USHL Lincoln Stars

Fernandez and Mbereko Honored by USHL

Published on March 1, 2022 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Lincoln Stars News Release


The United States Hockey League (USHL) announced Tuesday that Antonio Fernandez has been named the Defenseman of the Week for Week 22 of the 2021-22 season. In addition, Kaidan Mbereko has been named the Goaltender of the Week.

Fernandez, 18, is coming off of a four-point week, scoring once and racking up three assists. The College of the Holy Cross commit posted a plus-4 rating as Lincoln defeated the Fargo Force 7-6 on Thursday and Sioux City Musketeers 4-0 on Saturday. A native of San Jose, CA, Fernandez is currently riding a season-high eight-game point streak (five goals, six assists).

"It's definitely something I'm proud of earning," Fernandez said. "When our team is playing like this and finding success, it helps me play better; everybody in that locker room has helped me get to this point."

Stars head coach Rocky Russo coached Fernandez for 18 games in the North American Hockey League with the Amarillo Bulls (now playing in North Iowa) last season and is proud of the young defenseman's development so far in the USHL.

"His work ethic, compete level and priorities are all fantastic," Russo said. "He's playing with a lot of confidence, which has been the biggest piece to his puzzle. Knowing when he has the opportunity to jump down and get pucks paired with his lethal shot has resulted in him finding the back of the net quite a bit for us this year."

The Stars have won four in a row and have collected points in their last five outings, establishing belief in the organization with 19 games left in the regular season.

"Hockey is a lot more fun when everyone is having a great time," Fernandez noted. "We're trying to use this momentum for another big weekend coming up and down the road into playoffs."

Mbereko, 18, is receiving this honor for the first time in his three-year USHL career. On Thursday, he stopped nine shots in 27 minutes of relief action, picking up the win as Lincoln secured an overtime victory against Fargo. Against Sioux City, the Colorado College commit was perfect, making 29 saves en route to his first shutout as a member of the Stars and second of his USHL career (March 21st, 2021 as a member of Team USA).

"It's pretty cool," Mbereko said. "I didn't really think of it as a possibility until you told me yesterday. It's a huge honor, but anybody can be Player of the Week any week, so I just have to keep working."

Despite wearing the largest pads and bearing the largest responsibility, the Aspen, CO native credited his teammates for his clean sheet against the Musketeers.

"[Saturday] was great all-around," Mbereko continued. "Even our forwards stepped up and it was super encouraging, especially as our schedule is winding down and going into playoffs. If we keep it up, I think we'll be one of the most dangerous teams out there, so it's really exciting."

While Mbereko himself may not mention his stellar play, the Stars coaching staff has had nothing but good things to say about their first-round pick (6th overall) in this past summer's Phase I Draft.

"We know he's going to give us a great effort every single time in the net," Russo elaborated. "He makes all the saves he's supposed to make and a few we don't expect. He's a great teammate; he's passionate about his path. He wants to be a dominant goaltender at the junior level, the collegiate level and ultimately get drafted into the NHL."

In his last eight decisions, Mbereko is 6-0-1-1 with a 2.72 goals-against average and a save percentage of .912. The Stars will begin a three-game weekend on Friday night against the Waterloo Black Hawks at the Ice Box.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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