Champion Impact Sweeps Mid-Atlantic Division Event at Rapid Fire Arena

MORICHES, NY — Three weeks after beginning the 2026-27 season with crossover games against the Metropolitan Division, the PIHA Minor Mid-Atlantic Division turned its attention inward Saturday, October 17, for the first of three in-division events.

Rapid Fire Arena hosted an eight-game slate featuring Champion Impact, Fusion Blizzard, New Jersey Jagaloons and Mid Atlantic Mystic Storm, with each club playing four games during its second weekend of the season.

By the end of the afternoon, Champion Impact had taken complete control of the event.

Impact swept all four games, finishing 4-0 while scoring an eye-opening 37 goals and allowing only nine. Fusion Blizzard also enjoyed a strong afternoon at 3-1, with its only loss coming against Champion.

Mid Atlantic Mystic Storm earned an important milestone with its first victory of the season, while the New Jersey Jagaloons endured a difficult 0-4 afternoon despite coming within one goal of upsetting Champion in the opening game.

Saturday offered the first opportunity for the division to begin sorting itself out through head-to-head play — and Impact made the strongest statement.

Game-by-Game Recap

Champion Impact 6, New Jersey Jagaloons 5

The opening game immediately produced one of the closest contests of the afternoon.

Champion jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Jagaloons responded with two late first-half goals, sending the teams into the break with Impact ahead 3-2.

New Jersey continued its push in the second. Antonio Martiniello tied the game before Jon Martiniello gave the Jagaloons their first lead. Champion answered through Chris Rosso, then moved back in front on a goal from Craig Zecca.

Rob Robol tied it again at 5-5, but Phil Russo delivered the eventual game-winner for Champion.

Six different Impact players scored in the 6-5 victory, while Sam Heglund finished with a goal and an assist. For New Jersey, Robol, Dan Tumminia, Dom Pearsall and Jake Drumm each recorded two-point games.

Fusion Blizzard 3, Mid Atlantic Mystic Storm 1

Fusion began its day with a much more defensive affair.

Ben Matton-Conover opened the scoring in the first half and added his second goal midway through the second, giving Blizzard a 2-0 advantage.

Mak Kelleher brought Mystic within one, but Justin Davids restored the two-goal cushion late to finish the 3-1 victory.

Matton-Conover finished with two goals and an assist, while Davids recorded a goal and an assist. In goal, Dominic Pascucci stopped 10 of 11 shots for Fusion.

Champion Impact 10, Mid Atlantic Mystic Storm 1

Champion's offense erupted in its second game.

Impact scored seven unanswered goals in the opening half, with Mike Prainito at the center of nearly everything. Prainito scored three times in the first half before adding another in the second, finishing the game with an extraordinary four goals and three assists for seven points.

Greg Kubrak scored twice and added two assists, while Craig Zecca scored twice and Max Stern recorded a goal and two helpers.

Austin Vecchio scored the lone Mystic goal.

Champion finished with a 25-11 advantage in shots and moved to 2-0 with the 10-1 victory.

Fusion Blizzard 7, New Jersey Jagaloons 2

Fusion followed its opening victory with an explosive first half against New Jersey.

The Blizzard scored four unanswered goals before halftime, including two from Justin Davids. New Jersey attempted to respond in the second behind goals from Antonio Martiniello and Dylan Lagreca, but Fusion continued to pull away.

Quinn Mulligan scored twice and added an assist, Davids scored twice, and Andrew Sadati contributed a goal and an assist. Drew Skotarczak and Avery Klotz each recorded two assists.

Pascucci stopped 11 of 13 shots as Fusion improved to 2-0.

Champion Impact 9, Fusion Blizzard 1

The two unbeaten teams met with first place on the line, but Champion quickly took command.

Impact built a 4-0 advantage before an Andrew Sadati power-play goal put Fusion on the board late in the first half.

That would be Blizzard's only goal.

Champion scored all five goals of the second half to turn the matchup into a 9-1 victory.

James Kelly delivered a five-point performance with two goals and three assists, while Joe Gallichio recorded two goals and two assists. Max Stern scored twice, and Mike Prainito added another goal and two assists.

Greg Braska stopped 12 of 13 shots in the Impact net.

The victory moved Champion to 3-0 and put them in position to complete a perfect afternoon.

Mid Atlantic Mystic Storm 6, New Jersey Jagaloons 3

Two teams looking for their first victory of the day met at 3:20, and Mystic Storm put together its best performance of the young season.

Brian Keller scored twice in the first half, giving Mystic a 2-1 advantage at the break.

The Storm then scored four times in the second. Austin Vecchio, Mak Kelleher, Andrew Russo and Roman Kalaluhi all found the net as Mystic pulled away.

Kyle Crabtree was the primary distributor, recording four assists, while Keller finished with two goals and an assist and Russo contributed a goal and two helpers.

Anthony Nanginelli stopped 16 of 19 shots as the Storm earned its first victory of the 2026-27 season, 6-3.

Champion Impact 12, New Jersey Jagaloons 2

For a brief stretch, it looked as though New Jersey might spoil Champion's perfect afternoon.

The Jagaloons scored the first two goals of the game, with Antonio Martiniello and Jake Drumm putting New Jersey ahead 2-0.

