Saturday Scores: Lone Star Skates to Overtime Win Thanks to the Captain

New Hampshire 2 @ New Jersey 8 - The New Jersey Titans clinch the weekend sweep with a big 8-2 victory on home ice. The contest opened with the Titans lighting the lamp twice in the opening frame. Joe Pocrnic scores his second of the season midway through the opening frame, with Nathan Walsh tallying his first just minutes later for the Titans. In the second frame, the Titans featured an offensive-heavy period, scoring six goals in the 20 minutes. Nathan Edwards gets the scoring started with a goal a little over three minutes into the frame. A minute later, Ryder O’Neil added to the lead for the Titans. Following moments later, Roman Scala scores moments later to give New Jersey a 5-0 advantage. Midway through the period, Tomas Pribyl adds to the lead with his first goal midway through the period. New Hampshire would show up on the scoresheet for the first time in the game when Benjamin Marcolini lit the lamp with 8:20 to spare in the middle frame. To end the middle period, Hayden Saad and Joshua Kitsis would add to the lead to give New Jersey their seventh and eight goal of the night. In the final frame, New Hampshire would light the lamp just one more time, this time with Bryce Wood scoring his second of the night. New Hampshire would fall in 8-2 fashion, with New Jersey securing the sweep.

​Elmira 4 @ Danbury 1 - The Elmira Aviators bounced back in impressive fashion Saturday night, earning a 4-1 victory over the Danbury Hat Tricks just one night after falling to them on Friday. Elmira came out firing in the opening period, setting the tone early and putting the Hat Tricks on their heels. Elmira found the back of the net twice in the first period, gaining an early 2-0 advantage in the first. Kohl Mann opened the scoring, giving the Aviators the early lead before Max Festa secured his first goal of the year, sending Elmira into the first intermission with a two-goal cushion. The Aviators continued their momentum in the second, applying pressure in the offensive zone and forcing Danbury to defend for extended stretches. Elmira’s persistence paid off when Nico Pohjola found the back of the net, finishing off a well-executed play after receiving a quality pass from Max Festa, who continued to make a strong offensive impact throughout the night.  The Hat Tricks responded as Tristan Konobelj worked the puck around the front of the net, allowing Brett Beswick to tip the puck past the Elmira goaltender to cut the deficit to 3-1. Aviators’ goaltender, Jake Shingles, came up huge in the third period, making several impressive saves to keep the Aviators in the lead. Liam McCloy of the Aviators netted a goal late in the third to secure the 4-1 win over the Hat Tricks and secured the first win of the season for Elmira.

Philadelphia 0 @ Maryland Black Bears 3 – The Maryland Black Bears opened their season with a 3-0 victory, securing the shoutout in their first game of the year. After a scoreless first period marked by strong goaltending on both sides, Maryland broke through in the second. Noi Jonasson refused to give up on the play, finding the back of the net on his third attempt to give the Black Bears momentum heading into the third. Maryland continued to build its lead in the third with goals from Adam Gasperko and Brayden Wade, each finding the back of the net to put the Bears ahead 3-0. Goaltender Michael Ilif was solid between the pipes, saving all 30 shots he faced to earn the shutout and secure Maryland’s first victory of the season.

Johnstown 3 @ Northeast 6 – The Johnstown Tomahawks and Northeast Generals delivered a high-energy matchup to open the NAHL season. The Generals pulled away late in the third to earn a 6-3 victory. Northeast came out strong in the first period, with Brayden Hudtloff and Matthew Lacombe scoring early to give the Generals a 2-0 lead. Johnstown answered late in the period with a power-play goal by Jacob Duval, cutting the Generals’ lead to 2-1 heading into the first intermission.  The second period saw limited scoring changes for both teams, but Northeast found separation when Logan Poulin buried a late power-play goal, giving the Generals a 3-1 advantage after two periods. Poulin struck again early in the third, scoring his second power-play goal of the night to make it 4-1. The Tomahawks responded when CJ List scored, bringing Johnstown back within two. The third period turned into an exciting back-and-forth battle, with scoring chances coming at both ends of the ice. Northeast regained a three-goal lead when Kody Moyer scored a short-handed goal, with the Tomahawks’ Cody List quickly answering with his second goal of the game to make it 5-3 late in the period. With the Tomahawks continuing to close the gap, the Generals responded with a Robert Savaglio goal with just 12 seconds remaining, securing the 6-3 victory for the Northeast.  

