Saturday Scores: Sweeps tighten race for lead in South

Saturday Box Scores

Shreveport 2 @ New Mexico 1: Devon Bobak stopped 38 New Mexico shots as the Mudbugs doubled up the Ice Wolves 2-1 on Saturday night. Garrett Steele got Shreveport on the board first with his 10th goal of the season. Timofei Khokhlachev would net the eventual game winner late in the second period, it was his 12th of the year. Sully Scholle got New Mexico within one but that would be as close as they would get thanks to Bobak’s remarkable performance. Beni Halasz suffered the loss in goal as he made 19 saves. 

MN Wilderness 3 @ Kenai River 1: After the first 40 minutes of the game were scoreless, the Minnesota Wilderness found the back of the net three times in the final frame to defeat the Kenai River Brown Bears 3-1. Jared Mangan got the first goal of the game at the 1:04 mark of the third. Max Neill added insurance on the power play just under five minutes later. Ryan Finch got the Brown Bears within one with his 15th of the season but Nicholas Rexine put home an empty netter to seal the victory for Minnesota. Matthew Smith continued his strong season with 29 saves on 30 chances. Levi Gho denied 31 of 33 Wilderness shots. 

Corpus Christi 1 @ Lone Star 3: Arthur Smith was nearly perfect as he stopped 16 of 17 shots sent in his direction as the Lone Star Brahmas defeated the Corpus Christi IceRays 3-1. Tanner Daniels had a goal and an assist to lead the Lone Star offense. Matt McQuade and Nicholas Niemo also lit the lamp for the Brahmas. Michael Casey Jr had the lone goal for Corpus Christi while Damon Beaver made 35 saves in the loss. 

El Paso 3 @ Amarillo 5: Kristaps Skrastins was all over the scoresheet as he netted a pair of goals and chipped in three assists in the Wranglers’ 5-3 win over the El Paso Rhinos. Danylo Korzhyletskyi knocked home two goals and an assist for Amarillo while Glebs Prohorenkovs contributed a goal and two assists. Carter Clafton made 32 saves in the crease to pick up the win. Bo Cosman led El Paso with a goal and an assist. Nathan Gagne and Jack Anderson also scored for the Rhinos. Jacob Zacharewicz made 40 saves for El Paso in the loss.

Wichita Falls 2 @ Odessa 6: Two goals and an assist off the stick of John Perdion led the way as the Odessa Jackalopes knocked off the Wichita Falls Warriors 6-2. Ryan Mansfield picked up a goal and an assist while Trevor Taulien, Frank Dovorany and Tanyon Bajzer all got on the scoresheet for Odessa. William Proctor finished the night with 33 saves in the victory. Cade Lemmer and Carter Korpi picked up the goals for the Warriors. Brandon Milberg took the loss in goal as he made 22 saves. 

Aberdeen 4 @ North Iowa 3 (OT): For the second straight night, Will Gilson dashed the hope of the North Iowa Bulls as his 10th goal of the season won the game in overtime for the Aberdeen Wings. After Justin Mexico and Carter Rapalje got North Iowa out to a 2-0 lead just 2:14 into the action, Aberdeen scored three straight. The goals came from Gilson, Ronan Walsh and Jacob Bosse. Bryon Hartley tied the game for North Iowa late in the second and forced the eventual overtime where Gilson found the back of the net. Anton Castro took home the win as he made 36 saves. Kyle Kozma was dealt the loss as he made 27 stops.

Maryland 1 @ New Jersey 6: The New Jersey Titans picked up a 6-1 win over the Maryland Black Bears. New Jersey opened up the first two periods scoring two goals in each. In the first Michael Young and Anthony Calafiore scored and in the second Ryan Coughlin and Brendan Dumas found the back of the net. In the third period Coughlin netted his second of the night. Maryland got on the board with Brad McNeil for a 5-1 score. Micheal Young added his second of the game for a 6-1 final. 

