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| Chase Berger added presence - and points - for the Tier I 18U runner-up St. Louis AAA Blues |
Forward commit Chase Berger, scheduled for a 2015 entry, came within eight seconds of a spectacular double Sunday afternoon at the USA Hockey Tier I 18U national championship game at Moon Township, PA's RMU/Island Sports Center. After winning the MSCHA title with Saint Louis University High School last month, he and his St. Louis AAA Blues teammates found themselves ahead of the Neponset Valley (MA) River Rats by a 3-2 count mere moments from a Cinderella title and an undefeated run through the entire tournament.
It was not to be. Neponset's Zach Sabatini pounded home a rebound goal to tie things, and Tyler Yates completed the reversal 4:19 into overtime, forcing Berger to settle for a silver medal.
Second place, however, isn't an accurate description of Berger's play throughout the championships, which ran from April 3rd through April 7th. His four points during the playoff rounds, in fact, tied for top honors among all players. Including all games, he produced eight points, including two goals and an assist against the Washington Little Capitals in the quarterfinals. He also notched one goal, one assist games in the round robin stage against Honeybaked and Team Comcast, which includes future teammate Kevin Kerr.
While Berger isn't huge by contemporary standards - he's listed as 6'0", 190 pounds on EliteProspects.com - he plays a big man's game. He's extremely strong on his skates, and in fact, only got knocked off of his feet or the puck once that I noticed in the semifinal against Honeybaked (and even there, it was only a partial, as he was volunteering himself to earn a zone clearance). He's solid on faceoffs thanks largely to that whole being hard to move thing and defensively responsible. With the puck, he's always looking to attack the net with the puck and without it, he creates a mess in front. In other words, he'll fit in great.
Berger, a 2011 USHL Entry Draft selection of the Tri-City Storm (a team, incidentally, owned by PSU forward Kenny Brooks' father Kirk), is expected to begin his junior career in Kearney, NE next season after playing in a pair of games with the team in a brief call up this year.
Speaking of fit, over in San Jose, CA, 2014 women's commit Remi Martin enjoyed a nice run herself in the Tier II 19U championships with the Colorado Tigers. The defender took home a bronze medal following a semifinal loss to the Michigan-based Keweenaw Storm. Before that, and thanks in part to Martin's four points over five tournament games, the Tigers won two of three round robin games, as well as a quarterfinal matchup with the Charles River (MA) Blazers that saw the Littleton, CO native pot the eventual winning goal in the second period. Martin, an outstanding skater, will instantly add several new dimensions to the Nittany Lions. She's a threat to go full end-to-end Bobby Orr from anywhere on the ice, which will in turn open things up for PSU's forwards in transition as forecheckers adjust.
In the Girls Tier I 19U tournament, also in San Jose, Buffalo Bisons defender Kelly Seward - who will arrive this fall - demonstrated her readiness to step right in and contribute with an extremely well-rounded game. In watching her games, the words that kept coming to mind were "steady" and "comfortable." The left-handed shot, simply put, made the right play just about every time and executes all facets of her position well. At 5'9", she also adds some much-needed size to PSU's blueliners - one of the hard lessons of the 2012-2013 season, after all, had to do with the way big forwards from teams like Mercyhurst and Robert Morris were able to control the middle of the ice.
After a promising 2-0 start that included a pair of Seward assists in a win over the New Jersey Colonials, the Bisons were blown out by Honeybaked, the alma mater of current team members Jordin Pardoski, Katie Murphy, Madison Smiddy and Birdie Shaw, in the final round robin game. That forced Buffalo into a lower seed and a tough quarterfinal matchup with powerful Shattuck-St. Mary's. Despite a valiant effort that saw a 0-0 score carried into the final minutes, Baylee Wellhausen's goal with 3:17 left and Taylor Crosby's 21-save shutout proved too much (Crosby, by the way, is the sister of noted SSM alumnus Sidney).
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| Kevin Kerr helped stretch the eventual champs to overtime in the Tier I 18U quarterfinals |
Back in Pennsylvania and at the Tier I 18U boys tournament, Kerr's Team Comcast also bowed out in the quarterfinals with a 4-3 overtime loss to that eventual-champion Neponset Valley team. The 2015 entrant, prior to Bryan Platt's OT dagger, had sparked a rally from a late 3-1 deficit to force extra hockey by assisting on the 3-2 and 3-3 goals 19 seconds apart. On the latter, a laser of a stretch pass from the end boards in his own zone triggered a 2-on-1, an repeatedly-demonstrated element of Kerr's game that will undoubtedly mesh well with Guy Gadowsky's vertical preferences. Comcast, like Seward's Buffalo Bisons, was forced into that difficult game by a loss in the final round robin contest, 5-3 to Berger's Blues, after winning their first two games.
Kerr, the seventh overall pick of Tri-City in the 2012 USHL Futures Draft, played five games for the team this season as an affiliate list player and will join Berger on the Storm before the pair head to PSU after two more seasons.
Here's a rundown of the four Penn Staters to be, Commit Cycle style:
Forward
St. Louis AAA Blues (Midget Major 18U)
6'0", 190 pounds
St. Louis, MO
Entering 2015
DOB 11/14/1994
Date
|
Opponent
| Score | G | A | Pts. | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4/3
| vs. Cleveland Barons |
W 4-3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
| |
4/4
| vs. Detroit Honeybaked |
W 6-2
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
0
| |
4/5
| vs. Team Comcast |
W 5-3
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
2
| |
4/6
| vs. Wash. Little Capitals |
W 4-1
|
2
|
1
|
3
|
0
| |
4/6
| vs. Detroit Honeybaked |
W 2-1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
| |
4/7
| vs. N. Valley River Rats |
L 3-4
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
Kevin KerrDefenseman
Team Comcast (Midget Major 18U)
5'11", 162 pounds
Bensalem, PA
Entering 2015
DOB 2/9/1996
Date
|
Opponent
| Score | G | A | Pts. | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4/3
| vs. Pgh. Penguins Elite |
W 4-2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
6
| |
4/4
| vs. Buffalo Regals |
W 3-2
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
2
| |
4/5
| vs. St. Louis AAA Blues |
L 0-6
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
2
| |
4/6
| vs. N. Valley River Rats |
L 3-4
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
Remi MartinDefender
Colorado Springs Tigers 19U
5'6" // Littleton, CO
Entering 2014
DOB 7/15/1996
Date
|
Opponent
| Score | G | A | Pts. | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4/3
| vs. Washington Wild |
W 2-0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
| |
4/4
| vs. Big Sky Wildcats |
W 2-1
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
0
| |
4/5
| vs. East Coast Wizards |
L 1-2
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
2
| |
4/6
| vs. Charles River Blazers |
W 3-1
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
0
| |
4/7
| vs. Keweenaw Storm |
L 1-2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Kelly SewardDefender
Buffalo Bisons 19U
5'9" // Williamsville, NY
Entering 2013
DOB 6/7/1995
Date
|
Opponent
| Score | G | A | Pts. | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4/3
| vs. Team Pittsburgh |
W 9-4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
| |
4/4
| vs. New Jersey Colonials |
W 5-3
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
0
| |
4/5
| vs. Detroit Honeybaked |
L 0-6
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
| |
4/6
| vs. Shattuck-St. Mary's |
L 0-1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
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