Estero, Fla.- The Florida Jr. Blades kicked off their season with a home-and-home series against the Tampa Bay Juniors. Traveling to Ellenton on Saturday the Blades posted a 5-3 win against Tampa Bay.
Sunday’s contest at Germain Arena appeared to be evenly matched during the first period with Jr. Blade Matty Cuce scoring at 11:10 and Tampa scoring the tying goal with 36 seconds remaining in the period.
The Jr. Blades entered the second period with renewed vigor and Brett Yochum scored the go ahead goal 12 second into the period. Tampa once again tied the game before Josh Koepplinger scored his second game-winning goal in two games at 10:14.
The Jr. Blades continued to roll in the second and third period with goals from David Wong (Adam Fowler, Yochum), Cuce (Koepplinger), Koepliinger (Cuce) and Fowler twice (James Compton, Yochum) (Wong, Yochum).
Goaltender Jake Carter put in another strong performance for the Blades, stopping 33 of 35 shots and improving to a .933 GAA.
“We wanted to come out strong to open the season and the players performed to expectations,” said head coach Todd Pococke. “We’re going to continue to develop and mesh as a team and hopefully continue to improve.”
The Jr. Blades will play in the Raleigh Showcase on October 3-5. For more information visit
www.FloridaJrBlades.comhttp://www.usphl.com/game/show/8367165
