Photo Credit: Charlotte Rush

On the weekend, both the Elite and Premier Groups for the Charlotte Rush played superb at the South Showcase. One loss for the Elite Team on the weekend is all the points dropped by either side. The coaches and players had a lot to be happy about after another superb weekend. Both teams played through a little adversity and dominated at times as well. Hear from Assistant Coach Trevor Kleckner and some standouts from each team on various topics around the weeekend.

ELITE

“Our Elite team had a good showing at the showcase going 3 and 1. I know everyone would have wanted to go a perfect 4 and 0 on the weekend but we were getting too comfortable with our play. The first two games were playing with fire, keeping both games very close and edging out wins. We were content with playing 1 or 2 goal games and it came back to haunt us in the third game when we lost. However, I was very proud how we handled the turnaround after the loss with a huge win to end the weekend. Overall, it was a good weekend for the group and there’s a lot to build on heading into next weekend.”

PREMIER

“Our Premier team had a great weekend sweeping the showcase with a 4-0 record. These showcase games are extremely tough playing 4 games in about two and a half days against opponents outside our division. The boys were engaged each game and executed our game plan against each team. There are definitely some things we can work on as a group moving forward but the future is very bright for this group. “

What do you like about Livio now that you’ve seen him? What has helped him get off to the hot start?

“The minute Livio stepped on the ice with our team and the staff got a first glimpse of his abilities, we knew it was only a matter a time before he would start putting up points. He moves with such speed and power it really frustrates defenders when it’s almost impossible to take the puck away from him. On top of that he’s got a quick release on his shot which makes him a huge scoring threat in the offensive zone. Playing alongside our more skilled forwards such as Hunter Berry and Matthew Esquerre has also helped him produce and develop into the scoring machine he is.”

Hear from some standouts from each team on the message to the team after the weekend and going forward what to look for

ELITE

Wilder Outman said “going into the weekend we were on a high from our hot start. Through our first two games we were a little too overconfident as we kept the games close and eventually in our third game it finally got to us with a loss. We need that though, to learn that we weren’t as invincible as we though we were and it was for the better as we finished with a win on Monday morning.”

Conner Ribstein said “ I feel like we had a pretty good weekend overall. It was our first showcase as a team and early in the season, so we’re going to have some hiccups. We’re still developing and growing as a team, but all we see in the future is winning.

PREMIER

Dylan Ray said, “the message to the team is to stay the course and stick to what’s working for us. We’re looking to keep momentum heading into next weekend against Nashville.”

Hunter Berry said “Moving forward we just need to keep playing our game. We’re a puck possession team and as long as we dictate games with our fast pace and speed, there’s no reason we shouldn’t win.”

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