Friday Finals: Nordiques roll to win in NAHL debut

September 14, 2019

Maine 5 @ Northeast 1 - In their first game in the North American Hockey League, the Maine Nordiques defeated the Northeast Generals 5-1. Kevin Pitts, Cannon Green, and Makem Demers all had a goal and an assist for Maine. Emmanuel Sanchez and Jacob Crespo also found the back of the net for the Nordiques. Connor Androlewicz had a great debut as he stopped 34 of 35 Northeast shots. Tyler Cooper scored the only goal for the Generals while Joey Stanizzi made 24 stops. 

 

New Jersey 7 @ Maryland 5 - Michael Outzen and Kyle Jeffers each tallied two goals and an assist as the Titans picked up an opening night win against the Maryland Black Bears by a score of 7-5. Ole Andersen, Matt Cameron and Kyler Head also found the back of the net in the win. Patrick Pugliese made 13 saves in relief to earn the win. Arseni Sergeev also made 16 saves for the Titans. Bryden Sinclair led the Black Bears with a goal and two assists while Jude Kurtas, Jackson Sterrett each picked up a goal and Wilmer Skoog had a goal and an assist. Andrew Takacs took the loss in goal, he made 31 saves.

 

New Mexico 0 @ Shreveport 2 - The Shreveport Mudbugs spoiled the NAHL debut for the New Mexico Ice Wolves as Maiszon Balboa turned back all 23 New Mexico shots as the Mudbugs grabbed a 2-0 win on opening night. Alexis Girard scored the game’s first goal and Warren Natyshak added insurance in the third period. Josh Graziano was on fire in this one as he made 46 saves in a losing effort.

 

Johnstown 4 @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 6 - Liam Haslam scored twice and added an assist as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights scored a 6-4 victory over the Johnstown Tomahawks on opening night. Lincoln Hatten and Tyrone Bronte each potted a goal and two assists. Brian Smith and Zak Currie also found the back of the net for the Knights. Zach Stejskal stopped 40 shots to earn his first win of the season. Noah Basarab found twine twice for the Tomahawks while Christian Gorscak and Chris Trouba each scored as well. Evan Szary and Matthew Sankner combined for 34 stops. 

 

Chippewa 5 @ Janesville 2 - Jacob Dirks hat trick and Trent Burnahm’s 30 saves propelled the Chippewa Steel to an opening night 5-2 win over the Janesville Jets. Braden Linstrom had a goal and an assist for Chippewa. Luke Farthing also scored in the victory. Jackson Sabo provided Janesville’s two tallies and Cristian Wong-Ramos made 26 saves and had an assist in the loss.

 

Corpus Christi 4 @ Topeka 3 (OT) - It was all Shane Bull on opening night for the Corpus Christi IceRays as the forward from Whitby, Ontario netted a hat trick which included the overtime game winner as the IceRays topped Topeka 4-3. Bull also assisted on the other IceRays goal scored by his brother, Noah Bull. Jeremy Forman stopped 26 shots to pick up the win in goal. Jordan Gonzalez, Shane Hathaway and Alexander Oberg all scored for the Pilots. Max Karlenzig turned aside 22 shots in the loss.