Round 2 brought on the New Hampshire Jr. Mountain Kings and the Sharks were ready!
Game one in Long Beach was a physical matchup that showcased lots of Sharks offense. Evan O’Connor kicked off the scoring in the first. It was his first goal as a Shark! Sean Bailey added one late in the second to send the Sharks up 2-0 headed into the second. The Sharks found the back of the net two more times in the second, first by Sean Bailey with his second of the game and then by Gustav Martinsson. The Sharks went into the third with a commanding 4-0 lead. Payton Hauge and Ryder Pisiak added goals in the third to seal the victory. The Sharks took game one by a score of 6-2.
Back in Long Beach for game two and the Jr. Mountain Kings struck first. Jace Tourtillott tied it up sending the two clubs knotted at 1 after the first. The Jr. Mountain Kings dominated the second period adding two more goals but the Sharks weren’t ready to roll over. The Sharks came out hot in the third and just 54 seconds into the period, James Steinberg popped in a backhander to cut the lead to one. Two minutes later, Payton Hauge tied it up and we now had a new game. Spencer Nicoloff ripped one from the point to give the Sharks the lead but the Jr. Mountain Kings answered back to force overtime. With just under three minutes left in overtime, Jace Tourtillott capitalized on a loose puck in the slot and wristed it past the New Hampshire tendy to punch the Sharks ticket to St. Louis.
Will Zinnen was stellar again in net for the Sharks with an impressive .937 save percentage for the series.
