Friday Finals: West teams shine on the road in the South

Fairbanks 3 @ Corpus Christi 2 (OT) - Garret Clemment stole the show in Friday, scoring a hat trick including the overtime winner as the Fairbanks IceDogs snuck past Corpus Christi 3-2. Perry D’Arrisso scored both goals for the IceRays in the losing effort.  Clemment started the scoring with his first of the night with on a breakaway goal 1:19 left to go in the first period with assists from Duggie LAgrone and Ben Campbell for a 1-0 lead.  Corpus Christi responed just :48 seconds into the second period when D’Arrisso fired a rebound shot from Jalen Schulz past IceDogs goaltender Kevin Aldridge to even the score at one goal apiece.  D’Arrisso struck again at the 9:03 mark of the second period on the power-play with assists credited to Rudy Sulmonte and John Roisum for their only lead of the night, 2-1.  Clemment answered back with an unassisted tally with 6:02 left in the game to knot the score at two.  Then in overtime, Clemment picked up the game winner while Trevor Heuser sat in the penalty box just 1:48 into the extra frame for the 3-2 victory. Boxscore

Topeka 2 @ Springfield 3 (SO) – The RoadRunners battle back from a two goal deficit, but only picked up a point as the Jr. Blues stayed hot with a 3-2 shootout win.  Oliver Takacso-Nagy and Trevor Stone gave the Jr. Blues a 2-0 lead after one period.  Topeka tied the game at 2-2 with 2nd period goals from Michal Pastor and Codey Hansen.  Springfield got the shootout winner from Terry Leabo and goaltender Matt Leon made 42 saves in the win. Boxscore

Coulee Region 4 @ Janesville 2 – The Chill picked up big road win on Friday night in Janesville thanks to two goals from Hunter Anderson in a 4-2 win over the Jets.  Coulee Region never trailed in the game as Anderson opened the scoring in the 1st period.  Jordan Himley tied the game at 1-1, but Eddie Matsushima scored to make it 2-1.  Himley would again tie the game, but a goal midway through the 3rd period from Sean Lang proved to be the game-winner and Anderson added an empty-net goal. Boxscore

Jamestown 2 @ Port Huron 1 – The 1st place Ironmen kept their hot streak going with a 2-1 road win in Port Huron on Friday.  All three goals in the game were scored on the power play.  Ian Miller opened the scored in the 1st period for the Falcons.  However, that was answered in the 2nd period with goals from Jamestown’s Victor Johansson and Dylan Zink, who scored less than three minutes apart.  That is all goalie Tim Shaughnessy would need as he made 33 saves in the win. Boxscore

Brookings 1 @ Austin 4 – In a battle of the two top teams in the Central Division, the Bruins used a stingy defense to cool off the Blizzard, 4-1.  After AJ Reid opened the scoring for the Bruins in the 1st period, Shayne McLaughlink would answer back for Brookings early in the 2nd period.  Riley Covard would answer back with a shorthanded goal and the rest was all Austin as John Simonson and Jay Dickman scored in the 3rd period to put the game out of reach. Boxscore

Aberdeen 3 @ Bismarck 4 (SO) – Shane Omdahl played the role of hero again as he scored the shootout winner as Bismarck edged Aberdeen, 4-3.  The majority of all the scoring was done in the 1st period.  Bismarck ended up with a 3-2 lead after 20 minutes with goals from Mike Dockry, Patrick Moore and Bob Kinne.  Aberdeen responded with goals in the 1st period from Heinz Koster and Peter Krieger and a goal in the 2nd period from Erik Baskin, which kept the game tied until the shootout. Boxscore

Amarillo 7 @ Texas 2 – The Bulls were dominant in their weekend road sweep of the Tornado, outshooting Texas 34-16 in a 7-2 win.  After a Ryan Cole goal, Texas had a lead of 2-1 with goals from Justin Greenberg and Jackson Leef.  However, goals from James Bonaguro and Carter Penzien gave the Bulls a lead they would never lose.  Two goals from Brandon Flood and others from Tyler Deresky and Geoff Fortman put the game on ice for the Bulls. Boxscore

Kenai River 2 @ Wichita Falls 1 – Gustaf Johansson made 32 saves and was the difference in the game as the Brown Bears picked up a big 2-1 road win in Wichita Falls on Friday.  Johansson and Wildcats goalie Evan Cowley both shut the door for two periods, but the Brown Bears got goals in the 3rd period from Matt Seidel and Alex Jackstadt to give enough edge to Kenai River in the win.  The Wildcats George Pagonis spoiled Johansson’s shutout bid with less than two minutes remaining. Boxscore