Saturday Scores: Norsemen move into 1st place with sweep
William Persson had a hat-trick and an assist to lead the Wilderness to their 7th straight win as they beat Fairbanks on Saturday, 7-5.
Austin 3 @ St. Cloud 4 (OT): Ryan O’Neill scored in overtime to lift the St. Cloud Norsemen to their 10th straight win and sole possession of first place in the Central Division as the Norsemen edged the Bruins 4-3. Kade Peterson, Chase Freiermuth and Broten Sabo potted goals in regulation for St. Cloud. Anthony Menghini picked up a pair of goals and Walter Zacher also grabbed a goal in the loss. Tomas Bolo got the win in goal with 22 saves, Ethan Robertson took the loss with 28 stops.
Fairbanks 5 @ MN Wilderness 7 – Thanks to a hat-trick and an assist from William Persson, the Minnesota Wilderness defeated the Fairbanks Ice Dogs in a 7-5 final score. Minnesota netted the first goal of the contest with Charlie Erickson (0:41) early in the game. The Ice Dogs evened the game 1-1 with Love Bergvall (7:22) and then took the lead with Kevin Marx Noren (15:31) for a 2-1 score. The Wilderness tied the game 2-2 with William Persson (0:23) in the second. Kevin Marx Noren (0:47) took the lead back for the Ice Dogs, scoring his second of the night. William Persson (8:48) netted his second goal of the game to tie it up once again 3-3. Fairbanks kept on the offensive side of the puck adding back-to-back goals with Tyler Herzberg (12:40) and Alexander Malinowki (16:03) for a 5-3 lead. Late in the middle frame, Cole Crusberg-Roseen (17:48) scored to get the Wilderness within a goal, 5-4. In the third period it was all Minnesota with Gunner Thoreson (2:03/19:50), and William Persson (8:56) scoring for a 7-5 final.
North Iowa 3 @ Aberdeen 4 - The Aberdeen Wings completed a weekend sweep over the North Iowa Bulls in a 4-3 final. Kyle Gaffney (10:25) scored the game's first goal getting the Wings ahead 1-0. Hunter Bulger (11:13) answered back to even the game 1-1. Devon Carlstrom (13:14) took back the lead for Aberdeen scoring his 3 of the year. Nearing the end of the period, Byron Hartley (18:14) evened the game once again, 2-2. Aberdeen took the lead back again with Owen DuBoise (4:40) in the second period. In the third, Will Gilson (11:11) added to the Wings lead making the score 4-2. Second later, Byron Hartley (11:27) netted his second of the night but Aberdeen held on to take the win, 4-3.
Shreveport 2 @ Lone Star 5 - The Lone Star Brahmas bounced back after a loss to the Shreveport Mudbugs last night for a 5-2 win on Saturday. The Brahmas took a 1-0 lead in the first with Tyler Nasca (0:55) breaking the tie early. In the second, Tanner Daniels (6:14), Kyle Furey (8:19) and Artur Turansky (19:58) added to the Brahmas lead for a 4-0 score. In the third, the Mudbugs broke the shutout with Connor Gatto (10:03/18:44) scoring twice. Jack Collins scored in the final seconds to solidify a 5-2 win for the Brahmas. Arthur Smith made 11 saves in the win.
Amarillo 1 @ New Mexico 2 (SO) - The New Mexico Ice Wolves took their second win of the weekend against the Amarillo Wranglers in a 2-1 Shootout Final. New Mexico got on the board in the final second of the first period when Brandon Holt (19:54) found the back of the net. After a scoreless second, CJ Zezima (15:43) evened the game 1-1. Neither team would capitalize in the extra frame as the game would head to a shootout. Dillian Bentley was the only goal scorer in the shootout taking a 2-1 win for the Ice Wolves. Carsen Stokes made 22 saves in the win and Carter Clafton made 34 saves in the loss.
