JETS U19 BOYS QUALIFY FOR FINAL FOUR

For the first time since Water Polo Canada moved to the Final Four age group national championship format in the National Championships League (NCL), the Toronto Golden Jets will be represented.

The Jets U19 boys scored an upset win over Montreal CAMO in the 1-2 gold medal play-in game  at the Eastern Conference playoffs last night.

The Jets had been beaten handily both times by CAMO during the regular season and it looked to be more of the same as the Montrealers jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead.  However, the Jets clawed back and, with only 12 seconds to go in the first quarter, center forward Marko Avdalovic scored to pull the Jets within one at 3-4.

The teams traded goals throughout the second quarter but the Jets put on a spurt to take a surprising 9-8 halftime lead.  The Jets quickly increased the lead to 10-8 to start the third but CAMO rallied to tie it midway through the quarter.  The Jets then restored their one goal margin to lead 12-11 after three quarters of play.

CAMO opened the final quarter with two quick markers to take the lead.  The Jets tied it with two minutes to go but CAMO scored 30 seconds later to restore their lead.  The Jets went on the power play with 18 seconds left.  With five seconds to play, Blake Carnevale scored to tie things up and send the game to a shootout.

Jets goalie Igor Jovanovic stopped the first CAMO penalty shot.  Then the five Jets shooters - Stefan Vukovic, Alex Bozzo, Stefan Mitic, Carnevale and Euan Scoffield - were perfect and the Jets won 19-17 to secure both a place in the gold medal game of the Eastern Conference playoffs on Sunday and one of the four spots at the National Finals to be held in Montreal at the end of May.

Congratulations to coach Predrag Pejanovic and the entire team!!!

JETS U19 BOYS MAKE NATIONALS FINAL FOUR!

For the first time since the inception of Water Polo Canada's National Championships League (NCL), the Toronto Golden Jets will send a age group team to the Final Four events.
The Jets U19 boys team

JETS MEN FINISH SECOND AT NATIONAL FINALS

The Golden Jets Senior Men's team won the regular season of the MLWP Eastern Conference for a third consecutive year but fell just short of a three-peat as National Champions.

Being the #1 seed, the Jets drew a bye into the semi-final which saw Saskatchewan emerge as the opponent from the quarter finals. The Jets jumped out in front quickly and built a 10-2 lead before closing out the victory 13-9.

Last year's championship finals MVP, Tuna Tali, led the way with a hat trick. Rudy Despaignes, Milos Radojcic, Alan Chung and Euan Scoffield each scored twice while Daniel Ugray and Matt Hart added singles.

In the final, the Jets faced off against the second place CAMO Roadrunners. Each team had won once during their regular season meetings.

The opening quarter was tightly contested and the Roadrunners led 3-2. The second quarter was even more tightly contested as the teams traded goals throughout leaving the Jets still trailing by a goal at 6-7.

With the score 9-8 for the Roadrunners mid-way through the third quarter, one of the referees fingered Jets star Despaignes for an apparent egregious violent act. This resulted in CAMO getting a penalty shot as well as the Jets having to play a man short for the remaining four minutes of the quarter. The Jets fought bravely and played the Roadrunners almost even despite being a man down to trail by three goals entering the final frame.

When CAMO scored early in the fourth to go up by four goals, everyone but the Jets thought the game was out of reach. But the Jets struck quickly for two goals in under a minute and pulled to within two goals.

However, the physical strain of playing a man short for more than half a quarter took its toll and the team ran out of gas and fell 17-12.

Radojcic had a monster game putting the team on his back by scoring five goals. Ugray netted a hat trick. Despaigne scored twice before his game ejection and Sukhmun Hare and Chung added solo goals.