All three Esmark Stars Midget teams traveled to the Greater Detroit area (Troy and Rochester, MI), this past weekend, Feb. 14-17, for the 2020 North American Prospects Hockey League (NAPHL) Dixon Cup Playoffs.

The U15 AAA Stars opened play on Friday, Feb. 14, with a 4-3 OT/ shootout win over the Tri-State Spartans at the Onyx Arena in Rochester. Chase Williams collected the shootout winning goal, after both teams skated to a scoreless 3-on-3 overtime period. Ben Guenther (1G, 1A), Sebastian Vogt and Derek Pietrzyk all scored during regulation. Paul Postonak earned the win in goal for Esmark.

Esmark returned to the ice Friday evening and dropped a 3-1 decision to the Florida Alliance at the Onyx Arena. Liam McClain tallied the lone Stars marker.  Fedor Tabako suffered the loss in goal.

On Saturday afternoon, the U15 Stars closed round-robin play with a 3-0 shutout win over Meijer AAA at the Onyx Arena. Zach Hixon, Kobe Rickabaugh and Jacob Meier all scored for the Stars. Liam McClain, Niven Delano and Chase Stormer all collected assists in the win. Paul Postonak earned the shutout and win in goal for the Stars.

The U15 squad dropped a 2-1 OT loss to the Arizona Bobcats at the Onyx Arena on Sunday afternoon in a consolation game to close the event. Derek Pietryzk scored the lone Stars goal with an assist from Chase Williams. Fedor Tabako suffered the loss in goal, as Arizona scored the game winning goal 2:38 seconds into 3-on-3 overtime.

The (2-1-0-1) showing at the NAPHL playoffs improves the U15 Stars overall record to (24-21-3-3).

The U16 AAA Stars opened play on Friday, dropping a tough 2-0 loss to the Sioux Falls Power at the Troy Sports Arena in Troy, MI. Nathan Dickey suffered the loss in the shut-out decision in goal.

The Midget Minor Stars returned to the ice Saturday morning and dropped a heartbreaking 4-3 overtime decision to the nation's #8 ranked Florida Alliance at the Troy Sports Arena. Nolan Merulli (1G, 1A) and Adis Ultanbekov (1G, 1A) led the Stars scoring attack. Keith Smilowitz also scored for the Stars. Ethan Zupanc and Egor Ramanau each earned an assist. Nathan Dickey suffered the loss in goal as Florida quickly struck in OT to end the game.

The U16 Stars closed round-robin play with a 4-1 win over the Everett SilverTips, Saturday evening, at the Troy Sports Arena. Egor Busygin (1G, 1A) and Ethan Zupanc (1G, 1A) led the scoring attack. Keith Smilowitz and Addis Ultanbekov also scored for the Stars. Egor Ramanau earned an assist for the Stars in the win. Logan Marnik earned the "W" in goal for Esmark.

The U16 squad skated to a 4-2 win over CarShield AAA at the Troy Sports Arena late Sunday morning in a consolation game to close the event. Keith Smilowitz paced the Stars offensive attack with a pair of goals. Alex Keller (1G, 1A) and Hunter Fairman also scored goals for Esmark. Shane Miller (2A), Egor Ramanau, Justin Mettrick, and Adis Ultanbekov earned assists. Logan Marnik earned the win in goal for Esmark.

The (2-1-0-1) showing at the NAPHL playoffs improves the U16 Stars overall record to (34-16-2-3).

The U18 AAA Stars opened play with an 11-2 pasting of the Portland Jr. Winterhawks (19-18-2-3) on Friday morning at the Troy Sports Arena. Corbin Ragno recorded a three-goal hat-trick, and Ty Stewart (2G, 3A) and Luke Reiser (2G) each recorded a pair of goals to pace the offensive explosion. Ed Pazo (1G, 2A), Alex Walker (1G, 2A), Ryder Brophy and John Camp also scored goals.  Gio Palombo (4A), Nikita Zapolski (3A), Lane Ruffner (2A), Preston Muha, Dustin Geregach, Braydon Morgan and Jerome Oliver all recorded assists. The Stars went five for six on the power play as Reiser, Ragno, Stewart Pazo and Walker all collected goals with the man advantage. Connor Stroebel earned the win in goal.

Esmark returned to the ice Friday evening, and continued their offensive explosion with a 10-3 win over MA-based Northeast Generals at the Troy Sports Arena. Ryder Brophy with four-goals and Ty Stewart with a three-goal hat-trick lead the Stars. Dominic Dezort, with a pair, and Brayden Morgan also scored goals for the Stars. Corbin Ragno, Ed Pazo, and Gio Palombo each earned a play-maker award with three assists, while Alex Walker (2A), Trent Gray, Luke Reiser, Nikita Zapolski, Preston Muha, Dustin Geregach and Jerome Oliver all added helpers. Danny Mitchell earned the win in goal.

The U18 Stars close round-robin play with an early Saturday afternoon 5-4 OT win over the Colorado Springs Tigers. Ty Stewart recorded his second straight hat-trick, including the game-winning goal 2:12 into the 3-on-3 overtime session, to pace the Stars offensively. Dustin Geregach (1G, 1A) and Ed Pazo scored the other Stars goals. Gio Palombo (2A), Luke Reiser, Ryder Brophy and Jerome Oliver recorded assists. Connor Strobel also picked up and assist as well as the win in goal. The win and undefeated round-robin play clinched the division bracket for the Stars.

On Sunday morning, the Stars roared back from a 6-2 deficit heading into the third period to capture an exciting 7-6 OT quarter-finals win over Shattuck St. Mary's. Dustin Geregach (2G, 1A) and Tyler Stewart (1G, 4A), who collected the game winning goal on the power play 1:40 into overtime, in paced the Stars come-back win. Gio Palombo (1G, 2A), Corbin Ragno (1G, 1A), Jerome Oliver (1G, 1A) and Luke Reiser also scored for the Stars, as Reiser completed the come-back effort for Esmark knotting the game at 6-6 with a little over five-minutes remaining in the third period. John Camp and Dominic Dezort added assists. Connor Strobel earned the win in goal for the Stars as both he and Danny Mitchell saw playing time.

The 2020 NAPHL Dixon Cup Playoff run would unfortunately come to an early end as the 18U Stars dropped a tough 6-4 decision to Northstar Christian Academy, the #11 ranked team in the nation,  in the semi-finals. Ty Stewart (1G, 2A), Corbin Ragno (1G, 1A), Dominic Dezort and Jerome Oliver scored for the Stars. Gio Palombo (2A), John Camp and Dustin Geregach added assists. Connor Strobel suffered the loss in goal.

The (4-1-0-0) showing at the NAPHL playoffs improves the U18 Stars overall record to (42-7-5-3).