Friday Finals: Bismarck tops Austin in Central clash

Bismarck 3 @ Austin 1 - The Bismarck Bobcats opened the third period with a pair of goals and clamped down for a 3-1 road win over the Austin Bruins Friday at Riverside Arena in a battle of the top two teams in the Central Division.  Tied 1-1 after two periods, the Bobcats took the lead 2:05 into the third when Bryce Schmitt rocketed a Patrick Moore rebound over Bruins goalie Tyler Bruggeman, making it a 2-1 game. A mere 2:17 later, Moore waited for Bruggeman to commit to his right and then fed the puck through the slot to Castan Sommer on an up-ice rush, giving Sommer a wide-open net to bang the puck into for a 3-1 lead that would stand up as the final.  After the two-goal burst, the Bobcat defense locked down on the second-place Bruins, allowing only five shots and helping deliver Tommy Burke his 15th win, putting him one off the league lead in that category.  Assistant captain Grant Mindt gave the visitors a 1-0 lead 9:22 into the game, taking an entry feed from Shane Omdahl to get behind the Austin defense and power a low shot through Bruggeman’s legs for the game’s first tally.  Austin tied the game with 2:08 left in the second when the Bobcats failed to get the puck cleared from their own end and John Simonson fed the puck to the mid slot for a one-time goal from Jeremy Finger.  Bruggeman made 19 saves but slipped to 12-6-2 on the season. Boxscore

Texas 3 @ Wichita Falls 7 – Chris Pontello recorded a hat-trick as the Wildcats erased an early 3-0 deficit to score seven straight on their way to a 7-3 win over the visiting Tornado.  Nick Szopinski also helped the Wildcats winning effort with two goals.  CJ Reuschlein had a goal and assist in the losing effort for Texas. Boxscore

Wenatchee 1 @ Topeka 2 – Peter Traber made 30 saves, including 14 in the 3rd period as Topeka won their 5th straight game by edging the Wild 2-1 on Friday.  Ryan White had a goal and an assist and Jake Lynes assisted twice for the RoadRunners.  Kyle Vogel scored the lone goal for Wenatchee in his return. Boxscore

Odessa 1 @ Amarillo 3 – Brooks Behling scored twice as the team with the league’s best record, the Bulls, rolled to their 4th straight win.  Matthew Williams scored for Odessa in the 3rd period ending the shutout bid of Mike Taffe who made 22 saves in the win.  Connor Hellebuyck made 42 saves in the loss. Boxscore

Corpus Christi 4 @ New Mexico 0 – Goaltender Anthony Stolarz stopped all 32 shots for his first career shutout as the IceRays blanked the Mustangs.  Eric Purcell had a goal and assist and Joe Ginley, Zach Lindsay and Ladislav Hruska also scored for the IceRays, who now have a four point lead for the final playoff spot in the South. Boxscore

Fairbanks 6 @ Kenai River 2 – The Ice Dogs got goals from six different players including newcomer Jeff Earnest as they won a big road game in Kenai River on Friday.  Garret Clemment, Max Birkinbine and Gabe Levin had multi-point games for the Ice Dogs, while Chris Nuth and Matt Thompson scored for Kenai River. Boxscore

Fresno 5 @ Dawson Creek 3 – The Monsters won their 3rd straight over the Rage thanks to two goals from Chris Blessing and 26 saves from Tomas Sholl.  Riley Borer, Mikhail Bushinski and Michael Harris also scored for Fresno, while Jason Wark had a goal and assist for the Rage in the losing effort. Boxscore

Aberdeen 4 @ Minot 3 (OT) – In one of the more dramatic games of the night, the Wings Cory Ward scored on a penalty shot with no time remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime where Paul Prescott won the game for Aberdeen.   Austin Hoff gave Minot the lead with less than a minute remaining in the 3rd period before Ward’s heroics. Boxscore

St. Louis 6 @ Springfield 1 – Joe Birmingham and Joe Kalisz each scored twice as the Bandits cruised to a 6-1 win in Springfield on Friday.  St. Louis led 4-0 at one point before Chris Sitler scored the lone goal for the Jr. Blues.  Frank Dichiara had a goal and two assists for the Bandits and Taylor Wolfe also scored for St. Louis. Boxscore

Alexandria 3 @ Coulee Region 6 – The Chill struck for six goals and got 46 saves from Aaron Davis on their way to a 6-3 home win over the Blizzard.  Six different players scored for Coulee Region including Mac Jansen and Cory Lushanko each had a goal and an assist and Eric Swahn ended up with the game-winning goal. Boxscore

Kalamazoo 2 @ Michigan 5 – Behind AJ White’s two goals the Warriors picked up their first win of the season over the Jr. K-Wings by a 5-2 score.  Brach Tiller made 37 saves in the win and Robert Mantha and Tyler Perpich also had a goal and an assist to help the Warriors win their 3rd straight game. Boxscore

Port Huron 2 @ Jamestown 1 (SO) – In a goaltending battle it would be the Fighting Falcons Peter Megariotis who would best Joe Ballmer in the shootout as the 1st place Falcons increased their North Division lead to seven points with a shootout win in Jamestown.  Rick DeRosa scored the shootout winner for Port Huron. Boxscore