Friday Finals: Watertown Wins Again

Northeast 4 @ Danbury 7 - The Danbury Hat Tricks captured a thrilling 7-4 win over the Northeast Generals on Friday night. Both teams started hot as seven goals were scored in the first period alone, including three of Northeast’s goals on the entire night. Grady Logue and Joseph McGraw struck in the opening frame for the Generals, while Ameen Ghosheh, Kai Elkie and David Utkin got on the board for the Hat Tricks. Ben Dempster and Issac Mitchelll scored for  Danbury in the second to give the Tricks five unanswered goals, but was eventually answered by Vinny Ipri for Northeast. Andrew Gibbons scored solo in the final frame as good measure for Danbury to secure the three goal win.

Elmira 4 @ New Hampshire 0 - The Elmira Aviators blanked the New Hampshire Mountain Kings as they flew away with a 4-0 win on Friday night. Elmira ended the game before it even started as they jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first period with scores from the sticks of Luke Sakala and Bryce Terry who buried twice in the opening frame. Curtiss Sturgeon tucked in the third period to keep a 40-shot New Hampshire offense at bay. Ty Levy made a perfect 40-for-40 stops on the night to pick up the weekend opening goose egg.

Rochester 3 @ Maine 4 (SO) - The Maine Nordiques pulled away with a 4-3 shootout winner over the Rochester Jr. Americans on Friday night. Rochester took an early two goal lead with snipes from Landon Brownlee and Adam Gionta. After a scoreless second period, Maine came into the third period burning as they scored three unanswered from Zion Green and Michael Stenberg goals to take a 3-2 lead halfway through the final frame. Just as all hope seemed lost, Calle Karlson clutched for Rochester to tie the game at 3-3 with just 11 seconds left. After a scoreless overtime, nine skaters shot and nine skaters were denied between both teams before Grant Kohen finally ended things with a fifth-round shootout goal. Danick Leroux made 22 out of 25 saves in the loss, while Carter Richardson made a game-sealing 31 out of 34 saves to secure the dub for Maine.

Maryland 0 @ New Jersey 2 - Shots don’t equal goals, as the Maryland Black Bears found out the hard way as they dropped a 2-0 contest to the New Jersey Titans on Friday night. An astounding 50 shots goal resulted in a shocking zero goals for Maryland, while it only took Maryland 28 shots to come out with a pair of scores from Owen Leahy and James Schneid late in the third period. While Austin McNicholas’ perfect 50 stop performance on the night is hard to believe, the most eye-popping stat came as teams combined for an astounding 116 penalty minutes, 108 of which came in the third period alone.

Johnstown 4 @ Philadelphia 6 - The Philadelphia Rebels took an exciting 6-4 win over the Johnstown Tomahawks Friday night. Nine total different scores inked their name on the stat sheet in the offensive shootout, five for Philadelphia and four Johnstown. Philly was boosted with scores from Ruslan Jamaldinov, Caesar Bjork, Drew Belleson, Ryan Bunting and Linas Dedinas, while Johnstown fell just short with good efforts from Ryan Flaherty, Lukas Klemm, Cullen Emery and Markes Samenas. Zack Ferris made 32 saves on 37 shots for Johnstown, while Owen Crudale made an impressive 49 stops on 53 shots to secure the win for Philadelphia.

Minnesota W 3 @ Chippewa 6 - The Chippewa Steel took a decisive 6-3 victory over the Minnesota Wilderness on Friday night. Action got off to a slow start with both teams only scoring one goal each from Jackson Lackas and Brady Zugec, respectively. Things really opened up in the second period as Lackas added a pair to his initial tally to complete the hat trick, while Camden Davis followed suit with a goal for the Steel. Logan Nagle and Jakeb Lynch got on the board for the Wilderness to end the second period, but their efforts were in vein as Davis added his second tally of the contest, and Lackas added his fourth of the night to move his season total to 12 scores on the year.

Springfield 0 @ Wisconsin 4 - The Wisconsin Wendigo perfected the Springfield Jr. Blues as they were awarded with a 4-0 win on Friday night. After a scoreless first, Alexios Georgaklis, Mario DiMaggio and John Halverson buried in the second frame to put Wisconsin up to a comfortable 3-0 lead in the second frame. Martin Klicka tucked early in the third to squash any chances of Springfield coming back on the night. Frank Murphy made a respectable 25 saves on 29 shots in the losing effort, but it was his opponent counterpart Lucas Szyszka who was blameless as he made a spotless 19 saves on 19 shots to pick up the shutout win.

