Friday Finals: Sheriff's heroics help Bruins close in on Central lead

December 1, 2018

Minot 1 @ Austin 2 (OT) - Dante Sheriff was the hero, as he scored both goals, including the overtime-winner as the Bruins took down the division-leading Minotauros in overtime. Sheriff gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead with a goal late in the 1st period. After a scoreless 2nd period, the Minotauros managed to tie the game late in the 3rd period on Matthew Gellerman’s 4th goal of the season. In the overtime, Sheriff stripped the puck away from a Minot defender at his own blueline, skated in on a breakaway and slipped a shot through the legs of Minot goalie Ben Garrity for the win. Kyle McClellan made 27 saves in the win, while Garrity made 34 saves in the loss.

 

Lone Star 3 @ Odessa 6 – The Jackalopes scored the last four goals of the game to erase a 3-2 deficit and come out with a 6-3 win over the Brahmas on Friday. Michael Sacco led the Jacks with a pair of goals and an assist. The teams were deadlocked at 2-2 after one period as the Brahmas got goals from Andrew DeCarlo and Blake Evennou, while Odessa got goals from Matt Hutton and Kellen Tharaldson. After Vilho Saariluoma scored early in the 2nd period to give Lone Star a 3-2 lead, it was all Jacks after that, which included two goals from Sacco and others from Zach Heintz and Connor Smith. Alex Camarre got the win in goal, after he stopped all 20 shots that came his way in relief of Kade Phipps. Harrison Feeney took the loss for the Brahmas, making 23 saves.

 

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 6 @ Maryland 3 – Zak Currie scored twice and Zach Stejskal made 33 saves as the Knights picked up a 6-3 road win in Maryland. The win moved the Knights into a tie for 5th place in the East, while the Black Bears lost their 4th straight game. Currie and Lincoln Hatten scored in the 1st period and then the Knights scored three in the 2nd period led by Currie’s second of the game and others from Jacob Badal and Joey Verkerke. Tyrone Bronte added a 3rd period goal to complete the Knights scoring. The Black Bears got goals from Matteo Menotti and Marek Wazny in the 1st period and Luke Mountain in the 2nd period. Kevin Lake took the loss in goal, making 24 saves.

Bismarck 5 @ Brookings 2 – The Bobcats kept pace in the Central Division playoff race as they used a balanced scoring attack to hand the Blizzard their 5th straight loss in a 5-2 win on Friday. Austin Jouppi scored twice for the Bobcats, including once in the 1st period and another in the 2nd period. Bismarck never trailed in the game and got other goals from Adam Stacho in the 1st period, Ryan Taylor in the 2nd period, and Bartek Bison in the 3rd period. Blizzard goals were scored by John Kaljian and Ryan Green. Bismark goalie John Roberts picked up this 12th win of the year, making 24 saves, while Jack Caruso made 16 saves in the loss.

 

MN Wilderness 4 @ Janesville 7 – The Jets got three-point nights from Mason Salquist and Tommy Middleton as they exploded for seven goals in a 7-4 home win over the Wilderness. The Jets scored four goals in the 3rd period to break open a close game. The Jets got 1st period goals from Salquist and Brenden MacLaren, another goal from Salquist in the 2nd period, and four goals in the 3rd period from Middleton, Jack Vincent, Matt Hanewall, and Austin Koss. The Wilderness goals came from Oula Kuure in the 1st period, Jacob Herter in the 2nd period and Dylan Johnson and Aaron Myers in the 3rd period. Cole Brady made 31 saves in the win, while Kaleb Johnson made 31 saves in the loss.

 

Springfield 4 @ Topeka 3 (OT) - Nick Techel tucked home a backdoor pass to give the Jr. Blues a 4-3 overtime win in Topeka on Friday. Springfield opened up a 3-1 lead in the 2nd period with goals from Ben Schmidling, Nigel Nelson, and Brandon Puricelli. New Topeka forward Valdemar Ahlberg had the lone goal for the Pilots, who started their comeback late in the 2nd period with a goal from Austin McCarthy and then tied the game at 3-3 early in the 3rd period on a tally from Quinn Green. Jack Williams made 16 saves in the win, while Emil Gransoe made 26 saves in the overtime loss.

 

Amarillo 3 @ Shreveport 2 – The Bulls increased their lead in the South Division thanks to a come-from-behind 3-2 win in Shreveport on Friday. After the Bulls opened the scoring early in the 1st period on Logan Jenuwine’s 17th goal of the season, the Mudbugs took a 2-1 lead with goals later in the period from Tim Khokhlachev and Joel Frazee. The Bulls tied the game at 2-2 with a 2nd period goal from defenseman Brenden Datema and then took the lead for good midway through the 3rd period with a power play goal from Cooper Fensterstock. Jason Grande made 27 saves in the win, while Leo Chuard made 39 saves in the loss.

 

Chippewa 3 @ Aberdeen 9 – It was all Wings as eight different players scored goals and Nic Sicoly scored twice in a 9-3 home win over the Steel. Aberdeen opened up a 4-0 lead thanks to goals from Sicoly, Peter Morgan, Dalton Weigel, and Stepan Pokorny. The Steel finally broke through on a goal from Jacob Dirks in the 2nd period, but goals from Brad Belisle, Shawn Kennedy, and Riley Murphy made it a 7-1 game after two periods. Jon Bendorf and Sicoly added goals in the 3rd period for Aberdeen, while Hutson Collins and Tomas Vochozka scored in the final frame for the Steel. Matt Vernon made 31 saves in the win, while Josh Langford made 34 saves in the loss.

 

Kenai River 0 @ Fairbanks 4 – Ethan Lahmon had to make just 11 saves, but posted a shutout in his first career NAHL start as the Ice Dogs ran their winning streak to five straight games with a 4-0 win over the Brown Bears on Friday. After a scoreless 1st period, the Ice Dogs opened up a 2-0 lead in the 2nd period with goals from Trenton Woods and Jack Johnston. Andrew Garby and Grant Ledford then scored in the 3rd period to complete the 4-0 win. Brown Bears goalie Dennis Westergard made 43 saves in the loss.