Saturday Scores: South full of sweeps this weekend
Topeka 2 @ Wichita Falls 3 – Austin Albrecht scored twice and Justin Kapelmaster made 31 saves to lead the Wildcats to a 3-2 win and weekend home sweep of the RoadRunners. After a scoreless 1st period, the Wildcats would take the lead on a power play goal from Albrecht. Less than a minute later, the RoadRunners would respond with a goal from Luka Maver. However, the Wildcats wasted little time to responding to Maver’s goal as Albrecht lit the lamp again and Andre Pison added a power play goal to make it 3-1. In the 3rd period, Marcus Russell scored a power play goal to draw the RoadRunners to within 3-2, but that would be as close as they could get. Tyler Johnson made 17 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Odessa 3 @ Corpus Christi 2 – Dean Shatzer made 46 saves to lead the Jackalopes to a 3-2 win and weekend road sweep of the IceRays, which put Odessa into sole possession of the 4th and final playoff spot in the South with four games to go. Odessa struck first in the 1st period with a power play goal from Pierce Pluemer. The IceRays answered right before the period was up as Brad LeLievre scored his 9th goal of the season. The Jackalopes took a 3-1 lead in the 2nd period thanks to back-to-back power play goals from Hampus Sjodahl and Daniel Kiraly. Mason Krueger scored late in the period for the IceRays, but they couldn’t find the equalizer of solve Shatzer in the 3rd period. IceRays goalie Dryden McKay made 28 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Lone Star 6 @ Amarillo 3 – Troy York scored twice and Corbin Kaczperski made 30 saves to lead the Brahmas to a 6-3 win and weekend road sweep in Amarillo. Lone Star jumped ahead 2-0 on 1st period goals from York and Martin Mellberg. The Bulls drew within 2-1 with a goal in the dying seconds of the 1st period from Liam Ferguson. York added the lone goal of the 2nd period to make the score 3-1 and the Brahmas blew the game open in the 3rd period with three more goals from Peter Kessel, Tyler Drevitch and Carson Kelly. Nicholas Santoro and Phil Fromberger had the other goals for the Bulls. Boxscore
New Jersey 1 @ Fairbanks 2 – The Ice Dogs set a new franchise mark for points and wins in a season as they completed a weekend home sweep of the Titans with a 2-1 win on Saturday. The Ice Dogs outshot the Titans 50-19, but they only managed to get two pucks past New Jersey netminder Jack Berry. Clay Cross started the scoring early in the 2nd period as he snuck a shot from the wing through Berry’s pads for a 1-0 lead. Later in the period, Reggie Lutz added a power play goal to make it 2-0. New Jersey broke Gavin Nieto’s shutout bid late in the 3rd period with a goal from Raymond Brice. Nieto finished with 18 saves, while Berry had 48. Boxscore
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 2 @ Kenai River 0 – Andrey Svistunov stopped all 31 shots that came his way for his first shutout of the season as the Knights picked up a weekend road sweep of the Brown Bears thanks to a 2-0 shutout win. After a scoreless 1st period, the Knights got on the board early in the 2nd period with the eventual game-winning goal from Stephen Kelly. Just :28 seconds later, the Knights made it 2-0 on a goal from Zach Remers. That would be all that Svistunov and the Knights needed for the sweep. Kenai River goalie Magnus Lindhe made 34 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Coulee Region 2 @ MN Magicians 5 – The Magicians snapped a 2-2 deadlock with three, 3rd period goals as they defeated the Chill 5-2 and moved back into a tie for the 4th and final playoff spot in the Central Division with four games to go. The teams traded goals in the 1st and 2nd period as Minnesota got goals from Pierce Crawford and Tyler Bump and the Chill answered with goals from Nico Luka and Dominik Florian. The Magicians then scored three goals in a nine-minute span in the 3rd period to secure the win as Braxton Collins, John Peterson and Crawford all lit the lamp. Crawford finished with two goals and Will Ulrich made 23 saves in the win. Hunter Vorva made 24 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Austin 7 @ Aberdeen 5 – It was a rough night for the goalies as Austin shrugged off a 4-0 deficit and came back to defeat the Wings, 7-5. Aberdeen led 4-0 with four goals in the first 13 minutes of the game from Matt Pulver, Jackson Graalum, Carter Roo and Kevin Fitzgerald. The Bruins then mounted a comeback thanks to 1st period goals from Justin Misiak and Zach Kennedy and a 2nd period goal from Jade Miller that made the score 4-3. The Wings took a 5-3 lead on another goal from Pulver early in the 2nd period, but it was all Bruins after that as they scored four unanswered goals from Gilbert Gobor, Miha Zajc, Jacob Paganelli and Austin Rueschhoff to win the game 7-5 and split the weekend series. Boxscore
Brookings 3 @ Bismarck 2 (SO) – The Blizzard picked up a valuable two points to keep their playoff hopes alive with a come-from-behind 3-2 win in a shootout over the Bobcats, which split the weekend series. Bismarck led 2-0 thanks to a 1st period power play goal from Harrison Aide and a 2nd period goal from Tobias Fladeby. However, the Blizzard made a furious comeback in the 3rd period, which included two goals from Griff Jeszka, including the game-tying goal with just :03 seconds remaining as he tapped in a backdoor pass. In the shootoout, Kane Durment scored the lone goal to give Brookings the extra point. Blizzard goalie Josh Kuehmichel made 35 saves in the win, while Bismarck goalie Hunter Shepard made 23 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Johnstown 1 @ Aston 5 – Ryan Cusin had four points, including a hat-trick as the Rebels took over sole possession of 1st place in the East with a 5-1 win at home over the Tomahawks to salvage a weekend split. The Rebels scored three goals in the 1st period to take a 3-0 lead on goals from Cusin, Evgeny Yakovlev and Dom Garcia. After a Ryan Burr goal early in the 2nd period made the score 3-1, Cusin then added back-to-back goals in the 2nd and 3rd period to complete the hat-trick. Aston goalie Trevor Micucci allowed just one goal on 23 shots in the win. Boxscore
Springfield 0 @ Janesville 1 – Jack LaFontaine had to make just 16 saves for his 4th shutout of the season as the Jets blanked the Jr. Blues, 1-0 to take two of three games in the weekend series in Janesville. The lone goal of the game came late in the 2nd period as Cole Paskus scored a shorthanded goal that was also unassisted. That would be all LaFontaine and the Jets would need as they moved on the brink of securing a playoff spot. Jr. Blues goalie Tommy Nappier played well in the loss making 32 saves. Boxscore
