Rochester Friendship Festival Tournament - 3/23/24 to 3/24/24

Spring officially started on Tuesday, March 19th. Apparently, Rochester, NY did not get the memo as we woke up on Saturday morning to the sound of snowplows clearing the hotel parking lot. Fortunately, most of the Dare Devils were able to beat the storm and arrived in Rochester on Friday night. Star goalie Aria Berlin was not so lucky as she had a late start leaving NJ on Friday evening and had to weather the storm by sheltering in place in a nondescript Pennsylvania town. Coach Terence and son Patrick summoned their private jet (or maybe it was a regional commercial flight on United) and flew into Rochester on Saturday morning, arriving just in time for the opening Dare Devils game. Their chauffeur, Coach Myles, was waiting for them on the tarmac and whisked them to Tim Horton's Ice Plex for our game.

This was the season-ending tournament for the Dare Devils and everyone had a great time in Rochester.  The coaching staff is extremely proud of each and every one of the players. You all bring so much joy to our lives and it was special to witness your continued development throughout the season. We can't wait for next season!

 A thank you goes out to the Rochester Ice Cats for hosting such a wonderful event.

Great season Dare Devils!

Below is a summary of the on-ice action during the weekend:

A Players - 3 mixed squad games throughout the weekend:

Superstars Ryan Griffin (aka El Capitan) and Will Milazzo represented the Dare Devils on the mixed A team squads. Playing for Team 1, our Dare Devils were solid contributors in the opening win on Saturday morning in a 3 vs. 3 game. Griffin played his typical all-around game, putting in a solid defensive effort and chipping in a goal. Milazzo had several chances but couldn't put one past the talented goalies. However, Milazzo made several strong defensive plays including two poke checks that broke up odd man rushes.

In the Saturday afternoon game, the A teams were combined further and they competed in full-ice, 5 on 5 game. Griffin and Milazzo both played sound games and led their team to victory. They competed again on Sunday morning and Griffin netted a goal but the Griffin/Milazzo team came up short in a hard fought battle.

9:00am Saturday, 3/23 and 9:00am Sunday, 3/24- Future Stars Skills Competition:

Liam Smith and Ayden Duran were the Dare Devils representatives in the skills competition and both showed off their extensive skating, shooting and passing talents.

11:00am Saturday, 3/23 - NJ Dare Devils vs. Hamilton Ice Cats:

As we were minutes away from puck drop, it became apparent that star goalie Aria Berlin would not make it in time for the game against our talented foes from Canada. The coaching staff was scrambling and we weren’t sure what we would do but ASHA goalie-for-hire, Taylor Esposito, stepped off of the ice from his 10am game and volunteered to stay on and backstop the Dare Devils. With a complete squad, the Dare Devils, wearing their crisp white uniforms, had a nail-biter against the team from Hamilton, Ontario. The game was tied in the closing minute but Coach Myles went with his instincts and asked Theodore Howard to double shift and stay on the ice for the last minute of the game. This decision paid off as Howard went to work on the forecheck and dug the puck out of the corner and passed the puck to Patrick Hung who then located Riley Chiselko Seickel on the left hashmarks. Chiselko Seickel took one stride and whipped the puck past the Ice Cats goalie a second before the final horn sounded to secure the victory for the Dare Devils. The Dare Devils making the box score were James Cooney with 3 goals and 2 assists, Riley Chiselko Seickel with 1 goal and 3 assists, Shea Passikoff with 3 goals, Patrick Hung with 1 goal and 1 assist, Patrick Law with 1 goal and 1 assist, Liam Smith with 1 goal, Ayden Duran with 1 goal, Owen Silverstein with 1 goal, Captain Ryan Griffin with 1 assist, and Theodore Howard with 1 assist. Ryan Tomkievicz played a solid all-around game by chipping in on the defensive side, showing great sportsmanship and offering up-lifting words of encouragement to his teammates throughout the game. A special thank you goes out to Captain Ryan Griffin for showing great sportsmanship as the official "A player/coach" during the game and to Taylor Esposito for playing goalie with us today and showing great sportsmanship.

5:30pm Saturday, 3/23 - NJ Dare Devils vs. Steel City Ice Bergs:

The Dare Devils, wearing their retro red and green jerseys, had another battle on Saturday evening against the opponent from Pittsburgh, PA. This time, we were anchored by goalie Aria Berlin, as she finally solved the weather and arrived with plenty of time to spare. Aria was the difference maker in this game and she led the Dare Devils to victory and even scored a goal by sneaking up ice as Steel City was in the midst of a line change. Patrick Law scored 5 goals, Shea Passikoff had 3 goals, Owen Silverstein had 3 goals, Riley Chiselko Seickel had 2 goals, and Liam Smith had 1 goal and 1 assist. Ryan Tomkievicz, Ayden Duran and Theodore Howard all played great games and almost scored on several occasions. Defensive specialist James Cooney was back to doing what he does best as he broke up numerous Ice Bergs attempts and set up his teammates with crisp passing. Patrick Hung showed great sportsmanship as he assisted one of his counterparts to score multiple goals and he cheered her on with his patented touchdown celebration. Lastly, Captain Ryan Griffin once again showed off his leadership by volunteering to play with the Bergs when he realized they were short handed. He set up his new teammates with numerous assists throughout the game.

10:00am Sunday, 3/24 - NJ Dare Devils vs. Rochester Ice Cats:

The Dare Devils closed out the tournament, and their season, wearing their black "Jersey" jerseys against the host team on Sunday morning. Even though most of the players were up late in the hotel celebrating another successful season, the team came out strong and managed to secure the victory to go undefeated for the tournament. After a pep talk from his mom prior to the game, Ryan Tomkievicz secured the victory by scoring the game winning goal in the final minutes of the contest. Shea Passikoff circled in the corner and found an open Ryan Griffin in the slot. Griffin faked a shot but instead passed the puck to Tomkievicz just outside of the crease. Tomkievicz went five-hole to net his 1st goal of the season - what a beauty - great job Ryan!  Making the box score were Riley Chiselko Seickel with 3 goals and 1 assist, Shea Passikoff with 2 goals and 2 assists, Owen Silverstein with 2 goals and 2 assists, Ryan Tomkievicz with 1 goal and 1 assist, Captain Ryan Griffin with 2 assists, Liam Smith with 1 goal, Ayden Duran with 1 assist, and James Cooney with 1 assist (and another solid defensive effort with several strong back checks). Aria Berlin was once again a difference maker in this game. Great game and great season Dare Devils!