Saturday Scores: The Wings Respond and Battle to Shootout Victory

Photo Credit: Laurie Stroh

Elmira 5 @ New Hampshire 6 - The Elmira Aviators and New Hampshire Mountain Kings put on an offensive showcase in a back-and-forth battle that saw the Mountain Kings come away with a 6–5 victory. Elmira opened the scoring in the first period as Quinn Pine found the back of the net to give the Aviators a 1–0 lead after one. The scoring picked up in the second period. New Hampshire evened the game when Aidan Petroff scored his first of the night. Elmira answered on the power play with a goal from Brenden Bedorf to regain the lead, but Petroff struck again to knot the game at 2–2. The Aviators closed out the period with another response, as Andrew Horn scored to send Elmira into the third period with a 3–2 advantage. The third period featured a flurry of goals from both sides. New Hampshire tied the game on a shorthanded goal by Cael Knutson, then took the lead when Rogiero Cacciarelli scored moments later. The Mountain Kings added another shorthanded tally from Alex Gelhar to make it 5–3. Elmira refused to back down, as Cael Primanti scored on the power play, followed by a power-play goal from Max Campbell to tie the game at 5–5. With momentum swinging back and forth, New Hampshire delivered the decisive blow late, as Rogiero Cacciarelli netted his second goal of the game on the power play to secure the 6–5 win for the Mountain Kings.

Rochester 3 @ Maryland 7 - The Maryland Black Bears used a dominant second period and timely scoring to pull away from the Rochester Jr. Americans in a physical 7–3 victory. Maryland struck almost immediately in the opening period, as Tanner Duncan scored a shorthanded goal less than a minute into the game. Rochester answered on the power play behind Ryan Shaw, who netted his 23rd goal of the season to tie the game. Shaw wasn’t finished, adding another power-play goal—his 24th of the year—to give the Jr. Americans a 2–1 lead after the first. The second period proved to be the turning point. Shaw completed the hat trick early, scoring his 25th goal of the season to extend Rochester’s lead to 3–1. From there, Maryland took control, responding with five unanswered goals. Dominik Boltnar got the Black Bears started, followed by goals from Brady Anes and Joshua Frenette. Samuel Osei capped the period with a power-play goal, giving Maryland a commanding 6–3 lead heading into the third. In the final period, Maryland added to the advantage with goals from  Michael Sandruck and Victor Mannebratt to seal the 7–3 win. The game was marked by its physicality, as the two teams combined for 102 penalty minutes. In goal, Ryan Denes turned aside 16 of 19 shots for Maryland, while Florian Wade made 20 saves on 27 shots for Rochester.

New Jersey 6 @ Maine 7 (OT) - The Maine Nordiques and New Jersey Titans combined for a wild, high-scoring thriller that ended with Maine claiming a dramatic 7–6 overtime victory. Maine opened the scoring in the first period with a shorthanded goal from Josh Itri. New Jersey answered back with a goal from Ty Creech, sending the game into the first intermission tied 1–1. The Nordiques took control in the second period, striking quickly as Itri scored his second goal of the night just 15 seconds in. Rylan Oster followed with another tally, and Henry Butte extended the lead on the power play. Luke Gallo added yet another goal to give Maine a commanding advantage. New Jersey stopped the bleeding late in the period when Nathan Walsh scored on the power play, but Maine still carried a 5–2 lead into the third. The third period featured an incredible comeback attempt by the Titans. Austin Borggaard scored his 15th goal of the season for Maine to make it 6–2, but New Jersey erupted with five goals in the final five minutes. Ryder O’Neil scored with 4:53 remaining, followed by goals from Arseniy Zharikov, Sebastian Vitali, and Tate Pecknold in rapid succession to stun the Nordiques and tie the game at 6–6. Overtime settled the matter, as Damon Myers played the hero for Maine. Myers scored his 15th goal of the season in the extra frame, lifting the Nordiques to a thrilling 7-6 overtime win.

Bismarck 4 @ St. Cloud 1 - The Bismarck Bobcats continued their winning ways on the road with a big victory in Minnesota on Saturday night. The Bobcats would strike first thanks to the NAHL’s leading goal scorer, Cooper Williams. The scoring would continue in the opening frame at the 2:01 minute mark with Ben Rakowski finding twine for the Bobcats. Moving into the second period, Bismarck would light the lamp twice more, this time Ben Osiashvilli and Mark Evans scoring in the period. St. Cloud would show up on the scoresheet thanks to Samuel Misak scoring on the man advantage  at the 4:15 minute mark. The third period would be scoreless between the teams, leading to the Bobcats securing the 4-1 victory. Between the pipes for Bismarck, Dane Callaway stopped 19 out of 20 shots on net, skating away with the victory.

