Saturday Scores: Mudbugs take control of South with sweep
Fairbanks forward Bret Link had three goals and an assist to help the Ice Dogs to a weekend sweep of Kenai River.
Lone Star 1 @ Shreveport 3 - The Shreveport Mudbugs took sole possession of first place in the South Division after completing the sweep of the Lone Star Brahmas with a 3-1 victory on Saturday night. Joe Mack broke the scoreless tie in the final minutes of the first period with a power play goal. It was his 10th of the season with the assists going to Braiden Dorfman and Dawson Sciarrino. In the opening seconds of the second period, Sciarrino buried his eighth of the season to increase the Shreveport lead to two. Dawson Tritt would cut the deficit to one with a power play tally but that would be as close as the Brahmas would get as Giovanni Procopio added an empty net goal in the final minutes. Cole Hudson improved to 15-4-3 on the year as he made 24 saves while Guy Blessing and Graham Burke combined for 19 stops.
Fairbanks 4 @ Kenai River 2 - The Fairbanks Ice Dogs completed the series sweep as the doubled up the Kenai River Brown Bears 4-2. Bret Link led the offensive attack with two goals and an assist while Austin Becker added a goal and an assist of his own. Andrew Garby had the eventual game winner with his fifth tally of the year. Brandon Lajoie and Lucas Wahlin scored for Kenai River in the loss. Ryan Keyes picked up the win in the blue paint as he stopped 23 of 25 shots. Luke Pavicich took the loss in the crease as he made 42 stops for the Brown Bears.
MN Wilderness 3 @ Chippewa 2 - The Minnesota Wilderness grabbed their second straight win against the Chippewa Steel, winning 3-2 on Saturday night. Evan Tanos put the Steel in front midway through the opening period only to see Josh Phillips tie the game just minutes later and it would remain tied into the second period. Mitchell Allard gave Minnesota their first lead of the night with his seventh goal of the year. Matthew Berezowski evened the game up at two with his second goal of the season. Then with just 11 seconds remaining in the middle frame, Gavin Rasmussen lit the lamp for the ninth time this year. That would prove to be the game winner as Kaleb Johnson made 24 saves to earn the victory. Berk Berkeliev stopped 31 shots in the loss for Chippewa.
Aberdeen 4 @ Minot 3 - A pair of goals in the third period propelled the Aberdeen Wings to a 4-3 win over the Minot Minotauros. Thomas Manty found the back of the net twice for Aberdeen while Cade Neilson picked up two assists. Natan Vertes and Spencer Schneider lit the lamp for Aberdeen as well. Jake Sibell continued his strong play as he made 22 saves for his 29th victory of the year. Jay Buchholz, Blaine Warnert and Damon Zimmer scored for Minot in a losing effort. Keenan Rancier was given the loss despite making 40 saves.
Northeast 3 @ Johnstown 4 - Will Margel put the Tomahawks on his back he logged a natural hat trick and added an assist in Johnstown’s 4-3 over Northeast. William Persson had the other goal for Johnstown and added an assist in the win. Dylan Schuett, Brent Keefer and Ryan Gordon netted goals for the Generals in the loss. Sam Evola stopped 35 of 38 shots fired at him while Hugo Haas made 35 saves for Northeast.
Danbury 2 @ Maryland 0 - Andrew Pichora turned aside all 24 shots thrown in his direction as the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks blanked the Maryland Black Bears 2-0. The first goal of the game didn’t come until the 8:40 mark of the third period as Nolan Barrett buried his third goal of the season on the power play with the assists going to Shea Courtmanche and Alex Krause. Porter Schachle would put the nail in the coffin in the final seconds as he scored an empty net goal. Michael Morelli did all he could as he made 30 saves in the loss.
Maine 4 @ New Jersey 3 (SO) - Stefan Owens had the only goal in the shootout as the Maine Nordiques outlasted the New Jersey Titans 4-3. Cannon Green got the scoring started early in the first period only to see Matthew Iasenza net a shorthanded goal to even things up at one. Owens and Patrick Schmiedlin scored 46 seconds apart to give Maine a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes. Anthony Calafiore and Blake Humphrey scored in the second period to tie the game at three. With no scoring in the third period or overtime, we went to a shootout when Owens netted the game deciding goal. Avery Sturtz made 34 saves and stopped all three shooters in the skills competition to earn the win. Christian Stoever also made 34 saves for the Titans in 65 minutes of action.
MN Magicians 8 @ Janesville 5 - After being shutout on Friday night, the Minnesota Magicians offense exploded for eight goals as they defeated the Janesville Jets 8-5. Simon Falk netted a hat trick and added an assist while Devlin McCabe led all skaters with five assists. Jack Cronin chipped in a goal and four helpers while Karl Falk had a goal and two assists of his own. Luke Kron had a goal and an assist with Trevor Kukkonen and Luc Laylin also finding the back of the net for Minnesota. Janesville got goals from Tommy Middleton, Cade Destefani, Max Itagaki, Shane Ott and Nick Leyer. Andy Beran improved to 12-5 on the season as he made 37 saves. Riley Sims and Owen Millward teamed up to make 28 saves for Janesville.
Wichita Falls 4 @ Amarillo 3 (OT) - Vincent Corcoran was the overtime hero for Wichita Falls as the Warriors beat the Bulls 4-3. Drake Usher, Marcus Frantz and Hunter Jones scored in regulation for Wichita Falls. Cooper Fensterstock potted a pair of goals and chipped in an assist while Harrison Scott tallied a goal and an assist for Amarillo. Ryan Ullan stood on his head as he stopped 43 shots in the win for Wichita Falls while Hunter Garvey made 29 saves in the loss for Amarillo.
Bismarck 5 @ Austin 0 - Tommy Aitken denied all 41 Austin Bruins shots as the Bismarck Bobcats shutout the Bruins 5-0. Ryan Taylor netted a pair of goals while Thomas Bergsland and George Grannis each had a goal and an assist. Braden Costello also found the scoresheet in the win for the Bobcats. Hudson Hodges took the loss in goal for Austin as he made 26 saves.
New Mexico 0 @ Odessa 3 - The Odessa Jackalopes snapped their losing streak as they shutout the New Mexico Ice Wolves 3-0. Charles-Edward-Tardif snapped the scoreless tie with his second tally of the year with just under seven minutes left in the second period. J.R. Perdion increased the lead with his third period tally before Mike Manzo clinched the victory with an empty net goal in the final minute of play. Cooper Black stopped all 21 New Mexico shots to pick up his first shutout of the season. Owen Parker was dealt the loss for the Ice Wolves as he made 22 stops.
