Friday Finals: Wings knock off Bruins in night of thrillers
Jake LaRusso had a hat-trick to help the Northeast Generals move into sole possession of 2nd place in the East with a shootout win in New Jersey.
Austin 3 @ Aberdeen 4 (OT) – The Wings survived a furious comeback attempt by the Bruins to pick up a 4-3 overtime win on Friday. Aberdeen opened up a 2-0 lead in the 2nd period with goals from Dylan Wegner and Landon Parker. Austin made it 2-1 with a goal from Nick Blood. Later in the period, the Wings went back up by two goals with a goal from Nils Forselius. In the 3rd period, the Bruins stormed back with power play goals from James Goffredo and Walter Zacher to tie the game at 3-3. In the overtime, Nikolai Tishkevich ended the game as he converted on a 2 on 1. Geno Pichora made 25 saves in the win, while Ethan Robertson made 34 saves in the loss.
Northeast 5 @ New Jersey 4 (SO) - Ryan Remick scored the only goal in the shootout and that helped the Northeast Generals score a 5-4 win over the New Jersey Titans. Michael Young got New Jersey on the board first with a goal late in the opening frame. Northeast responded with two goals in the opening three minutes of the second period. Jake LaRusso and Remick scoring for Northeast. In the third period Levente Keresztes and Dominik Bartecko scored back-to-back goals to vault New Jersey into the lead but LaRusso would score just 15 seconds later to even things back up. LaRusso completed the hat trick a few minutes later but Keresztes’ second goal of the night came with just 90 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime. After a scoreless three on three period, it went to the shootout where Remick scored the only tally. Toby Hopp scored the win in goal for Northeast as he made 43 saves. Zakari Brice was saddled with the loss as he made 27 stops.
Kenai River 5 @ Anchorage 4 (OT) – Garett Drotts scored 2:08 into overtime to lead the Brown Bears to a 5-4 win in Anchorage. The Brown Bears took a 2-0 lead in the 1st period with goals from Nick Stevens and Ashton Christman. Anchorage then seized control with four straight goals to take a 4-2 lead, which included two goals from Fedya Nikolayenya and others from David Tolan and Danny Reis. In the 3rd period, the Brown Bears tied the game at 4-4 with goals from Carson Triggs and Hunter Newhouse. Nils Wallstrom made 29 saves in the win, while Eino Rissanen made 25 saves in the loss.
Lone Star 1 @ El Paso 0 (OT) – Arthur Smith stopped all 20 shots that came his way for his 4th shutout of the season as the Brahmas blanked the Rhinos, 1-0 in overtime. The lone goal of the contest came late in overtime as the Brahmas were awarded a penalty shot and Mason Mara converted for his 8th goal of the season. Rhinos goalie Nolan Suggs made 15 saves in the loss.
Corpus Christi 0 @ Odessa 3 – The Jackalopes won their 4th straight game as goalie Gergely Orosz made 24 saves for his first shutout of the season as Odessa blanked the IceRays, 3-0. Odessa opened up a 2-0 lead in the 1st period thanks to goals from Tanyon Bajzer and Brendan Finn. In the 3rd period, Ryan Mansfield added the third goal, which was also shorthanded. IceRays goalie Lukas Malant made 35 saves in the loss.
Oklahoma 4 @ New Mexico 7 – William Howard had a career night, recording a hat-trick and two assists as the Ice Wolves snapped their losing streak with a 7-4 win over the Warriors. New Mexico jumped out to a 4-0 lead with two goals from Howard and others from Jeff Hutchinson and Jake Svenddal. Oklahoma pulled to within 4-3 with two goals from Drew Sutton and one from William Ahlrik. New Mexico pulled away with goals in the 3rd period from Ryan Johnson, Hunter Hastings, and Howard. Therien Thiesing had the other goal for the Warriors. William Craig made 33 saves in the win, while Daniel Duris made 23 saves in the loss.
Shreveport 3 @ Amarillo 2 (OT) – Simon Bucheler made 22 saves and Logan Gotinsky scored the overtime-winning goal as the Mudbugs picked up a 3-2 win in Amarillo. Shreveport scored first as Liam Fleet scored his first goal of the season. Amarillo answered back with a pair of goals from Tommy Chunchukov and Preston Brighton to take a 2-1 lead. Late in the 3rd period, a goal from Garrett Steele tied the game for the Mudbugs. Carter Clafton made 31 saves in the loss.
Maine 4 @ Johnstown 6 - Zachary Aben scored twice as the Johnstown Tomahawks defeated the Maine Nordiques by a score of 6-4. Ryan Vellucci had a goal and an assist while David Matousek, Nick Ahem and Will Moore all tickled the twine for Johnstown. Henrik Hallberg and Nicholas Bernardo each had a goal and an assist for the Nordiques. Laurent Trepanier and Brendan Gibbons also scored for Maine in the loss. Adam Johnson took home the win in goal with 29 saves, Thomas Heaney was given the loss as he made 28 stops.
Philadelphia 3 @ Maryland 1 - Jakub Krbecek stopped 51 of 52 shots he faced as the Philadelphia Rebels corralled the Maryland Black Bears offense, winning on Friday night 3-1. Kristians Samitis had the game’s opening goal just about five minutes into the action. Carter Casper extended the lead in the second period with his second goal of the season. Brad McNeil got the Black Bears within one but Tyler Stern put the game on ice with an empty net goal in the final minute. William Hakansson was dealt the loss as he made 22 saves for Maryland.
Minot 3 @ St. Cloud 4 - Blake Perbix had himself a night with a goal and two helpers to lead the St. Cloud Norsemen to a 4-3 win over the Minot Minotauros. Elmeri Hallfors potted a pair of goals for St. Cloud while Broken Sabo notched a goal and an assist. Ben Johnson and Chase LaPinta both had a goal and a helper for Minot. Jack O’Hanisain also chipped in a goal for Minot. Tomas Bolo got the win in the blue paint as he made 23 saves. Noah Rupprecht got the loss on the other end, he made 28 saves.
Springfield 3 @ Wisconsin 2 (SO) - Nikita Nikora had the only goal in the shootout as the Springfield Jr. Blues edged the Wisconsin Windigo 3-2. Grant Ellen’s and Isaac Keller had the goals for Springfield, both of them coming in the middle frame. Luke Levandowski provided both goals for the Windigo, including the game tying goal with just 2:10 left in regulation. Aksel Reid made 42 stops to pick up the win in goal, he also stopped all three shooters he faced in the skills competition. Gavin Moffat suffered the tough loss as he made 20 stops for Wisconsin.
Minnesota 3 @ Chippewa 4 (SO) - Matthew Brille was the hero in the shootout as his goal lifted the Chippewa Steel to a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Wilderness. This back-and-forth affair saw Jackson Bisson give Chippewa the first lead of the game with his sixth of the season. Michael Quinn tied things up for Minnesota just over two minutes later with his fifth of the campaign. A power play goal from Joe Kelly gave the Steel the lead after 40 minutes of play. Calvin Knight registered his first goal as Minnesota tied things up early in the third period but Parker Gnos put Chippewa back ahead just 66 seconds later. Ren Morque capitalized on a shorthanded chance and tied things up once again for Minnesota. Carter Wishart made 17 saves in 65 minutes of action and three more in the shootout to pick up the win in between the pipes. Isak Posch denied 32 chances and two more in the shootout in a losing effort.