Northeast 5 @ Philadelphia 1 - Coming off a loss the night prior, the Northeast Generals were looking to respond in a big way. The matchup kicked off with the Generals taking the lead in the opening frame with two goals. First, Logan Poulin finds twine at the 17:39 minute mark. Following him, in the final minute of the opening period, Finn Connor scores a power-play tally to give the Generals a 2-0 lead. The second frame spotlighted Northeast extending their lead when Luke Drury lit the lamp at the 18:30 minute mark. As the third period commences, the Rebels were in the hunt to respond; however, the Generals would tally two more before Philadelphia would find twine. Stephen Fabiano would score in the first minute of the frame to make the score 4-0 for the Generals. Following him three minutes later, Andrew Gibbons scored his fourth of the season. Finally, with 9:02 on the clock, the Rebels would show up on the scoresheet thanks to a goal by Justin Vlassis. The Generals skate away with a 5-1 victory. Between the pipes for Northeast, Will Mixenko turned away 24 out of 25 shots.

Austin 2 @ Watertown 3 - In a battle between Central Division rivals, the Shamrocks were looking to extend their winning ways against the Bruins on Saturday night. Watertown would strike first with back-to-back goals in the opening frame. First, Sebastian Haborak notched his first junior goal of his career at the 17-minute mark in the first period. Following him less than four minutes later was Antons Macijevskis, scoring shorthanded for the Shamrocks. The Bruins would respond midway through the frame when Andrew Leung also scored his first junior goal of his career to make the score 2-1 heading into the second period. The middle frame was scoreless as both teams traded chances, Austin outshooting Watertown 12-4. Moving into the final period, the Bruins would tie up the contest quickly when the captain, Nathan Williams, scored at the 18:44 minute mark. However, the Shamrocks would have some puck luck when Justin Obrochta scored midway through the third period. OBrochta's goal would be the game-winner of the night, lifting the Shamrocks to a weekend sweep over the Bruins. Despite facing more shots, Watertown netminder Mason Gudridge saved 41 shots in the contest, lifting his team to a victory.

Shreveport 0 @ Corpus Christi 6 - The IceRays continued their winning ways against the Shreveport Mudbugs on Saturday night. The contest featured Corpus Christi striking twice in the opening frame thanks to back-to-back goals by Justin Thibault and then Johnny Maruna. The middle frame was scoreless between the teams. The final frame was an offensive explosion by the IceRays. Four goals were scored within 10 minutes of each other. First, Easton Swift finds twine at the 12:28 minute mark. Following him six minutes later Alexandr Skuratov scored his first tally of the season. The IceRays would continue to light the lamp when Marc-Alexandre Richard scored a little over a minute later. Finally, Nick Sinani scores shorthanded to give the final goal of the night. The IceRays skate away with a 6-0 win and IceRays’ netminder Xander Miceli stopped all 20 shots on net.

Lone Star 2 @ Amarillo 1 - The Lone Star Brahmas extended their winning ways against the Amarillo Wranglers on Saturday night. The Brahmas lit the lamp first when Christian Venticinque scored an unassisted tally at the 14-minute mark of the opening period. Moving into the second frame, Venticinque would score once again, this time on the power play for the Brahmas, giving them a 2-0 edge. However, the Amarillos avoided a shutout when Caden Hegarty found twine with three minutes to spare in the second frame. The last period was scoreless as both teams traded chances. Between the pipes for Lone Star, Leo Gabriel stopped 23 out of 24 shots on net, skating away with another victory in the blue paint.

Chippewa 2 @ Minnesota W 5 - The Minnesota Wilderness extended their dominance over the Chippewa Steel to seven wins this season with their victory on Saturday night. The Opening period featured both teams scoring. First, Noah Dziver of the Wilderness found twine at the 9:54 minute mark. Following him almost two minutes later was Chippewa’s Ryan Murphy, evening the score 1-1. The second period featured Chippewa securing the lead very early into the frame. Austin Boyce scores his second of the year seven seconds into the frame. The rest of the period would be scoreless as the contest moved into the final period. The Wilderness turned on its offensive edge, scoring four goals in the final frame. First, Robinson Djian finds twine at the 17:59 minute mark. Following him less than a minute and a half later was Logan Nagle, scoring his seventh of the year. Finally, in the final minutes of the game, River Freeman would score two, one as an empty-netter, to give the Wilderness the 5-2 victory.

North Iowa 3 @ Aberdeen 4 (SO) - After coming off a shootout loss the night before, the Aberdeen Wings were hungry for revenge on Saturday night. The matchup kicked off with the Bulls striking first with a tally in the opening frame by Ivan Bercik. The scoring battle would really start, however, in the second period. The middle frame featured the Wings scoring a trio of goals. First, Jibber Kuhl would find twine a little over a minute into the second. Following shortly behind him, Caden Lee would give Aberdeen the lead with a goal at the 16:49 minute mark. Finally, Aberdeen’s Charlie Burchfield would complete the trio of tallies with a goal midway through the frame. Despite those three goals, the Bulls would strike back at themselves. First, Marat Mikhin would light the lamp at the 4:11 minute mark. Following him on the power play was the captain, Michael Malatino, to even the score 3-3. The third period would be scoreless, forcing the game into overtime and an eventual shootout. In the shootout, Aberdeen’s Cade Lee scores while Adam Dybal stops all three shootout attempts by North Iowa. The Wings would skate away with a 4-3 victory and a split series on the weekend.

