Friday finals: Odessa erupts for 10 in win over Mustangs

Odessa 10 @ New Mexico 3 - In the first of back-to-back-to-back games against the New Mexico Mustangs, the Odessa Jackalopes rode an unprecedented offensive output to a 10-3 victory Friday at Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. With the win, the Jackalopes improved to 13-18-5 on the season and with 31 points, remain alone in fifth place in the South Division standings, seven points back of Corpus Christi IceRays for the final playoff spot in the NAHL’s South Division.  After the majority of the first period slid by scoreless, the Jacks offense came to life with two unanswered goals in the final minute of the period courtesy of Josh Obregon and Willie Faust. The second period saw more of the same from the Jacks attack, as Faust netted his second of the game and team-leading 15th of the season just 30 seconds into the middle frame. Add to that, goals from Aditya Karandikar, Darren Lapic, Matt Williams, Alex Ostrowski, Tyler Poulsen and Lawrence Cornellier and the Jacks ended up with a season-high seven-goal period and a 9-2 lead.  Much like the opening frame, the third period started slowly, before the Jacks responded to a Josh Bretner tally for New Mexico with their final score of the game, a wrister from Poulsen, his second of the game that staked Odessa to a 10-3 win. In the victory, the Jackalopes tied a season high for shots-on-goal with 40 and set season-highs for total goals and goals in a period and improved to 4-0-0 against New Mexico in the 2011-12 season.  Jayson Angus and Charles Baldwin had the other goals for New Mexico.  Odessa netminder Connor Hellebuyck stopped 50 of the 53 shots he faced in the game, while Jake Stafford suffered the loss for the Mustangs. Boxscore

Fresno 2 @ Wenatchee 4 – The Wild doubled-up the Monsters four their fourth straight win thanks to goals from Trace Redmond, Chris Kerr, Trevor Husch and Blake Roubos.  Goaltender Greg Lewis picked up his 8th win of the year making 22 saves.  Riley Borer had a goal and an assist in the losing effort for Fresno, who still remains in the 4th a final playoff spot. Boxscore

Alaska 3 @ Kenai River 2 – The 1st place Avalanche won again in Kenai as both teams struggled to find offense in a game that featured only 36 combined shots.  Connor Wright’s 3rd period goal was the difference for the Avs, who also got goals from Joe Schmitz and Kevin Novakovich. Boxscore

Texas 2 @ Topeka 1 – In a tight checking, defensive game, it was the Tornado who came out on top thanks to two 2nd period power play goals from Lucas Whelan and Jack Prince.  Newly acquired Richard Young scored the only goal for the RoadRunners.  Joakim Jutras stopped 18 of 19 shots for the win, while Peter Traber made 20 saves in the loss. Boxscore

Corpus Christi 2 @ Wichita Falls 4 – In what was described as a must-win game for Wichita Falls, the Wildcats did exactly that in front of over 6,000 fans thanks to a three-assist night from Brennen Parker and goals from Renato Engler, Tanner Fahlstedt, Matt Purmal and Zach Pochiro.  Michael Dery had a goal and an assist for the IceRays in the losing effort. Boxscore

Minot 2 @ Alexandria 6 – Justin Moody and Seth Ronsberg each scored a pair of goals as the Blizzard swept the Minotauros by a 6-2 score.  Alexandria jumped out to a 5-0 lead and got their other goals from Gage Torrel and Reid Sturos.  Goaltender Jameson Shortreed posted his first win since November 12th, making 38 saves. Boxscore

Aberdeen 3 @ Bismarck 5 – The Bobcats kept rolling, setting a new franchise record with their 13th consecutive home win in a defeat of the Wings.  The Bobcats jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the 1st period with two goals from Tyler Richter and one from Castan Sommer and Dan Zawacki.  Aberdeen drew within one goal in the 3rd period, but Zawacki’s second goal of the game sealed the win. Boxscore

Traverse City 1 @ Janesville 0 – 17-year-old goaltender Zach Nagelvoort posted his first career NAHL shutout making 42 saves as the North Stars edged the 1st place Jets, 1-0.  Newly acquired Lance Fredrickson scored the only goal of the game in the 2nd period with assists from Chris Waterstreet and Alexander Taulien.  The Jets outshot the North Stars, 42-20, but could not solve Nagelvoort. Boxscore

Chicago 3 @ Coulee Region 6 – The Chill snapped an eight-game losing streak with a big 6-3 home win over the Hitmen.  The Chill scored five of their six goals in the 3rd period as six different players lit the lamp.  Ross Luedtke had three assists and Ryan Jaremko and Matt Blomquist also had multi-point nights for Coulee Region, who outshot Chicago, 44-36.  Zach Schrotenboer scored twice for the Hitmen. Boxscore

Port Huron 5 @ Jamestown 2 – The Fighting Falcons jumped out to a commanding 5-0 lead after two periods and cruised to a 5-2 win.  Easton Powers had two goals and an assist and Kody Polin had three assists in the win for Port Huron, their 27th of the year.  Mike Moroso kept his offensive hot streak alive with a goal and an assist. Boxscore

Kalamazoo 6 @ Michigan 2 – 2nd place Kalamazoo kept pace with Port Huron in the North with a 6-2 win in Michigan, continuing their dominance this season over the Warriors.  Andrew Graves had four assists on the night and newly acquired Brock Raffaele had two goals and an assist for the Jr. K-Wings.  Robbie Payne and Anthony Appleyard also had multi-point nights for Kalamazoo. Boxscore