Anchorage 2 @ Springfield 5: Five different Jr. Blues players found the back of the net as Springfield topped Anchorage by a score of 5-2. Cole Dubicki had a goal and an assist to lead the club with two points. Leo Bacallao, Hagen Moe, Hayden Riva and Isaac Keller all scored as the win for Springfield vaulted them into first place in the Midwest Division. Aksel Reid picked up the win in net as he made 23 saves. Clay Allen and Talon Sigurdson got on the scoresheet for the Wolverines. Shane Soderwall took the loss as he made 32 stops.
Danbury 2 @ Jamestown 5: John Lundy and Josh Burke continued their strong weekends as the Jamestown Rebels completed the sweep of the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks with a 5-2 win. Lundy had two goals while Burke notched a goal and two assists. Ethan Janda and Ryan Waltman also found the back of the net for the Rebels. Nolan Suggs earned the win in goal, making 26 stops. Gabe Dombrowski and Jazz Krivtsov netted goals for Danbury while Marino Ramirez made 25 saves.
Maine 4 @ Johnstown 5 (SO): 24 hours after blowing a large lead against the Nordiques, the Johnstown Tomahawks turned the tables on Maine and pulled off a big comeback of their own. After trailing 4-1 halfway through the third, Holt Oliphant, Jake Black and Jacob Badal all scored in the final nine minutes to force overtime. After a scoreless five minutes, Stephen Kyrkostas was the only goal scorer in the shootout to give the Tomahawks the win. Egan Schmitt also scored for Johnstown in the win. Evan Orloff, Aidan Connolly, Brendan Gibbons and Filip Wiberg lit the lamp for the Nordiques. Dominik Wasik made 25 saves for Johnstown while Gus Holt stopped 32 shots in the loss.
Janesville 4 @ Chippewa 0: Owen Millward turned aside all 26 shots he faced and picked up an assist as the Janesville Jets shutout the Chippewa Steel 4-0. Mack Keryluk got the scoring starting in the first period with his 10th of the season. Spencer Kring Chipped in his third tally in the second period while Jack Ford and William Gustaavsson contributed goals in the third to finish off the win. Nick Haas stopped 22 shots in the loss for Chippewa.
Kenai River 4 @ MN Magicians 3 (OT): Noah Holt scored just seven seconds into overtime to lift the Kenai River Brown Bears to a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Magicians. Holt scored with under three minutes left to tie the game and force overtime. Bryce Monrean and Nick Stevens scored in the opening period to give Kenai River the early lead. Minnesota would score three straight thanks to Jon Bell, Lucas Kanta and Evan Tanos. Cole Wheaton was the winner in the blue paint as he made 32 saves. Josh Seeley was dealt the loss as he stopped 32 shots in his Magicians debut.
El Paso 0 @ Wichita Falls 3: Daniel Duris was perfect as he stopped all 31 shots fired in his direction as Wichita Falls completed the sweep of El Paso with a 5-1 win on Saturday night. Riley Brueck had a power play goal in the first for Wichita Falls. Philip Tornqvist netted a power play goal of his own in the middle period to increase the lead to two. Adisen Brueck capped off the night with a shorthanded tally in the closing minutes of regulation. Jacob Zacharewicz was busy as he stopped 56 of 58 shots.
Odessa 4 @ Corpus Christi 5: Corpus Christi salvaged the final game of their three game series with Odessa, taking a 5-4 decision. Jude Kurtas had a goal and an assist to lead the IceRays. Braden Rourke, Blake Lewis, Charlie Merkley and Colby Seitz all scored in a span of just 9 minutes to put Corpus Christi out in front. Rylan Yates, Brendan Finn, Justin Hughes and Ryan Kelly netted goals for the Jackalopes. Damon Beaver got the win in goal as he made 24 saves while Will Proctor took the loss with 30 stops.
Minot 1 @ Bismarck 5 - The Bismarck Bobcats defeated the Minot Minotauros, 5-1. The game did not see its first goal until the second period when Ryan Taylor (1:23), Luke Roelofs (5:41) and Brandon Reller (13:44) all scored for a 3-0 Bobcat lead. Minot got on the board in the third frame with Connor McGrath (4:03) netting his eleventh of the year. Brandon Reller (9:39) netted his second of the night and Brady Egan (13:24) scored as well for a 5-1 final. Oskar Spinnars Nordin made 26 saves in the win.
