Brown Bears, Brahmas widen division leads with wins

November 22, 2019

Fairbanks 3 @ Kenai River 5 – Porter Schachle scored twice and Landon Pavlisin made 34 saves as the Brown Bears beat their in-state rival Fairbanks Ice Dogs, 5-3 on Thursday in the opening game of a three-game series. The win, which was 8th straight for Kenai River, widened the Brown Bears lead atop the Midwest Division to four points over the Ice Dogs. The Brown Bears opened up a 2-0 lead in the opening minutes of the 1st period with goals from Logan Ritchie and Schachle. Fairbanks got on the board later in the period with a goal from Oliver Kjaer, which was his 10th of the season. The Brown Bears extended their lead back to two goals late in the 2nd period as Trey LaBarge scored to make it 3-1. Just :15 seconds later, Fairbanks would answer again to make it a one-goal game as Luke Ciolli lit the lamp. In the 3rd period, an insurance goal from Theo Thrun made it 4-2 and Schachle scored again on an empty-net to make it 5-2. Tyler Deweese added a late for Fairbanks to make it a 5-3 final. Ice Dogs goalie Mattias Sholl made 27 saves in the loss.

 

Lone Star 5 @ New Mexico 4 – The 1st place Lone Star Brahmas came from behind to edge the New Mexico Ice Wolves on Thursday, 5-4. The Ice Wolves took early control of the contest. Zach Frisk put back a rebound past Cayden Bailey at the 3:17 mark putting New Mexico up 1-0. The lead went to two on an odd man rush when a Connor Kemp centering pass went off the stick of a Brahmas’ defender, crossing up Bailey and sneaking into the net at 9:15. The Kemp goal chased Bailey from net in favor of Ludvig Persson. Drew Lorinchack made it 3-0, scoring on a backdoor pass through the crease. Matt Guerra made it 3-1 as he snapped a wrister over the glove hand of Josh Graziano. Thomas Daskas then redirected a shot from the point into the twine to make it 3-2. Just 1:27 later, Will Stromp went forehand-backhand and pushed it past the left skate of Graziano to make it 3-3. The Brahmas took their first lead of the night when Matthew Rickard put a backhander off a defender and past Graziano. Stromp would then score again on a rebound to make it 5-3. Alex Gomez scored late for the Ice Wolves to make it 5-4, but it would not be enough. Persson made 18 saves in the win, while Graziano made 36 saves in the loss.