Odessa 3 @ New Mexico 6 - After a win against the Odessa Jackalopes last night, the New Mexico Ice Wolves were ready for another victory on Saturday. This matchup marks New Mexico’s fourth straight win against Odessa this season. This contest began with a fiery first period. Jeremy Jacobs struck first for the Jackalopes while the team was shorthanded, and Caden Ghiossi followed with a power-play goal soon after. However, momentum shifted in the last two minutes of this period for the Ice Wolves. Anton Malyshev scored New Mexico's first goal of the game, followed by Nayan Pai less than a minute later. Andy Earl is a top scorer for New Mexico and capped off the period by finding the back of Odessa’s net, putting him at 20 goals so far this season. The Ice Wolves added two more back-to-back goals in the middle frame from Jake Kasay and Oskar Edberg, both around the nine-minute mark. Shea Barry, assisted by Adam Matar and Nicholas Puricelli, scored one more for Odessa in the third. Noah Teng extended the Ice Wolves' lead further, scoring on an empty net to finish the game. Conner Roff was in the crease for the Ice Wolves, earning his fourth win of the season.

Minnesota M 0 @ Minot 4 - It was a weekend sweep for the Minot Minotauros, who found another win against the Minnesota Mallards on Saturday night. Despite the loss, the Mallards were outshot just 31-27, continuing to apply consistent pressure on the Tauros. Ivan Sidorov got this game started with two goals in the first, the second on a power play. Volodymyr Naumenko, who scored his first goal of the season on Friday, scored his second in the middle frame. That goal, along with his assist on Sidorov's later goal in the first, brings Naumenko up to three points across the three games he has played with Minot. Minot was given a single power-play chance in the third, and Arseni Vorobyov took full advantage, scoring Minot's final goal of the game. Brian Cooke, Minot's goaltender, delivered a strong performance. Cooke made 27 saves to earn his second shutout of the season and help his team skate away with the win.

Springfield 1 @ Wisconsin 2 (OT) - It was a close matchup between the Springfield Jr. Blues and Wisconsin Windigo on Saturday. The Jr. Blues played a strong defensive game against their Midwest Division rivals. While the Jr. Blues were outshot 44-28, the Windigo were only able to slip two goals past Springfield goaltender Amir Valiullin. The Windigo scored first with Alexios Georgaklis netting one late in the first on Wisconsin's second power play of the period. A scoreless second period followed, but Logan Sutton tied things up in the third, scoring his fifth goal of the season, assisted by Brady Turner. Regulation ended in a 1-1 tie. The final goal came from Will Doherty early in overtime to give the Windigo their second victory against Springfield this weekend. Max Larsson was in the net for Wisconsin, making 27 saves to earn his third win of the season.

Oklahoma 4 @ El Paso 3 (SO) - After a loss to the El Paso Rhinos the previous night, the Oklahoma Warriors came back to the El Paso County Event Center determined to find a win. This match was close until the very last minute, where the Warriors would ultimately find victory in a shootout. The Rhinos got on the board first. Ian Kastamo scored early, assisted by Troy Hunka and Ethan Woolcott. William-Francisco Parent answered back for Oklahoma at the start of the second, before Jackson Potulny scored another for El Paso. However, Oklahoma's Mason Wright would tie things up on the power play to end the second period. Kyle Sorensen, who also scored twice on Friday, lit the lamp for the Warriors in the third period. Ethan Woolcott added another tally on the Rhinos' lone power play of the third to tie these teams up again and send them into overtime. However, after a scoreless overtime, these two teams found themselves competing in a shootout. The Warriors came out on top with two early shootout goals from Sorensen and Ben Likness. Billy Stuski was between the pipes for the Warriors, making 25 saves to help secure his team a win.

Janesville 0 @ Fairbanks 2 - The Fairbanks Ice Dogs continued to host the Janesville Jets at the Big Dipper Ice Arena on Saturday night. The contest kicked off with the Ice Dogs striking first in the opening frame. Gage Leonard found twine at the 7:18 minute mark in the first. Moving into the middle period, Fairbanks would extend their winning ways with a power-play tally by Emmet McClaine. The scoring would end there, and the Ice Dogs would extend their winning ways to eight straight games. Between the pipes for Fairbanks, Miles Robert claims a 23-save shutout, his first one of the season.