Road to the Robertson Cup goes through Fairbanks
Michigan Warriors 0 @ Fairbanks Ice Dogs 3 (Fairbanks wins series, 2-0) – The road to the Robertson Cup Championship will go through Fairbanks, Alaska as the Ice Dogs shutout the Michigan Warriors, 3-0 in Game 2 on Saturday night, clinching their Semi-Finals series, 2 games to 0. Goaltender Kevin Aldridge registered 21 saves for his third shutout of the playoffs and center Brett Gervais had a goal and assist for Fairbanks, which learns today if it’s playing the #2 Topeka RoadRunners or the #3 Austin Bruins in the best-of-three championship series. The Ice Dogs scored twice in the last 1:47 of the 2nd period. Lonnie Clary, after his first-period penalties put Michigan on two power plays, scored the game’s first goal on the Ice Dogs’ third power play session of the night. Clary took Gervais’ entry pass from the slot and skated to the right edge of the crease, nearly stumbling but sneaking the puck past Warriors goalie Trevor Gorsuch’s glove side with 1:47 left in the period.cGorsuch finished with 31 saves. Right wing Colton Wolter set up Gervais for the 2-0 lead with 4.7 seconds left remaining in the middle period. Wolter intercepted a pass in the Michigan zone, broke up the ice and made a slick behind-the-back pass to Gervais, whose snap shot from the slot beat a diving Gorsuch. Center Tayler Munson sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 1:35 left in the third period after Gorsuch had been pulled for an extra attacker. Boxscore
Austin Bruins 6 @ Topeka RoadRunners 4 (Best of three series tied, 1-1) - Looking to wrap up the Robertson Cup semifinal series, Topeka couldn’t capitalize and fell 6-4 to Austin, setting up a decisive Game 3 Sunday night at Landon Arena. The winner in Game 3 on Sunday will advance the Robertson Cup Finals next weekend, which will be played in Fairbanks, Alaska against the Fairbanks Ice Dogs. Early in the 1st period, a puck tipped by Austin’s Luke Dietsch slipped past Topeka goalie PJ Bridges to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Early in the 2nd period, at 1:52, Austin forward Brian Bachnak grabbed a rebound on a deflected shot and flipped the puck in over Bridges’ shoulder to make it 2-0. Topeka got on the board at 4:41 as forward Jake Kamrass tipped a pass from defenseman Avni Berisha, making it 2-1. Austin’s Dietsch struck again less than two minutes later, making it 3-1 at 6:21. Early in the 3rd period, forward Jasen Fernsler made it 3-2 with a power-play goal. However, Austin came right back again. At 4:33, forward Casey Jerry ripped a shot glove-side high from the left slot to make it 4-2. Fernsler scored his second goal of the night at 9:35, cutting the Bruins’ lead to 4-3, but Austin quickly took away the Topeka momentum as forward Charlie Manley scored an unassisted goal at 10:38 to make it 5-3. Late in the 3rd period, Topeka pulled its goalie in favor of the extra attacker, but Austin notched an empty-net goal to make it 6-3. Forward James Ring scored at 19:59 off the faceoff to make it 6-4, but the goal made no difference in the final outcome. Nick Lehr made 29 saves in the win for the Bruins, while Bridges made 24 saves. Boxscore
