Friday Finals: Aberdeen, Austin and Minnesota Claim Final Playoff Spots
The Titans scored an overtime win in Game 1 of their play-in series against Johnstown
Minnesota 3 @ Springfield 2 (OT): Nick Blood’s overtime winner propelled the Minnesota Wilderness to a 3-2 win over the Springfield Jr. Blues. The victory pushed the Wilderness into the fourth seed and clinched a spot in the Robertson Cup playoffs. Joe Cesario got the scoring started early in the second period. Conner Broadhead got on the scoresheet in the third period to tie the game at one. Gustavs Ozolins put Minnesota back in front but Landry Schmuck scored in the closing minutes to force overtime, setting up Blood’s overtime heroics. Adam Prokop picked up the win in goal as he ended the night with 20 saves. Matt Schoephoerster suffered the loss, making 26 saves.
St. Cloud 1 @ Austin 6: The Bruins put on a dominant 6-1 performance on home ice to defeat the Norsemen and secure a spot in the 2024 Robertson Cup Playoffs. Trip Pendy scored the lone goal of the 1st period to put Austin Ahead. Keaton Orrey leveled the scores for St. Cloud before Ocean Wallace, Dylan Cook, and Damon Furuseth answered with consecutive goals. Austin Salani and Furuseth provided more insurance in the final frame to secure the victory. Trent Wiemken stopped 23 of 24 shots faced in the victory while Max Weilandt kept out 20 shots for the Norsemen.
Aberdeen 6 @ North Iowa 2: The Wings punched their ticket to the postseason with a convincing 6-2 victory over the Bulls on the road. Hayden Siegel had North Iowa up a goal through 20 minutes with his 9th of the season. Jibber Kuhl, Nikolai Tishkevich, and Logan Gravink all found the back of the net to turn the tide for Aberdeen in the 2nd. Kuhl, Grant Winkler, and Isak Holmstrom tallied goals in the 3rd for the Wings while North Iowa’s remaining goal came from Blake Ulve. Adam Dybal kept out 25 shots in the win while Santo Simmchen made 36 saves for the Bulls.
Northeast 0 @ Rochester 3 (East Division Play-In Series, Rochester Leads 1-0): The Rochester Jr. Americans blanked the Northeast Generals on home ice by a score of 3-0. The opening period saw a goal from Michael Sandruck to get Rochester ahead 1-0. The action picked up again in the third where Luca Leigthon scored to extend the Rochester lead, 2-0. Late in the third, Michael Sandruck struck again netting his second of the night for a 3-0 final score. Jr. Americans goaltender Danick Leroux was unstoppable in net as he turned away all 27 shots in the shutout victory.
New Jersey 3 @ Johnstown 2 (East Division Play-In Series, New Jersey Leads 1-0): The New Jersey Titans and Johnstown Tomahawks took Game 1 of the play-in series into overtime where the Titans reigned supreme winning 3-2. Johnstown broke ahead in the first period to take a 1-0 lead with a goal from Justin Rapp. In the second, Reid Lune added to the Tomahawks lead, 2-0. Later in the period, Ryan Novo and Ryan Friedman both scored for New Jersey to even the game 2-2. After a scoreless third, the game went into overtime where Logan Renkowski netted the game winner for the Titans to take Game 1, 3-2. Jacob Osborne was great in net stopping 37 shots on net.
Amarillo 1 @ New Mexico 2 (South Division Play-In Series, New Mexico Leads 1-0): The New Mexico Ice Wolves held off the Amarillo Wranglers by a score of 2-1 to take Game 1 in the best-of-three series. University of Alaska-Anchorage commit, Ryan Johnson, was the lone goal scorer in the first period to put the Ice Wolves up 1-0 early on. Johnny Johannson extended the Ice Wolves lead to 2-0 before Amarillo’s Connor McNaughton scored the final goal of the contest during the second period. Andy Vlaha turned away 27 of the 28 shots for the win, while Connor McDonough made 39 of 41 saves.
Oklahoma 5 @ El Paso 2 (South Division Play-In Series, Oklahoma Leads 1-0): The Oklahoma Warriors took Game 1 in the best-of-three series against the El Paso Rhinos with a final score of 5-2. Owen Carlile opened up the scoring for the Warriors, scoring the lone goal in the first period. Geno McEnery extended Oklahoma’s lead towards the end of the second period, putting them up 2-0, before El Paso’s Ryan Gingher made it 2-1, 15 seconds later. The Rhino’s started the third period off with a goal 15 seconds in by Camden Bajzer, tying the game 2-2. Shortly after, the Warriors scored three unanswered goals, coming from William Ahlrik, Geno McEnery and Drew Sutton, the last being an empty netter. Oklahoma’s Daniel Duris turned away 25 of the 27 shots for the win, while Joey LoVullo made 20 of 24 saves.
Minot 4 @ Bismarck 5 (SO): A dominant final frame fueled the Bobcats to pick up a comeback victory over the Minotauros on home ice. Patrick Johnson kept Bismarck in control through 20 minutes with his 22nd goal of the season. Colby Woogk, Murray Marvin-Cordes, and Weston Knox all lit the lamp for the visitors in the middle frame. Beck Picconatto tallied his 1st of the season to extend the lead before Kade Kohanski (2) and Jake Peterson fired off three consecutive goals to send the game to an eventual shootout. Klayton Knapp stopped 35 shots in regulation and all three shootout attempts in the win. Brady James kept out 35 for the Minotauros.
Anchorage 2 @ Fairbanks 3: Three unanswered goals from the Fairbanks Ice Dogs capped off their comeback over the Anchorage Wolverines as the Dogs took home a 3-2 win. Tyler Hennen and Oliver Salo scored for Anchorage to put them ahead 2-0. Then in the third it was Nolan Abraham who got Fairbanks on the board for the first time. It was followed up by two goals off the stick of Reece Cordray to give the Ice Dogs their first lead of the evening. Tyler Krivtsov was sensational as he stopped 49 of 51 shots for the Ice Dogs. Liam Beerman took the loss in goal as he finished the evening with 20 saves.
