Saturday Scores: Brown Bears complete sweep of Wild
Wenatchee 2 @ Kenai River 4 - Zack Zulkanycz scored a go-ahead power-play goal with 11 seconds remaining in regulation Saturday to send the Kenai River Brown Bears to a 4-2 victory over the Wenatchee Wild at the Soldotna Sports Center in Soldotna, Alaska. The win completed a three game home sweep for the Brown Bears. Zac Lazzaro staked the Brown Bears to an early 1-0 lead Saturday 2:55 into the first period when he scored on a slap shot from the left wing circle. The Wild went on to tie up the game three minutes later when Max McHugh scored on a quick shot from the slot. The game remained tied for less than a minute when Alec Butcher scored on a shot from the slot with 1:08 left in the second period to give the Brown Bears a 2-1 edge heading into the third period. The Wild trailed the Brown Bears 2-1 entering the third period, but tied up the contest with 7:33 left in regulation when Nicholas Kuchera knocked in a man-advantage goal during the front end of a double minor. The game appeared to be headed for overtime until Zulkanycz scored the game-winner with 11 seconds left in the final frame. Jacob Davidson added an empty-netter for the Brown Bears with a second left in regulation for the 4-2 final. Boxscore
Austin 4 @ Minot 0 – Jason Pawloski stopped all 19 shots that came his way for his 3rd shutout of the season as the Bruins once again denied Minot a playoff spot with a 4-0 road win. Chris Fischer scored twice for Austin, including the game’s first goal in the 1st period. Cody Dixon added a power play goal in the 2nd period to make it 2-0. Fischer scored his second goal of the game early in the 3rd period to make it 3-0 and Jay Dickman added a late goal to make it 4-0. Ryan Ruck made 30 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Aberdeen 4 @ Bismarck 3 (SO) – The Aberdeen Wings kept their playoff hopes alive thanks to another nail-biting win, which completed the weekend road sweep of the Bobcats. Things were looking good for Bismarck entering the 3rd period as Evan Giesler scored twice and Patrick Moore added another to give the Bobcats a 3-1 lead heading into the final period. However, Peter Krieger scored his second goal of the game to make it 3-2 and Jake Horton tied the game at 3-3. In the shootout, Krieger, Justin Parizek and Sam Coborn scored for the Wings. Boxscore
Michigan 2 @ Janesville 4 – With a 4-2 win on Saturday, the Janesville Jets completed a weekend sweep of the Warriors and moved into sole possession of the 6th and final playoff spot in the North Division. With the loss, Michigan was eliminated from playoff contention. Michigan led 2-0 in the game at one point on goals from Shawn Badali and Colin Larkin. But, Janesville stormed back with four straight goals late in the 2nd period and into the 3rd period from Daniel Kucerovy, Jordan Himley, Mike Sullivan and Jason Ford. Boxscore
Topeka 4 @ Odessa 3 – Tyler Poulsen scored twice late in the 2nd period, including the eventual game-winning goal as the RoadRunners completed a weekend road sweep of the Jackalopes, who lost their 14th straight game. The two teams exchanged goals in the 1st period as Drew Kariofiles scored for Topeka and Taylor Portner scored for Odessa. Kyle Sharkey scored early in the 2nd period to spot Topeka a 2-1 lead, but Corey Hoffman answered for the Jacks. Then came the two goals from Poulsen, which trumped a late goal from Odessa’s Stephen Inman. Boxscore
Soo 3 @ Port Huron 4 (SO) – Easton Powers scored the only goal of the shootout as the Fighting Falcons completed a weekend home sweep of the 1st place Soo Eagles with a 4-3 shootout win on Saturday. Each team scored once in each of the three periods. The Fighting Falcons goal a goals from Mitch Maloney in the 1st period, Brett D’Andrea in the 2nd period and Tyler Spezia in the 3rd period, whjle Michael Crowley scored twice for the Eagles and Jared VanWormer added the other goal. Port Huron goalie Alex Blackenburg shut the door on all four shooters in the shootout. Boxscore
Wichita Falls 1 @ Amarillo 4 – Three, 1st period goals were enough to propel the Bulls past the Wildcats, completing a weekend sweep as Amarillo moved closer to winning the NAHL’s regular season title. Matt Sieckhaus, Mike Davis and Ryan Cole all scored in a three minute span in the 1st period. TJ Sherman scored in the 2nd period to make it 4-0 before the Wildcats got their lone goal from Kristaps Bzaevics, which spoiled the shutout bid of Colin Delia, who made 23 saves. Boxscore
Jamestown 2 @ Kalamazoo 3 – The race for the all-important 2nd place spot in the North and bye in the 1st round of the playoffs, swung back to Kalamazoo’s favor as they moved into 2nd place with a 3-2 win over the Ironmen. The K-Wings led 1-0 in the 1st period on a goal from Kyle Gattelaro. Jamestown tied the game in the 2nd period on a goal from Victor Johansson. Kalamazoo reclaimed the lead with a goal from Robbie Payne. In the 3rd period, Joseph Mottiqua scored to briefly tie the game, before Taylor Burden netted the game winning goal less than a minute later. Boxscore
Coulee Region 1 @ Brookings 2 – Drew Weigman made 30 saves as the Blizzard completed a weekend home sweep of the Chill with a 2-1 win on Saturday. After a scoreless 1st period in which Brookings outshot Coulee Region 10-5, Thomas Williams put Brookings ahead with a goal in the 2nd period. The lead increased to 2-0 as Evan Hesse scored early in the 3rd period. Kevin Becker spoiled Wiegman’s shutout bid with less than a minute remaining in the game on a penalty shot. Boxscore
Fresno 2 @ Fairbanks 1 – The Monsters got 36 saves from Tomas Sholl to salvage a game of a three game set in Fairbanks as they beat the Ice Dogs, 2-1. Despite being outshot 10-6 in the opening period, it was the Monsters who got on the board first as Gordon Wells scored to put Fresno ahead 1-0. The Monsters went up 2-0 early in the 2nd period on a goal from Matt Salituro. Curran Klein answered back for the lone goal of the night for the Ice Dogs, who were shut down by Sholl the rest of the way. Boxscore
