Friday Finals: Blizzard edge 1st place Bruins
Austin 3 @ Brookings 4 – An AJ Reid hat-trick in the 1st period wasn’t enough for the Bruins as they saw the Blizzard score the final three goals of the game for a 4-3 win over the 1st place Bruins. Reid scored all three goals in the 1st period in a span of 10 minutes. Matt Youso’s goal was the lone bright spot for Brookings. The Blizzard tied the score with two, 2nd period goals off the tape of Thomas Williams and Aidan Cavallini. Eetu Karvinen’s goal in the 3rd period stood up as the game winner. Boxscore
Bismarck 2 @ Minot 1 (OT) – Ryan Callahan’s goal midway through overtime was the difference as the Bobcats picked up a big 2-1 overtime win in Minot on Friday night. With goals at a premium thanks to the goaltending of Bismarck’s Bryan Nies and Minot’s Tyler Parks, it would be the Bobcats who scored first in the 2nd period on a power play goal from Cory Chapman. Minot answered with a power play goal of their own from Jake O’Borsky. Nies ended up with 26 saves, while Parks made 28. Boxscore
Coulee Region 5 @ Aberdeen 6 – Four 1st period goals ended up being the difference for the Wings as they edged the Chill on Friday night, 6-5. Justin Parizek scored twice in the 1st period and added an assist. After the Chill took an early 2-0 lead on goals from Kevin Becker and Cory Lushanko, the Wings answered with two goals from Parizek and others from Dylan Dailey and Tyler Cisar. Jake Horton and JD Cotroneo also scored for Aberdeen, while the other Chill goals came from Hunter Anderson, Mac Jansen and Andy Faust. Boxscore
Corpus Christi 3 @ Topeka 2 (SO) – The IceRays got 31 saves from Hayden Stewart and shootout goals from Beau Walker and Charles Baldwin in a 3-2 shootout win in Topeka. Patrick Pollock opened the scoring for Topeka with a power play goal, which was answered by Walker, who tied the game at 1-1. In the 3rd period, Ryan McNeely gave the IceRays a 2-1 lead, but Drew Kariofiles answered back for the RoadRunners, ultimately sending the game to a shootout. Stewart stopped all four Topeka shooters in the shootout. Boxscore
Wichita Falls 5 @ Odessa 4 – Conor O’Neil’s second goal of the game proved to be the difference in the 3rd period as the Wildcats withstood a furious comeback from the Jacks in a 5-4 win. The Wildcats led 4-0 through the first two periods on goals from Will Vosejpka, Colin Staub, Tyler Ledford and O’Neil. Odessa storm back for four goals in the 3rd period as Taylor Portner scored twice and Lawrence Cornellier and Matt Volonnino added the others. However, O’Neil scored again late in the 3rd period for the game-winner. Boxscore
Michigan 4 @ Springfield 2 – Trevor Gorsuch made 49 saves as the Warriors picked up a 4-2 road win in Springfield on Friday night. Michigan led 1-0 after one period on a goal from Brad Pizzey. The Warriors led 3-1 after two period thanks to two more goals from Jake Hopfner and Colin Larkin. The Jr. Blues goal came from Parker Johnson. Jeff McFarland cut the lead to 3-2 with a power play goal early in the 3rd period, but a late goal from Michigan’s Zack Szajner secured the win for the Warriors. Boxscore
Texas 1 @ Amarillo 5 – The Bulls dominated in the shot category, 43-19 and after an early goal from the Tornado, dominated the rest of the game in a 5-1 home win that snapped Texas’ 10-game winning streak. Texas got on the board first with a goal from Brandon Platt, but goals from Mike Davis and TJ Sarcona gave Amarillo a 2-1 lead at the end of one period. Gage Christianson scored in the 2nd period and Tyler Gernhofer and Sarcona added 3rd period goals in the win, which put the Bulls pack into 1st place. Boxscore
Kenai River 6 @ Fresno 1 – Brad LeLievre and Matt Seidel each scored twice as the Brown Bears scored six times on just 27 shots in a 6-1 win. Seidel had the lone goal of the 1st period and LeLievre scored twice in the 2nd period along with Jacob Davidson to make the lead 4-0 after two periods. Seidel added his second of the game early in the 3rd period along with a goal from Alec Butcher. Fresno’s Matt Salituro spoiled the shutout bid of Kenai’s Marcus Zelzer with 10 minutes to go in the game. Boxscore
Port Huron 5 @ Johnstown 4 – Three, 2nd period goals from the Fighting Falcons was the difference as they won the back end game of their series finale against the Tomahawks with a 5-4 win on Friday night. Rick DeRosa scored twice and Brett D’Andrea, Easton Powers and Bryan Yim also scored in the win for the Falcons, while Johnstown goals came from Brandon Reinholz, Connor Wright, Cody Gylling and Mitch Kontny. David Parrottino and Dunk Abbott had two assists each for Port Huron. Boxscore
Soo 5 @ Jamestown 1 – Sean Murphy had two goals and Brandon Adams had three assists as the Eagles swept their series in Jamestown with a convincing 5-1 win on Friday night. Eric Rivard opened the scoring in the 1st period along with Murphy’s first goal. Murphy added his second goal in the 2nd period to make it 3-0. Jared Van Wormer added a 3rd period goal as did Denver Pierce. Luc Gerdes scored the lone goal for the Ironmen late in the 3rd period to spoil the shutout bid of Tyler Marble, who made 28 saves. Boxscore
Fairbanks 1 @ Wenatchee 4 – The Wild took the second straight game of their three game set with the Ice Dogs, thanks to a 4-1 win on Friday night in Wenatchee. Josh Harley had the game’s first goal and assisted on another. Jacob Hetz scored the lone goal for Fairbanks, which tied the game at 1-1 in the 2nd period. However, a late goal from Joe Sullivan in the 2nd period gave Wenatchee the lead for good. Jacob Barber added a 3rd period shorthanded goal and Jono Davis an empty-net goal for insurance. Robert Nichols made 31 saves in the win. Boxscore
