The Esmark Stars U15 AAA Midget team returned to the ice from their winter holiday break and traveled to the Motor City this past weekend (Jan. 11 - 13) and opened the 2019 portion of their 2018-2019 schedule at the Legacy Mid-Winter Classic in Detroit.

The Stars opened the tournament suffering a tough 4-3 loss on Friday to NAPHL rival, Meijer (MI) AAA, as Meijer scored a late shorthanded goal to break a tie game.

Later Friday afternoon, the Stars squared-off with tournament host Belle Tire (MI) U15 AAA and came up short, dropping a 5-2 decision.

The U15 Stars returned to the ice on Saturday and needing a big effort, they rebounded and skated to a 4-2 win over the HPHL's Chicago Young Americans.

With a 1-2-0 round robin record, the U15 Stars just missed qualifying for the quarterfinals and were  relegated to the consolation round where they would draw Fox Motors U15 AAA.  The two squads skated to a 2-2 tie as Fox Motors scored the game tying goal in the final minute of play with their goaltender pulled and a 6-on-5 advantage.

With their showing in Detroit, the U15 Stars overall record now stands at 20-11-3-3.

Esmark's U15 squad returns to play next weekend, Jan. 18-20, in Troy, MI at the NAPHL's Dixon Cup Playoffs.

The U16 and U18 Stars enjoyed the weekend off, after returning to the ice the previous weekend. They return to the ice this weekend, Jan. 19-21, for NAPHL IV in Troy, MI.