Saturday Scores: Minotauros, Bobcats sweeps tighten Central race
New Jersey goalie Andrew Takacs stopped 57 of 58 shots in a weekend sweep of Jamestown, which included a 26-save shutout on Saturday.
Austin 1 @ Minot 4: Colby Joseph netted a pair of goals as the Minot Minotauros dropped the Austin Bruins 4-1. Nikolai Charchenko had a goal and an assist while Trevor Stachowiak also contributed a goal. Carson Riddle picked up the lone goal for the Bruins in the loss. Zach Sandy was sensational as he made 36 saves to earn the win in goal. Klayton Knapp and Ethan Robertson combined to make 25 saves for Austin.
Amarillo 3 @ El Paso 2: The Amarillo Wranglers finished off the sweep of the El Paso Rhinos with a 3-2 win on Saturday night. Nick Turek’s power play goal got the Rhinos out to a 1-0 lead after one period of play. But Kristaps Skrastins countered with a power play goal of his own to tie the game. Jonathan Horn would put the Rhinos out front again but that lead was short lived as Michael Marquez scored his first goal of the year just 77 seconds later. Two minutes later, Skrastins netted his second goal of the night and 30th of the season to give Amarillo the lead and eventually the win. Carter Clafton finished with 30 saves to pick up the victory. Jacob Zacharewicz denied 44 shots in the loss for El Paso.
Jamestown 0 @ New Jersey 1: The New Jersey Titans completed a weekend sweep over the Jamestown Rebels in a 1-0 final score. In the second period the game saw its only goal when Jack Karlsson (14:24) scored with the help of Nick Ring and Brendan Dumas. Titans netminder Andrew Takacs turned away all 26 shots he faced in the win.
Janesville 3 @ Chippewa 2 (OT): The Janesville Jets took a 3-2 overtime win against the Chippewa Steel. The game did not see a goal until the third period when Joe Kelly (3:37) got the Steel on the board. Janesville answered back with Ethan Begg (4:08) evening the game. The Jets kept on the attack with Jimmy Doyle (8:22) getting Janesville their first lead of the night. Late in the period, Nick Sajevic (17:43) scored to even the game 2-2 forcing overtime. In the extra frame, Cy LeClerc (1:17) scored the game winning goal for a 3-2 final and Jets sweep over the Steel.
Odessa 1 @ Shreveport 4: The Mudbugs rode a four goal second period to a 4-1 win over the Odessa Jackalopes. John Perdion got Odessa on the board first with his 14th goal of the season but then the Shreveport onslaught began. Timofei Khokhlachev scored just 2:45 into the second period with Austin Brimmer scoring a goal of his own just 31 seconds later. Burke Simpson struck on the power play to make it 3-1. Then Logan Heroux tallied his third of the year to make it a 4-1 lead. Devon Bobak took home the win by making 26 saves. William Proctor took the loss as he made 19 stops.
North Iowa 3 @ Bismarck 6: Quinn Rudrud registered a hat trick as the Bismarck Bobcats doubled up the North Iowa Bulls 6-3. Ryan Taylor potted a pair of goals for the Bobcats in the victory while Jake McLean chipped in an empty net tally to seal the win. Dylan Gajewski, Tyler Braccini and Jack Mesic got on the scoresheet for the Bulls. Oskar Spinnars Nordin grabbed the win in goal with 25 saves. Kyle Kozma was stuck with the loss despite making 42 saves.
Wichita Falls 3 @ Corpus Christi 0: Brandon Milberg was a perfect 29 for 29 in goal as he led the Wichita Falls Warriors to a 3-0 shutout win over the Corpus Christi IceRays. Dominick Rivelli led all skaters with a goal and an assist while Dean Bauchiero and Owen Dyer also found the back of the net. Philip Tornqvist picked up a pair of assists in the victory. Damon Beaver took the loss in goal for Corpus Christi as he made 30 saves.
Aberdeen 1 @ St. Cloud 2: Gramm McCormack had a goal and an assist to lead the St. Cloud Norsemen to a 2-1 victory over the Aberdeen Wings. Brandon Lajoie got the game’s first goal early in the second period thanks to McCormack and Blake Perbix. McCormack’s goal came just 69 seconds into the final frame to increase the lead to two. Jacob Bosse got Aberdeen within one with his ninth goal of the year but that’s as close as they would get as Tomas Bolo shut the door to pick up the win in goal. He finished with 33 saves while Anton Castro was given the loss despite making 35 saves.
New Mexico 1 @ Lone Star 0: Beni Halasz picked up his league leading seventh shutout of the season as the New Mexico Ice Wolves grabbed a 1-0 win against the Lone Star Brahmas. Mitchell Becker had the game’s only goal with Alex Gomez picking up the assist. With the win, the Ice Wolves remain three points in front of Lone Star at the top of the South Division standings. Arthur Smith was dealt the loss as he allowed just one goal on 28 Ice Wolves shots.
Fairbanks 0 @ Anchorage 2: Shane Soderwall stopped all 31 shots he faced as the Anchorage Wolverines defeated the Fairbanks Ice Dogs 2-0. Cameron Morris scored his seventh goal of the season just over five minutes into the action to give Anchorage the lead. The assists were credited to Talon Sigurdson and Aiden Westin. After almost 47 minutes of scoreless hockey, Sigurdson scored his 34th of the year, tying the league lead, to give his Wolverines the insurance goal they needed. Morris and Westin each finished with two points for Anchorage. Kayden Hargraves took the loss in goal as he stopped 31 shots for Fairbanks.
Danbury 2 @ Maryland 1: The Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks bounced back from last night's loss to take a 2-1 win against the Maryland Black Bears. Danbury opened up the scoring late in the first period with Rober Hyde (16:28) scoring with Hunter McCurdy and Peter Lychnikoff earning assists. In the middle frame, Boris Skalos (12:42) scored to extend the lead for the Hat Tricks, 2-1. Late in the third, Conor Cole (18:58) scored but it would not be enough as the Hat Tricks split the weekend series with a 2-1 final. Ryan Maguire made 48 saves to win his NAHL debut.
Johnstown 1 @ Northeast 2: The Northeast Generals edged the Johnstown Tomahawks in a 2-1 final score. The Generals got on the board first with a power play goal from Kyle Schroeder (10:54) with assists going to Ryan Gordon and Evan Orr. In the second period, the Tomahawks evened the game with Holt Oliphant (17:34) scoring on the man advantage for a 1-1 score. In the final period, Paul Minnehan (15:31) netted the game winning goal for the Generals. Cullen DeYoung made 37 saves in the win.
MN Wilderness 3 @ Springfield 9: The Springfield Jr. Blues rallied from a loss last night against the Minnesota Wilderness taking a statement 9-3 win. The Wilderness struck first in the opening frame with a goal from Cole Cursberg-Roseen (1:53). Later in the period, Will Magnuson (14:42) scored an unassisted goal evening the game. Minutes later, Andrew Schultz (16:25) scored to get the Jr. Blues their first lead of the night. In the second, Springfield scored 5 unanswered goals to take a 7-1 lead. Isaac Novak (1:10) Daniel Juzych (8:16), Hagen Moe (9:49) Connor Smith (10:01) and Carson Jones (16:34) all scored. Minnesota defenseman Aaron Pionk (17:51) found the back of the net for his 9th goal this year to get the Wilderness back on the board. The Jr. Blues answered back quickly with a goal from Leo Bacallao (18:21) making the score 8-2. In the third period, Noah Decker (5:23) scored the final goal for the Wilderness. Connor Smith (13:20) added the final goal of the contest for the Jr. Blues and for a final score of 9-3.
