Sunday Wrap-Up: Magicians and Mudbugs roll to sweeps
Nick Bruce tries to score on Kenai River goalie Robbie Goor on Sunday (photo by George Lucas).
Springfield 0 @ MN Magicians 3 – In his first career NAHL start, former NAPHL goalie Jacob Acton stopped all 24 shots that came his way for what was also his first career shutout as the Magicians completed a weekend home sweep of the Jr. Blues thanks to a 3-0 win on Sunday. After a scoreless 1st period, the Magicians got on the board within the first minute of the 2nd period as defenseman Jake Cass scored his 4th goal of the season. In the 3rd period, the Magicians secured the win thanks to two more goals from Timo Walther and Will Hammer. Forward Mitchel Slattery finished with a pair of assists. Springfield goalie Mike Robinson made 28 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Shreveport 3 @ Amarillo 1 – Shreveport made it three wins in three days with a 3-1 win in Amarillo on Sunday. The visiting Mudbugs broke open a close 1-0 game with two goals in the middle stanza, including one on the power play, and then got solid third period goaltending from Dylan Lubbesmeyer. Shreveport opened the scoring just six minutes into the game when Croix Evingson scored on a rocket form the blue line that just got under the glove of goaltender Nikita Babintsev. The decisive blows of the game took place in the second period as Jordan Fader scored for Shreveport on a rebound in front of the net just four minutes into the action. Shreveport extended its advantage to 3-0 when Steven Mather’s shot deflected in off a player and over the shoulder of the Bulls netminder. In the 3rd period, the Bulls finally stopped the shutout attempt of the Mudbugs goaltender when Brendon Michaelian’s shot was deflected into the net by Nestor Plarsmo. Bray Crowder also earned an assist on the power play goal. Lubbesmeyer made 34 saves in the win, while Babintsev made 28 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Kenai River 1 @ Johnstown 3 - The Johnstown Tomahawks defeated the Kenai River Brown Bears 3-1 Sunday afternoon at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena. Johnstown didn’t take long to find the back of the net as Nick Bruce scored just 26 seconds into the opening frame to give Johnstown the early 1-0 lead. Samuel Solensky netted the lone assist on Bruce’s tenth of the season. After the Tomahawks came up empty on several scoring chances, the Brown Bears captalized on the missed opportunities. Jon Marzec scored a power play goal at 17:03 of the first period to knot the score at 1-1. Johnstown kept pushing the pace of the game and broke through the 1-1 tie when Hayden Rowan deflected a point shot from Daniil Bokun behind Brown Bears netminder Robbie Goor. Thomas Horn picked up the secondary helper on Rowan’s sixth of the season. Rowan chipped in another goal, this time via the empty cage to set the final score at 3-1. Purpura stopped 15 of 16 Kenai River shots en route to his seventh victory of the year. His record improved to 7-2-0. Robbie Goor made 35 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 4 @ Northeast 2 – Matt Kidney had two goals and an assist as the Knights took the rubber match of their three game series against the Northeast Generals with a 4-2 win on Sunday afternoon. Just over five minutes into the game, the Knights jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Kidney’s first goal of the game, his 10th goal of the season. Northeast answered three minutes later on a goal from Kohei Sato. Kidney would then add his second of the game and the period to give the Knights a 2-1 lead going into intermission. The Generals knotted the game at 2-2 with a 2nd period goal from Mike Egan. The Knights seized control with two goals in the 3rd period from Paul Maust and Sam Antonitsch. Colt Hanks made 16 saves in the win, while David Fessenden made 30 saves in the loss. Boxscore
