Bismarck, Rochester and Wisconsin Punch Tickets to Robertson Cup

Photo Credits: Ron Morin, Hope Magelky, and Ted Davis

Rochester 3 @ Maine 2 (OT) (Rochester wins East Division Finals 3-1): Rochester eliminated Maine with a 3-2 overtime victory in game four. The win did not come easy for the Jr. Americans as Maine struck twice in the first period. Shane Kozlina opened the scoring six minutes into the game. Zion Green and Kellen Murphy grabbed the assists. The Nordiques scored again just over seven minutes later. This time Joseph Gasperko found the back of the net off a Luke Chappelle feed. Maine took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission while facing elimination. The Jr. Americans fought back in the middle frame, cutting their deficit in half. Jaden Dyke potted his fifth of the playoffs five minutes into the period. That was the only goal of the period as Rochester trailed by one after 40 minutes. The Jr. American dominance continued into the third period and finally resulted in a goal over 10 minutes into the frame. Ryan Shaw was awarded the tying goal with Adam Gionta and Gavin Carr grabbing the apples. The teams remained knotted at two after 60 minutes of play. It did not take long to crown a winner in the extra frame. Rochester’s Shaw scored his second of the contest and played hero 2:38 into overtime. Gionta tallied his second assist on the goal that sent Rochester to the semifinals. Both team went 0/5 on the power play in the contest. Jensen Carlstrom stopped 21 of 23 shots in the series-clinching victory. Carter Richardson battled to the end for Maine stopping 42 shots in Game 4.  

Bismarck 7 @ Austin 2 (Bismarck wins Central Division Finals 3-1): The Central Division Finals between the Austin Bruins and Bismarck Bobcats continued on Saturday night. Austin needed a win on home ice in the worst way as they entered Game 4 on the brink of elimination. The Bruins did have the home crowd behind them, though, which could be an advantage. Unfortunately, this advantage did not pay off on Saturday night. Nick Snyder and Josh Lehto scored in the first period to give the Bobcats a 2-0 lead. This lead was extended by Joshua Kopecky in the second, but the Bruins got on the board thanks to John Hirschfield to make it a two-goal game entering the third. The Bruins would get a key goal from Ashton Bynum to cut the deficit to one early in the final frame. The Bobcats would crank it up after that, scoring four unanswered goals to end the night as Bismarck went on to win Game 4 by a score of 7-2, advancing to the Robertson Cup Semifinals against the Rochester Jr. Americans. Lehto and Snyder netted their second of the night while Gabe Kenne and Zane Rowan also got on the scoresheet for Bismarck. Anderson finished with 20 saves on the evening to pick up the win in net. Jack Solomon took the loss as he stopped 19 shots. 

Wisconsin 2 @ Anchorage 1 (Wisconsin wins Midwest Division Finals 3-2): In a winner-take-all Game 5, the Wisconsin Windigo got the ever important first goal as a Hunter Hayes shot trickled past Michael Manzi and into the back of the net. Rio Treharne would add to the lead with his first tally of the postseason with Braydon Beahm and Hayes picking up the assists. Later in the frame Romulus Riego De Dios put a shot past Beau Altman to cut the lead in half as Daniel Bagnole and Toby Carlson chipped in the assists. That would be the score after one. Anchorage would dominate zone time in the second period where the biggest chance of the night came at the end of the period during a 5-on-3 power play where Altman made a handful of tremendous saves and a golden opportunity was shot wide of the goal. In the third, the chances continued for the Wolverines as they totaled 27 shots over the final two periods but Altman stood tall and helped the Windigo hang on to win their first Midwest Division title. Wisconsin will make their first appearance at the Robertson Cup next weekend where they’ll take on the defending champion Lone Star Brahmas. 

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