Matteo Gennaro of St. Albert is putting up points for Team Pacific at the World U17 Hockey Challenge in Cape Breton, NS.
The 16-year-old centre with the Prince Albert Raiders in the Western Hockey League recorded two goals and two assists as Team Pacific finished first in group B at 3-1.
Team Pacific entered Friday’s semifinal against Russia as a group winner for the first time since 2006. The Russians were shooting for their third straight appearance in the final. The score was unavailable at press time.
The winner will play the United States or Quebec in today’s final.
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The six-foot-two, 179-pound Gennaro scored twice in the 6-3 win over Team West.
The former bantam AAA Sabre and midget AAA Raider is one of nine players from Alberta on Team Pacific’s roster.
In the WHL he recorded five goals and eight assists in 32 games with the Raiders before joining Team Pacific.
Josh Antunes scored twice and Nate Reinhart made 35 saves for the St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres in Thursday’s 2-1 win over the Spruce Grove PAC Saints in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League.
It was the fifth-straight win for the Sabres (12-8-3), who trail the third-place Sherwood Park Flyers (13-9-2) by one point with a game in hand in the nitro north division.
Reinhart (8-4, 2.18 GAA) stopped all 15 shots faced during a scoreless opening 20 minutes.
Antunes tied it on the power play with 4:02 left in period two and sniped his fourth goal and 12th point of the season five minutes into the third.
Jack Langenhahn assisted on both goals and Aidan Steinke’s assist on the game winner was his team-leading 23rd point.
The Sabres were credited with 25 shots on net. They also killed off five penalties against the Saints (20-4), ranked second in the charger north standings.
The next game is Tuesday versus the Canadian Athletic Club (15-7-1) at 8:15 p.m. at Bill Hunter Arena.
Meanwhile, the John Reid Memorial Tournament starts Jan. 16 at Servus Credit Union Place.
The 36th annual competition features 16 teams, including HC Kometa Brno of the Czech Republic, Los Angeles Jr. Kings, Dallas Stars Elite and Phoenix Jr. Coyotes.
In pool play Jan. 16 the Sabres face off against the Winnipeg Monarchs at 11 a.m. and HC Kometa Brno at 8 p.m. and Jan. 17 they play the Okanagan Hockey Academy of Penticton at 2:15 p.m. at Northstar Hyundai Arena.
See page 37 for the tournament schedule.