North Iowa 6 @ Minnesota M 1 - The North Iowa Bulls dominated the Minnesota Mallards as they picked up a 6-1 win on Friday night. North Iowa had their way with Minnesota as they scored six unanswered goals through three periods in the dominant contest. Six different scorers totaled for the Bulls, including Noah Diemer, Michael Malatino, Kash Krawford, Joseph Croghlin, Eli Miller and Jack Seaverson. Dakotah Bailey was able to ruin the shutout bid for North Iowa, but his solo efforts were not enough to get back in the contest. Zane Spaniot made 33 saves on 39 shots for Minnesota, while Kyle Ozgun made 32 stops on 33 shots to breeze to the dominant win.

Watertown 4 @ Austin 3 (OT) - The Watertown Shamrocks took a thrilling 4-3 overtime win to top the Austin Bruins on Friday night. The bulk of the action came early in the match with five goals in the first period, including all three regulation goals for Watertown from Zach Boren, Brandt Dubey and Cam Markham. Alex Laurenza and Evan Malkhassian scored two goals in two minutes for Austin to bring the score back within one to close the opening stanza. After a scoreless middle frame and half of a scoressles final period, Gustav Svantesson knotted the score in the third period to force overtime. Heroic efforts in the rearview mirror, Ryan Whiterabbit was the true hero for Watertown as he scored the game-winning dagger just 27 seconds into the extra frame.

Odessa 3 @ Shreveport 8 - Shreveport made easy work Odessa in an 8-3 victory. The Mudbugs took control early with a three-goal first period. Andrej Paricka opened the scoring just over four minutes into the game with his fourth of the season. Lucas Deeb then made it 2-0 with his team-leading 15th goal of the year. Carter McKay was next potting his eighth with less than a minute to play in the opening frame. Odessa grabbed one back in the second. Caden Ghiossi netted his eighth of the season to cut the Jackolope deficit to 3-1. Shreveport then struck back with two second-period tallies. David Ehrhard and Kyan Haldenby scored the goals to put the Mudbugs up 5-1 after 40 minutes. The scoring trend continued into the game’s final period. Odessa netted a pair of goals while Shreveport found the back of the net three more times. Jordan Larkee and Caden Morgan scored for the Jackalopes. They were usurped by McKay’s second of the game and two more goals from Deeb to complete his hat trick. Nikola Goich stopped 23 shots in the winning effort for the Mudbugs. Shreveport improved to 45 points on the year with the win and sit third in the South Division. Odessa stands with 36 points and are fifth place in the South. 

New Mexico 2 @ Amarillo 1 (OT) - New Mexico outlasts Amarillo in overtime. The Ice Wolves a 26-save performance from goaltender Jackson Fuller to victory in Amarillo. The Wanglers did strike first, thought, scoring with about a minute to play in the opening period. Jake Boulanger was credited with his third goal of the year to give Amarillo a 1-0 lead. The game would not see another tally until Herman Asberg found the back of the net late in the second period. The game would remain scoreless through the third and head to overtime. New Mexico’s Nayan Pai’s sixth goal of the year gave the Ice Wolves the win in the extra frame. Wrangler goaltender Charlie Zolin made 38 saves in the win. The Ice Wolves improve to 35 points and sit sixth in the South Division. New Mexico is one point back of Odessa for fifth and three points behind El Paso for fourth. Amarillo sits ninth in the South with 30 points but remain in striking distance of the rest of the division.  

St. Cloud 1 @ Bismarck 3 - Bismarck extended their division lead with a 3-1 win over St. Cloud. After a scoreless first period, the Norseman struck first. Alex Sandhu netted his fourth goal of the season to put St. Cloud up 1-0. Bismarck’s Tommy Cronin tied the game late in the second with his second of the season to knot things at one after 40 minutes. The Bobcats struck twice in the third to secure their victory. Jakub Kopecky scored his 13th goal of the year midway through the period to give his team a 2-1 win. The goal ended up as the game-winning tally. Alexandr Kim’s seventh of the year provided an insurance marker for the Bobcats and pushed the final to 3-1. Thomas Anderson stopped 32 of 33 shots he faced in the win for Bismarck while Connor Roff made 33 stops for St. Cloud. Bismarck remains in first place in the Central Division with 58 points. St. Cloud sits fifth in the Central with 32 points. 

