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Tier-I Championship Preview

By Dylan Sommer, 03/12/22, 9:00AM EST

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Teams across the Atlantic Affiliate are taking the ice for the first game of the Tier-I Championship following Qualifiers last weekend.

The 14U-AAA Qualifiers consisted of the New Jersey Rockets, North Jersey Avalanche, Philadelphia Junior Flyers, and Mercer Chiefs. Each of the teams played in round-robin competition to determine who would advance to play against the Flyers Elite who earned a bye direct to District Championships. The Rockets and Chiefs started off the qualifiers on Friday night. The game was relatively close, but the Rockets were able to come away with a 2-0 victory. The second matchup of the Friday night slate was the North Jersey Avalanche and the Philadelphia Junior Flyers. The Avalanche started out hot offensively, and would go on to win the game, 4-1. On Saturday, the Rockets and Flyers clashed against each other. The Rockets would hang onto the lead throughout the game and win the matchup, 3-1. At the same time, the Avalanche competed against the Chiefs. The Avalanche would dominate the contest and had a convincing 4-0 victory. On Sunday, the Rockets and Avalanche faced off against one another. The two highest seeds played closely throughout the contest, with the Rockets eventually edging out the Avalanche, 2-1. The final matchup of the weekend was the Junior Flyers against the Chiefs. The Chiefs upset the Junior Flyers in overtime, 3-2. With a strong performance throughout qualifiers, the New Jersey Rockets would go on and clinch a spot in the Tier-I Championships at Ice House.


The 15O-AAA Qualifiers featured the New York Saints, Philadelphia Junior Flyers, Valley Forge Minutemen, and the New Jersey Rockets. The games would kick off on Friday afternoon with the Saints and the Rockets. The Rockets would come out with a surprising victory over the Saints, defeating them 3-2 in overtime. During this time, the Philadelphia Junior Flyers battled it out against the Valley Forge Minutemen. The game would go down as the second overtime upset of the day as the Minutemen came away with the 3-2 victory. On Day 2, the Saints and Minutemen went back-and-forth in a defensive showdown. Eventually, the Saints would get the best of the Minutemen and win the game, 1-0. Meanwhile, the Junior Flyers faced off against the Rockets. The Rockets would play spoiler once again and pummeled the Junior Flyers, 5-1. On the final day of the competition, the Saints went against the Junior Flyers. The Saints would barely squeeze out the victory, winning 4-3 in overtime. In the meantime, the Minutemen and Rockets would face off in another close contest. However, the Rockets would find their rhythm late and win in overtime, 2-1. With the highest point total, the New Jersey Rockets will face the North Jersey Avalanche in the Championship.

The 16U-AAA Qualifiers featured the New Jersey Rockets, Philadelphia Junior Flyers, New Jersey Colonials, and Philadelphia Flyers Elite. During the first matchup on Friday, the Rockets blew the Flyers Elite out of the water, winning 9-1. On the flip side, the Junior Flyers and Colonials played close together all night long. The Junior Flyers would take the win when it was all set and done, 6-4. As for the Saturday games, the Rockets go on and defeat the Colonials, 5-2, and the Junior Flyers would outplay the Flyers Elite and get the 4-1 win. On Sunday, all the contests were tight throughout. In the first game, the Rockets and Junior Flyers went back-and-forth on the scoreboard until the Rockets pulled away with a slight lead. The Rockets would end up not looking back and they won the contest, 6-4. Meanwhile, the New Jersey Colonials and Philadelphia Flyers Elite had a close game as well. The Colonials would eventually end the standoff and win the game, 2-1. With an impressive showing throughout the qualifiers, the New Jersey Rockets will be heading to the Ice House for the Tier-I Championship game against the North Jersey Avalanche.

Finally, the 18U-AAA Qualifiers took center ice featuring the New Jersey Rockets, Philadelphia Junior Flyers, Mercer Chiefs, and New Jersey Junior Titans. The matchups would start Friday night with the Rockets and the Junior Titans. The Rockets would take control of the game offensively and win it, 6-3. As for the Juniors Flyers and the Chiefs, the Junior Flyers would end up winning the contest, 3-1. On Saturday evening, the Rockets could not get anything going on the offensive side against the Chiefs and the Chiefs would go on to win, 4-0. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Junior Flyers faced off against the New Jersey Junior Titans. Both teams played hard throughout the contest, but the Junior Flyers went on to defeat the Junior Titans in overtime, 4-3. During the Sunday slate of competitions, the games ended with the same score of 7-1. For the first game, the Mercer Chiefs would be the victors against the New Jersey Rockets and the Philadelphia Junior Flyers would go on to defeat the Junior Titans in the second contest. After a solid showing throughout the weekend, the Junior Flyers will now advance to the Tier-I Championship game to compete against the Philadelphia Little Flyers.