The Esmark Stars and Pittsburgh Predators hooked up this past weekend, Feb. 23 - 24, at the U16 and U15 levels.

The 16U Stars, who closed their regular season schedule, opened the home and home series on Saturday at the Pittsburgh Ice Arena and skated to a 8-1 win in front of nice crowd. Ryder Brophy paced the Stars finding the back of the net three times for the hat trick, and recorded five overall points. Daniel Pronin recorded six points (2G, 4A) and Eddie Pazo recorded five points (1G, 4A). Ty Ulanowicz added a pair of goals and Alex Walker picked up three assists. Connor Strobel earned the win in goal.

On Sunday, the two clubs took to the ice at the home of the Predators, the Ice Castle Arena in Castle Shannon to close the weekend series. The Stars skated to a 9-3 win as Ryder Brophy scored a pair of goals and added two assists, and Eddie Paso scored twice and added an assist. Also scoring goals for the Stars were: Daniel Baranowski (1G, 3A), Ty Ulanowicz (1G, 2A), Alex Walker (1G, 2 A), John Camp (1G, 1A) and Matt Traczynski (1G). Daniel Pronin added three assists and Trent Gray recorded two assists. Connor Strobel earned his second win of the weekend in goal.

The two-game sweep improved the U16 AAA's overall record to 29-17-2-2.

The U16s next return to the ice March 8 - 10 in Cleveland, OH, for the Mid-American Districts Championships.

Meanwhile, the U15 Stars played host to the Predators U15 club on Saturday at the Pittsburgh Ice Arena and skated to a 3-0 win. Ethan Zupanc paced the Stars scoring a pair of goals. Shane Miller scored the other Stars goal.  Nathan Dickey recorded the win in goal and picked up the shutout for his efforts.

The win improves the U15 AAA Stars overall record to 24-15-3-5 .

The U15 Stars will conclude their regular season this upcoming weekend, March 2 & 3,  as they welcome the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets to town for a pair of games.