Saturday Scores: Rebels Complete Improbable Comeback
by NAHL Writing Team
The Danbury Hat Tricks are in the win column after a strong showing against Elmira
Northeast 5 @ Philadelphia 6 (OT) - A pair of goals from Ruslan Jamaldinov powered the Philadelphia Rebels to a 6-5 overtime win over the Northeast Generals on Saturday night. Mikey Bartkowski and Thomas Klochkov each tallied a goal in the first to put the Generals up 2-0 after 20 minutes. In the 2nd, Jake Gutwirth and Bartkowski would tally a pair of goals just 18 seconds apart, but Charles Panchisin would get one back a minute and a half later for the Rebels to cut the lead to 4-1 after 40 minutes. In the third, Thomas Neu would tally one for the Rebels to cut the lead to 4-2, but Grady Logue would respond just 3 minutes later to put the Generals back up 5-2. Just 2 minutes after Logue put the Generals back up by 3, the Rebels would begin storming back, with Ruslan Jamaldinov cutting the lead to 5-3. 65 seconds after that, Linas Dedinas would cut the lead to 5-4. With just under 2 minutes left, Caesar Bjork would tally the game-tying goal with the extra attacker to send the game to overtime, where Jamaldinov would tally his 2nd of the night to send the Rebels home victorious. Cole Werthman and Owen Crudale would combine for 23 stops on the night, and Ryan Nolan would tally 33 saves in the loss.
Johnstown 6 @ New Hampshire 1 - A Ryan Flaherty hat trick powered the Johnstown Tomahawks to a 6-1 victory over the New Hampshire Mountain Kings on Saturday afternoon. A pair of first period goals from Ryan Flaherty and one from Sam Blanton put Johnstown up 3-0 after 20 minutes. The middle frame brought goals from Dallas Potter and Taybor Aldrich for Johnstown and one from Jack MacDonald for New Hampshire to put Johnstown up 5-1 after 2. In the third period, Flaherty would complete his hat trick to complete the 6-1 victory. Tommy O’Donnell tallied 30 saves for Johnstown in the win. Matt Weiss and Sebastian Bodnar combined for 30 saves for New Hampshire in the loss.
El Paso 1 @ Colorado 4 - The El Paso Rhinos faced off against the Colorado Grit at Greeley Ice Haus Saturday night. The Grit started off the scoring in the first period with a power play goal from Alexander German. The Rhinos retaliated with a power play goal of their own from Rasmus Nousiainen about ten minutes into the first. Luke Helgeson of the Grit broke the tie a few minutes later, scoring a top-shelf goal. With only two seconds to spare in the first, Lucca Orri sent George Poirier a backdoor pass resulting in a goal and putting the Grit ahead 3-1. After a scoreless second period, in the third Lucca Orri had a far-side shot that was blocked by the goalie but then rebounded in by Helgeson making the game’s final score 4-1. El Paso’s goalie, Tyler Hodges made 34 saves and Colorado’s Jack Erickson made 21 saves.
Elmira 2 @ Danbury 8 - The Danbury Hat Tricks opened the 2024-2025 NAHL season in dramatic fashion with a big win over the Elmira Aviators that saw them score eight goals. The Hat Tricks jumped out to an early lead in the first period with goals by Gates Omicioli, Ben Dempster, and Jack Wuertz while the Aviators remained scoreless. Elmira would get on the board in the second period thanks to a goal by Sean Williams, but unfortunately for the Aviators, Omicoli matched their goal with his second of the night. The third period would also see a barrage of goals from the Hat Tricks, as Sam Esposito notched two goals and Andrew Horn also added a tally. The big story of the night belongs to Gates Omicioli, as his third period goal resulted in an early season hat trick for the 18-year old.
Maine 4 @ Maryland 0 - The Maine Nordiques took on the Maryland Black Bears on Saturday night and put on quite a show as the visiting team. The Nordiques scored a total of four goals throughout the game, with three of those scores coming in the second frame. The offense was led by Laurent Trepanier who scored twice in the period alongside Ethan Wongus; the lone goal in the third period came off the stick of Shane Kozlina, and a clean sheet from goalie Matthew DellaRusso resulted in the first win of the season for the Nordiques.
New Jersey 3 @ Rochester 2 (SO) - The games featuring the New Jersey Titans and Rochester Jr. Americans got off to a bit of a slow start, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long. Rochester jumped out to an early lead as Andrew Gibbons got the scolding started in the first. Each team would go on to score once in the second, as Keenan Dewberry found the back of the net for the Jr. Americans and Alex Papaspyropoulos got the Titans on the board, trailing by one. The score would even up in the third period courtesy of Shawn Leary’s late goal, forcing the game into overtime and eventually a shootout. New Jersey took the shootout 2-1 on a score by Nikita Meshcheryakov, giving them their first win of the season.
