The U16 Boston Hockey Academy squad took home the Beaste U16 title with an impressive weekend run

The 16U Boston Hockey Academy are the 2024 Beast League Champions after a 6-1 win over East Coast Militia in the title game.

It was 0-0 after 25 minutes of play, but BHA got the scoring started early in the second. Bexultan Marasalek (2), Taren Bower, Ryan Walsh, Cole Schindler and Michal Marsalek all scored in the big win. Sascha Pitaev was stellar in goal for a third straight game and was a key piece to BHA’s playoff run.

Coach Jon Lizzotte was so proud of this team and harped on what it meant for them.

“This championship was really special for our group,” said Lizzotte. “We had blown a few games over the past few weeks and to see us thrive when hit with adversity was awesome. We have a great group of boys who show up to work every day and it’s great to see their commitment pay off.”

Boston Hockey Academy scored 20 goals in their three games this weekend while only allowing three and Lizzotte talked about what the keys to success for his team’s big weekend were.

“The key to this weekend was it was a total team effort,” said Lizzotte. “We had goals come from all of our lines in different moments. We had defensemen step up and provide offense, while also playing very well defensively. Sascha Pitaev was fantastic in goal all weekend, he bailed us out on several occasions. It was great to see this group come together and it felt good to win the Beast after a first round exit last season with a lot of the same boys.”

16U SEMI-FINALS

* East Coast Militia 2, Long Island Gulls 1

East Coast Militia snuck by the Long Island Gulls 2-1 to advance to the U16 championship. Chance Bolton got the scoring started for the Militia on a short-handed goal early in the first. The Gulls tied the game later in the half on a goal by Anthony Thomas-Maroon. Brian McFadden scored the game-winner for the Militia in the second to send them to the finals. Eli Zucker had another great performance in net.

In the second semi-final game, Boston Hockey Academy had another strong showing beating Mid-Fairfield 6-1 to advance to the finals.

16U QUARTERFINALS:

* Long Island Gulls 8, New Hampshire Mountain Kings 1

In this quarterfinal matchup, it was the Gulls that came away with an 8-1 victory. Aleksei Zhukov led the way with a hat trick and Matthew Portz added a pair of goals. Cody Sokol, Henry Kittner and Sean Miller also added a goal each in the win. Yaroslav Alpatov was solid in net for the Gulls.

* Boston Hockey Academy 5, Yale Jr. Bulldogs 0

Boston Hockey Academy advanced to the semi-finals with a 5-0 shutout win over the Yale Jr. Bulldogs. BHA scored five first-half goals and that is all they needed to move on to the next round. Svit Ravnik (2), Ryan Walsh, Edvards Laganovskis and Ilkhan Bolatov all scored goals in the win. Sascha Pitaev was outstanding in net for BHA.

* Mid-Fairfield 4, Nor'Easter Storm 3

In this battle between Mid-Fairfield and the Nor’Easter Storm, it was Mid-Fairfield that advances to the semifinals with a 4-3 win. With the two teams tied at two after one half, Mid-Fairfield scored twice to take a 4-2 lead on goals by Richard Shin and Timothy Donahue. Jacob Jett closed the gap to make it 4-3 for the Storm, but Mid-Fairfield held on for the win.

* East Coast Militia 5, Neponset River Rats 1

In the final quarterfinal match-up in the big division, the East Coast Militia beat the Neponset River Rats 5-1. Kiernan McIntosh, Chance Bolton, Patrick Benson, Maxwell Colosimo and Nate Moons each lit the lamp for the Militia.

U16 GOLD PLAYOFFS

The Springfield Thunderbirds took home the 16U Gold Championship with a hard fought 7-5 win over the Vermont Jr. Cats.

After the two teams combined for seven goals in the first half, with the Thunderbirds down 4-3, they came back in the second half with a vengeance. Mason Thayer scored twice and Liam Dolan and Brody Faneuff added single tallies to life the Thunderbirds over the Cats in exciting fashion.

16U GOLD SEMI-FINALS

* Springfield Thunderbirds 5, Hamden 0

The Springfield Thunderbirds, who earned a bye in the first round, defeated Hamden 5-0 in the semi-finals to advance to the championship. Forward Williams Kertesz (Deerfield Academy) and defenseman Matthew Patko (Canterbury) each scored two goals. Goalie Jordan Rittenberg (Salisbury) pitched the shutout.

* Vermont Jr. Cats 4, Carolina Rage 1

The Vermont Jr. Cats earned a spot in the 16U Gold Championship with a 4-1 win over Carolina Rage. The Cats got goals from Oliver Quong (2), Colton Lefebvre and Gunnar Navari to advance to the finals against the Springfield Thunderbirds.

16U GOLD QUARTERFINALS

* Vermont Jr. Cats 7, New Hampshire Avalanche 0

The Vermont Jr. Cats blanked the New Hampshire Avalanche 7-0 in a 16U Gold quarterfinal game. Brady Jones and Oliver Quong scored a pair of goals each while Noah Keeler, Walter

Morris and Jack Kelly each added single tallies. Boden Gamage earned the shutout in net for the Cats.

* Caroline Rage 3, Westchester Express 0

In another quarterfinal matchup in the Gold Division, the Carolina Rage shutout the Westchester

Express to advance to the semi-finals. Chase McCoy, Logan Faas and Benjamin Craddock each scored and Chace Hansen was outstanding in goal.

* Hamden 5, New Jersey Titans 1

Hamden beat the New Jersey Titans 5-1 in the third Gold Division quarterfinal game. Liam Oliver, Brett Franko, Jack Novodor, Vincenzo Federico and Mason Park all scored for Hamden, which advanced to the semi-final in the win.