Friday Finals: Minotauros Move Within a Point of First Place

Danbury 0 @ Maine 3 - Carter Richardson and Maine defeated Danbury 3-0. The game waited until the second period of action until the game’s first goal. Kellen Murphy broke the ice 3:45 into the frame to give Maine a 1-0 advantage. The Nordiques then doubled their lead early in the third. Luke Chapelle potted his seventh goal of the year. Zion Green added the final tally of the game to push the final to its 3-0 score. Ryan Crowshaw stopped 33 of 36 shots he faced for Danbury in the losing effort while Richardson made 32 saves in his shutout win. Maine improves to 60 points with the victory and now sit in second place in the East Division. Danbury remains with 39 points and sit eighth in the East.  

Philadelphia 2 @ Johnstown 1 (SO) - Philadelphia outlasted Johnstown in a shootout 2-1. All the scoring in this game occurred in the second period. Johnstown opened the scoring 25 seconds into the frame as Sam Blanton grabbed his 12th of the year. The goal came on the power play. Philly then leveled the score just over nine minutes later. Ryan Bunting got the tally, his 15th. The Rebels took the extra point in the shootout as Charles Panchisin was the only player to score. Philadelphia collects their 37th point of the year and land in ninth in the East Division. Johnstown sits with 46 points and fifth in the East. 

Maryland 1 @ New Hampshire 3 - New Hampshire scored three unanswered to knock of Maryland 3-1. The Black Bears struck first in the game. Isac Nielsen’s 15th goal of the year put Maryland in front late in the opening period. The game remained 1-0 until Damon Bossie tied the contest with just over a minute left in the second period. The game stayed level until Jayden Johnson gave the Mountain Kings the lead with three minutes to go. Kim Hilmersson added an empty net tally, his 19th, as the clock ticked away. Sam Scopa stopped 24/25 shots in the win for New Hampshire while Marko Bilic made 24 saves for Maryland. The Mountain Kings improve to 43 points on the year. They sit sixth in the East Division. The Black Bears drop to third place with 59 points. 

Elmira 2 @ New Jersey 3 - New Jersey fends offs Elmira in 3-2 victory. The Titans opened the scoring with the only tally in the first period. It was James Taylor scoring his 11th goal of the season midway through the frame. The teams then traded goals in each of the final two periods. Clarence Beltz briefly tied the game in the second for Elmira before Jeremy Sprung out Jersey back in the lead. The Titans then jumped ahead 3-1 thanks to Blake Jones early in the final frame. Jett Otwell tried tow will the Aviators back into the game but his goal was the game’s last. Austin McNicholas made 30 saves in the winning effort for New Jersey while Wesley Jefferson-Swint II stopped 42 shots for Elmira. The Titans grab points number 51 and 52, now sitting fourth in the East Division. Elmira remains last in the division. 

Northeast 2 @ Rochester 5 - Rochester rode a three-goal third period to victory over Northeast. The Jr. Americans opened the scoring just under four minutes into the game. Calle Karlsson was credited with the goal, his 21st. Northeast struck back roughly six minutes later as Jack Montaldo evened the game at one. The Generals then took the lead only 97 seconds into the middle frame thanks to Kai Dunits’ fifth of the season. Rochester then rattled off four consecutive goals. First it was Caden Okovita scoring to send the game to the second intermission knotted at two apiece. Owen King and Jordin Palmer grabbed goals for the Jr. Americans witching the first five minuets of the final frame to put their team up a pair. King then added his second of the game and 18th of the season to close out the scoring. Danick Leroux stopped 31 of 33 shots he faced in the win while Carson Barnes made 32 saves for Northeast. The Jr. Americans jump to first place in the East Division with 62 points. Northeast’s 40 points place then seventh in the East. 

Aberdeen 4 @ Watertown 1 - Aberdeen earned a wire-to-wore win over Watertown. The Wings got the scoring started as leading goal scorer Leonid Bulgakov potted his 25th of the year. Aberdeen then added two more goals in middle frame. This time it was Nikolai Tiskevich and Jibber Kuhl scoring to give the Wings a 3-0 advantage. The onslaught continued as Sebastian Lillsund’s ninth of the year gave Aberdeen a 4-0 lead. Watertown’s Cam Markman gave the Shamrocks an insurance marker. Damon Cunningham made 32 saves in the win for Aberdeen while Phileas Lachat stopped 32 shots in the loss for Watertown. The Wings improve to 47 points on the year and fourth place in the Central Division. Watertown remains in seventh in the division with 25 points. 

Minnesota M 2 @ St. Cloud 6 - Only two of the St. Cloud Norsmen’s six goals came on 5-on-5 against the Minnesota Mallards in a game dominated by power plays. Both teams scored after the first ten minutes, Bronson Hunt of the Norsemen and Drew Beasley of the Mallards. The Mallards ended the first period with the lead after Eli Bailey on the power play gave them their only lead in the game. It took only 21 seconds in the second period for the Norsemen to tie the game with Mason LeBel on the power play, followed ten minutes later by another power play goal from Tyler Wishart. The Norsemen’s slim lead blew up in the third period with three goals in less than ten minutes. Sam Kartch with both an even strength and an empty-net goal and Wishart with his second of the night on the empty-net.

North Iowa 1 @ Austin 4 - The North Iowa Bulls were overwhelmed by the Austin Bruins offense in a statement victory for the Bruins. The Bruins, despite having 22 shots in the first period alone, only struck once midway through the period. Connor Beckwith earned his tenth of the season with the power play goal. The Bruins doubled their lead in the second period, Jackson Rilei finding the back of the net. The Bulls got some offensive life soon after, Fuji Suzuki putting his team on the board with a goal. With both teams going into the third period in a tight race, Rilei raised the Bruins lead back to two goals again, again on the power play. His teammate Nathan Williams capped off the victory in the final minutes of regulation with his first goal and the Bruins fourth of the night.

