Friday Finals: North Stars knock off 1st place Falcons
Port Huron 1 @ Traverse City 6 - The Traverse City North Stars scored early and often on Friday night at Centre ICE Arena, taking down first-place Port Huron by a 6-1 count in the opener of a home-and-home series with the Falcons. Six different North Stars scored goals, with Will Badner and Jared Van Wormer adding assists to their respective tallies. Frank Gilbert registered the first goal of the game – and the first of his junior career just 1:41 into the contest, and Ferris State recruit Kyle Schempp made it a 2-0 affair at 4:17 with the Stars enjoying a 5-on-3 power play. Traverse City (19-13-5) opened it up in the second period, scoring a trio of goals in the first half of the frame: Jake Peacock at 3:18, Mitchell Snider a mere 1:17 later, and Van Wormer giving the hosts a 5-0 bulge at 10:45. Port Huron got on the board with 4:14 to go before the second intermission with a goal from Jake Goldberg, but Badner restored the five-goal lead with just one second on the clock, and the 6-1 score would stand up through a scoreless final stanza. Kyle Laslo made 15 saves as the host Stars (19-13-5) outshot Port Huron by a 29-16 margin, including a 15-4 edge in the second period. Max Milosek suffered the loss, making 17 saves for Port Huron. Boxscore
Janesville 4 @ Coulee Region 1 – The Jets became the first team in the Midwest Division to lock up a playoff berth as they defeated their in-state rival 4-1 on the road. Chris Cattivera scored twice and Janesville also picked up goals from Darren McCormick and Adam Frank. Tommy Miller had the lone goal for the Chill. Tony Kujava made 20 saves for his league-leading 23rd win of the year. Boxscore
Michigan 1 @ Springfield 3 – The Jr. Blues won their third straight game thanks to 27 saves from Tyler Parks and two point nights from Gavin Tufte and Kyle Cook. After a Matus Matis goal gave the Warriors the lead early in the game, Radum Matus and Tufte scored to give the Jr. Blues a lead they wouldn’t lose. Cook’s insurance marker came in the 2nd period. Boxscore
Bismarck 6 @ Austin 1 – The Bobcats scored early and often as they crushed the Bruins 6-1 in Austin on Friday. Castan Sommer scored his team-leading 23rd and 24th goals of the year for the Bobcats who also got multi-point games from Tyler Richter, Bryce Anderson, Bryce Schmitt and a three-assist effort from John Furgele. Tommy Burke made 19 saves for his 22nd win of the season. Boxscore
Wichita Falls 3 @ Corpus Christi 4 (OT) – Defenseman Frank Misuraca scored the overtime winner as the IceRays swept a weekend series from the Wildcats. Corpus Christi thought they had the game in hand after a 3-0 lead after two periods with goals from Brandon Smith, Eric Purcell and AJ Jarosz. Wichita Falls scored three in the 3rd period to force overtime with goals from Patrick Yudez, Tyler Bruneteau and Zach Pochiro.Boxscore
Amarillo 3 @ Odessa 2 – A late Jacks rally just fell short on Friday as Odessa lost to division-leading Amarillo, 3-2. The Bulls jumped out to a 3-0 lead with goals from Brooks Behling, Matt Johnson and Clint Carlisle. The Jacks stormed back in the 3rd period with goals from Tyler Poulsen and Josh Obregon, but could not tie the game. Ryan Cole chipped in with two helpers for the Bulls.Boxscore
New Mexico 2 @ Topeka 3 – The Mustangs could not make a 2-0 lead stand up and a goal with just :17 seconds remaining from Topeka’s Ryan White gave the RoadRunners the 3-2 win. Bill Kent and Cody Walsh scored in the 1st period to give New Mexico the lead, but that was answered by a 2nd period goal from Brian Christie and a 3rd period tally from Corey Ramsey before White’s heroics. Boxscore
Fresno 2 @ Texas 6 – Jack Prince had a four point night (2 goals, 2 assists) as Texas outshot Fresno 43-19 on their way to a 6-2 win and a season sweep of the Monsters. 16-year-old Ondrej Kopta scored both goals in the 1st period to give the Tornado a 2-0 lead. Drew Allen and Lucas Whelan added the other goals for Texas, while Mikhail Bushinski and Riley Borer scored for Fresno. Hunter Leisner made 17 saves for the win in his Tornado debut. Boxscore
Alexandria 8 @ Minot 2 – The Blizzard scored seven of their eight goals in the 2nd period, erasing a 1-0 Minot lead on their way to an 8-2 win. Jadin Martin scored both goals for the Minotauros, but those were sandwiched by seven goals from seven different Blizzard players in the middle frame. Reid Sturos, Aidan Cavallini and Craig Lindegard all had multi-point games and Gage Torrel scored the eventual game-winning goal. Boxscore
St. Louis 4 @ Chicago 3 (OT) – Joe Birmingham scored twice including the overtime-winner as St. Louis got back on track with a 4-3 win in Chicago. The Hitmen had a 3-0 lead with goals from David Gandara in the 1st period and Alec DeAngelo and Joey Haydock in the 2nd period, but could not make it hold as St. Louis stormed back with goals from Birmingham, Joe Kalisz and Frank Dichiara. Boxscore
Kenai River 2 @ Wenatchee 0 – The Brown Bears helped their playoff chances on Friday night with a big 2-0 shutout win in Wenatchee on Friday thanks to 27 saves from goaltender Austin Severson, as he posted his 2nd shutout of the season. Alex Frere provided all the offense the Brown Bears would need with the game-winning goal and an assist on Brett Lubanski’s insurance tally. Greg Lewis made 23 saves in the loss for the Wild.Boxscore
Fairbanks 5 @ Alaska 6 – Gage Christianson’s power play goal with less than two minutes remaining gave the 1st place Avs a wild 6-5 win in the middle game of a three-game series between the two teams. It was Christianson’s second goal of the game and Wehebe Darge also chimed in with two goals and an assist for the Avs. JT Osborn scored twice for Fairbanks and Gabe Levin added three assists. The game featured five lead changes in the back-and-forth affair. Boxscore
