Saturday Scores: Offense leads Bulls to sweep of Wildcats

Amarillo 5 @ Wichita Falls 1 – Three goals in the first six minutes of the third broke open a close game and lifted Amarillo past the Wichita Falls Wildcats 5-1. The game was close through the first 40 minutes with the Bulls maintaining a 2-0 advantage. That changed quickly as the Bulls went to work with three straight goals. At one point the Bulls outshot the Wildcats 10-1 and controlled most of the play. Gage Christianson scored off a rebound in the first 2:40 from TJ Sherman. Less than a minute later, Hampus Gustafsson deflected home a pass from Michael Davis and Omar Mullan to extend the lead to 4-0. Ryan Cole concluded the Bulls outburst when he scored on a great second effort in front of the net. Carter Penzien added a helper on the marker.  The Wildcats spoiled the shutout bid of Paul Berrafato in the final minute, scoring on a shot from the point.  The Amarillo Bulls outshot the Wichita Falls Wildcats 32-19 including 13-3 in the final period.  The game started well for the visitors, pressuring the Wildcats in the first two minutes, but the Bulls didn’t score. It would be the power play that would have the Bulls off and running. John Rey’s point shot beat Evan Cowley at 9:41. Tyler Rostenkowski added an assist on the goal. Just over one minute later, the Bulls made it 2-0 on a big shot from Hampus Gustafsson who was set up by Gage Christianson. There was no scoring in the second period, but the Wildcats came on and had a few scoring opportunities but goaltender Paul Berrafato turned them all away. The Wildcats outshot the Bulls 10-9 in the middle stanza. Boxscore

Odessa 0 @ Topeka 5 – A night after a last-second loss, the RoadRunners bounced back on Saturday with a 5-0 shutout win.  Mackenzie Sawyer made 19 saves to post his first NAHL shutout.  Topeka got goals from five different players.  Drew Kariofiles and Tyler Poulsen scored in the 1st period.  Sean Gaffney and Skyle Sharkey both scored on power play goals in the 2nd period and Collin Montgomery added a 3rd period tally.  Michal Pastor also recorded two assists in the win for Topeka. Boxscore

Aberdeen 3 @ Austin 6 – The Bruins completed a weekend sweep of the Wings with a 6-3 win on Saturday.  Chris Fischer scored twice and added an assist and Scott Nelson also had two goals for the Bruins.  Heinz Koster had two goals in the loss for Aberdeen, which was their 6th straight defeat since winning their first two games.  Austin led 3-0, but Aberdeen cut the lead to 3-2 early in the 3rd period, but a goal from John Simonson put the game out of reach in front of almost 1,300 fans in Austin. Boxscore

Coulee Region 2 @ Brookings 4 – Two late 3rd period goals from Micah Ranum and Thomas Williams helped Brookings salvage a weekend split with the Chill as they posted a 4-2 win.  Williams scored twice in the game, including late in the 1st period on a penalty shot.  Sean Lang and Hunter Anderson scored for the Chill to tie the game at 2-2 early in the 3rd period, but Brookings answered with a goal from Craig Lindegard before the late game heroics. Boxscore

Soo 2 @ Port Huron 3 (SO) – The Fighting Falcons got back to their winning ways with a 3-2 shootout win over the Soo Eagles.  Most of the scoring came in the 1st period as Rick DeRosa put the Falcons on the board first, but that was answered by two goals from the Eagles as Eric Rivard and Michael Crowley lit the lamp.  Mitch Maloney tied the game at 2-2 early in the 2nd period and it would stay that way through the 3rd period and overtime.  In the shootout, Mark Evan Auk scored the lone goal, while Falcons goalie Max Milosek stopped all five Eagles shooters. Boxscore

Janesville 3 @ Johnstown 5 – On Guns N’ Hoses night on Johnstownin front of over 2,000 fans, the Tomahawks opened up a 5-1 lead and went onto a 5-3 win against the Jets.  The Tomahawks outshot the Jets 38-11 and got goals from five different players including Mitch Kontny, Jaycob McCombs and Brandon Brossoit in the 1st period, Casey Nelson in the 2nd period and Cody Gylling in the 3rd period.  Janesville got goals from Eric Cruickshank, Jason Ford and Zach Diamantoni.  Boxscore

Michigan 2 @ Kalamazoo 6 – The Jr. K-Wings outshot the Warriors 40-15 on their way to a convincing 6-2 win on Saturday.  Christian George led the offensive attack for Kalamazoo with a goal and two assists.  Kalamazoo jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the 1st period with goals from George, Kyle Gattelaro and Jacob McDowell.  Trevor Boyd made it 4-1 in the 2nd period.  Taylor Burden and Luc Boby finished the scoring in the 3rd period.  Connor Lyons and Corey Schueneman scored for the Warriors. Boxscore

Springfield 1 @ Jamestown 2 – It was more last second heroics in Jamestown for the second straight night as Luc Gerdes scored the game-winning goal with just :17 seconds remaining in the 3rd period as the Ironmen completed a weekend sweep of the Jr. Blues with a 2-1 win.  Ross Pavek got the Ironmen on the board first with a power play goal in the 1st period.  Tom Cooney answered back for the Jr. Blues on the power eight minutes later.  Reid Mimmack made 26 saves in the win and Ryan Kellenberger made 21 saves in the loss. Boxscore

Wenatchee 3 @ Fairbanks 2 – The Wild took the middle game of a three-game set thanks to two goals in the 3rd period on their way to a 3-2 win.  The Ice Dogs got on the board first as Jacob Hetz lit the lamp midway through the period.  Nicholas Kuchera tied the game for Wenatchee with just two minutes left in the 1st period.  Fairbanks took a 2-1 lead with the only goal of the 2nd period by Garret Clemment.  However, the Wild stormed back in the 3rd period with a goal from Noah Nelson and the game-winner from Jono Davis with just over eight minutes remaining in the game. Boxscore

Fresno 3 @ Kenai River 2 – Despite being outshot 32-15, including 9-1 in the 3rd period, the Monsters rode the hot goaltending of Tomas Sholl on their way to a 3-2 road win in Kenai River.  Matt Seidel gave the Brown Bears an early 1-0 lead with a goal in the 1st period.  Fresno would score the next three goals including two in the 2nd period from Daniel Rosse and Karl Andersen.  Fresno made it 3-1 in the 3rd period on a goal from Andrew McDonald.  A late goal from Kenai’s Jake Bushey made the final, 3-2. Boxscore