Minnesota W 7 @ Wisconsin 2 - In a Saturday night battle between the two Midwest Division clubs, the Wisconsin Windigo looked to respond to a Friday night loss by the Minnesota Wilderness; however, it would be the Cloquet-based club that would complete their weekend sweep on the road. The contest opened with the Windigo striking first thanks to Artis Skrebels netting his first of the weekend. Moments later, Wilderness veteran River Freeman capitalized on the power play to even the scoreboard in the opening frame. Minnesota adds to their lead when Vladislav Tsapko nets his first of the night two minutes later. The Wilderness's scoring continued as Jakeb Lynch finds the twine with 3:44 left on the clock in the first. Moving into the second frame, Jack Martens and Kevin Lysohir lit the lamp midway through the frame to tack on two more goals onto the scoreboard. As the game moved into the final 20 minutes of regulation, the Wilderness's offensive ways continued as Arizona State commit Carson McGinley scored his second of the weekend. Less than two minutes later, Jakeb Lynch rounds out his scoring for the weekend as he finds the twine to give the Wilderness a six-goal advantage over Wisconsin. The Windigo would have a late spark in the contest as Daniel Greenbaum nets his first of the weekend. The Wilderness skate to a big 7-2 victory on the road. The shots on goal between the two clubs were one-sided as the Wilderness had 53 shots on net compared to the Windigo’s 14 in the contest.

Kenai River 2 @ Minnesota M 4 - Troy Wright made 30 saves while helping the Mallards pass the Brown Bears by a score of 4-2 on Saturday night in Forest Lake, Minnesota. In addition to Wright’s stellar play in net, teammate Ty Gordon netted 2 goals, including the game-winning goal for Minnesota. For the Brown Bears, Devin Rustle made 27 saves while teammate Jameson Duell scored a goal to go along with an assist. The Mallards also saw two players record 2 assists, with Ryan Lucarelli and Jack Fang each contributing a pair of helpers in the win. The Mallards started off strong, scoring 3 goals in the first period, while Wright made 8 saves in the opening frame. The first goal came with 17:47 on the clock as Leon Buff found the back of the net. The next 14 minutes were relatively quiet, as neither team was able to score. However, the final 3:39 saw 3 combined goals, the first of which came from Brown Bears forward Ryan McPartland to get them on the board. The Mallards responded just over one minute later when Jack Fang found the net, followed by Ty Gordon scoring just under 30 seconds later. Rustle made 8 saves in the opening period for the Brown Bears. The Brown Bears tried to chip away at Minnesota’s lead as Jameson Duell opened the scoring in the second period with a goal just over 5 minutes in. The Mallards quickly responded, as Ty Gordon added another goal just 35 seconds later. Wright made 8 saves in the second period, while Rustle stopped 13 shots. The rest of the game remained quiet, as both goalies settled down and no additional goals were scored. That did not come without opportunities, however, as the Brown Bears recorded 14 shots on goal in the third period, with Wright stopping all 14. The Mallards recorded 6 shots on goal in the period, but Rustle stopped all 6. The Bears ultimately outshot Minnesota 32-31, but Wright’s 30-save performance helped the Mallards secure the 4-2 victory. The Mallards have won both of their games against the Brown Bears in the young season and start the season with a 2-0 record, while the Brown Bears dropped to 0-2.

