Friday Finals: Minot, Topeka and Janesville on the offensive
Soo 5 @ Michigan 4 (OT) – Chase Matson’s 11th goal of the season turned out to be the overtime-winner as the Eagles kept pace in 2nd place in the North with a some-from-behind 5-4 win over the Warriors. Michigan led 3-1 after two periods. After an opening goal from Soo’s Sandis Zolmanis, the Warriors scored three straight goals from Ryan Sete, AJ Marcinek and Peter Bates. The Eagles three-goal comeback in the 3rd period included two goals from Trevor Cope and another from Raymond Brice. Colin Horton had the other goal for Michigan. Jack Berry made 31 saves in the win, while Ryan Wischow made 36 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Johnstown 2 @ Janesville 4 – Three, 2nd period goals were the difference as the league-leading Jets picked up their 31st win of the year in a 4-2 triumph over the visiting Tomahawks. The teams were deadlocked at 1-1 after one period as Ian Spencer scored for Johnstown and Dan Kucerovy answered back for the Jets. Janesville then scored three straight goals in the 2nd period to open up a 4-1 lead including goals from Zach Lavalle, Adam Winborg and Evan Feno. Casey Linkenheld added the second Tomahawks goal late in the period, but it would be as close as Johnstown would get thanks to 17 saves from Matt Jurusik in the win. Ryan Bednard made 29 saves in the loss. Boxscore
MN Magicians 5 @ Minot 8 – The Minotauros got a four-point game from Jon Lizotte and scored four times in the 3rd period to defeat the Magicians, 8-5. Lizotte scored the first two goals for Minot, but that was answered by three from the Magicians, who led 3-2 at one point on goals from Nathan Krusko, Nolan Schaeffer and Brady Heppner. Minot responded with six of the next eight goals including tallies from Johnny Walker, Blake Lizotte, Jake Howie, James Mathias, Colton Kramer and Casey Johnson. Curtis Simonson and Kris McKinzie had the other goals for the Magicians in the game. Boxscore
Wenatchee 1 @ Fairbanks 7 – Jesper Ohrvall had a five-point night, including four goals as the Ice Dogs rolled to a 7-1 home win over the Wild. Ohrvall’s first goal came early in the 1st period and Yannick Vedel also scored to put Fairbanks ahead 2-0. Ohrvall scored twice more in the 2nd period, which gave Fairbanks a 4-1 lead. Colin Burston added the lone tally for the Wild. In the 3rd period Ethan Somoza scored twice and Ohrvall added his 4th goal of the night to cement the Fairbanks win. Patrick Munson made 30 saves in the win for the Ice Dogs. Boxscore
Aberdeen 2 @ MN Wilderness 0 – Andrew Shortridge stopped al 38 shots that came his way for his 3rd shutout of the season and first win since December 19th as the Wings blanked the Wilderness on the road, 2-0. After a scoreless 1st period, the Wings would pick up their first goal late in the 2nd period from Tucker DeYoung, who would end up with the game-winner. Will Hammer ended up with the other goal for the Wings, which came early in the 3rd period on an assist from Kyle Haak. Ryan Anderson took the loss in goal for the Wilderness, making 15 saves. Boxscore
Rio Grande Valley 0 @ Topeka 6 – Matej Tomek stopped all 25 shots that came his way for his 6th shutout of the season as the RoadRunners pushed their South Division lead to six points with a 6-0 home win over the Killer Bees. After a scoreless 1st period, the RoadRunners scored three times in the 2nd period, which included goals from Daniel Brickley, Carlos Fornaris and Tyler Irvine. Brickley added his second of the game early in the 3rd period as did Irvine and Daniel Rzavsky also scored in the final period. Nick Schmit took the loss in goal, making 17 saves in 34 minutes of action. Boxscore
Austin 6 @ Brookings 3 – Tony Uglem scored twice and Nico Sturm had a three-point night as the Bruins doubled up the Blizzard, 6-3 on Friday. Austin led 3-2 after an active 1st period on goals from Uglem, Jake Arroyo and Trevor Boyd. The Brookings goals came from TJ Samec and Garrett Elmore. Alex Jasiek scored the lone goal in the 2nd period to push the Bruins lead to 4-2. In the 3rd period, Oscar Odd cut the lead to 4-3 with Brookings final goal and Sturm and Uglem added empty-net goals in the final minute to secure the win. Jake Kielly made 25 saves for his 12th win of the year. Boxscore
Coulee Region 2 @ Kenai River 3 – The Brown Bears snapped a 14-game losing streak as defenseman Jack Nickels scored his first goal of his NAHL career with just :11 seconds remaining to give the Brown Bears a 3-2 win at home over the Chill. The Brown Bears took a 2-0 lead in the 2nd period on goals from Tyler Andrews and Austin Chavez. The Chill stormed back in the 3rd period with two goals to tie the game late as Dominik Florian and Richard Zehnal scored. Nickels game-winner was a one-timer as he streaked in from the point and got a pass from behind the net by Maurin Bouvet. Evan Hauser made 35 saves in the win, while Adam Carlson made 31 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Springfield 0 @ Keystone 4 – Nick Kossoff stopped all 26 shots that came his way for his 4th shutout of the season as the Ice Miners moved to 8-1 in their last nine games with a 4-0 win over visiting Springfield. After a scoreless 1st period the Ice Miners scored three goals in the 2nd period including two from Matt Jones and another from Noah Batis. Joey Sofo added an insurance goal in the 3rd period. Dryden McKay took the loss in goal for Springfield, making 33 saves. Boxscore
Amarillo 4 @ Odessa 6 – Three, 2nd period goals were the difference as six players scored for the Jackalopes as they snapped their losing streak with a 6-4 win over the visiting Bulls. The Bulls led 2-1 after one period on goals from Ben Jentsch and Brady Crabtree, while Odessa’s lone market was early from Razmuz Waxin-Engback. In the 2nd period, Odessa took a 4-2 lead with goals from Daniel Kiraly, Corey Hoffman and Andrew McLean. Each team scored twice in the 3rd period as Chad Guderian and Hampus Sjodahl scored for Odessa and Cody Gylling and Luke Novak scored for the Bulls. Boxscore
Corpus Christi 5 @ Wichita Falls 4 – Anthony Cortese had a big night as the IceRays earned a weekend split with the Wildcats thanks to a 5-4 win on Friday. Cortese scored twice, including the game’s first goal, and also had an assist. The IceRays scored four times in the 2nd period, which included another goal from Cortese and others from Tanner Lomsnes, Nathan Bryer and the game-winner from Matt Colford. The Wildcats got three goals in the 2nd period from Kevin Charyszyn, Max Reisinger and Nick Farmer and a 3rd period goal from Tommy Apap to draw within one. Boxscore
