Junior hockey: Fighting Spirit bounce back from first loss, win big

The second half of a weekend swing in New Jersey was a chance to see how the L/A Fighting Spirit would bounce back from a loss.

Just fine, thanks.

Led by Colby Siering’s hat trick, the Fighting Spirit rebounded from their initial defeat of the season with a convincing 8-2 win Sunday afternoon over Skylands.

L/A (9-1-0-0) dropped a 6-0 verdict Saturday night to Jersey Shore in a battle of the final two undefeated teams in the NA3EHL.

Siering scored back-to-back goals in the third period to start a string of five unanswered tallies that put away the win. He lit the lamp at 2:13 and again at 5:38.

The goals were Siering’s sixth and seventh of the season. He also gave L/A a 2-0 lead with a second-period score.

Cam DuFault added two goals for the Fighting Spirit. Dylan Vrees added a goal and two assists, padding his team-leading point total to 14.

Simon Corriveau collected a goal and an assist. Mike Heffernan chipped in a goal. Brady McNulty chalked up three assists.

Zachary Barry made 18 saves to secure the win in goal.

Joshua Mead had a power-play in the second period to put Skylands on the board. Ernest Konamitskii made it 3-2 with 20 seconds remaining in the stanza prior to Siering’s retort.

L/A outshot Skylands 52-20, including a fusillade of 21 in the third period.

Claes Endre made 28 saves for the Spirit in the first installment of the weekend double-dip, but L/A couldn’t stave off Jersey Shore, which scored two in the first period, one in the second and three in the third.

Scott Hansen had two goals for Jersey Shore. Dylan Plsek added a goal and an assist. Frederic Ampleman, Bogdan Khvatov and Freddie Schaljo each scored.

Nine different players registered an assist for the hosts.

[email protected]