Saturday Scores: O'Leary has night to remember in Topeka

New Mexico 1 @ Topeka 5 - If one player can single-handedly dominate a team by himself, Topeka RoadRunners’ forward Andrew O’Leary did it Saturday night against New Mexico. On a night when his teammates struggled to get opportunities, O’Leary turned in one of the best individual performances in RoadRunners history, scoring an astounding five goals in Topeka’s 5-1 victory at Landon Arena. The performance matched O’Leary’s previous number of goals scored on the season. O’Leary scored a goal in the first and second period before coming up with the natural hat trick in the third. O’Leary struck first at the 16:53 mark of the first and then gave the Runners a 2-0 lead at 4:53 of the second period. Tate Rusk put New Mexico on the board at 14:29 of the second before the O’Leary show really got going in the third period. He registered his hat trick on a wrap-around goal at 9:27, scored his fourth three minutes later, then saw an unlikely shot from the left point find the back of the net at 12:07. The RoadRunners (28-12-2) were outshot 23-19 by the Mustangs (13-27-2). O’Leary accounted for 7 of the RoadRunners’ 19 shots. Colin LeMay picked up the win in his first start in net for the Runners, stopping 22 of 23 shots. Jake Stafford suffered the loss for the Mustangs, making 12 saves. Sean Gaffney also contributed nicely with three assists. Boxscore

Kenai River 0 @ Wenatchee 2 – In front of another sellout crowd, Wenatchee goaltender Robert Nichols equaled an NAHL-season high with his 7th shutout of the season as the Wild blanked the Brown Bears. Nichols stopped all 25 shots that came his way and Wenatchee got goals from Chris Kerr (game-winner) and Trace Redmond. Austin Severson stopped 27 of 28 shots in the loss. Boxscore

Fairbanks 7 @ Alaska 2 – The IceDogs took the rubber match of the three-game series with the Avs on the strength of four, 1st period goals on their way to a 7-2 win. Fairbanks scored the first four and last three goals of the game and were led offensively by Alec Hajdukovich who had two goals and an assist and Eric Carlson, who had two goals. Boxscore

St. Louis 4 @ Chicago 3 (SO) – For the second straight night, the Hitmen were foiled in extra time, this time in a shootout as St. Louis came away with their second straight 4-3 win over Chicago. Zach Schrotenboer scored twice for Chicago, who again could not hold onto a lead as Cody Ganchar, Joe Kalisz and Frank Dichiara all scored in regulation for St. Louis. Boxscore

Minot 0 @ Aberdeen 5 – The Wings clinched a playoff berth with a 5-0 shutout of Minot on Saturday in Aberdeen. Marcus Zelzer stopped all 35 shots for his first career NAHL shutout and has allowed just two goals in his last three starts. Five different players scored for Aberdeen including: Tyler Dunagan, Oliver Widding-Persson, Kevin Becker, Cullen Hurley and Cory Ward. Boxscore

Bismarck 4 @ Austin 2 – The Bobcats kept rolling with a sweep of the Bruins thanks to three power play goals. Patrick Moore’s late 2nd period tally, which was his second power play goal of the game, proved to be the difference. Donald Olivieri and Nick Miglio also scored for Bismarck, while Trevor Waldoch and Colton Kramer scored for Austin. Boxscore

Corpus Christi 1 @ Odessa 6 – The Jackalopes gave their playoff hopes and shot in the arm with a big 6-1 win in front of almost 4,000 fans in Odessa. Lawrence Cornellier had a goal and two assists and recent NA3HL call-up Tyler Cayemberg had a goal and an assist for the Jacks. Josh Obregon, Jalen Krogman, Jared Docken and Tyler Poulsen also scored for Odessa. Boxscore

Michigan 3 @ Springfield 4 – The Jr. Blues pushed their current winning streak for four games with a weekend home sweep of the Warriors in front of a sellout crowd in Springfield. Josef Pontasch’s goal early in the 3rd period was the difference. Tyler Rehm, Ben Kramer and Nick Townes all scored for Springfield, while Matus Matis scored twice for Michigan. Boxscore

Janesville 4 @ Coulee Region 3 – The Jets stayed nine points up in the Midwest Division with a weekend road sweep of the Chill. Coulee Region led early 2-0 with goals from Jack McCartan and Matt Blomquist, but couldn’t hold the lead after three straight goals from the Jets Truman Landowski, Davis Dekorte and Michael Preston. Connor McBride scored the eventual game-winner for Janesville with just three minutes to go in the game. Boxscore

Fresno 1 @ Amarillo 7 – The Bulls moved themselves on the verge of a playoff spot as they blasted the Monsters, 7-1. After a scoreless 1st period, Amarillo scored four goals in the 2nd period from Nolan Culver, Mike Davis, Mike Erickson and Tyler Deresky. Deresky added his second of the game in the 3rd period as did Davis and Ryan Cole also scored. Boxscore

Traverse City 1 @ Port Huron 4 – The Fighting Falcons salvaged a weekend home-and-home split with the North Stars with a 4-1 win in front of a season-high crowd at McMorran Arena. Logan Lemirande and Alex Globke gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead after one period. Nico Sierra increased the lead to 3-0, before Kyle Haak scored his first of the season for Traverse City. Nick Horne had the lone goal in the 3rd period. Max Milosek made 23 saves in the win. Boxscore