Tampa Bay Juniors - USPHL

Lake Worth, FL

- The Tampa Bay Juniors had a fantastic weekend on the east coast. Elite took home two wins while Premier split back-to-back overtime contest. It would be an eventful weekend as Tampa Bay would face off against the Typhoon for the first time in franchise history.

Elite’s High Powered Offense

The two-game weekend went exactly how the Elite team wanted. Scoring 4 in the first period, Tampa came out of the gates flying and the Typhoon couldn’t keep up. Scoring from David Erwin, Cooper Hunt, and Tyler Cullen helped keep the team ahead of Palm Beach in the second, and they ended up dominating the Typhoons. Feeling good about another dominating win, Tampa Bay would look to continue the streak in game 2.

Coming of an 8-1 win over the Typhoon, the Elite team had set the bar high for the start of the weekend and had to maintain those standards. Erwin had a quick goal off the face off, and Bryson Uhrig tallied one in the second. Palm Beach answered back with a goal, but Cullen and Uhrig responded and grew the lead to three goals. With a strong start and a strong finish, the Elite team was able to bring home two wins in the first ever matchup with Palm Beach Typhoons.

Premier’s Ups and Downs

The Premier team had an equally exciting game as scoring was back and forth. Jack Fleer tied everything up in the first after surrendering the opening goal. with a goal from Custable and Bahula not far behind to even the score at two apiece. Ruf put the team in lead for the first time in the game just to have the Typhoons tie it up for the second period. No scoring in the third period brought the teams to overtime. With barely 30 seconds into OT and a wrister in the top corner, Fleer gave the team their win against the Typhoons the first time this season.

Starting off strong in the first period, Weisjahn put up two goals with another one from Bahula.  The Typhoons weren’t quitting and responded with 4 unanswered goals throughout the second and third period. Ginther tied everything up bringing the teams to their second overtime of the weekend. Both teams couldn’t get the puck in the back of the net, and the game went to a shootout. The Premier team just fell short with Brace scoring for the Typhoons, and a final score of 4-5.

Both teams are heading to North Carolina for the Raleigh Showcase this upcoming weekend.

TBJ’s next home game will be Friday, October 1 against the Florida Junior Blades. Elite at 5:30 p.m. and premier at 8:15 p.m.

Photo by Alex Walworth