Chippewa 2 @ Wisconsin 3 (OT) - Elliot Gulley was the hero as the Wisconsin Windigo prevailed over the Chippewa Steel 3-2 in overtime on Saturday night. Chippewa would strike first on the stick of their captain, Aidan Willis, just 4 minutes in, but just before the end of the period, Logan Nickolaus would score for the Windigo, and bring the game to a 1-1 tie after 20 minutes. In the 2nd, Carson Strapon and Gavin Middendorf would trade goals just 2 and a half minutes apart to keep the game tied after 40 minutes. The third period was an even battle, but no goals in the 3rd period brought the game to overtime, where Elliot Gulley would be the hero and send the Windigo fans home happy with a 3-2 overtime win. Lucas Szyszka would tally 25 saves in the win for the Windigo, and Tyler Spokane tallied 16 saves in the loss for the Steel.
Amarillo 3 @ Oklahoma 2 - The Amarillo Wranglers faced off in a close matchup against the Oklahoma Warriors. Dominik Kiss of the Warriors tipped in Trent Burlison’s shot to put the first goal on the board with a minute left in the first. In the second, Amarillo tied the game seven minutes in with a goal from Grayson Gerhard. Later on in the second, Oklahoma’s Sebastian Speck scored on a breakaway making the score 2-1. Oklahoma’s lead was short-lived as just a minute later Amarillo’s Aidan Dres buried a rebound to once again tie the game. Amarillo’s Alexander Alesvolv tipped in a goal with a little over three minutes left in the third to secure the 3-2 win over the Warriors and the series sweep for the Wranglers.
Kenai River 4 @ Janesville 2 - The Janesville Jets hosted the Kenai River Brown Bears for an intense game Saturday night. Janesville’s Nick Messina opened the scoring with a great shot on a 3-on-2 four minutes into the first. Luke Hause of Kenai River netted a goal not quite two minutes into the second to tie the game at 1-1. Shortly after. Janesville’s Jayar Luedke took the lead, but Kenai River answered back with a beautiful pass from Luke Hause to James Lyver scoring on a 2-on-1. In the third period, Greye Rampton scored his second goal of the season nine minutes in followed by an empty netter with two minutes remaining in the game securing a 4-2 win over the Jets. Both teams’ goalies had an impressive game with Kenai River’s Mitchell Mccusker having 33 saves and Janesvile’s Mattew Alberti having 32.
Corpus Christi 5 @ Shreveport 1 - Corpus Christi defeated Shreveport 5-1 Saturday. The teams got off to a slow start offensively with goaltenders Nikita Volsky and Nikola Goich keeping the game scoreless for over a period. The Ice Rays finally struck first as Stepan Kuznetsov potted his first goal of the year early in the second. Corpus Christi was not done there as Will Reardon doubled the lead less than three minutes later. Kuznetsov added his second of the game shortly after to give the Ice Rays a 3-0 lead at the second intermission. The third period began as the second ended with Michael Valdez scoring for Corpus Christi. The Mudbugs finally found the back of the net three minutes later with Lucas Deeb grabbing the goal. However, Billy Biedermann would answer for the Ice Rays two minutes later to push the score to its 5-1 final. Volsky stopped 27 shots in the winning effort while Goich made 26 saves on 31 shots faced.
Fairbanks 2 @ Minnesota 4 - Minnesota defeated Fairbanks 4-2 on the back of four different goal scorers. The Wilderness struck first at 12:50 in the opening frame as Frantisek Netusil scored his second goal of the young season. However, Arsenii Vorobev and Fairbanks would answer back in the dying second of the period with a power play strike to knot that game at one. Most of the second period was scoreless before Minnesota struck twice in 25 seconds late in the frame. Ben Roulette and Zach Homer were responsible for giving their team the 3-1 lead. Minnesota’s Ben Doll and Fairbanks’ Brent Gulenchyn traded third period goals to bring the score to its final at 4-2. Wilderness goaltender Simon Zille stopped 29 of 31 shots in the win while Charlie Menard made 25 saves for the Ice Dogs.
Odessa 3 @ Lone Star 2 - Odessa defeated defending champions Lone Star in a tight 3-2 affair Saturday night. The Jackalopes rode a strong performance from goaltender Aries Carangi as he stopped 31 of 33 shots in the win. However, Lone Star would strike first in the game with Charlie Masek scoring just 3:32 into the game. The Jackalopes answered the Brahmas quickly. Zachary Benayon and Caden Ghossi were the culprits for Odessa who took a 2-1 lead. Lone Star punched back just 37 seconds into the second period as Masek netted his second goal of the game. Odessa responded later in the period with Nicholas Arrington scoring what would end up as the game-winning goal at 7:18 in the second. The third period was dominated by goaltending. The frame remained scoreless and Odessa took home the one-goal victory.