Danbury 6 @ Johnstown 8: The Johnstown Tomahawks edged the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks in a high scoring affair, 8-6. Danbury broke ahead in the first period with a 2-0 lead after Lucas Di Chiara and Gabe Dombrowski scored. The Tomahawks soon answered back to take the lead after Jacob Badal scored twice and Jake Black made it a 3-2 game. Danbury evened the game 3-3 in the second period with Roberts Andersons. The Tomahawks took back the lead making the score 5-3 after goals from Jake Black and Gavie Klaassen. The Hat Tricks went back on the offensive side of the puck scoring two goals to even the game 5-5 once more. Zachary Murray broke the tie at 17:04 to give the Tomahawks the lead, 6-5. With less than a minute remaining in the second, Robert Hyde evened up the game scoring for the Hat Tricks, 6-6. In the third the Tomahawks netted the puck twice as Cole Bianchin and Jake Black scored a hat trick for 8-6 final score. 

Bismarck 4 @ Minot 3 (OT): Ryan Taylor scored the game winning goal in overtime as the Bismarck Bobcats kept their postseason chances alive with a 4-3 win over the Minot Minotauros. The Bobcats trailed on three separate occasions but found the answer each time. Adam Pietila, Ben Troumbly and Brady Egan all scored for Bismarck with Egan’s game tying goal coming with just 2:44 remaining in regulation. Zack Simon, Connor McGrath and Nate Mann all scored for Minot. Oskar Spinnars Nordin turned aside 26 shots to pick up the win. Zach Sandy made 41 saves in the loss.

Anchorage 3 @ Fairbanks 8: The Ice Dogs offense exploded as eight different players lit the lamp in a 8-3 win over the Anchorage Wolverines. Marcus Land had three points as he notched a goal and two assists. Jake Hale, Noah Griswold, Alexander Malinowski and Tyler Stewart each had a goal and an assist for Fairbanks. Tristan Sarsland, Brendan Miles, and Nolan Cunningham also got on the board for the Ice Dogs. Tyler Krivtsov made 23 saves in between the pipes to pick up the win. Campbell Cichosz, Cameron Morris and Drakę Albers scored for the Wolvlerines in the loss while Shane Soderwall and Raythan Robbins combined to make 26 saves.

Northeast 2 @ Maine 6: The Maine Nordiques topped the Northeast Generals in a 6-2 final. Maine took a 1-0 lead after the first period with Ignat Belov scoring at 12:45. In the second period, the Nordiques added back to back goals with Aidan Connolly and Patrick Schmiedlin for a 3-0 lead. Ryan Gordon got the Generals on the board making the score 3-1. Later in the second, Theo Thrun and Aidan Connolly scored for a 5-1 score to end the period. In the third, Jared Scott added a goal for the Generals. Brendan Gibbons scored for the Nordiques for a final score of 6-2. 

Chippewa 4 @ Janesville 5: The Janesville Jets edged the Chippewa Steel in a 5-4 final. The Jets came out hot in the first period taking a 2-0 lead after Jan Lasak and Arsenii Smekhnov scored for a 2-0 lead. The Steel answered back in the second with Joseph Grainda and Ryan Remick to even the game 2-2. Janesville took back the lead with Jonah Aagerter and Cy LeClerc, 4-2. Matthew Brille opened up the third period getting a goal for the Steel making the score 4-3. The Jets answered with another to extend their lead 5-3 with Parker Mabbett. Late in the period, Matthew Brielle netted his second of the night but Janesville held on to take a 5-4 win. 

Austin 6 @ St. Cloud 3:  The Austin Bruins picked up a 6-3 win over the St. Cloud Norsemen. In the first period, Braidan Simmons and Jens Richards both scored for the Bruins while Ryan O’Neill and Blake Mesenburg scored for the Norsemen, 2-2. In the second the Bruins added back to back goals with Nick Catalano and Ocean Wallace. Blake Perbix scored late in the period for a 4-3 score. Austin Menghini and Carson Riddle both found the back of the net for the Bruins to take a 6-3 win. 

Springfield 3 @ MN Magicians 2 (OT): Overtime was the deciding factor between the Springfield Jr. Blues and the Minnesota Magicians as Springfield took a 3-2 overtime win. Axel Begley scored to start the game giving the Magicians a 1-0 lead. Micheal Valdez netted his sixth of the year to even up the game 1-1. In the second, Zach Bade got the Jr. Blues ahead 2-1. Then later in the period Cam Boche evened the game 2-2. No goals were scored in the third so overtime was forced where James Callahan netted the game winner for the Jr. Blues win, 3-2.