Friday Finals: Severson's Heroics Lead North Iowa's Comeback

Springfield 3 @ North Iowa 4 (OT) - The North Iowa Bulls pulled off their biggest comeback of the season as they overcame a three goal deficit in the third period to drop the Springfield Jr. Blues 4-3 in overtime. Landry Schmuck scored the game’s opening goal early in the first period to give the Jr. Blues a lead heading into intermission. Roy Chung scored in the second period to increase the Springfield lead and Zach Howard scored in the opening minutes of third to make it a 3-0 game. It was then the Bulls caught fire as Blake Ulve scored at the midway point of the final frame to get North Iowa on the board. 62 seconds later Kash Crawford netted his first goal of the season to bring the Bulls within one and then just over two minutes later Jack Seaverson brought the game even with his fifth of the year. In the overtime period, Seaverson would again find the back of the net as he netted the game winning goal at the 3:10 mark to complete the dramatic comeback for the Bulls. Dylan Johnson earned the win in goal with 38 saves while JJ Cataldo suffered the loss as he stopped 25 shots.

Austin 1 @ Bismarck 2 (SO) - The Bismarck Bobcats squeaked by the Austin Bruins as they took home the win after a 2-1 decision in a shootout on Friday night. The game was scoreless for almost half the game before Ashton Bynum struck on the power play on a mad scramble in front of the Bismarck cage. Luke Roelofs would even the game at one apiece with his third goal of the season midway through the final period. After a scoreless overtime period, we went to the skills competition. Klayton Knapp stopped all three shooters he faced and Tamas Toth scored the only goal to put the Bobcats in the win column. Knapp finished the night with 24 saves while Trent Wiemken was dealt the loss, stopping 29 shots.

Minot 3 @ Aberdeen 0 - Lukas Swedin turned aside all 27 shots to earn the shutout in the Minotauros 3-0 win over the Aberdeen Wings. Niklas Ketonen scored his 12th goal of the season to put Minot in front in the opening frame. That would be the score all the way until late in the third when Nicholas Speck buried his seventh of the year to add some insurance for Minot. Trevor Stachowiak put home the dagger in the final minutes of action for his ninth goal of the campaign. Adam Dybal was saddled with the loss as he made 32 saves.

Minnesota 2 @ St. Cloud 5 - Michael Coleman and Andrew Cumming each had a goal and an assist as the St. Cloud Norsemen defeated the Minnesota Wilderness by a score of 5-2. Peyton Mithmuangneua, Hagen Moe and Braden Panzer also found the back of the net for the Norsemen in the victory. Peteris Purmalis led the offensive attack for Minnesota with a goal and an assist of his own. Daniel Astapovich also found the back of the net. Max Weilandt needed just 17 saves to earn the win in the blue paint while Nick Erickson stopped 25 in the defeat.

Fairbanks 1 @ Anchorage 5 - The Anchorage Wolverines defended home ice in a 5-1 victory over the Fairbanks Ice Dogs. After a scoreless first period, the action picked up in the second with Bryce Monrean, Will Shephard and Taisetsu Ushio scoring for a 3-0 Anchorage lead. Nolan Abraham got the Ice Dogs on the score sheet shortly after, making the score 3-1. Nearing the end of the period, Kade Shea added to the Anchorage lead for a 4-1 score. In the third, Cole Christian added to the lead for the Wolverines to end the game, 5-1. Anchorage netminder Liam Beeerman stopped 28 shots in the win. 

Wisconsin 3 @ Kenai River 1 - The Wisconsin Windigo took a 3-1 win over the Kenai River Brown Bears. In the second period, Braydon Beahm and Maxwell Martin helped Wisonscin take a 2-0 lead. In the third, Jackson Ebbott got the Brown Bears on the board, 2-1. Tyler Grahme added the final goal of the night for Wisconsin for a 3-1 final. Wisconsin goalie Max Beckford stopped 30 shots in the win. 

Northeast 0 @ Danbury 4: The Jr. Hat Tricks fired off three consecutive goals in the first period and never looked back, shutting out the Generals 4-0 in dominant fashion. Jack Wuertz, Ivan Korodiuk, and Emerson Molas all lit the lamp in the opening frame. Grant Dietz found his 12th of the season early on in the 2nd period to provide more insurance. Lukas Fursten was perfect between the pipes, stopping all 21 shots faced to secure his first career NAHL shutout. Toby Hopp made 29 saves for Northeast. 

