California natives Tarantino, Voyatzis, Bruno garner monthly awards from USPHL
The USPHL has announced its monthly player awards for November, featuring a handful of California products.
At the Premier level, Antonio Tarantino (Vernal Oilers) is the Northwest Division Goaltender of the Month and Dimitri Voyatzis (Ogden Mustangs) is the Mountain Division Forward of the Month, while Josh Bruno (Northern Cyclones) picks up Elite North Division Forward of the Month accolades.
A USPHL veteran and Fremont native, the 2002-born Tarantino was tapped for four of the Oilers’ seven games in November and was equal to the task every time out, stopping all but six of 145 shots faced for a .959 save percentage, third best for Premier goalies with at least 180 minutes played last month.
He never gave up more than two goals in any of these four games, including stopping 37 of 38 against Seattle and 43 of 44 against Rock Springs.
Overall, the second-year Premier goalie is second in wins (11) and sixth in save percentage (.945). Tarantino’s .943 save percentage since the start of 2021-22 is currently the best among all active two-year USPHL Premier goaltenders. The Boston Jr. Bruins’ Dominik Bovan is a close second at .941 since last season.
In California, Tarantino played for the Golden State Elite Eagles and San Jose Jr. Sharks.
Voyatzis, a 2003 birth year out of Fountain Valley, started November with a career-long seven-game point streak and three multi-point games to continue climbing the Mountain Division scoring charts. He finished the month with 12 points (6-6-12) in eight games, including a goal in the ‘Stangs’ 3-2 win over archrival Utah on Nov. 25.
Voyatzis has been Ogden’s most consistent scorer as he’s now recorded a point in 19 of Ogden’s 22 games.
Back home, Voyatzis skated for the Anaheim Jr. Ducks.
Bruno, an ’04 out of Los Angeles, remained with the Cyclones organization after experiencing success last year with Northern’s USPHL 18U squad.
This year, Bruno has posted 26 points in 17 games this year with the Elite team, including the 11 points he put up in six games of November (5-6-11). His November points are joined with a 1-2-3 line on Oct. 30 to give him a seven-game point streak of 20 points, nearly a 3.00 points-per-game average.
Prior to coming to the Cyclones, Bruno played for the Los Angeles Jr. Kings, Orange County Hockey Club and Empire Hockey Club.
— Joshua Boyd & Brendan Price/USPHL.com
(December 5, 2022)