Friday Finals: Ice Dogs move into 1st place in the West
Mike Davis scored an NAHL season-high five goals in the Bulls 7-1 win over Wichita Falls on Friday.
Fresno 1 @ Fairbanks 5 – The Ice Dogs moved into 1st place in the West Division with a 5-1 win at home in front of a sold out crowd against the Monsters. It was the Monsters who got on the board first as Gordon Wells scored on the power play. Then it was all Ice Dogs after that as Garret Clemment and Devin Loe answered the Fresno goal to put the Ice Dogs ahead 2-1 after one period. Lawrence Cornellier and Jayson Angus scored in the 2nd period and Max Birkinbine added a 3rd period goal. Kevin Aldridge made 26 saves in the win. Boxscore
Wenatchee 5 @ Kenai River 7 – In a wild game in Kenai River, Brad Duwe had a five point night as the Brown Bears took their second straight game of the weekend series with the Wild with a 7-5 win. Chris Kerr had a hat-trick for the Wild, including the first two goals, but the Brown Bears edge came in the 2nd period when they scored four goals. Jacob Barber and Joe Sullivan had the other goals for the Wild, while Duwe had two goals for the Bears as did Zac Lazzaro. Vincent Stefan, Albin Karlsson and Alex Jackstadt also scored for the Brown Bears. Boxscore
Wichita Falls 1 @ Amarillo 7 – Amarillo forward Mike Davis scored an NAHL season-high five goals in one game to lead the Bulls to an impressive 7-1 home win over the Wildcats. After Conor O’Neil gave the Wildcats an early 1-0 lead, it was all Bulls and Davis from that point on. Davis scored his first to tie the game at 1-1. After a goal from Omar Mullan made it 2-1, Davis scored the next four goals for the Bulls including one on the power play. Tyler Deresky added the 7th Bulls goal to put a cap on the scoring on Davis’s record-breaking night. Boxscore
Michigan 1 @ Janesville 4 – The Jets gave their playoff hopes a shot in the arm as they defeated the Warriors 4-1. After a scoreless 1st period, the Jets took a 2-0 lead in the 2nd period on goals from defenseman Ruslan Pedan and captain Conor Lemirande. Michigan’s Zack Szajner made it 2-1 early in the 3rd period, but two more goals from the Jets Ryan Dau and Daniel Kucerovy gave the breathing room and win to the Jets. Goaltender Brock Kautz made 30 saves in the win. Boxscore
Aberdeen 2 @ Bismarck 1 (OT) – The never-say-die Wings held onto their slim playoff chances with a 2-1 overtime win in Bismarck on Friday thanks to 46 saves from goaltender Chad Catt. Bismarck scored early in the 1st period to take a 1-0 lead on a shorthanded goal from Daniel Kovar with assists to Filip Starzynski and Bob Kinne. Aberdeen tied the game at 1-1 late in the 2nd period on a goal from Jake Horton with an assist to Kyle Kruenegel. In overtime, Peter Krieger scored his third goal in the last two games to give the Wings the win. Boxscore
Topeka 8 @ Odessa 2 – Kyle Sharkey had a hat-trick and Tyler Groat, Sean Gaffney, Tyler Poulsen and Juraj Kucirko all had three point nights as the RoadRunners handed the Jacks their 14th straight loss. Topeka didn’t waste time jumping out to a 4-0 lead early in the 2nd period with two goals from Groat and others from Sharkey and Poulsen. Steven Haydon scored for Odessa to make it 4-1, but Topeka added four more goals, two from Sharkey, another from Poulsen and one from Tyler Andrew. Matthieu Audet added the other Odessa goal. Boxscore
Austin 3 @ Minot 2 – The Minotauros were denied a playoff spot as they dropped a close 3-2 decision at home against the division champion Bruins. Austin took a 1-0 lead in 1st period on a goal from Jay Dickman. Minot took a 2-1 lead early in the 2nd period with goals three minutes apart from Cameron Rowat and Jadin Martin. Austin tied the game late in the period on a goal from CJ Smith. AJ Reid scored the lone goal in the 3rd period, which turned out to be the game-winner. Tyler Parks made 32 saves in the loss, while Nick Lehr made 24 saves in the win. Boxscore
Corpus Christi 1 @ Texas 6 – Six different players scored for the Tornado and Aaron Davis made 18 saves as the Tornado salvaged a weekend split with the IceRays. Corpus Christi scored first as four minutes into the game Ryan McNeely scored his 2nd goal of the season. That was answered by a power play goal from Michael Hoy. Max Shuart scored the lone goal of the 2nd period, which gave the Tornado the lead for good. Texas scored four more times in the 3rd period including goals from Jackson Leef, Jason Eddy, Mitchell McPherson and Andrew Mayer. Boxscore
Coulee Region 4 @ Brookings 6 – The Blizzard scored four times in the 3rd period on their way to a 6-4 win over the Chill. The two teams traded the opening four goals as Mike McMahon and Kevin Becker scored for the Chill and Nikita Sokolov and Thomas Williams scored for the Blizzard. After an Evan Hesse goal made it 3-2 for Brookings early in the 3rd period, Sean Lang and Andy Faust scored to give the Chill a 4-3 lead late in the 3rd period. However, Brookings goal three goals in less than four minutes to end the game as Eric Brenk, Aidan Cavallini and Cody Marooney all lit the lamp. Boxscore
Soo 2 @ Port Huron 4 – The Fighting Falcons gave their playoff hopes a big bump with a 4-2 win over the 1st place Soo Eagles, as Port Huron scored the final four goals of the game. Things were looking good for the Eagles in the first half of the game as goals from Cody Von Rueden and Pat Thompson put the Eagles up 2-0. However, the Falcons stormed back with two goals in the 2nd period from Easton Powers and Tyler Spezia and two goals in the 3rd period from Dan Dupell and Vito Aluia. Boxscore
