Lightning Conference:

High School Hockey Teams Square Off in
Pre-Season Tournament

Brandon, FL Seven of the 11 area high school hockey teams met for a pre-season tournament at the Ice Sports Forum in Brandon this weekend. Teams from Bloomingdale, Freedom, H.B. Plant, Jesuit, Manatee County, Newsome and Wharton each played two games to get a taste of the fall competition. The annual tournament serves as a fund raiser for the Senior Classic, a recognition event held in the spring for graduating seniors from all hockey league schools. Newsome Blue and Wharton both went undefeated on the weekend, while Bloomingdale went 1-1, Freedom was 1-0-1, Manatee went 0-1-1, and both Plant and Jesuit were defeated in both games.

On Friday, Aug. 28th, Newsome opened the tournament with a 7 - 2 victory over Bloomingdale. The Bulls stayed close in this one, but the Wolves were able to find the net more readily in the second and third period to pull away and notch their first win of the season. Wharton followed with a strong performance against Plant, shutting out the Panthers 8 - 0. The best game of the night matched Freedom and Jesuit. The Tigers controlled much of the play in this one, but the Patriots found a way to stay close and scored in the last couple of minutes to win it 3 - 2.

Saturday morning, Aug. 29th saw newcomer to the league Manatee take on Bloomingdale. The Bulls came ready to play and won this one, 6 - 1. The second game of the day was a blowout as Newsome Blue rolled over the Plant Panthers 11-0. Wharton and Jesuit faced off at 11:30 and the Wildcats came out on top 5 - 1. Freedom and Manatee battled to a 2 - 2 tie in the final game of the tournament.

The games were a good opportunity for the coaches to take a look at their teams, adjust lines and determine what they need to work on in practice over the next month. The regular season begins Tuesday, September 29th. Other area teams who will participate in the fall season include Newsome White, Wiregrass, Sarasota County and George Jenkins out of Lakeland.

Game Results

Fri, Aug. 28th
Newsome Blue 7 Bloomingdale 2
Wharton 8 H.B. Plant 0
Freedom 3 Jesuit 2

Sat, Aug 29th
Bloomingdale 6 Manatee 1
Newsome Blue 11 H.B. Plant 0
Wharton 5 Jesuit 1
Freedom 2 Manatee 2

report compiled by Amy Kowalski