The Philadelphia Little Flyers girls U 19 team hit the road this past weekend for the NGHL showcase in Raleigh, North Carolina.  After the almost 400 mile trip, the Little Flyers hit the ice for game one of the weekend against the Jr. Canes Premier team.  In a tough back and forth game, the Jr. Hurricanes took advantage of the Little Flyers bus legs and a few favorable bounces as the home team took game one by a final score of 4-1.

On Saturday, the girls got off to a good start, jumping out to the lead thanks to a Sam Schultz goal that was assisted by Evelyn Pryadkin and Cyenna Martinez.  The Little Flyers then added a Morgan Thrush unassisted goal to jump on the Piedmont Predators early in the game.  Piedmont would battle back throughout the game and tie it up to send the game to a shootout.  In the shootout, Evie Hill put the Little Flyers on the scoreboard, capitalizing on her shootout attempt.  Down the other end of the ice, Little Flyers goaltender, Lea Grassia, made back-to-back saves on the Predators first two shootout attempts.  This put the game on Rory Essick’s stick and Rory would deliver, netting the game winner in round two of the shootout. 

Coming off of a win earlier in the day, Saturday night, the Little Flyers battled the York Devils in a hard fought game from the opening face-off until the final buzzer.  Evelyn Pryadkin, Sam Schultz and Lexi Poulin all found the back of the net for the Little Flyers in the game.  Philadelphia held the lead throughout the game, but York never stopped competing, eventually get the score to 3-2, but the stout Little Flyers defense and goaltending held off the Devils comeback bid, picking up their second win of the day.  Izzy McGarvey, Sam Schultz, Morgan Thrush and Leanne Sakers all registered assists in the game.

On Sunday, the Jr. Predators jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in a very fast paced game by both teams.  The Little Flyers didn’t let the early deficit get them down as they continued to pressure the Jr. Predators.  Sam Schultz broke through for the Little Flyers, scoring a shorthanded goal but the Jr. Predators were too much as they took the game by a final score of 5-1.  After going 2-2 in some tightly contested games, Little Flyers Head Coach Ken Deming liked what he saw in his team, saying “the weekend was a great learning experience for us, playing against some good Tier 1 programs, our team battled the entire weekend and never gave up”.