Maryland 4 @ Philadelphia 2: The Black Bears scored in all three periods en route to a 4-2 road victory over Philadelphia. Dimitry Kebreau and Kareem El Bashir both lit the lamp in the opening frame while Philadelphia’s Sonny Dinubile kept the deficit at one with his 1st of the season. Rebels forward Jared Coccimiglio and Maryland’s Jesse Horacek would add to the scoresheet but send both squads into the 3rd with the same goal in mind. Samuel Stitz deposited the dagger with 2:23 left in regulation. Colin Ronan kept out 29 of 31 shots in the victory while Jack Fialkoff made 26 saves for the Rebels. 

Maine 2 @ New Jersey 5: Nikita Meshcheryakov tallied a pair of goals to help lift the Titans past the red-hot Nordiques 5-2. Charles Tardif had the visitors up a score through 20 minutes with the lone goal in the 1st period. Meshcheryakov, Dominik Bartecko, and Kristofers Krumins all buried goals for the Titans in the middle frame to swing the momentum heading into the 3rd. Tardif buried his 2nd to cut the lead in half but Meshcheryakov and Jack Hillier would silence the comeback bid with goals. Zakari Brice made 25 saves in the victory while Thomas Heaney stopped 30 shots for Maine. 

New Hampshire 3 @ Rochester 2 (SO): Mountain Kings netminder Aiden Wright stopped all three shootout attempts and 36 shots in regulation to help New Hampshire edge past the Jr. Americans 3-2. Both teams got off to a strong offensive start as New Hampshire’s Jack Costanzo and Caden Hunter buried goals with Rochester’s Luca Leighton and Thomas Rockey having the answer with goals themselves. The remaining 45 minutes of the game went scoreless, leading to the shootout where the Mountain Kings came out on top. Danick Leroux made 24 saves in the loss for Rochester. 

Lone Star 2 @ Shreveport 1: Max Hamstad found his way past two Mudbug defenders and beat Eliot Seguin-Lescarbeau blocker side midway through the 3rd, scoring his 4th of the season which would become the eventual game-winner in Lone Star’s 2-1 win on the road. The Brahmas got on the board first off the stick of David Skuhrovec, his 9th of the year. Late in the middle frame Ryan Burke leveled the scores from Brayden Cook and Hayden Nichol. Deivs Rolovs stopped 21 of 22 shots faced in the win while Seguin-Lescarbeau made 16 stops in the loss. 

Odessa 2 @ Oklahoma 5: Drew Sutton tallied a pair of goals to reach the century points mark in Oklahoma’s convincing 5-2 win over the Jackalopes. Sutton scored the lone goal in the 1st period and midway through the 2nd made it a 2-0 game to reach the milestone. John Christen and Hayden DeMars rallied Odessa back to tie the game with scores before Max Vig regained the Warrior's lead. Carter Sproule and Kaden Nelson both tickled twine in the 3rd to extend the lead and seal the victory. Daniel Duris made 24 saves in the win while Quentin Sigurdson kept out 29 shots for the Jacks. 

Corpus Christi 2 @ El Paso 1 (OT): Zakhar Polshakov fired a one-timer past Joey LoVullo in overtime to give the IceRays a 2-1 victory on the road. The game remained scoreless through 40 minutes and it would stay 0-0 until Eddie Shepler tallied his 10th goal of the season for the Rhinos. Just over a minute later Corpus Christi’s Mathieu Bourgault tied the game back up to send it into overtime. Vilgot Holm was strong between the pipes for the IceRays, stopping all but one of 30 shots faced. LoVullo kept out 29 as well in the loss. 

New Mexico 5 @ Colorado 0: A pair of goals from Rasmus Leijonhielm and 35 saves from Jackson Fuller were two key factors in New Mexico’s dominant victory over the Grit. After a scoreless opening frame, Bryce Johnson and Michael Schermerhorn buried consecutively to provide the lead. Leijonhielm tallied a pair and Ryan Seelinger added another to further the lead in the 3rd. Aden Gariepy made 30 saves in the loss for Colorado. 

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