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JETS MEN WIN SILVER AT NATIONALS

The Toronto Golden Jets senior men made it to another gold medal game at the National Championships.
The journey at the National Championships began with a quarter-final match up against CAMO 2 (Montreal) which gained the 8th seed due to the withdrawal of the #4 seed from the Western Conference.
Reflecting a layoff of 6 weeks between games, both teams took a quarter to get back into game form trading single goals. The Jets then jumped out to a two goal half-time lead thanks to a 4-2 second period.
The Jets blew the game open with a strong 5-0 third quarter to lead 10-3 heading into the 4th quarter. Another strong period from the Jets offence led to a 6-2 quarter and a 16-5 win.
Diego Gonzalez and Aiden Masters each had hat tricks to pace the Jets attack. Euan Schofield, Sukhmun Hare and Patrick Conn popped in a pair of goals apiece while single tallies came from the hands of Bruno Marunica, Timmy Pourkazemi, Tony Giannatsis and Rudy Despaigne.
With the victory, the Jets moved on to the semi-finals and a clash with CAMO 1. It was a closely fought contest through the first two quarters with the Jets taking the opening quarter 2-1 and the teams tieing 2-2 in the second leaving the Jets with a slim 4-3 advantage at halftime.
A 3-0 third quarter proved to be the difference as the Jets bought their place in the national final with a 10-5 win. Schofield, Marunica and Richard Laurie each scored twice. Gonzalez, Despaigne, Hare and goalie Emirhan Ozdemir (with a pool length shot into the empty net after CAMO 1 had pulled its goalie for an extra attacker) rounded out the scoring.
In the final, one quarter (the second) against the Ottawa Titans would sink the Jets’ hopes of another national title. The teams tied the other three quarters but the Titans roared to a 6-2 second quarter en route to a 11-7 victory.
Hare and Conn notched two goals each while Gonzalez, Marunica and Schofield chipped in with singles.
The Jets men only lost one game all year, going undefeated throughout the regular season and first two rounds of the Nationals.
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JETS WOMEN 4th at NATIONALS

The Toronto Golden Jets senior women finished 4th at the Canadian National Championships held at Markham’s Pan Am pool.
The Jets drew the Edmonton Tsunami in the quarter finals and quickly fell behind 2-0 in the first quarter before notching a tally to head into the second down 2-1.
The Jets offence came to life in the second quarter taking the period 3-1 to enter the second half leading 4-3.
The Jets stretched the lead to 5-3 but gave up a goal with only two seconds left in the third to carry a narrow one goal lead into the fourth.
The fourth quarter ended up being the Christi Bardecki show for the Jets as the 40+ year-old scored all four Jets goals and, with the score tied 7-7 with three minutes to go, dragged the team to a 9-7 victory with an even strength and power play goal.
Bardecki led all scorers with four markers. Tyanna Supreme struck for a pair of goals while Caitlyn Tiedje, Lauren Dundee and Kaitlyn Palmer each netted one.
The Jets received a strong game from third string goalie, Arushi Madan, who was pressed into service due to the absence of starter Rachael Jaffe (away competing internationally) and back-up Hana Truchla (concussion).
The next day, it was a semi-final match-up against the Pacific Storm (Vancouver) and this time it was the Jets who jumped out to a 2-0 early first quarter lead. However, the defence lapsed and gave up four unanswered goals to leave the Jets trailing 4-2 heading into the second period.
The Jets tightened up and won the second period 2-1 to trail by a single goal (5-4) at the half. Storm reversed that in the third quarter to restore its two goal lead (7-5).
The Jets scored early in the 4th quarter to pull with one but could not muster any more offence leaving the Storm to pull away for a 10-6 win.
Bardecki had a pair of goals as did Supreme. Dundee and Palmer again added singles. The loss put the Jets into the bronze medal game against the Calgary Renegades.
The Jets were further short-handed for the bronze medal game and it showed early as the Renegades roared out to a 5-2 first quarter lead. They increased the lead by a goal in each of the next two quarters before the teams sawed off the final period 1-1 as Calgary took the bronze medal with a convincing 10-5 win.
Ana Miroslavic led the Jets offence with a hat trick. Hannah Levin and Bardecki added singles.
While not the ending the Jets were looking for, the season was still a big success given the undefeated record in the Eastern Conference regular season – something to build on for next year.