Friday Finals: Steel Push Winning Streak to Four

Maryland 3 @ Johnstown 5 - The Johnstown Tomahawks got a much needed win over the Maryland Black Bears on Friday Night. Johnstown used an effective offense fueled by five different scorers, including tallies from Tate Pecknold, Adam Ondris, Dallas Potter, Lukas Klemm, and Ryan Flaherty. Flaherty’s score bumped him into double digits in the goal section of the scoresheet, while Potter’s strike got his name on the scoresheet for the first time with his first goal of the season. Maryland recorded goals from Tanner Duncan, Isac Nielsen and Tyler Stern, but their efforts were not enough as Johnstown pilled away with a 5-3 win. The win could not come at a better time for Johnstown, who has been winless since November 2, their last win since getting swept by the Northeast Generals. Zack Farris made 29 stops on 32 shots for the Tomahawks, while Ryan Denas and Benji Motew split 14 saves on 19 shots in the loss for the Bears.

Northeast 2 @ New Hampshire 5 - The New Hampshire Mountain Kings blasted the Northeast Generals in a 5-2 win on Friday evening. It was Joseph McGraw who got the scoring party started for the Generals, but it was the Mountain Kings who responded with five unanswered goals from William Francisco-Parent, OlI Genesi, Alexander Duhon and Jaden Davis to take a four goal lead. Frank D’Ancona cut the lead down to three with a late third period bury, this is the smallest the deficit would get on the night. Sam Scopa turned 27 pucks aside on 29 shots for New Hampshire while Aiden McKenna stopped 30 biscuits on 35 shots for Northeast.

New Jersey 3 @ Philadelphia 4 (OT) - The Philadelphia Rebels took an overtime thriller over the New Jersey Titans on Friday evening. Rusian Jamaidinov and Ryan Bunting put the Rebels out to an early 2-0 lead in first period, while Alex Papaspyropoulos cut the lead in half in the second period for New Jersey. The real action came in the third period with goals from Billy Sheridan for Philadelphia, and Jack Hillier and Owen Leahy scored with under three minutes left for New Jersey.

Elmira 3 @ Rochester 6 - The Rochester Jr. Americans continued their winning ways over the Elmira Aviators on Friday evening, Adam Gionta notched the lone first period tally for Rochester, followed by Hugo Brathsson to make the lead 2-0, while Charlie Fink, Brenden Bedorf notched a pair of second period tallies to tie the game at two. Nicholas Rief, Owen King and JC Humphreys pulled ahead for the Jr. Americans.

Janesville 1 @ Chippewa 2 - The Janesville Jets snuck past the Chippewa Steel 2–1 on Friday evening. Camden Davis scored less than three minutes in for Janesville, followed by Sammy Smith who opened his Chippewa account to tie the match up at 1-1. Grant Denuccio made the ultimate difference for Chippewa as his final goal got the team to the winning mark. Devin Shakar only let in one goal as he made 37 saves on 38 shots for Chippewa, while Christian Kirsch made 22 saves on 24 shots for the Jets in the weekend opening loss. 

St. Cloud 2 @ Watertown 4 - Carter Sproule of the Shamrocks got the lone goal of the first late in the period with assists from Ryan Whiterabbit and Kody Moyer. Sproule got another goal in the second assisted by Jack McMinn. Tanner Hunt put the Norsemen on the board with a goal assisted by Tim Runtso and Carter Lundie. Whiterabbit got a goal assisted by Cam Markham and Sproule. Travis Lefere scored a goal in the third assisted by Kody Moyer and William Shepard. Kyle Miller scored an unassisted goal for the Norsemen Beck Liden made 24 saves for the Norsemen while Phileas Lachat made 24 saves for the Shamrocks.

Minnesota W 3 @ Wisconsin 6 - Wisconsin’s Luke Baker got the first period started early with an assist from Felix Haibock. Nate Murray tied the game up for Minnesota with a goal assisted by Luke Margenau and Payton Struck. Braydon Beahm took the lead for the Windigo assisted by Elliot Gulley. Murray got an unassisted goal early in the second to tie up the game. Beahm took the lead for the Windigo assisted by Gulley and Ronnie Hill. Mario DiMaggio added a goal to the lead. In the third, Zachary Cline with an assist from Elliot Gulley scored for the Windigo. Beahm unassisted added another goal to Wisconsin’s lead. Owen Smith with an assist from Margenau added one more on the board for the Wilderness. Niklas Erickson made 21 saves for the Minnesota Wilderness, while Lucas Szyszka made 17 saves.

