• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

Jets’ season ends in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS — Coach Dane Litke was making no excuses for the Janesville Jets’ 4-0 loss to the

St. Louis Bandits in a North American Hockey League best-of-five playoff finale here Sunday.

St. Louis advances to face Michigan in the North Division finals.

The No. 4-seeded Jets clawed their way to the Game 5 showdown after posting a hard-fought 4-3 overtime victory Saturday night at the Janesville Ice Skating Center.

A disappointed Litke thought the Jets were in good position to knock off the top-seeded Bandits after their rousing OT victory, but that didn’t happen in the coach’s eyes.

“We didn’t have anybody show up and play hard.” Litke said. “It was not good today.’’

Litke refused to use the long trip back to St. Louis on Sunday morning after the overtime victory Saturday night as an excuse.

“It shouldn’t matter,” Litke said. “We were playing the first-place team in Game 5.’’

The Bandits scored one goal in each of the first two periods, taking 22 shots to the Jets’ 11 through the first two periods.

Litke said St. Louis is a good team that takes a lot of shots.

“That happens down here,” Litke said. “They get a lot of shots, but not all of them were quality shots.’’

The Jets managed 11 shots in the third period, but Litke said the effort was not strong enough.

“We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities in the third period,” Litke said.

The Jets concluded their second season with a 37-22-4 record.

“We had a great season, but the way it ended was disappointing,” Litke said. “We had a big OT win and came out flat. There is no excuse for that.’’

ST. LOUIS 4, JANESVILLE 0

Janesville 0 0 0—0

St. Louis 1 1 2—4

First period

St.L—Stouffer (Ciotti, Carey), 7:29.

Second period

St.L—Wolfe (Finch), 8:00.

Third period

St.L—Ciotti (Stouffer), 4:10. St.L—Crowe, 8:13.

Saves—Jacobson (J), 25. Comunale, (St.L), 22.