Friday Finals: Norsemen Knock Off First Place Minotauros

Minot 4 @ St. Cloud 6: The St. Cloud Norsemen defended home-ice against the Central Division’s top team Minot Minotauros in a 6-4 final. Minot got ahead in the first period 2-0 with Rylan Jockims scoring twice. St. Cloud answered with a goal to close out the first period from Tyler Dysart for a 2-1 score. In the second, Andrew Cumming evened the game 2-2 for St. Cloud. Jack O’Hanisain got the lead back for Minot to make the score 3-2. With under two minutes left in the middle period, Ethan Lindahl scored to even the game 3-3 going into the second intermission. The third period saw the Norsemen get to work quickly adding two unanswered goals with Micheal Coleman and Gavin Gunderson, 5-3. Later in the period, Colby Woogk got the Minotauros within a goal for a 5-4 score. With fifteen seconds left, Tyler Dystart netted his second of the night to end the game for the Norsemen taking the win 6-4. Goaltender Max Weilandt backstopped 34 shots in the win. 

Rochester 4 @ Philadelphia 3: Thomas Rockey netted his 11th goal of the season early on in the 3rd to elevate the Jr. Americans past Philadelphia 4-3 on the road. Rochester’s Keanan Dewberry and Philadelphia’s Sonny Dinubile traded goals in the opening frame. Once again, the two squads traded goals in the 2nd period as Ryan Bunting and Charles Panchisin both buried for Philadelphia while Massimo Gentile and Conor Humphrey tickled twine for Rochester. Danick Leroux was the victor between the pipes, stopping 21 in the winning effort. Owen Crudale kept out 31 shots in the loss. 

Northeast 6 @ Maryland 4: The Generals fired off three consecutive goals in the 3rd period to secure a comeback victory over the division leaders. Andrew DellaDonna got the Gens on the board 1st before Riley Ruh and Tyler Stern answered with goals for the Black Bears. Ben Campeau and Joseph McGraw both lit the lamp in the middle frame for Northeast while Ryder Nienhuis and Trayce Johnson maintained the Maryland lead with tucks. Frank D’Ancona, Ryan Remick, and Sixten Jennersjo all buried in the 3rd to swing the game in Northeast’s favor. Petter Wickström made 38 saves in the victory while Colin Ronan and Owen Lepak combined for 22 stops. 

Danbury 1 @ Johnstown 6: The Tomahawks dominated from start to finish in Friday night’s affair, taking down the Jr. Hat Tricks 6-1. After a scoreless opening 20 minutes, Taybor Aldrich, Justin Rapp, and Will Lawrence tickled twine to put Johnstown in the driver’s seat. Rapp, Will Lawrence, and Chase Sandhu extended the lead in the 3rd with tallies. Jack Wuertz broke the shutout with under three minutes remaining for Danbury. Jacob Osborne kept out all but one of 26 shots faced in the victory while Lukas Fursten made 29 saves for Danbury. 

New Jersey 5 @ New Hampshire 1: The Titans scored at least a goal in all three periods en route to a 5-1 win over New Hampshire. Dominik Bartecko netted his 15th of the season to give New Jersey a lead through 20 minutes. Jack Hillier, Dominick Rivelli, and Kai Elkie extended the lead for New Jersey while Ethan Rosenoff got New Hampshire on the board. Rivelli found the back of the net again in the 3rd to silence any comeback bids. Zakari Brice made 20 saves on 21 shots in the victory while Stefan Carney and Carson Dorfman combined for 35 saves in New Hampshire’s crease. 

Bismarck 4 @ North Iowa 1: Alexandr Kim scored twice as the Bismarck Bobcats took care of the North Iowa Bulls by a score of 4-1. Tamas Toth and Julian Beaumont picked up goals as well for the Bobcats in the victory. Charles Bland netted the only tally for the Bulls. Stephen Peck denied 18 of 19 shots he faced. Santo Simmchen turned aside 32 shots for North Iowa in the loss.

Oklahoma 4 @ Amarillo 2: Max Dronen had two points to lead the Oklahoma Warriors as they doubled up the Amarillo Wranglers 4-2. Kaden Nelson, Anthony Cafarelli and Josh Belz all got on the scoresheet for Oklahoma in the win. Jacob Miller and Luke Morris supplied the offense for the Wranglers. Daniel Duris was the winner in goal for Oklahoma as he finished the night with 37 saves. Connor McDonough was saddled with the loss, he made 35 saves.