Then everything changed.

Champion scored three times before halftime to take the lead and erupted for nine unanswered goals in the second half.

Rory Sheppard produced one of the biggest individual games of the Northeast season, scoring five goals. Sam Heglund added a goal and four assists, Brandon Dyrcz scored twice and Mike Prainito added two more goals.

Impact generated 28 shots and scored the final 12 goals of the game, completing its 4-0 day with a 12-2 victory.

Fusion Blizzard 7, Mid Atlantic Mystic Storm 2

Fusion closed the event with another impressive offensive effort.

Mystic actually opened the scoring on a goal from Austin Vecchio before Fusion responded. Roman Kalaluhi later scored for the Storm, but Blizzard took over from there.

Quinn Mulligan recorded a hat trick and two assists for a five-point game, while Drew Skotarczak scored twice and added two assists. Braxton Ersoy also scored twice.

Fusion led 6-2 after the first half and added the only goal of the second to complete a 7-2 victory and a 3-1 afternoon.

Pascucci stopped 10 of 12 shots in the win.

Individual Standouts

Mike Prainito — Champion Impact

Prainito put together an exceptional four-game performance as Champion swept the event.

His signature game came against Mystic Storm, when he recorded four goals and three assists for seven points. He followed that with a goal and two assists against Fusion and scored twice in the finale against New Jersey.

Including his goal in the opening victory over the Jagaloons, Prainito finished Saturday with eight goals and five assists for 13 points.

James Kelly — Champion Impact

Kelly did much of his damage as a playmaker.

He recorded assists throughout the afternoon before exploding for two goals and three assists in the 9-1 victory over Fusion.

Across Champion's four games, Kelly finished with two goals and seven assists for nine points.

Sam Heglund — Champion Impact

Heglund was another major reason Impact's offense produced 37 goals.

He contributed throughout the opening three games before producing his biggest performance in the finale, recording a goal and four assists against New Jersey.

Heglund finished the day with three goals and six assists for nine points.

Quinn Mulligan — Fusion Blizzard

Mulligan led Fusion during its 3-1 afternoon.

He recorded an assist in the opening win, scored twice and added an assist against New Jersey, and then finished the event with a five-point game against Mystic Storm, collecting a hat trick and two assists.

Mulligan totaled five goals and four assists for nine points.

Drew Skotarczak — Fusion Blizzard

Skotarczak's production from the back end helped fuel Fusion's offense.

After collecting multiple assists earlier in the event, he closed the day with two goals and two assists against Mystic.

Skotarczak finished the event with two goals and five assists for seven points.

Rory Sheppard — Champion Impact

Sheppard saved his biggest performance for Champion's final game.

After contributing assists earlier in the afternoon, he erupted for five goals in the 12-2 victory over New Jersey, including three during Champion's nine-goal second half.

Kyle Crabtree — Mid Atlantic Mystic Storm

Mystic's first victory featured an outstanding playmaking performance from Crabtree.

He assisted on four of the Storm's six goals against New Jersey, including both first-half goals by Brian Keller and two more during the second-half surge.

Dominic Pascucci — Fusion Blizzard

Pascucci handled all four games for Fusion and helped the Blizzard finish 3-1.

He allowed just one goal against Mystic in the opener, stopped 11 of 13 against New Jersey and closed with another strong effort against the Storm. His only difficult outing came against Champion's high-powered offense.

Impact Takes Control of the Early Mid-Atlantic Race

Saturday significantly reshaped the early Mid-Atlantic picture.

Champion entered its second weekend at 3-1 after the opening crossover against the Metropolitan Division. Four consecutive victories at Rapid Fire pushed Impact to an impressive 7-1 through eight games.

And it wasn't simply the record.

Champion outscored its opponents 37-9 on Saturday, scoring at least six goals in every game and reaching double digits twice.

Fusion Blizzard also strengthened its position. After beginning the season 2-2 at Skate Safe America, Blizzard's 3-1 afternoon improved its record to 5-3 through eight games.

Mystic Storm's victory over the Jagaloons gave the Storm its first win of the year and moved it to 1-7, while New Jersey's 0-4 day also leaves the Jagaloons at 1-7 through two events.

With other Mid-Atlantic clubs at different points in their schedules, the standings still have time to settle. But among the four teams that competed at Rapid Fire, a clear early separation has developed.

Champion Impact has established the pace, and Fusion Blizzard is giving chase.

From Crossover Hockey to Division Rivals

Opening weekend at Skate Safe America provided a chance for the Mid-Atlantic clubs to test themselves against the Metropolitan Division.

Saturday was different.

These games directly impacted the race within the division.

Familiarity will only increase from here. Saturday represented the first of three Mid-Atlantic in-division events, meaning the results at Rapid Fire are only the beginning of the head-to-head battles that will ultimately help determine postseason positioning.

Champion left Moriches having made the day's biggest statement.

Fusion showed it has the offense to challenge anyone.

Mystic finally broke through.

And while New Jersey left without a victory, the Jagaloons showed in the opening 6-5 game against Champion that they can push the division's early leader.

After two weekends of hockey, the 2026-27 Mid-Atlantic Division race is beginning to take shape — and Saturday's results gave everyone a much clearer picture of the road ahead.