Corpus Christi 1 @ Oklahoma 4 - Sebastian Speck got a goal in the first assisted by Domink Kiss and Nate Farrell. Speck put another goal on the board assisted by Travis Bryson and Ollie Chessler. The second remained scoreless. In the third, Max Ranstrom scored a goal assisted by Stepan Kuznetzov and Matteus Soderbom putting the IceRays on the board. Louie Kamienski scored a goal assisted by Ben Likness and Speck added to the Warriors lead. Kamienski scored an empty net goal unassisted. Vlad Bryzgalov made 19 saves for Corpus Christi while Kyle Jones made 35 saves for Oklahoma.

Minnesota M 1 @ Austin 7 - During the first, Tyler Shaver with an assist from Nathan Williams added a goal on the board for the Bruins. Alex Laurenza added to the lead. Laurenza scored another goal with assists from Ryan Lund and Evan Malkhassian. Emil Samuelsson assisted by Ludvig Mellgren added to Austin’s lead. Trey Gnetz put the Mallards on the board with an unassisted goal in the second. Malkhassian assisted by Shaver added another goal to the Bruins lead. During the third, Gavin Hruza scored an unassisted goal for the Bruins. Jake Spraetz added an unassisted goal for Austin. Richard Rafaj made 31 saves for the Mallards. Devin Rustlie made 19 saves for the Bruins.

North Iowa 2 @ Bismarck 3 - In the first, Jakub Kopecky scored a goal for the Bobcats assisted by Olle Karlsson and Brandon Ruskowski. Michael Malatino scored a goal for the Bulls assisted by Evan Johnson and Jack Seaverson. Chase Reid took the lead for Bismarck with assists from Matthew Rafalski and Zane Rowan. Vince Kalschuer tied it up for North Iowa with a goal assisted by Malatino and Liam Bard. In the second, Josh Lehto scored a goal assisted by Reid and Karlsson took the lead for Bismarck. Kyle Ozgun made 27 saves for the North Iowa Bulls and Kai Weigel made 24 saves for the Bismarck Bobcats.

Shreveport 1 @ Odessa 0 (OT) - In a true back-and-forth defensive battle, it took more than just regulation for fans to see a tally on the board Friday night. Late into overtime, Seth Murich hit the back of the net as the Shreveport Mudbugs narrowly defeated the Odessa Jackalopes 1-0. Goaltender Nikola Goich stood tall to earn the shutout and help the Mudbugs earn the win.

Amarillo 0 @ Lone Star 5 - The Lone Star Brahmas cashed in three times on the powerplay en route to a dominant 5-0 win over the Amarillo Wranglers. Leo Bergstrom got things rolling midway through the first, lighting the lamp to give Lone Star a lead. From there, Elias Kumlin netted one in the second to put them up by a pair. The Brahmas looked to run away with the win in the third, and did just that with a trio of goals courtesy of August Classon, Ryan Comishock, and Kumlin. In the end, Lone Star hung on for the shutout victory. Netminder Jack Spicer was perfect in the crease, padding aside all 26 shots faced.

Aberdeen 0 @ Minot 4 - The Minot Minotauros cruised past the Aberdeen Wings Friday night, outshooting them 38-14 en route to a 4-0 victory. Minot tallied a pair of goals in the first, thanks to John Small and Jack O’Hanisain. Ian Spencer hit the back of the net in the second to extend the lead. In the final frame, Spencer lit the lamp for the second time of the evening to seal the deal for the Minotauros. Only having to face 14 shots, Will Mizenko was perfect in net to earn the shutout.

Colorado 1 @ El Paso 4 - Despite getting the first tally of the night, the Colorado Grit fell 4-1 to the El Paso Rhinos Friday night. Chris Graves scored early on for Colorado, but from there it was all El Paso. Ben Norris lit the lamp halfway through the period to tie the game, before Alexandre Pellerin and Paavo Hiltunen extended the Rhinos lead heading into the third. Ryder Many Grey Horses sealed the deal to net El Paso’s fourth of the night and solidify the victory.

Springfield 1 @ Anchorage 3 - Springfield and Anchorage played a rather tight contest on Friday night. The Jr. Blues and Wolverines went back and forth as they battled for the upper hand. In the end, it was the hosting Wolverines that came away victorious. Anchorage scored two minutes into the game thanks to Jakub Bednarik on Friday night. And Cole Christian added two assists to help the Wolverines to victory.

Fairbanks 5 @ Kenai River 2 - It was a clash of Alaskan teams on Friday night as the Ice Dogs took on the Brown Bears. It was also a rather intense game, as well. The two teams combined for 16 power play opportunities, with Fairbanks receiving 10 of them. They made those count, too, scoring three of their five goals with the man advantage. The Ice Dogs skated away with a 5-2 win over Kenai River despite initially trailing 2-0 after one period. Fairbanks forward Luca Ricciardi led the way offensively with two goals and an assist against the Brown Bears.

Boxscores