Friday Finals: Falcons win battle of 1st place teams over Jets

Janesville 2 @ Port Huron 3 - The Port Huron Fighting Falcons and Janesville Jets put on a display worthy of two first-place teams Friday night at McMorran Arena.  In the end, it was the North Division-leading Falcons winning the hard-hitting, fast-paced NAHL game 3-2 against the Midwest-leading Jets.  Bret Lewandowski scored the game-winning goal 13 minutes, 41 seconds into the third period.  Brett D'Andrea and Nick Horne also scored for the Falcons. Peter Megariotis picked up the win, stopping 31 shots.  Janesville goalie Tony Kujava stopped 23 shots in the loss.  Janesville got on the board first, as Connor McBride scored an unassisted goal midway through the first period.  D'Andrea and Horne each scored in the second period to give the Falcons a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes. D'Andrea scored 4:51 into the period with assists from Ian Miller and Alex Globke. Horne re-directed a Nolan Valleau shot for his goal. Rick DeRosa also had an assist.  Bryan Kronberger tied the game at 2 for the Jets 58 seconds into the third period on a shot from just inside the blue line.  The lone goal in the 3rd period came from Lewandowski who scored on the power play, cleaning up a rebound in the slot. Boxscore

Michigan 2 @ St. Louis 4 – The Bandits clinched a playoff spot as they used a 2nd and 3rd period rally to beat the visiting Warriors, 4-2.  The Warriors have now lost seven in a row.  Bobby Bodette got the Warriors on the board, but that was answered by goals from Ryan Zehnder and Cody Ganchar.  Ryan Stouffer and Taylor Wolfe added 3rd period power play goals to give St. Louis the win. Boxscore

Kalamazoo 5 @ Jamestown 3 – Five different players scored for the K-Wings as they took the middle of a three game set with a 5-3 win on Jamestown.  Broke Raffaele, Taylor Burden, Robbie Payne all scored in the 2nd period and Chris Leone and Anthony Appleyard scored in the 3rd period to put the game out of reach. Luc Gerdes, Jake Pollock and Zack Szajner scored for Jamestown. Boxscore

New Mexico 2 @ Amarillo 5 – Thanks to two 3rd period goals from Clint Carlisle, the Bulls broke a 2-2 tie and won 5-2 in Amarillo to clinch the South Division’s first playoff berth.  Adam Chapie and Bill Kent scored for the Mustangs, who answered early Amarillo goals from Greg Gibson and Tyler Deresky.  Joe Kozlak also added a goal in the three-goal 3rd period for the Bulls. Boxscore

Fairbanks 5 @ Wenatchee 0 – Veteran goalie Steve Perry stopped all 33 shots as the Ice Dogs rolled to a 5-0 win in Wenatchee, putting themselves just four points out of 1st place in the West.  Gabe Levin added to his league-leading point total, adding five points and having a hand in every Ice Dogs goal.  Defenseman Sean O’Rourke added three points, while forwards JT Osborn and Alec Hajdukovich also had multi-point games. Boxscore

Springfield 10 @ Chicago 2 – Kyle Cook and Mike Williams had two goals and two assists each as the Jr. Blues ran their winning streak to five games as they erupted for 10 goals in a road win over Chicago.  Mitch Rogge scored twice and Springfield also got goals from Nick Townes, Ethan Nauman, Gavin Tufte and Kevin Walters.  Cody Dixon also chipped in with three assists. Boxscore

Kenai River 3 @ Dawson Creek 4 – The Rage snapped a four-game losing streak with a 4-3 win on home ice over the Brown Bears.  Ryan Matthews had a hat-trick, including the game-winning goal late in the 2nd period.  Goaltender Edward Dyson made 38 saves in the win.  Jade McMullen had the other goal for Dawson Creek while Marek Hemsky, Bobby Murphy and Zac Lazzaro scored in the losing effort for Kenai River. Boxscore

Wichita Falls 3 @ Texas 4 – The Tornado fought their way back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Wildcats 4-3 in Frisco on Friday night.  George Pagonis scored twice in the 1st period to give the Wildcats the early lead, but Texas scored four of the last five goals of the game, including two power play goals from Jack Prince in the 3rd period. Nick Neville and Michael Hoy also lit the lamp for Texas, while Renato Engler had the other marker for the ‘Cats. Boxscore

Coulee Region 4 @ Minot 1 – Ross Luedtke scored twice and goaltender David Heflin made 23 saves for his first NAHL win as the Chill took a 4-1 road win on Minot on Friday.  Mac Jansen and Eric Drapluk also scored for Coulee Region, who controlled the game the entire way, leading 3-0 after the 1st period.  Brady Hefner scored a power play goal midway through the 3rd period for Minot to snap Heflin’s shutout bid. Boxscore

Fresno 4 @ Odessa 3 – Dominic Valencia’s goal late the 3rd period was the difference as the Monsters picked up a big road win in Odessa to move back into the 4th and final playoff spot in the West Division.  Lawrence Cornellier scored two power play goals in the losing effort for the Jacks, who have now lost four of the their last five games.  Filip Winkler, Riley Borer and Jeffrey Pauluk all scored for Fresno. Taylor Portner had the other marker for Odessa. Boxscore

Aberdeen 3 @ Alexandria 5 – Hayden Trupp had two goals and an assist and Jacob Meyers made 28 saves as the Blizzard scored three, 3rd period goals to upend the Wings, 5-3.  Aberdeen had a 2-1 lead after the 1st period with goals from Oliver Widding-Persson and Joe Mottiqua, but the Blizzard answered back with goals from Charlie Aus, Nick DeCenzo and Justin Moody, before Trupps heroics and two goals in the 3rd period. Boxscore