Fazio, Jr. Blues defeat Jets 3-1 with late game rally on Halloween night

(**Photo Credits go to Samie Nichols**)

In a game that the Springfield Jr. Blues were held scoreless throughout the first 53 minutes, the team rallied with three goals in the final seven minutes and defeated the Janesville Jets 3-1 inside the Nelson Center on Saturday night in a North American Hockey League regular season contest.

With the team trailing 1-0 at the 13:10 mark of the third period, Brett Skibba scored on assists coming from both Terry Leabo and Mike Fazio, adding on to his team-lead in the scoring department, and evened the score up at one apiece.

Three minutes later, with an overly excited amped up Springfield crowd, Fazio lit the Nellie up with a goal of his own to give the Jr. Blues a 2-1 lead with both Mitch Rogge and Brett Skibba assisting on the play.

Fans inside the Nelson Center were estatic, pumped, and with less than one minute remaining in the game, Fazio scored his second goal and finalized the score at 3-1 in Springfield's favor. On the teams night of celebrating Halloween, the team seemed to trick us by being shut out, then gave us a treat with an amazing, dramatic comeback.

Janesville got their lone goal off the stick of Zach Diamiantoni at the 6:10 mark of the second period, which at the time gave the Jets a 1-0 lead. Both Conor Lemirande and former Jr Blue note Ruslan Pedan assisted the shot off of his stick.

Tonight's goalies both performed well. Jr. Blues backup but starter tonight Ryan Kellenberger allowed just one goal for the second consecutive start as he did last weekend against Topeka in the teams 1-0 loss. Kellenberger successfully saved 21 of 22 shot attempts and earned his second victory of the season.

As for the Jets starter, Brock Kautz, he saved 38-of-40 Springfield shots but picked up his second straight loss.

The Jr. Blues out shot Janesville in every period on the night and overall by a total of 41-22. Both teams had three power plays each for the game, with Springfield going 1-for-3 and the Jets went 0-for-3 on the one-man advantage--making Springfield 1-for-8 on the weekend and Janesville 0-for-8.

Springfield improved to 6-8-2 (14 points) following the game while Janesville fell to 7-7-2 (16 points) overall on the season. The Jr. Blues have now won five of their last six games and will hit the road to take on Johnstown for two games on both Friday and Saturday nights next weekend.

Official Scoring Summary:
First Period-No Scoring in Opening Period
Second Period-(JAN) Zach Diamontoni (Conor Lemirande, Ruslan Pedan) 6:03
Third Period-(SPR) Brett Skibba (Terry Leabo, Mike Fazio) (Powerplay) 13:10; (SPR) Mike Fazio (Brett Skibba, Mitch Rogge) 16:30; (SPR) Mike Fazio (Jack Sloan) (empty-net) 19:07

Three Stars of the Game (official from the stadium):
1. Mike Fazio (Springfield)
2. Ryan Kellengberger (Springfield)
3. Brett Skibba (Springfield)