Friday Finals: Brown Bears pick up first home win
Springfield 2 @ Kenai River 3 – Nick Nast made 34 saves to help the Kenai River Brown Bears pick up their 3rd win of the season and first win at home in a 3-2 win over the visiting Jr. Blues. The other star of the game was Evan Butcher, who scored two goals, which both came in the 1st period as the Brown Bears jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the opening frame. Gunnar Goodmanson had the other goal for Kenai River, which came on the power play. Both Jr. Blues goals came from Sam Craggs, who scored in the 1st and 3rd periods. Tommy Nappier made 25 saves in the loss. Boxscore
MN Wilderness 3 @ Fairbanks 8 – In a battle of the top two teams in the Midwest Division, the Ice Dogs got five points apiece from Ryner Gorowsky and Todd Burgess in a 8-3 win over the Wilderness. The Ice Dogs jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the 1st period with goals from Logan Coomes and Clay Cross. Goals from Burgess, Liam Stirtzinger and Tyler Tomberlin in the 2nd period pushed the lead to 5-2 and three more goals in the 3rd period, including another from Coomes and others from Jakob Stridsberg and Cayden Cahill. Wilderness goals came from Aaron Miller, Isak Bergland and Alex Toscano. Gavin Nieto made 21 saves in the win. Boxscore
Aberdeen 4 @ Brookings 0 – Peter Thome stopped all 32 shots that came his way for his second shutout of the season as the Wings picked up a 4-0 road win in Brookings. The opening goal came in the 1st period via the power play as Carter Roo scored. Aberdeen increased the lead to 2-0 in the 2nd period with another power play goal from Tucker DeYoung. The Wings scored two more times in the 3rd period with goals from Kevin Fitzgerald and Gavin Payne. Blizzard goalie Jacob Gwillim made 33 saves in the losing effort. Boxscore
Minot 4 @ MN Magicians 2 – The Minotauros scored three times in the 3rd period to come from behind to defeat the Magicians on the road, 4-2. Minot jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 1st period with a goal from Steven Mather. The Magicians then scored twice in the 2nd period to take a 2-1 lead with goals from Casey Jerry and Pierce Crawford. The Minotauros stormed back in the 3rd period with three goals from Tyler Jeanson, Troy Degler and Max Reisinger. Minot goalie Jon Flakne made 24 saves in the win, while Will Ulrich made 32 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Lone Star 3 @ Wichita Falls 4 (OT) – Adam Goodsir scored twice including the game-winner just over three minutes into overtime to give the Wildcats a come-from-behind 4-3 win in a battle of the top two teams in the South Division. The Brahmas jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Alex Berardinelli and Tyler Drevitch. The Wildcats stormed back with three straight goals to take a 3-2 lead midway through the 3rd period with goals from Jonathan Lazarus, Jeff Baum and Goodsir. Late in regulation, Drevitch scored his second goal to tie the game at 3-3. Justin Kapelmater made 17 saves in the win, while Corbin Kaczperski made 22 saves in the loss. Boxscore
New Jersey 1 @ Aston 4 – The Rebels continued their recent dominance of the Titans with a 4-1 home win on Friday night. Darion Hanson made 21 saves in the win and Colton McMenamin had two goals and an assist in the win. After a scoreless 1st period, the Rebels took a 1-0 lead in the 2nd period with the first goal from McMenamin. In the 3rd period, a power play goal from Ryan Cusin made it 2-0. New Jersey answered with their lone goal of the night from Robert Smits. Aston then added two late goals from Austin Swingle and McMenamin to secure the win. Boxscore
Topeka 1 @ Corpus Christi 3 – The IceRays salvaged a weekend home split with the RoadRunners thanks to a 3-1 win on Friday. Topeka jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a 1st period goal from Marcus Russell, but it would be all the IceRays and goalie Dryden McKay would allow. The IceRays tied the game at 1-1 with a 2nd period goal from Nathan Bryer. The game-winner came with just five minutes remaining in regulation off the stick of Regen Cavanagh. Drake Lindsay added an insurance goal late. McKay made 20 saves in the win, while Juho Niku made 27 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Odessa 5 @ Amarillo 0 – Dean Shatzer stopped all 36 shots that came his way for his first shutout of the season as the Jackalopes blanked the Bulls in Amarillo, 5-0. The Jacks seized the momentum late in the 1st period with goals in the final minute from Hampus Sjodahl and Brennen Miller. The lead swelled to 4-0 with two more Odessa goals in the 2nd period from Zach Zech and another one from Miler. Gray Marr added a 3rd period goal to make the final score, 5-0. Anton Martinsson made 39 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Coulee Region 4 @ Austin 1 – Dominik Florian scored twice and Isaac Theisen added three assists as the Chill picked up an important 4-1 road win in Austin on Friday. The 1st period was even at 1-1 as Colin Theisen opened the scoring for the Chill and Austin Rueschhoff answered back for the Bruins. The Chill grabbed the lead for good with two goals in the 2nd period from Dominik Florian and Alex Falconer. Florian added his second goal of the game in the 3rd period to make the final score, 4-1. Chill goalie Matiss Kivlenieks made 20 saves in the win, while Kris Carlson took the loss, making 20 saves. Boxscore
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 6 @ Johnstown 7 (SO) – The Knights scored three goals in the final four minutes of regulation, only to see the Tomahawks take the win in a shootout in a wild 7-6 win on Friday. Johnstown got two goals from Luke Lynch and others from Anthony Parrucci, Dalton Hunter, Dante Suffredini and Andrew Romano. The Tomahawks led 6-3 late in the 3rd period, but the Knights stormed back with three quick goals from Blake Busch, Tanner Bennett and Jacob Hamacher to knot the game at 6-6. Joseph Campolieto, Braden Brown and Stephen Kelly scored earlier in the game for the Knights. Casey Linkenheld was the only shooter to score in the shootout. Boxscore
