Saturday Scores: Wings continue NAHL and Central supremacy
Johnstown forward Will Margel had three goals in a weekend sweep of Maryland, including the overtime-winner on Saturday night.
Aberdeen 4 @ St. Cloud 1 - The Aberdeen Wings continued to dominate the NAHL as they improved to 33-1-1 on the year, defeating St. Cloud 4-1. Nathan Mann and Spencer Schneider had the Wings up 2-0 after 40 minutes of action. Will Arquiett and Natan Vertes added third period tallies to put the game away. Brendan Kim scored in the closing seconds to spoil the shutout bid for Jake Sibell. The league’s top goaltender ended the night with 22 stops. Paxton Geisel also finished with 22 saves for the Norsemen.
Maryland 3 @ Johnstown 4 (OT) - Will Margel was the overtime hero for the Johnstown Tomahawks as his 10th goal of the season gave his team a 4-3 win over the Maryland Black Bears. Holt Oliphant and Max Neill each had a goal and an assist for Johnstown while William Persson also found the back of the net. Reid Leibold led Maryland with a goal and an assist. Josh Nixon and Garrett Szydlowski tickled the twine as well for the Black Bears. Sam Evola made 20 saves for the Tomahawks while Michael Morelli stopped 24 shots for Maryland.
Northeast 2 @ New Jersey 4 - The New Jersey Titans continued their hot streak as they finished off a sweep of the Northeast Generals with a 4-2 victory on Saturday night. Nick Seitz was the leader offensively with two goals and an assist. Matthew Iasenza and Jake LaRusso both lit the lamp for the Titans. Dylan Schuett logged a goal and an assist while Jacob Wilson also got on the scoresheet for Northeast. Christian Stoever improved to 7-0-1 on the season by making 35 saves. Hugo Haas took the loss in goal despite making 37 stops.
Amarillo 4 @ Wichita Falls 5 - The Wichita Falls Warriors inched close to third place in the South Division as they finished off the sweep of the Amarillo Bulls, winning on Saturday 5-4. The Warriors found themselves in a 2-0 hole just 83 seconds into the game but goals from Drake Usher, Drew Vieten and Carter Korpi had Wichita Falls up 3-2 after 20 minutes of play. Jospeh Harguindeguy gave the Warriors a little insurance with his 12th goal of the season. Dominick Rivelli would add another goal later in the second and it would turn out to be the eventual game winner. Ty Black and Greg Japchen scored the first period goals for Amarillo while Logan Dombrowsky and Paul Schmid got on the scoresheet in the second period. Ryan Ullan bounced back from a tough start as he finished with 33 saves. Andrew Takacs took the loss on the other end as he made 22 saves.
Janesville 3 @ MN Wilderness 2 - For the second consecutive night the Janesville Jets defeated the Minnesota Wilderness 3-2. Tommy Middleton and Robby Newton got the Jets off to a quick start as they scored just 36 seconds apart in the opening frame. Grant Docter would cut the deficit in half with his fifth goal of the season. Shane Ott would put Janesville back up by two as the two teams headed to the third period. Gavin Rasmussen’s eighth goal of the year got Minnesota within one but that’s as close as they would get as Riley Sims turned aside 36 Wilderness shots. Jacob Zacharewicz was given the loss in goal as he made 25 saves.
Lone Star 4 @ Odessa 2 - The Lone Star Brahmas won their fifth straight game as they doubled up the Odessa Jackalopes 4-2. Nicholas Niemo led the Brahmas with a goal and an assist while Zach Purcell and Owen Nolan also found the back of the net for Lone Star. Andrew DeCarlo chipped in an empty net goal in the closing seconds. Joey Musa and Ben Doherty were the goal scorers for Odessa. Guy Blessing stopped 18 shots to improve to 7-2 this year. Noah Rupprecht stopped 25 shots in a losing effort.
Minot 4 @ Bismarck 1 - Tyler Kostelecky found the back of the net twice and had an assist as the Minot Minotauros finished their sweep of the Bismarck Bobcats 4-1. Jay Buchholz chipped in three assists for Minot while Cade Stibbe had a goal and an assist. Blaine Warnert also added a goal for Minot. Ryan Taylor had the lone goal for Bismarck in the loss. Keenan Rancier won his 15th game of the season by making 24 saves. Tommy Aitken was on the losing end of the decision as he made 22 stops.
MN Magicians 3 @ Chippewa 2 (SO) - Jake Seitz had the only goal in the shootout as the Minnesota Magicians came from behind to beat the Chippewa Steel 3-2. Brockton Baker and Ethan Janda had the Steel up 2-0 early in the second period before Luc Laylin scored twice in a span of 3:18 to knot the game up at two. Andy Beran got the win in between the pipes as he made 33 saves and stopped all three shooters in the skills competition. Berk Berkeliev made 30 saves in the loss for Chippewa.
New Mexico 4 @ Shreveport 3 (SO) - Nicolas Haviar’s goal in the shootout was the difference as the New Mexico Ice Wolves knocked off the Shreveport Mudbugs 4-3. After being down 1-0, the Ice Wolves got a pair of goals from Cole Hanson and another tally from Dillan Bentley to jump out to a 3-1 lead. Austin Brimmer and Braiden Dorfman would contribute goals for Shreveport to force overtime and the eventual shootout. Owen Parker stood on his head and made 42 saves in regulation and all three shooters he faced in the shootout. Griffen Sanom scored in the loss for Shreveport while Arseni Sergeyev stopped 31 shots.
Kenai River 2 @ Fairbanks 4 - Bret Link scored twice and added an assist as the Fairbanks Ice Dogs beat the Kenai River Brown Bears 4-2. Tyler Herzberg netted a goal and an assist for Fairbanks while Jasper Lester also lit the lamp. Laudon Poellinger and Max Helgeson found the scoresheet for Kenai River in the defeat. Kayden Hargraves stopped 25 shots to grab the win. Luke Pavicich was dealt the tough loss despite making 45 saves for Kenai River.
Danbury 3 @ Maine 2 - The Danbury Jr Hat Tricks held off a comeback bid from the Maine Nordiques to take game two of their three game set by a score of 3-2. Shane Murphy and Valentino Passarelli netted first period goals to give Danbury a 2-0 advantage after 20 minutes. Luke Wheeler notched a shorthanded tally to increase the lead to three. Reese Farrell and Aidan Connolly would strike minutes apart to bring the Nordiques within one but Andrew Pichora would stand tall and preserve the Danbury victory. Pichora finished the night with 35 saves for the Jr Hat Tricks while Avery Sturtz made only 21 stops in the loss.
