Arrows Win Labor Day Cup

by Jonathan Weaver

During Labor Day Weekend, the Armstrong Arrows U16 national-bound hockey team won the East Coast Classic Labor Day Cup in Hocksett, New Hampshire.

Head Coach Lee Grafton said it was the first year the U16 Arrows attended the tournament.

“We received an invitation for it at Nationals last year,” Coach Grafton said.

The Arrows went 7-0 during the tournament – including winning 7-4 versus the New Jersey Rockets in the East Coast Classic finals.

Left Winger Nick Benvenuti scored two goals during that tournament.

“We’re a good team, and we’re starting to learn chemistry with each other through our new lines,” Benvenuti said. “The first game (against the Neponset Valley River Rats) was a little shaky, the second game (against the Rhode Island Hitman) was OK and then we just started clicking. Once we click, it’s hard to stop us.”

Team Captain Geo Romeo said he thought the team played “very, very well.”

“We played through our systems and came out with a ‘W,’ Romeo said.

Benvenuti and Romeo are also on the varsity Armstrong Riverhawks hockey team.

So far, the team has a 10-0-1 record in exhibition play. Division games begin in October.

“All the players from last year have very high expectations and the new players seem to inherit them,” Coach Grafton said.

A dozen athletes return from last years’ team while eight from around the area – including Freeport, Hampton and Gibsonia - have also joined to try and make a return to the national championship game.

This weekend, the U16 Arrows, as well as the newly-formed U14 Arrows, will also be in for a test as both Saturday and Sunday, they face the No. 1-ranked Ashburn XTreme at the Belmont Complex

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