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The Steel Deal: Chicago Beats USA, Drops Two On Road

  
The Steel Deal: Chicago Beats USA, Drops Two On Road
The Chicago Steel prepare for Games 3 and 4 this weekend against the Muskegon Lumberjacks. (Photograph courtesy of Chicago Steel)

Coming off the holiday break, the Chicago Steel lost two road games, against Central Illinois and Muskegon, while finishing off Team USA U-17 at home.

Central Illinois 6, Chicago 3

On December 28, Chicago traveled to Bloomington to take on the Central Flying Aces for the fourth time this year. The matchup would be the Flying Aces first victory against the Steel.

Chicago did light the lamp first. Defenseman Matteo Pietroniro scored as the Steel power play had just ended. The Boise, ID native received a nice pass from Nick Abruzzese and fired a shot past Mitchell Gibson, Flying Aces goaltender, giving the team captain his 10th goal of the season. Robert Mastrosimone assisted on the goal.

With under six minutes to play in the first period, Flying Aces forward Lynden Breen fired a shot past the glove of Chicago’s goaltender, Justin Robbins, tying the score and ending the period 1 – 1. The goal gave the University of Maine commit his ninth goal on the year.

The Flying Aces would score two goals in 17 seconds midway through the second period to take a commanding 3 – 1 lead. First, forward Phillippe Lapointe, his fifth goal on the season, would be followed up by forward Trevor Janicke after deflecting home a pass from forward Cal Kiefiuk.

In the third period, Chicago cut the lead to 3 – 2 after Abruzzese finished off a two-on-one break with forward Neil Shea. With the assist, Shea extended his point streak to four games (2 goals, 5 assists).

The Flying Aces would waste no time finding the back of the net again. The next two goals spanned 66 seconds and gave the home team a 5 – 2 lead. Goals from defenseman Stephen Halliday and forward Tate Singleton would end up being the quick backbreaker that Chicago could not overcome.

https://twitter.com/ciflyingaces/status/1078854051801034752

The Steel’s final goal came with 1:36 left to play when Shea scored on the power play. The Northeastern University commit slipped a nice pass to center Adam Robbins, whom flipped shot on net, then found Shea’s stick on the rebound.

An empty net goal by forward Chad Hillebrand would finish off the scoring and give Central Illinois the 6 – 3 victory.

Chicago Steel 6, Team USA  3

The following night, Chicago was back on home ice at Fox Valley Arena to take on Team USA U-17 in front of a season high 1,577 fans. The Steel would take a 1 – 0 lead into the third period, before an eight-goal frame saw the Steel on top 6 – 3.

Only nine seconds into the game, Chicago forward Neil Shea scored. A nice tic-tac-toe play, after center Nick Abruzzese won the opening draw, would find Shea on the left-wing slot before beating USA goaltender Drew Commessso. The goal extended Shea’s point streak to five games (3 assists, 5 goals) and extended Abruzesse’s point streak to four games (2 goals, 6 assists).

The rest of the first period and all of the second period generated chances for both teams but would not result in a goal. The pace of the first two periods would look like slow motion in comparison to the wild third period.

Early in the third, Shea scored his second of the evening, on the power play. Forward Mathieu De St. Phalle slid a pass to Shea, along the boards, who cut to the middle and ripped a shot past Commesso. The goal gave the Steel a 2 – 0 lead.

Team USA Luke Tuch scored, on the power play, to cut the steel lead to 2 – 1. The crafty forward fired a shot past Chicago goaltender Justin Robbins, who was screened with some traffic in front.

Chicago extended their lead to 3 – 1 when Steel forward Christian Sarlo slammed a net front scramble behind Commesso. The goal gave the RPI commit seven goals on the season.

Steel defenseman John Spetz kept the goal party going with his fourth of the season. The New Jersey native fired a shot from the slot, on the power play, in which Commesso had no chance. The goal gave Chicago a commanding 4 – 1 lead, although the game was far from over.

Team USA cut the lead to two goals, again, when forward Daniyal Dzhaniyev scored only 57 seconds after Spetz’s goal. The goal was Dzhaniyev’s first on the season for Team USA.

Up 4 – 2, Chicago would score the next two goals. With just over six minutes to play in the game, Abruzzese scored a nice goal when he cut to the middle of the ice, used the defender a screen and fired the shot in to the back of the net. The Harvard commit goal was his eight of the season.

The second goal came off the stick of defenseman Matteo Pietroniro, his eleventh goal on the year, which was followed up by forward Thomas Bordeleau for Team USA, which saw the Steel lead cut to 6 – 3.

After the wild third period, the victory gave Chicago a five-game home winning streak. Goaltender Justin Robbins, who stopped 28 shots, would register his eleventh win on the season.

Muskegon 2, Chicago 0

Chicago found themselves in Muskegon, two days later, for a New Year’s Eve matchup with the USHL leading Lumberjacks. An excellent goaltending affair would find Chicago on the wrong side of a 2 – 0 game, however.

Chicago goaltender Reilly Herbst stopped 27 shots, while Lumberjack goalie Brandon Bussi stopped all 28 shots he faced, giving him six shutouts on the season. Those six shutouts are more than double the next closest goaltender in the USHL.

The score would remain tied until halfway through the second period, when Muskegon forward Egor Afanasyev found the scoresheet. The Russian found his way to the slot where he fired a wrist shot past Herbst, blocker side.

The goal drought would continue until Muskegon’s insurance goal, with an empty net, with just over a minute to play in the contest. Lumberjack forward Nolan Sullivan scored the goal, giving the Nebraska-Omaha commit his thirteenth goal for the season.

The 2 – 0 loss to Muskegon would be the second time Chicago was blanked by the Lumberjacks, having lost 6 – 0 on October 13.

The Steel play next this Friday, January 4 at the Fox Valley Ice Arena when the Madison Capitols travel south for a 7:05 p.m. faceoff. The Steel will be celebrating a Hip Hop and Hockey Night.

 

 

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