Day 3 Recap: The 2025 T1ER/T1EHL 18U Invitational

The 2025 T1ER/T1EHL 18U Invitational brought the action for day three! 38 of the nation’s top 18U programs from both the T1ER League and the Tier 1 Elite Hockey League (T1EHL) were in attendance for a premier showcase of talent. Alongside the 18U action, the weekend features competition across the 15U and 16U T1ER level. Click here to see all the results.

 

18U: 

The Lincoln Stars finished their weekend with an impressive 3-1 victory against the Jr. Canes. After a slow offensive start for both squads, it was the Stars who were able to capitalize on the Jr. Canes’ mistakes and ultimately seal the victory.

The Jr. Canes controlled the game heavily in the first period, outshooting the Stars 8-3, but were still unable to score. The teams traded penalties, but the buzzer sounded, and the game was scoreless heading into the first intermission. About seven minutes into the second period, Logyn Kaufman scored his first of the night on a great passing play from Cody Sweeny and William Harker. The score stayed at 1-0 heading into the third period. Kaufman would continue his night with a great backhand shot to the top shelf to extend the Stars' lead. Their lead would stand strong until Dominic Anton cut the lead in half on a great shot from the slot. This brief spark would not last long as Cody Sweeny found his way down on a 2-on-1 opportunity and sniped the far side of the net. 3-1 was the final score, and the Stars left victorious.

While Stars forward Kaufman and goaltender Owen Kinsel enabled this victory, the lack of discipline from the opposition made the game an uphill battle for the Jr. Canes. The Jr. Canes logged 20 penalty minutes compared to the Stars' eight, leaving the Jr. Canes shorthanded for more time and thus ending up with fewer opportunities.

 

The Pittsburgh Stars completed a suffocating 4-1 win against the San Jose Jr. Sharks. An excellent performance by goaltender Ian Lorang and some clutch goal scoring paved the way for the Pittsburgh Stars' victory.

The Stars wasted no time as Dominic Cespedes fired a shot from behind the net, off the back of the goaltender, and into the net. With the end of the first period approaching, Sharks forward Jacob Causcut took a cross-checking penalty that sent the Stars to the power play. Ten seconds later, Zachry Bryndyn wired a pass to Artem Blinov, who one-timed the puck to the back of the net. The second period is where the Sharks were able to find some life and gain some offensive momentum. With seven and a half minutes remaining in the period, Sharks captain Otaro Inoue fired a shot from the top of the circle that found twine to cut the Stars' lead in half. The Sharks kept the pressure on as they outshot the Stars 28-16 through two periods. At around the halfway mark of the third period, a Cayden Cohoon shot from the point was deflected by Lukas Hixon and into the net to extend the Stars' lead. Just minutes later, it was Hixon again on the power play on a perfectly placed shot to obtain a 4-1 lead. The Stars maintained their lead for the remainder of the game.

Despite the score, the Sharks were vicious on the offensive side of the puck. 41-25 was the final shot total in favor of the Sharks, and there was no shortage of opportunities for either team. In this case, they caught goaltender Lorang on a night where he was poised and anchoring the Stars to a victory.

 

CarShield finished their weekend with a 5-3 victory over the Anaheim Jr. Ducks. Despite a great counterattack by Anaheim, CarShield was able to hold its lead at the time of the final buzzer.

At around the midpoint of the first period, Nicholas Barnett took a cross-checking penalty that sent CarShield to the first power play of the game. In the dying moments of the man advantage, Luke Broadhead sent a shot in from the point through traffic that found the back of the net. Just a minute later, it was Zachary Pruss who finished a feed from Andrew Rocha to extend their CarShield lead to two. Seven minutes into the second period, Brady Bates got in alone against the goaltender and put on the stickhandling before sliding the puck through the goaltender's five-hole. Staring at a 3-0 deficit, the Ducks had to answer, and they did. On the power play, it was David Contreras who cleaned up the rebound to open the scoring for the Ducks. A few minutes later, the Ducks went back to the power play, and it was Wesley Ryoo who lit the lamp from the circle. With all the momentum heading into the third period, the Ducks needed one to tie the game up. Despite some good pressure and opportunities, a power play opportunity for Luke Walter was cashed in, and CarShield extended their lead to 4-2. This padding didn’t last long as Matt Ryu sniped the far side corner to cut the lead yet again. The back and forth continued when Bates wired home a shot from the top of the slot to set the score at 5-3. This lead stood to the final buzzer, and CarShield left within the win column.

