Friday Finals: Hartley's hat-trick helps Bulls widen Central lead
Wilderness goalie Isak Posch stopped all 27 shots that came his way for his first NAHL shutout on Friday night.
North Iowa 6 @ Aberdeen 2 - Byron Hartley registered a hat trick and added an assist as the North Iowa Bulls won their fourth consecutive game knocking off the Aberdeen Wings 6-2. Justin Mexico had a three point night, all of them being assists. Max Scott, Cayden Casey, and Luke Baker all got on the scoresheet for the Bulls. Mitch Day was brilliant in goal, making 38 saves on 40 opportunities. Nikolai Tishkevich and Patrick O’Connell provided the offense for Aberdeen in a losing effort. Cole Moore was saddled with the loss, he made 25 saves for the Wings.
Wisconsin 0 @ Minnesota 4 - The Minnesota Wilderness stayed hot as Eddie Shepler scored twice and added an assist in the team’s 4-0 win over the Wisconsin Windigo. Isak Posch was perfect as he turned aside all 27 shots thrown in his direction. Luke Jech had a goal and an assist while Joe Cesario also lit the lamp. Adam Johnson finished with three helpers for Minnesota. Gavin Moffatt was given the loss in goal, he made 26 saves.
Maryland 3 @ Danbury 1 – Jack Wieneke made 17 saves as Maryland improved their 1st place record to 9-2 on the season with a 3-1 win in Danbury on Friday. After a scoreless 1st period, the Black Bears opened a 2-0 lead in the 2nd period on goals from Dimitry Kebreau and Christian Catalano. Danbury responded later in the period with their lone goal from Bohdan Panasenko. In the 3rd period a goal from Jesse Horacek secured the win for the Black Bears. Danbury goalie Patriks Berzins made 43 saves in the loss, which was his NAHL debut.
Maine 5 @ New Jersey 3 – Five different players scored and Thomas Heaney made 41 saves as the Nordiques picked up a 5-3 road win in New Jersey on Friday. Maine had taken a 3-2 lead through two periods thanks to goals from Kellen Murphy in the 1st period and Patrick Schmiedlin and Brendan Kimball in the 2nd period, while Marcus Sang and Levente Keresztes scored for the Titans. The Titans evened the game at 3-3 early in the 3rd period thanks to a goal from Ben Yurchuk, but goals later in the period from Maine’s Nicholas Bernardo and Filip Wiberg secured the win. Jacob Torgner made 19 saves in the loss.
Chippewa 3 @ Janesville 2 (SO) – Steel goalie Carter Wishhart made 42 saves and stopped 4 of 5 Jets shooters in the shootout to help Chippewa to a 3-2 win on Friday in Janesville. The Steel jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Sam Rice and Peyton Platter. The Jets answered back with goals from Chris Pelosi and Gunnar Williams to tie the game at 2-2. In the shootout, Rice and Matthew Brille scored for the Chill, while Pelosi had the lone goal for the Jets. Jets goalie Selby Warren made 42 saves in the loss.
Northeast 4 @ Philadelphia 2 – The Generals stayed hot and won their 6th straight game as Toby Hopp made 30 saves in a 4-2 win. The Generals took a 1-0 lead in the 1st period thanks to a goal from Bryce Cooper. The Rebels had a strong 2nd period, taking a 2-1 lead on goals from Tyler Stern and David Deputy. The Generals then exploded for three goals in the 3rd period, including tallies from Jackson McCarthy, Sixten Jennersjo, and Paul Minnehan. Jack Fialkoff made 21 saves in the Rebels loss.
Lone Star 4 @ Corpus Christi 2 – The Brahmas moved into sole possession of 1st place in the South Division thanks to a 4-2 win in Corpus Christi on Friday. Johan Rosenquist had two goals and an assist in the win, which included the first two goals of the game in the 1st period. The IceRays tied the game at 2-2 thanks to back-to-back goals from Anthony Cafarelli and Jack Wandmacher. The Brahmas then pulled away later in the 2nd and 3rd period with goals from Ivan Zadvernyuk and Copeland Fricker. William Gramme made 27 saves in the win, while Stefan Carney made 30 saves in the loss.
Kenai River 3 @ Springfield 2 – The Brown Bears kept their good start going as they moved into a tie for 2nd place in the Midwest thanks to a 3-2 win in Springfield on Friday as goalie Nils Wallstrom made 37 saves. Springfield took a 1-0 lead on a goal from Tyler Borgula in the 1st period. Kenai River tied the game at 1-1 thanks to a 2nd period goal from Garrett Drotts. In the 3rd period, the Jr. Blues regained a lead at 2-1 as Cole Lonsdale scored. The Brown Bears had the answer late in the period as goals from Noah Holt and Kotaro Tsutsumi secured the 3-2 win. Jr. Blues goalie Aksel Reid made 32 saves in the loss.
Odessa 1 @ Shreveport 3 - The Shreveport Mudbugs stayed in the win column as they defeated the Odessa Jackalopes by a score of 3-1 on Friday night. Garrett Steele netted his third goal of the season to break the ice for the Mudbugs early in the first. Emerson Goode would tie things up midway through the second period for Odessa off a feed from Dayne Hyoid and Josh Austin. Just about midway through the third, still tied at one, Nick LeVasseur and Eric Vitale set up Sutton Murray for his first of the season to give the Mudbugs a 2-1 lead. Logan Valkama would add an empty net goal in the dying seconds for Shreveport. Simon Bucheler picked up the win in goal as he made 22 saves on 23 shots. Gregely Orosz took the loss as he made 36 stops.
St. Cloud 2 @ Bismarck 3 - The Bismarck Bobcats edged the St. Cloud Norsemen 3-2 on Friday night. The Bobcats jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to goals off the blades of Luke Roelofs and Adam Pietila. St. Cloud would net two of their own to tie the game. Kade Peterson scored 21 seconds into the third period while Evan Pahos first goal of the year came at the 11:44 mark. The tie would last for 21 seconds as Roelofs grabbed his second goal of the game. That would wind up as the eventual game winner as CJ Kier would lock it down for the remainder of the final period. He would end up making 27 saves to earn the win in goal. Tomas Bolo stopped 15 shots in the loss for the Norsemen.
Anchorage 6 @ Fairbanks 2 - After a back-and-forth first period, the Anchorage Wolverines would go on to score five unanswered goals to defeat the Fairbanks Ice Dogs 6-2 and spoil the home opener in Fairbanks. Aiden Westin led the offensive onslaught with a goal and two assists for the Wolverines. Trent Powell and Cameron Morris each notched a goal and an assist of their own. Wilson Dalheimer, Moritz Lackner and Logan Lyke all found the back of the net for Anchorage. Noah Wood and Julian Recine would get the goals for Fairbanks. Shane Soderwall stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced to pick up the win in between the pipes while Kayden Hargraves made 26 saves for the Ice Dogs.
