Saturday Scores: Jr. Blues ride Skinner to sweep
Topeka 3 @ Springfield 5 – Jeff Skinner recorded a hat-trick as the Jr. Blues completed a weekend home sweep of the RoadRunners thanks to a 5-3 win on Saturday. The teams were even at 1-1 as Cam Kuhl opened the scoring for Topeka and Skinner answered for the Jr. Blues. Skinner then again scored in the 2nd period, which was answered by the first goal of the season from Topeka’s Ryan Gil. Shane Haviland would give the Jr. Blues the lead back before the end of the period with his 4th goal of the season. Skinner would complete his hat-trick in the 3rd period and Bradley Marek also scored for the Jr. Blues. Max Finner had the other goal for Topeka. Jurja Ovecka made 33 saves in the Jr. Blues, while Sam Metcalf made 32 saves in the loss.
Austin 2 @ MN Wilderness 4 – Ryan Fanti backstopped the Wilderness to a weekend sweep of the Bruins thanks to 21 saves in Saturday’s 4-2 win. The Wilderness jumped out to a 2-0 lead with 1st period goals from Ondrej Trejbal and Nicholas Michel. The Bruins closed the gap late in the 2nd period on Travis Kothenbeutel’s 10th goal of the season, but that was quickly answered by Isaac Kobienia’s 10th of the season, which made the score 3-1 and put the momentum back on the Wilderness’ side. In the 3rd period the Wilderness went up 4-1 with a goal early in the period from Kosta Likourezos. Jaden Shields scored a late shorthanded goal for the Bruins. Alex Schilling made 34 saves in the loss.
Kenai River 0 @ MN Magicians 5 – Magicians goalie Isaiah Saville stopped all 22 shots that came his way for his first NAHL shutout as the Magicians completed a weekend home sweep of the Brown Bears thanks to a 5-0 win. Things were tight through the first two periods as the Magicians held just a 1-0 lead on a goal from Calvin Dybicz. In the 3rd period, the Magicians would tack on four more goals, including three empty-net goals. Bram Scheerer scored midway through the period to make it 2-0 and then Arturas Laukaitis scored twice and Carter Breitenfeldt added empty-net goals to make it a 5-0 final. Artur Pavliukov made 28 saves in the loss.
Johnstown 1 @ Philadelphia 2 (OT) – The Rebels completed a weekend home sweep of the Rebels thanks to an overtime goal from Andrew Bellant. Both goals in regulation came in the 1st period as Roman Kraemer scored for the Tomahawks, while Jensen Zerban answered back for the Rebels. After a scoreless 2nd and 3rd periods, the Rebels ended the game 1:34 into overtime as Andrew Bellant scored on a back door, 2 on 1 pass. Rebels goalie Ryan Keane made 14 saves in the win, while Jack Leavy made 29 saves in the overtime loss.
Fairbanks 4 @ Coulee Region 2 – Three goals in the 2nd period led the Fairbanks Ice Dogs to their 4th straight win, pushing their Midwest Division lead to seven points thanks to a 4-2 win on Saturday night, which completed a weekend road sweep of the Coulee Region Chill. After a scoreless 1st period, the Ice Dogs scored three times in the 2nd period on goals from Hunter Wendt, Jack Johnston, and Daniel Haider. Nick Bowman had the lone goal for the Chill in the period. In the 3rd period, Erkka Vanska scored for the Ice Dogs to make it 4-1. Kevin Bryant scored his 2nd goal of the season late in the period for the Chill to make it a 4-2 final. Josh Benson made 26 saves in his second win of the weekend, while Josh Graziano made 26 saves in the loss.
Bismarck 3 @ Brookings 1 – Ryan Ullan made 28 saves to lead the Bobcats to a 3-1 win in Brookings on Saturday, which salvaged a weekend road split against the Blizzard. The game was a goalies duel until the 3rd period, which is when all the scoring occurred. With just under seven minutes remaining, Jacob Marti scored giving the Bobcats a 1-0 lead. Just under two minutes later, Connor Koviak tied the game for the Blizzard. The Bobcats then regained the lead as Patrick O’Connor scored the game-winner on the power play with 2:33 to go. Matej Murin added an empty-net goal to make it a 3-1 final. Jacob Sibell took the loss in goal for the Blizzard.
Corpus Christi 7 @ Odessa 3 – Two goals apiece from Larry Jungwirth and Brendan Miller led Corpus Christi to a 7-3 win in Odessa on Saturday night as the IceRays leave town with three of a possible four points. The IceRays got two goals in the 1st period from Miller and Angus Scott, two goals in the 2nd period, including another from Miller and one from Matt Novo, and three more goals in the 3rd period, including two from Jungwirth and another from Garrett Hallford. Odessa got a goal in each period, which included Eric Huss in the 1st period, Ricky Carballo in the 2nd period and Evan Somoza in the 3rd period. IceRays goalie Chad Veltri made 38 saves in the win, while Alex Camarre took the loss, making 33 saves.
Minot 2 @ Aberdeen 1 – Minot kept pace in the Central Division thanks to a close 2-1 win in Aberdeen on Saturday, taking three of a possible four points in the road series. Minotauros goalie Samu Lonkila made 35 saves in the win and stopped 75 of 78 shots during the weekend. After a scoreless 1st period, the Wings got on the board first in the 2nd period as Andrew Walker scored his 4th goal of the season. The Minotauros seized the lead and the game with two goals in less than a minute span in the 3rd period as Jake Rosenbaum scored his 3rd goal of the season and Miroslav Mucha scored his league-tying 19th goal of the season. Wings goalie Gabe Vinal took the loss in goal.
Amarillo 1 @ Shreveport 6 – Ryan Burnett scored twice and Ryan Burnett made 23 saves to lead the Mudbugs to a 6-1 home win over the Bulls. The Mudbugs took a 1-0 lead to the lockerroom after the 1st period thanks to a goal from Jay Feiwell. The Bulls tied the game at 1-1 early in the 2nd period on a goal from Aaron Swanson, but after that it was all Shreveport as they scored five unanswered goals, included two in the 2nd period from Dominick Procopio and Jacob Holmers and three more in the 3rd period, including two from Burnett and another from Brendan VanSweden. Jason Grande made 22 saves in the Bulls loss.
New Jersey 2 @ Northeast 1 – Brandon Perrone made 38 saves to lead the Titans to a 2-1 road win at Northeast on Saturday in the first game of a two-game set. The Titans led 1-0 after the 1st period thanks to a goal from Tate Singleton, his 8th of the season. The Titans pushed the lead to 2-0 with a 2nd period goal from Ryan Naumovski, which would turn out to be the game-winner. The Generals finally solved Perrone in the 3rd period as Matthew Wiesner scored the lone Generals goal. Generals goalie David Fessenden made 27 saves in the win.