Minot 3 @ Aberdeen 1 - Minot rode a three-goal third period to victory over Aberdeen. Both goaltenders we’re sharp in this game as the teams remainder scoreless for more than half the game. The first goal did not come until Aberdeen struck at 12:05 in the second period. Cole Saterdalen potted the tally as his third of the season to put the Wings on top. The score remained the same until Minot tied the game early in the third. Gavin Middendorf’s 14th levels the game at one less than four minutes into the final frame. Billy Batten then found twine with just 1:20 to play in the game. It was Batten’s 15th and gave the Minotauros a 2-1 lead. Minot added an empty net goal as time expired via Jack O’Hanisain. Minot sits in third  place in the Central Division with 49 points. The Minotauros are one poor behind second place Austin. Aberdeen remains fourth in the Central with 41 points.  

Oklahoma 1 @ Lone Star 7 - Lone Star’s massive offensive breakout powers the Brahma’s over Oklahoma. Lone Star struck first just 24 seconds apart form each other. Charlie Masek broke the ice with his 13th goal of the year before Christian Venticinque potted his fifth. The Warriors did pull one ancient before the end of the period. Joey DeRosa’s sixth of the season slashed the Brahma lead to one. The middle frame belonged to Lone Star thanks to a trio of goals. Kristo Pitkannen scored 4:58 into the period. He was followed by Leo Bergstrom at 10:30 and Elias Kumlin at 15:58. The Brahmas took a 5-1 lead into the second intermission. Lone Star added two more goals in the final frame to push the game’s final to 7-1. Masek added his second of the game before Cooper Faughnan closed the scoring. Ryan Cameron made 24 saves in the win while Billy Stuski stopped 27 shots for Oklahoma. Lone Star remains in first place in the South Division with 55 points while Oklahoma slots in eighth with 33 points. 

El Paso 2 @ Corpus Christi 6 - Corpus Christi’s five consecutive goals power the IceRays over El Paso. Cody Kempf opened the scoring for a Corpus Christi late in the first period with his 12th of the season. The IceRays then struck twice in the middle frame. Carter Krenke’s eighth and Pierson Sobush 18th goals of the season put Corpus Christi up 3-0 after 40 minutes. Billy Biedermann and Matteus Soderbom made it 5-0 IceRays just three minutes into the final period. El Paso finally got the goose egg off the scoresheet thanks to Ryder Many Grey Horses netted his ninth of the season. Cooper Conway and A.J. Reed traded goals to push the final to 6-2 IceRays. Corpus Christi remains in second place in the South Division with 51 points. El Paso remains at 38 points and are fourth in the South. 

Janesville 1 @ Fairbanks 7 - Fairbanks smokes Janesville 7-1 in a dominant, home-ice victory. The Ice Dogs jumped out early and never looked back. Luca Ricciardi’s 13th of the season put Fairbanks up at the first intermission. The Ice Dogs continued to score in the middle period.  Oliver Barna, Justin Collins and Luc Plante all scored for Fairbanks to put their team up four goals after 40 minutes. Janesville finally got on the broad via Trevor Aberwald’s seventh goal of the year 1:21 into the third period. Fairbanks responded with three more goals following the Jet attempt to get back into the game. Ian Norkevicus added a pair and Arsenii Vorobev his seventh of the season to push the final to its 7-1 scoreline. Charlie Menard stopped 21 of 22 shots in the win for the Ice Dogs while Matthew Alberti made 42 saves for Janesville. Fairbanks remains in third place in the Northwest Division with 46 points while Janesville sits last with 22 points. 

Anchorage 4 @ Kenai River 1 - Anchorage downs Kenai River in Alaskan rivalry game. The Wolverines opened the game with a. Park of quick-strike goals. Merit Waldrop’s second opened the scoring at 3:32 before Daniel Bagnole’s 16th made it 2-0 Anchorage. Kenai River struck back in the second period thanks to Dario Lass’ sixth of the year. The Brown Bears trialed 2-1 after 40 minutes. Anchorage once again struck twice in a period with two goals in the game’s final frame. Duke Gentzler’ 14th and Jakub Bednarik’s 13th push the game to its 4-1 final. Roberto Leonardo Henriquez stopped 30 of the 31 shots he faced in the win while Owen Zenone made 26 saves for Kenai River. Anchorage now sits in first place in the Midwest Division with 51 points. Yeh Wolverines are tied with Wisconsin for first but have a game in hand. Kenai River sits seventh in the Midwest with 29 points. 

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