Submitted Photo The NCCYHA Steelers 16U team recently won the HTP Buffalo River Outdoor Classic. Pictured, in front, is Lucas Davidson. In the middle row, from left, are: Brayden Bugaj, Max Hazelton, Ryan Wegrzynowski, Elijah Staton, Kyler Wojtowwicz, Caleb Kimmerly, Ayden Milligan, Seth Davidson and Connor Nowicki. In back are: assistant coach Brian Bugaj, assistant coach Scott Hazelton, Logan Gelster, Canyon Johnson, Ayden Wronski, Amato Fadale, Nick Sweet, Alex Madurski and head coach Shaun Fadale.

BUFFALO — The NCCYHA Steelers 16U team completed its 2023-24 season by winning the HTP Buffalo River Outdoor Classic on Sunday.

Playing in a round-robin format in the A Division, the Steelers opened the tournament with two wins on Friday. First, they defeated the Jamestown Lakers 6-3 on a snow-covered rink at Buffalo Riverworks. The second game of the day for the Steelers resulted in a 5-2 victory over the Cazenovia Chiefs at Buffalo State Ice Arena in a very fast-paced, hard-hitting affair.

On Saturday, the Steelers tied the Rochester Jr. Americans 4-4 at Buffalo Riverworks. After finishing pool play 2-0-1, the Steelers earned the No. 1 seed for the championship game, a rematch with the Jamestown Lakers.

In Sunday’s championship game, the Steelers’ Ayden Milligan opened the scoring near the end of the first period to take the early 1-0 lead, Caleb Kimmerly was credited with the assist. The Steelers’ Brayden Bugaj scored the second goal of the game in the back-and-forth second period on an assist from Max Hazelton. After an intense and very physical period, the Lakers and Steelers were knotted at 2-all.

The third period continued with both teams battling right down to the very end. Steelers defenseman Ayden Wronski, broke the tie when he took the pass from Amato Fadale the distance and scored on a breakaway. The Lakers answered yet again, tying the score at 3-3 late in the game until the Steelers Kimmerly found the back of the net for the game winner with a little over three minutes remaining. Assisting on the play were Brayden Bugaj and Connor Nowicki.

The Steelers held off the late charge from Jamestown to close out the game 4-3.

Leading the way offensively during the four-game tournament for the Steelers were Nowicki (3 goals, 4 assists), Milligan (3 goals, 3 assists), Kimmerly (3 goals, 1 assist), Kyler Wojtowicz (3 goals, 1 assist), Hazelton (2 goals, 2 assists), Bugaj (1 goal, 2 assists) and Canyon Johnson (1 goal, 3 assists).

Brayden Bugaj was also named as the championship game MVP.

Lucas Davidson earned the win in all four games between the pipes. Davidson faced 88 total shots throughout the four-game tournament, allowing 12 goals and posting a .864 save percentage.