Kenai River 2 @ Janesville 3 (SO) - Trevor Aberwald is the hero Friday night for the Janesville Jets, his two goals propelling them to victory over the Kenai River Brown Bears. The Brown Bears dominated the first two periods, Dario Lass in the first period and Joseph Yoon in the second period. The Jets flipped the script in the third period, limiting the Brown Bears to only 3 shots. The first Jets goal came 7:29 in the period from Murray Marvin-Cordes, and a late power play in the final minutes saw Aberwald tie the game. After the game went to the shootout, Aberwald once again won it with his second of the night.

Fairbanks 3 @ Springfield 4 - The Springfield Jr. Blues survived a late push from the Fairbanks Ice Dogs Friday night. A one-timer from Rylan Oster drew first blood for the Ice Dogs, the only score in the first period. The next period was all Jr. Blues, Logan Ganz and Gaige Giblin evaporating the lead. With the Jr. Blues now in the lead heading into the third period, the Ice Dogs offense scored for the first time since the first three minutes with Kyle Rohrer tying the game. In four minutes however, the Jr. Blues ran to a two-goal lead after Logan Sutton scored on the power play, and Tyler Smith on the breakaway scored a short-handed goal. Despite the lead once again being cut with Luca Ricciardi of the Ice Dogs scoring late, it wasn’t enough to complete the comeback as the Jr. Blues closed the game out.

Corpus Christi 3 @ Amarillo 2 - The Corpus Christi IceRays won a close nail-biter Friday night over the Amarillo Wranglers. The first period almost went scoreless, but Will Welburn of the Wranglers in the final minutes scored the first goal of the game. Cody Kempf and Carter Krenke of the IceRays took the lead in the second period, with each earning a goal apiece. Troy Pelton unassisted gave the IceRays some breathing room halfway through the third period with their third goal, and despite a goal with ten seconds left from Kirill Evstigneev of the Wranglers to bring it within one, the IceRays held on to earn the victory.

Anchorage 2 @ Minnesota W 6 - Noah Dziver scored two goals and added an assist as the Minnesota Wilderness took down the Anchorage Wolverines by a score of 6-2. Zach Homer, Ben Doll, Frantisek Netusil and Logan Nagle also lit the lamp in the victory. Jack Darby and Camden Shasby provided the offense for Anchorage. Niklas Erickson was the winner in goal as he made 24 saves. Michael Manzi was saddled with the loss as he stopped 23 of 28 shots he faced. 

Shreveport 4 @ Lone Star 2 - The Shreveport Mudbugs handed the Lone Star Brahmas just their seventh loss of the season as they claimed a 4-2 victory on Friday night. Bode Wise opened the scoring for Shreveport halfway through the first period, but was answered just three minutes later by Owen Kerr whose 15th marker of the year evened the score at one-a-piece. Kristo Pitkanen scored his eight tally of the year to give the Brahmas a one goal lead early in the second period, but the tide quickly turned as the Mudbugs scored three unanswered goals on the sticks of Lucas Deeb, Seth Murch and Kyan Haldenby. Ryan Cameron made 18 saves on 21 shots for the Brahmas in the loss, but it was Nikola Goich whose 26 saves on 28 shots was enough to earn the first star of the game and secure the win for the Mudbugs.

Bismarck 1 @ Minot 4 - The Minot Mintauros forced their way to a 4-1 win over the Bismarck Bobcats on Friday night. After a scoreless first 20 minutes, Ian Spencer and Braeden Jockims both buried just eight seconds apart to put Minot up 2-0. Tommy Cronin’s sixth marker of the year cut the lead to one late in the second for Bismarck. However, Minot’s domination continued in the third as Jesse Juhola scored midway through the final frame to put the Minotauros back up by two, before John Small hit a buzzer-beater as he scored with less than a second left in the game and help the Minotauros pick up the three goal win. Kai Wiegel made a respectable 26 saves on 28 shots on the night, while Lukas Swedin recorded 48 saves on 49 shots to secure the first star of the game.

Odessa 7 @ El Paso 4 - The Odessa Jackalopes picked up a dominant 7-4 win over the El Paso Rhinos Friday night. Kowin Belsterling led the way for Odessa as he notched three goals and picked up a hat trick in the evening. He was followed in suit by Marcus Fechko, who added a couple of his own markers to the pot for Odessa in the evening. Jordan Larkee and Nicholas Puricelli  both added a single goal themselves for Odessa, respectively. All four El Paso goals came from different scorers, including AJ Reed, Seth Rakosky, Rasmus Nousiainen and Beckett Hinchcliffe. Brendan Holahan made 28 saves on 35 shots for El Paso in the loss, while William Karphed’s 32 saves on 36 shots was enough to earn him third star of the game.

New Mexico 2 @ Colorado 5 - Colorado got gritty as they claimed a 5-2 win over the New Mexico Ice Wolves on Friday night.  William Johnson ripped open the scoring just over a minute into the game, setting the offensive tone for Colorado on the night. Lucca Ori picked up his second assist of the night as he set up George Poirier to put Colorado up 2-0. Tim Hawkins fourth goal of the year narrowed the lead back down to one, but Lucas Mann returned the favor with another goal of his own to make it 3-1. Tovio Laaksonen added a goal of his own in an attempt to work at the deficit, but Ori decided to add a pair of goals to his already pair of assists on the statsheet for the evening and push Colorado to the three goal win.

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