Friday Finals: Generals break through
Luke Edgerton had a five-point night (2 goals, 3 assists) in a 5-2 win on Friday.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 2 @ Northeast 3 – The Northeast Generals made team history on Friday night with their first NAHL win as Gabe Vinal made 36 saves in a 3-2 win. The Generals had come close in previous games and they seized the moment on Friday jumping out to a 3-0 lead thanks to a 1st period goal from Colin Bilek and 2nd period goals from Anthony Mangano and Evan Somoza. The Knights mounted a comeback with goals from Curtis Carlson later in the 2nd period and Jimmy Elser in the 3rd period, but Vinal would stand tall and hold the fort the rest of the way earning the Generals the much-coveted win. Grant Valentine made 16 saves in the Knights loss. Boxscore
Fairbanks 0 @ Aston 4 – Jack Leavy stopped all 26 shots that came his way for his 2nd shutout of the season as the Rebels shutout the visiting Ice Dogs, 4-0. It didn’t take long for the Rebels to grab the lead as just :41 seconds into the game Brennan Kapcheck scored his 12th goal of the season, which turned out to be the game-winner. Less than two minutes later, Drew Blackmun added his 10th of the season for a 2-0 lead. The Rebels added two more goals in the 3rd period thanks to goals from Gianluca Esteves and Andrew Bellant. Josh Benson took the loss for the Ice Dogs, making 16 saves. Boxscore
Odessa 2 @ Amarillo 5 – Luke Edgerton had a five-point night to lift the Amarillo Bulls to a 5-2 home win over the visiting Jackalopes. Edgerton kicked things off with a 1st period goal. Odessa quickly tied the game early in the 2nd period with a goal from Levi Wunder. Amarillo then put the game out of reach with three straight goals in the 2nd period, including another from Edgerton and others from George Mika and Brendan Walkom. Jeff Solow would add a 3rd period goal to make the final 5-2. Connor Wood had the other goal for Odessa. Nikita Babintsev made 44 saves in the win, while Jon Flakne made 56 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Kenai River 0 @ Johnstown 3 – NAHL Goaltender of the Month for December Drew Hotte stopped all 20 shots that came his way for his 3rd shutout of the season as Johnstown won their 9th straight game in a 3-0 win over the Brown Bears. The Tomahawks scored once in each period as Donovan Ott scored his 19th goal of the season in the 1st period, Daniil Bokun (3) scored in the 2nd period and Logan Stork added his 9th goal of the season in the 3rd period. Robbie Goor took the loss in goal for the Brown Bears, making 26 saves. Boxscore
Coulee Region 3 @ Janesville 5 – Cole Paskus had a goal and two assists to lead the Jets to a 5-3 home win over the Chill. The Jets scored three times in an active 1st period as Paskus, Michael Maloney and Jack Vincent all scored. The Chill added two goals of their own to make it 3-2 as Caleb Schroer and Tyler Ebner lit the lamp. The Jets then extended the lead to 5-2 thanks to another goal from Paskus in the 2nd period and a goal from Peter Bates in the 3rd period. Billy Duma netted the final Coulee Region goal. Jacob Barczewski made 24 saves in the win, while Brad Arvanitis made 31 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Austin 5 @ Brookings 6 – Six different players scored for the Blizzard as they got two goals in the final five minutes of regulation to come from behind to beat the Bruins, 6-5. The Blizzard got a 1st period goal from Derek Hammer, two goals in the 2nd period from Brett Callahan and Cam Babiak, who both scored their first goals of the season and three goals in the 3rd period from Gunnar Goodmanson, Doug Larson and Cade Borchardt, who netted the game-winner with just 1:13 to go. Bruins goals came from Dan Petrick, Cole Lawrence and Dante Zapata in the 1st period, Evan Cholak in the 2nd period and Justin Misiak in the 3rd period. Josh Boyko made 34 saves in the win, while Alex Schilling made 22 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Shreveport 3 @ Wichita Falls 1 – Dylan Lubbesmeyer made 32 saves to lead the Mudbugs to a big 3-1 road win in Wichita Falls on Friday. The Mudbugs jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to a 1st period goal from Jordan Fader and a 2nd period goal from Tomass Zeile. The Wildcats responded later in the 2nd period with their lone goal from Ricky Carballo. Frankie Melton scored his 20th goal of the season midway through the 3rd period to secure the 3-1 win. Jared Dempsey made 24 saves for the Wildcats in the loss. Boxscore
Lone Star 4 @ Topeka 2 – Pete Kessel his recent NCAA Division I commitment by recording a natural hat-trick to lead the Lone Star Brahmas to a 4-2 road win in Topeka. Kessel scored twice in the 1st period and again early in the 3rd period to give the Brahmas a 3-0 edge. Topeka fought back with two straight goals from Marshall Bowery and Max Harper to make the score 3-2, but a goal late in the 3rd period from Julian Biondo made the final 4-2. Alec Calvaruso made 16 saves in the win, while Ben Churchfield made 19 saves in the loss, which was his NAHL debut. Boxscore
Bismarck 2 @ Aberdeen 7 – Kevin Fitzgerald had a four-point night and Tyler Bossert scored twice to lead the Wings to a 7-2 home win over the Bobcats. After an opening goal from Bismarck’s Nick Alexander, the Wings seized control by scoring six straight goals to take a 6-1 lead thanks to two goals in the 1st period from Bossert and Zach Noble, three goals in the 2nd period from Bossert, Nathan Burke and Carson Dimoff and two more goals in the 3rd period from Fitzgerald and Tim Makowski. Mitchell Walinski had the other goal for the Bobcats. Forbes Ploszaj made 17 saves in the win, while Camden Haugenoe made 29 saves in the loss. Boxscore
MN Wilderness 3 @ Minot 1 – Trevor Micucci made 34 saves to lead the Wilderness to an important 3-1 road win against division-leading Minot. The game was even at 1-1 after two periods as Ashton Altmann scored his first goal of the season in the 1st period for Minnesota, only to see Minot answer in the 2nd period on a goal from Michael Talbot. In the 3rd period, the Wilderness gained the win thanks to two goals from Michael Zuffante. Lucas Murray made 24 saves in the loss for the Minotauros. Boxscore
