Friday Finals: Jr. Blues top 1st place Falcons

Port Huron 3 @ Springfield 5 – The Springfield Jr. Blues proved on Friday night that the battle for the North Division is going to be a tight, season-long one as they dispatched the 1st place Port Huron Fighting Falcons at home by a score of 5-3.  Brett Skibba recorded a hat-trick in the win, which included scoring three of Springfield’s final four goals.  Russell Jordan and Mitch Rogge added the other goals for the Jr. Blues, who led 4-1 at one point until Port Huron came back in the 3rd period, but an empty-netter by Skibba secured the win.  Mitch Maloney, Kody Polin and Zach Badalamenti scored for Port Huron.  Ryan Kellenberger made 37 saves in the win. Boxscore

Bismarck 6 @ Coulee Region 1 – Bryan Nies made 28 saves and the Bobcats got goals from six different players on their way to a 6-1 win on the road in Coulee Region.  The Bobcats scored their first three goals in a stretch of less than three minutes in the 1st period as Filip Starzynski, Levi Blom and Bob Kinne lit the lamp.  Joe Giordano added a 2nd period goal.  Adam Knochenmus made it 5-0, before Aleksi Mustaniemi spoiled the shutout bid of Nies with the lone Chill goal.  Connor McPherson added the final goal for Bismarck. Boxscore

Wichita Falls 2 @ Corpus Christi 7 – The Ice Rays erupted for a season-high seven goals in a 7-2 home win over the Wildcats.  The win snapped a six-game losing streak for the ‘Rays, while the ‘Cats losing streak hit five.  Corpus Christi jumped out to a 4-0 lead and then scored four goals in the 3rd period to secure the win.  Perry D’Arrisso scored twice and Rudy Sulmonte added three assists for the IceRays.  Emil Romig also had a multi-point game. Boxscore

Aberdeen 6 @ Minot 3 – Six different players had multi-point games for the Wings in their 6-3 road win on Friday night in Minot.  Caleb O’Brien scored twice for the Wings in the 2nd period, which extended their lead to 4-1 after 1st period goals from Zach Kraft and Jordan Heller.  Tim Donohue scored twice for the Minotauros and Cody Milligan added the other goal for the home side.  Mike Parnell and Kyle Haak added late goals for the Wings in their first win since the NAHL Showcase. Boxscore

Odessa 1 @ Amarillo 6 – The Bulls won their sixth straight game and completed a weekend sweep of the Jacks with a 6-1 win on Friday.  After Odessa’s Tyler Cayemberg opened the scoring for Odessa early in the 1st period, it was all Bulls as they outshot Odessa, 43-13.  TJ Sarcona had a goal and two assists and Mike Davis scored twice for the Bulls.  Clint Carlisle, Matt Sieckhaus and Tyler Deresky also scored for the Bulls.  Hampus Gustafsson and Omar Mullan each chimed in with two helpers. Boxscore

Austin 3 @ Brookings 2 – A strong 1st period by the visiting Bruins proved to be the difference as their 3-2 win in Brookings propelled them into 1st place in the Central Division.  Cody Dixon and Brandon Wahlin’s goals in the 1st period gave the Bruins an early 2-0 lead.  Thomas Williams answered back in the 2nd period for the Blizzard.  John Simonson scored for Austin late in the 3rd period to make it 3-1 and a goal from Brookings Micah Ranum came too little too late.  Goalie Jason Pawloski made 30 saves in the win. Boxscore

Johnstown 4 @ Soo 5 (SO) – Tyler Marble made 57 saves and then stopped all six Johnstown shooters in the shootout as the Eagles got the extra point in a 5-4 shootout win at home over the Tomahawks.  The Eagles led 3-1 at one point early in the 2nd period, but the Tomahawks came back to tie the game in the 2nd period at 3-3 and again in the 3rd at 4-4.  Robin Hoglund was the hero for Soo as he scored twice in regulation and then the only goal in the shootout.  Michael Covach and Jared Van Wormer had the other goals for the Eagles, while Brandon Reinholz, Brandon Brossoit, Codey Hansen and Ian Spencer scored for the Tomahawks. Boxscore

Jamestown 3 @ Michigan 0 – Goalie Reid Mimmack stopped all 29 shots for his first shutout of the season as the Ironmen moved into sole possession of 2nd place in the North Division with a 3-0 road win against the Warriors.  It was Jamestown’s third straight win.  The Ironmen scored an even strength goal from Tyler Dunagan, a power play goal from Luc Gerdes and a shorthanded goal from Daniel Cesarz.  Michael Pesendorfer made 25 saves in the loss for the Warriors, who dropped their fourth straight game. Boxscore

Fresno 1 @ Fairbanks 3 – In front of another sold out crowd in Fairbanks, the Ice Dogs got two got in the first six minutes from Patrick Newell and hung on for a 3-1 win over the Fresno Monsters.  All the scoring in the game was done in the opening period as Newell lit the lamp twice.  The other star for Fairbanks was Garret Clemment, who had the other goal for the Ice Dogs and assisted on both of Newell’s goals.  Newton Fuller scored the only goal for Fresno in the loss.  Kevin Aldridge made 24 saves in the win, while Tomas Sholl made 36 saves in the loss. Boxscore

Wenatchee 6 @ Kenai River 2 – Wenatchee jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 1st period and never looked back on their way to a 6-2 win in Kenai River.  The Wild got goals from six different players including Dillon Eichstadt, Nathan Flynn and Derick Kuchera, who all scored in the 1st period.  Vincent Stefan and Zac Lazzaro scored in the 2nd period for the Brown Bears, but 3rd period goals from Jono Davis, Evan Schmidbauer and Blake Roubos secured the win for Wenatchee as they held onto 1st place in the West Division. Boxscore