CarShield did an excellent job of spreading out the offense and utilizing all of their talent, and the ten different players logging points compared to the Ducks' five is a testament to just how important the team element of the game is. Two goals from Bates and some excellent passing by CarShield gave them a serious edge that shows in the final score.

 

The New Jersey Jr. Titans were able to hold on and beat the Seattle Jr. Kraken in a 4-2 contest. The Jr. Kraken were almost able to storm back, but ultimately it was the Titans who left the barn in the win column on Sunday evening.

The first period was all New Jersey. Brody Payne got the Jr. Titans started early on the power play on an excellent shot from the slot. Just four minutes later, it was Payne again who cleaned up the rebound off of an Andrew Metzger wrist shot to extend the lead. Shots on goal were 19-4 in favor of New Jersey heading into the first intermission. The Jr. Titans picked up right where they left off when Metzger got a goal of his own on an odd-man rush with Joe Santiago. Just 49 seconds later, Alex Sonvico sniped the top shelf and extended the Jr. Titans' lead to 4-0. At this point, the Jr. Kraken gained some life when Max Kadish swatted the rebound into the net off of Max Germann’s shot. In the dying moments of the second period, Noah Wilson tapped in a rebound from Fedor Stepanyuk on the man advantage to cut the lead in half. Scoring halted for the rest of the game, and the Jr. Titans managed to quell Seattle’s comeback before the final buzzer.

Kraken netminder Jaedin Mulvaney deserves a lot of credit for not letting this game run away on his team. After facing a game's worth of shots in the first period and giving up three goals through the first two periods, he ended the night with 39 saves and backstopped a temporary comeback from his squad. Ultimately, it was stellar team play and a two-goal outing from Payne that drove the Jr. Titans to the win.

 

16U:  

Biggby won in a close one against the Seattle Jr. Kraken 16U AAA. In the first period, the Jr. Kraken went up on Biggby 3-1, before Biggby would score four-straight goals to build a two-score lead, which was enough to win even after a late goal from the Jr. Kraken in the third period. Biggby put the puck in the back of the net five different times, with all five goals coming from a different player. Harrison Botke, Jack Dumas, Tyler Ferguson, Richard Francis, and Mark Baldridge were the goal scorers. In the net for Biggby, there were two different players who got in: Jacob Scherbaty, who saved 10 of the 13 shots taken on him, and Luukas Moffat, who saved 17 of the 18 shots taken on him. Moffat finished with an excellent 94% save percentage. Biggby gets by the Jr. Kraken 16U AAA squad with a score of 5-4.

 

The Pittsburgh Stars get a much-needed win to try to get their tournament journey back on track. The Stars took down Team Wisconsin by lighting up the scoreboard five times with just two different goal scorers. Mikita Lahodka scores two goals while making two assists as well, and Aresnii Savin scores three goals to get the hat trick, as well as having an assist. In the net for the Stars, Nikolai Medved was not easy to get the puck past. Medved saved 33 shots out of 36 taken on him, only letting three in. He finished with a 91% save percentage. The Stars get a much-needed win over Wisconsin to breathe life back into their tourney run.

 

15U: 

CarShield picked up a much-needed win in a dominant performance over the Philadelphia Little Flyers. CarShield has been struggling, and this was a huge bounce-back spot for them. In this contest, they scored eight times with seven different goal scorers. Jake Meyer was the only player with multiple goals, scoring two. The other goal scorers were: Cooper Lamia, Trevor Steiner, Noah Heath, Griffin Douglas, Kane Baskett, and Jaxon Coggins, each scored one apiece. The defense for CarShield only allowed 14 shots on goal, and in the net, Harrison Drewes saved 10 of them. CarShield doubles the Little Flyers' score in a big, much-needed win.

 

The Philadelphia Hockey Club knocked off the undefeated Omaha Mastery in an overtime thriller. Philly lit up the scoreboard four different times, with each goal being scored by a different player. Colby Wellens, Cameron Willias, CJ Mistichelli, and EJ Yedwab each put one in the back of the net. Cameron Willis scored the game-winning goal in overtime. In the net for Philadelphia, Bryan Schwartz saved 19 of the 22 shots taken on him, finishing with an 86% save percentage. The Philadelphia Hockey Club made a statement ending Omaha’s unbeaten streak, 4-3.