Defending champion Jr. Blues take both at Lakeland

WATERFORD, MI - The Metro Jets hosted the defending Tier III Junior A national champion St. Louis Jr. Blues last weekend and came away with two notches in the loss column.

Tommy Burns (Pinckney, Mich.) scored both Jets’ goals Saturday night in a 6-2 defeat, while Eric Trunick (Commerce Township, Mich.) and Matt Braun (Ramsey, N.J.) combined for 19 saves in goal.

Brett Grech (Hartland, Mich.) assisted on both goals and newcomer Ryan Kelly (Wilton Manor, Fla.) earned a helper on one for his first point with the Jets since being signed last week.

Sunday afternoon, Joe Matyaszek (Taylor, Mich.) scored the game’s first goal (and his first of the year) 3:08 into the first period, only to see St. Louis tally the next four, including a late empty-netter, and take the game by a 4-1 count.

Braun finished with 23 stops in the loss.

“(Sunday’s game) was 2-1 up until about three minutes to play,” Metro associate coach Jamie Hayden said. “We have shown that we can definitely play with some of the top teams in this league. St. Louis might be third or fourth right now, but they are the defending champions until someone knocks them off.

“We have two weeks off now and I think we’ll be getting back to basics at practice, refining some things before we get back at it and bring in Pittsburgh.”

The Jets (7-11-0-0) host the Jr. Penguins at Lakeland Arena on Nov. 20-21.