HOUGHTON - The Jeffers Jets scored twice in the first period and twice more in the third to double up Grand Blanc 4-2 Friday night in the second semifinal of the Jeffers High School New Years Hockey Tournament at the SDC.
"We played as near 51 minutes as we've played all year," JHS coach David Bekkala said. "Last night, against Kingsford (a 10-2 defeat), I felt like we had limited guys giving effort, but tonight I feel like everyone was giving effort."
The win was especially impressive for the Jets (4-9), as the Bobcats are a Division 1 team.
"They're a good team and they played a great game," Grand Blanc coach Mike Schunot said.
Jeff Aho got the scoring started for the Jets, followed quickly by a marker from Chase Daavettila. The Jets had the first six shots on net and a 2-goal lead just 6:07 into the game.
However, the Bobcats (2-8-1) didn't back down.
Immediately after Daavettila's goal, the visitors began peppering Jeffers goaltender Dylan Sever. Sever turned aside the first onslaught, but eventually Raurie Petrich was able to cut the lead in half as he slid the puck through Sever's legs for a power-play goal.
The Bobcats kept the pressure up, and midway through the second period Kellen Seguin tied the score at 2 on a breakaway goal after a Jets defender fell.
"We got off to a slow start, we spotted them that two-goal lead, but after that we did a pretty good job," Schunot said. "It took a great effort to get back even at 2, and at that point we had used up our stamina."
It wasn't an immediate fall-off for the Bobcats, who held a 10-5 shot advantage in the second period, but by the third period, the ice started to tilt in Jeffers' favor.
"I credit the leaders of this team for rounding up the boys," Bekkala said. "We didn't talk much in our timeouts, they did, they pushed the boys real hard, even at 2-2, to make sure we didn't give this one up."
The Jets gained the lead back with 11:05 remaining in the contest when Travis Therrian beat Mitchell Behm low to the glove side.
At that point, the Jets could have bundled up in their zone and tried to hold on to the win, but instead they kept pressuring. With 3:20 remaining, the hard work turned into a power-play opportunity.
An awkward bounce off the side boards landed on Aho's stick, and the senior wasted no time, beating Behm and putting Jeffers up for good.
"Jeff Aho getting two goals isn't a bad day," Bekkala said. "That helped us a lot, and we needed a win in the worst way."
The win should give some momentum to the Jets as they look to avenge an early-season loss to L'Anse today at 3 p.m. in the tournament's championship game.
Bekkala said Sever will get the start in net again today for the Jets after making 25 saves in the contest. It will be the Jets third game in three days.
