Friday Finals: Titans keep rolling with shutout
Johnstown 2 @ Aston 3 (OT) – Defenseman Jerry Miettuten scored his first goal of the season two minutes into overtime as the Rebels picked up a big 3-2 home in over the Tomahawks. Things looked good for the road side early as Johnstown led 2-0 after one period with goals from Luke Lynch and Tommy Horn. The Rebels fought back to tie the game with a 2nd period goal from Dean Balsamo and the game-tying goal late in the 3rd period with less than a minute to go from Kristofers Bindulis. Darion Hanson made 18 saves for the win in his Rebels debut, while Jacob Gwillim took the loss making 30 saves. Boxscore
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 0 @ New Jersey 6 – Jack Berry stopped all 26 shots that came his way for his first shutout of the season and forward Anthony Cusanelli had a hat-trick and the Titans stayed hot and in first place with a 6-0s shutout win over the Knights. Cusanelli opened the scoring with a 1st period goal. That was followed by a 2nd period goal from Dakota Ford. The Titans then exploded for four goals in the 3rd period, including two more from Cusanelli and others from Brad Becker and David Sebald. Grant Valentine made 23 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Fairbanks 3 @ Janesville 4 (OT) – The Jets handed the Ice Dogs their first loss of the season as they erased a 3-1 deficit to ultimately win in overtime thanks to two goals from defenseman Adam Roeder. The Jets led 1-0 just over a minute into the contest on a goal from Roberts Smits. The Ice Dogs were quick to respond just four minutes later on a power play goal from Cayden Cahill. Fairbanks pushed the lead to 3-1 with two 2nd period goals from Alex Mehnert and Aaron McPheters. The Jets fought back in the 3rd period to tie the game with a power play goal from Adam Winborg and the first of the night from Roeder. Roeder then struck for the overtime-winner less than two minutes into the extra session. Jack LaFontaine picked up the win with 29 saves, while Gavin Nieto earned the loss with 25 saves. Boxscore
Amarillo 2 @ Corpus Christi 3 - The IceRays opened their home slate game with a 3-2 win over Amarillo. Scoring started early and often in the contest and favored the home side. At 1:34, forward Carter Johnson worked his way through three different Bulls players in the low slot to find open net and give the IceRays the early 1-0 lead. Less than three minutes later forward Nathan Bryer scored down low for his first of the year and a quick 2-0 IceRays lead. The Bulls would come back in the period at 6:45 when a shot toward net by Bulls forward Joey Molinaro deflected off the skate of IceRays defenseman C.J. Valerian and into the back of the net, cutting the lead down to one, 2-1. Just before the mid-way mark of the period at 9:29, Bulls forward Joey DiBenedetto notched his first of the year and tied the game, 2-2. In the second, another early goal propelled the IceRays ahead, this time coming off a left point shot by defenseman Michael Bevilacqua at 3:46 to put the IceRays back ahead, 3-2. IceRays netminder Graham Hunt earned the win, stopping 22 of 24 shots, while Bulls goaltender Anton Martinsson grabbed the loss, turning aside 21 of 24 shots. Boxscore
Lone Star 3 @ Topeka 4 – In a back and forth game, the RoadRunners outlasted the Brahmas thanks to two goals from Marcus Russell. Topeka led 2-1 after one period with goals from Russell and Matt Jennings. Kyle Patava had the Brahmas 1st period goal. Lone Star tied things at 2-2 in the 2nd period with a goal from Alex Berardinelli, but Topeka regained the one goal lead on Russell’s second goal of the night. Topeka made the score 4-2 with a 3rd period goal from Luka Maver. Oskar Andren scored for Lone Star to draw them within a goal, but they could not find the equalizer thanks to 16 saves from Tyler Johnson. Corbin Kaczperski made 26 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Coulee Region 2 @ Springfield 3 – Tommy Nappier made 24 saves to help the Jr. Blues to a 3-2 win in their 2015-16 home debut over the Chill. Michael Houle factored in on all three Jr. Blues goals including assisting on the opening goal from Brady Tomlak. Scott Corbett tied the game for the Chill, but a late 1st period goal from Houle put Springfield back up by one. Michael Wilson tied the game for the Chill late in the 2nd period, but the game winner came less than three minutes later with a tally from Drew Richter. Chill goalie Matiss Kivlenieks was impressive in the loss making 44 saves. Boxscore
Aberdeen 2 @ MN Magicians 1 – Gavin Paczosa made 26 saves to help the Aberdeen Wings move into a 1st place tie in the Central with a 2-1 road win against the Magicians. After a scoreless 1st period, the Wings were first to get on the board midway through the 2nd period on a goal from Colin Raver. Rico Rataczyk tied the game for Minnesota later in the period. The game winner was scored by Gavin Payne midway through the 3rd period. Magicians goalie Will Ulrich made 22 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Austin 4 @ Brookings 1 – The Bruins kept things rolling the right direction as they scored early and often and got 24 saves from goalie Kristofer Carlson in a 4-1 win. The Bruins scored three times in the 1st period, which chased Brookings starting goaltender Eric Hancock from the game. Goals came from Evan Cholak, Dawson DiPietro and Travis Kothenbeutel. Luke Forfar added a 2nd period goal to make it 4-0. Brookings got on the board late in the 3rd period with the first career NAHL goal from defenseman Christian Canavati, who blasted home a slapshot from the point. Boxscore
Kenai River 2 @ MN Wilderness 6 – Chase Munroe made 32 saves and six different players scored for the Wilderness as they beat the Brown Bears 6-2. It was all Wilderness in the first half the game. In the 1st period, Tyler Cline score to put Minnesota ahead 1-0. The 2nd period began with five straight goals from the Wilderness to take a 6-0 lead, which included goals from Ashton Calder, Malo Ville, Tyler Vold, Alex Toscano and Jacob Hamacher. Sam Carlson and Jeffrey Fasegha scored goals later in the game for Kenai River. Boxscore
