leading 3-2 through 2 periods after a strong 2 goal
debut by Logan Cuvo, who was flanked by Rhys and Ryan Koelsar. Ryan Hathaway added one tally as
well.
In the evening contests, the Flames Red scored their first victory with a hard fought 3-2 win over the
Berks Bruins. The Flames Red outshot the Bruins 17-15 and led 3-0 late in the third until the Bruins
scored 2 quick goals to make it close. Paul Zampino notched his first goal of the tournament to help pace
the Flames Red team. Michael Perelli, Matt Ingram and AJ Klemmer provided a solid wall of defense in
front of the Flames net and Sean Cherry added a menacing flurry of activity on the offense. The Flames
White outshot the Wissahickon Red team by a margin of 26-9 enroute to a 5-0 victory, putting them in
the tournament lead at the midway point. Hunter Engelman led the way with two goals while Jacob
Wehn, Nathan Stark-Buehl and Parker Leight also tallied. Brett Fyrer and Steven Ottman tallied two
assists apiece in the victory. Luke Bender sparked the Flames White fore check, pinning Wissahickon in
the zone several time while Aidan Pail played a solid defense throughout the game.
On a short turnaround, the boys in White came out Sunday morning against the then second place
Wissahickon White team and came away with a hard earned 6-4 victory. The Flames White trailed 3-2
on a Wissahickon goal with 9:08 remaining in the second period, the second in a row for the Warriors.
However, the Flames White would score two quick ones at the 7:23 mark and again at the 6:15 mark to
take the lead for good. Nathan Kolesar and Hunter Engelman led the scoring efforts with two goals
apiece with Kolesar barely missing the elusive Hat Trick as time expired in the 3rd period. Sean McGrath
and Dylan Brogna also got on the board for the Flames with goals. The Flames White balanced scoring
attack, with two goals coming from each of the three lines, was supported by strong defensive play and
Backchecking by Pete Zmijewski. The late morning game found the Flame Red team playing a solid all
around game against Wissahickon White team for a 3-1 victory. Jadon Trackim notched his first goal of
the tournament with solid help from his wingers Stephen Callaghan and Jon Fabiano.
With the morning victories by both Flames teams, the evening matchup between the Flames White and
Flames Red proved to be a championship contest in this round robin style tournament. Going into the
game, the Red could win the tournament with a victory and the White would take the title with a win or
tie.
The game was a nail-biter for sure, with the White outshooting the Red by a 26-7 margin, but Red goalie
Patrick Sidor was up to the task with a tremendous defensive effort turned in by Justin Mussella. White’s
eight penalties (16 for the tournament) gave Red power play upon power play, however, White was able
to fend off 7 of 8, with the lone power play goal coming from Logan Cuvo in the 1st period to tie the
game at 1-1, only minutes after Parker Leight made a nifty move to beat Sidor and give White a 1-0 lead.
White would strike again at 10:00 of the second when Steven Ottman put one past Sidor with an assist
going to Jacob Wehn, making it 2-1 in favor of the white. However, White was not comfortable as Red
began to open up the ice. With 5:05 left in the second, Steven Ambrogi of the Red fired a wrist shot past
Shingles to tie the game at 2, just as a power play was ending, and the game headed to the 3rd period.
The third period proved exciting as well, with Red having two power plays and White having one, all with
under 5:00 left. The boys went back and forth but to no avail, the game ending in a 2-2 tie, giving the
title to the Flames White team.
The first Steelpot tournament was a success and organizers are already beginning to plan for the future
years of this tournament – keep an eye on the Lehigh Valley Flames website at
www.lehighvalleyflames.org for more information.