Lone Star 4 @ Odessa 2: Four different Brahmas found the back of the net as they defeated the Odessa Jackalopes by a score of 4-2. Connor Bergeron and Bryce Ingles scored in the opening period while Justin Kerr and Brock James visited the red light district in the middle frame. Cameron Dunn and Riley Rosenthal netted goals for the Jackalopes in the loss. Deivs Rolovs stopped 26 shots en route to picking up the win in the blue paint. Quentin Sigurdson took the loss in net for Odessa, he stopped 21 shots.

Shreveport 3 @ New Mexico 2 (OT): Colin Vassal was the overtime hero for the Mudbugs as they knocked off the Ice Wolves 3-2 on Friday night. Andrew Seminara got Shreveport on the board first with his third of the season. Olivier Lamothe tied things up early in the second but that was countered by Lucas Deeb and the Mudbugs took a 2-1 lead into the third period. The score remained 2-1 until just 3:02 left in regulation as Luca Ricci tied the game and forced overtime. Then it was Vassallo’s ninth of the season that ended the contest and extended the Bugs winning streak to four games. Eliot Seguin-Lescarbeau was the winning netminder making 21 saves. Andy Vlaha and Jackson Fuller combined to make 18 saves.

Colorado 0 @ El Paso 3: Joey LoVullo denied all 15 shots he faced to pick up the shutout in the El Paso Rhinos 3-0 victory over the Colorado Grit. After a scoreless first period, Medrick Bolduc broke open the scoring with his 10th of the season. Two minutes later Cade DeWolf got in on the action with his third of the year and the Rhinos held a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes of play. AJ Reed finished the game off with his seventh of the year and the Rhinos won their seventh game in the their last 10. Pete Sterling made 22 saves for the Grit.

Anchorage 2 @ Wisconsin 6: The Wisconsin Windigo kept on their winning ways adding a 6-2 victory over the Anchorage Wolverines. The Windigo added two goals in the opening period with Quinn Disher and Tyler Grahme, 2-0. Nearing the end of the period, Fyodor Nikolayenya scored to get Anchorage on the board, 2-1. In the second, the Wolverines evened the game 2-2 with Trenton Powell scoring. Later in the middle frame, Elliot Gulley took the lead back for Wisconsin, 3-2. In the final frame, NAHL January Forward of the Month, Max Martin, netted his 32nd of the season to extend the lead, 4-2. As the period progressed, Will Schumacher added back-to-back goals for a 6-2 final. Wisconsin goalie Max Beckford was fantastic stopping 27 shots on net. 

Kenai River 3 @ Chippewa 5: The Chippewa Steel picked up a win at home against the Kenai River Brown Bears, 5-3. The opening period saw a goal from each squad with Kotaro Tsutsumi scoring for the Brown Bears and Gavin Middendorf for the Steel. In the second period, Andy Larson scored two goals to extend the lead for Kenai, 3-1. Joe Kelly netted a late Chippewa goal for a 3-2 scoring heading into the intermission. In the third it was all Steel with Aidan Willis, Jacob Ligi and Talan Blanck scoring to take the win 5-3. Chippewa netminder Ajay White was great in net as he stopped 24 shots. 

Springfield 3 @ Janesville 4 (OT): In an overtime thriller, the Janesville Jets won 4-3 on home-ice against the Springfield Jr. Blues. Grady Gallatin got the Jets ahead 1-0 in the first period. Soon after, Aidan Dyer netted a Springfield goal that was followed up by an Isaac Keller goal later in the period for a 2-1 Jr. Blues lead. In the second period, Haden Kruse evened the game 2-2 for the Jets. Niko Laus netted a late goal for Springfield to take back the lead, 3-2, going into the second intermission. In the third period, Trey Fechko scored to even the game 3-3 to force overtime. In the extra frame, Max Wagener scored the game winner for a 4-3 final. Goaltender Matthew Alberti stopped 17 shots in the win. 

Aberdeen 6 @ Austin 2: The Aberdeen Wings defeated the Austin Bruins on the road in a 6-2 final. Matthew Wisener scored the lone goal of the first period for a 1-0 Wings lead. In the second, Salvatore Collora and Zach Reim both scored, extending Aberdeen’s lead, 3-0. Late in the second, Austins’ Jackson Rilei scored to end the period, 3-1. In the third, Jibber Kuhl and Bennett Koupal scored, adding to the Wings lead, 5-1. Austin Salani snuck one in to get the Bruins on the board for a second time, 5-2. At the final buzzer, Riley Sharun scored to end the game for the Wings to get the win, 6-2. Aberdeen goaltender Adam Dybal stopped 26 of the shots he faced. 

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