Springfield 0 @ Janesville 3 - The Janesville Jets blanked the Springfield Jr. Blues despite a 40-save performance by Merik Grianker on Saturday night at the Mercyhealth Arena in Janesville, Wisconsin. Declan Jason scored and added an assist as he led the Jets to a 3-0 win. Cooper Avelar and Elijah Covey each contributed a goal, while Harry Minucci, Matthew McGovern and Owen Shadrick each registered an assist. For the Jr. Blues, Merik Grianker made 40 saves while the offense managed just 11 shots on goal in the defeat. The Jets headed into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead as Declan Jason found the net on an unassisted goal with 11:35 left in the period. The Jets outshot the Jr. Blues 12-5 in the period. The teams saw the second period come and go without a goal. The Jets registered 14 shots on goal, while the Jr. Blues recorded only four shots on goal. The third period saw the Jets score two goals, with the first coming just over seven minutes into the period when Cooper Avelar netted his second of the season. Harry Minucci and Declan Jason each recorded an assist on the play. Just 46 seconds later, Elijah Covey scored the Jets' third goal of the night off a pair of assists from Owen Shadrick and Matthew McGovern. Despite giving up two goals, Merik Grianker made 15 saves in the period to reach 40 saves in the game. Janesville goalie Nathan Mach saw just 2 shots in the third period and stopped them both. Mach faced just 11 shots throughout the game, stopping all of them in a relatively quiet night in goal. The Jets have won both of their matchups against the Jr. Blues and had a 2-0 record following the opening weekend, while the Jr. Blues dropped to 0-2.

El Paso 3 @ Corpus Christi 4 - Regulation was not enough as the Corpus Christi IceRays defeated the El Paso Rhinos by a score of 4-3 in overtime at the Hilliard Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. Seven different players found the net, with Brodie Hankel, Michael Azzarone, Oliver Czaja and Nathan Di Chiara scoring for the IceRays, while Anthony Nolan, Jacob Solano and Brendan Murray each scored for the Rhinos. The first period saw 2 goals scored, one by each team. The first came from IceRays forward Brodie Hankel with 8:21 left on the clock, assisted by Andrew Waugh and Chayse Laurie. With time running out, the Rhinos would get the goal back with 37 seconds remaining thanks to a power-play goal from Anthony Nolan, assisted by Jacob Solano. The Rhinos got off to a fast start in the second period as just over 3 minutes had passed when Brendan Murray sneaked one past the goalie to give the Rhinos a 2-1 advantage. Teammate Jacob Solano would find the net for a goal of his own just under a minute and a half later, pushing the lead to 3-1. The IceRays would not go down without a fight, as with 9:08 left in the period, Michael Azzarone got one back. Each team recorded 6 shots on goal in the second period. The third period saw very little action before Oliver Czaja found the back of the net for a clutch goal to tie the game with 1:33 left in regulation. The game-winner came with just 17.3 seconds left in the first overtime period. Czaja's shot was stopped by Rhinos goalie Luke Brassil, but he could not hang onto the puck as Nathan Di Chiara came swooping in and fired one just over the goalie's diving body to give the IceRays the win. The IceRays wrapped up a thrilling opening weekend with a 2-0 record, while the Rhinos dropped both games but still picked up a point, finishing the weekend 0-1-1.

Houston 1 @ Shreveport 4 - As the Houston Bulls looked to respond to a Friday night loss, the Shreveport Mudbugs would be the ones to come out on top in this Saturday night matchup. The Mudbugs opened the contest with three quick goals in the first period. Getting the scoring started was William-Alexis Tremblay on the power play a little less than 90 seconds into the frame. Mudbugs veteran Duke Ehrhard would continue the scoring for the Louisiana-based club with a tally two minutes later. To round out the scoring in the opening frame, Remy Pusateri would light the lamp short-handed for Shreveport. Following his tally, Houston would pull their netminder, Eddie Gatch, and have Aaron Sachs finish out the night between the pipes. The second frame was scoreless as both teams traded chances. Shreveport outshot Houston 17 to 7. In the final frame, the Bulls would show up on the scoresheet when Nicholas Russ found twine 62 seconds into the period. The Mudbugs would round out their scoring in the final frame when Chase Secriskey lit the lamps for the first time this season. The Mudbugs skate to a 4-1 victory and a weekend sweep. In net for the Bulls, Aaron Sachs turned aside 36 out of 37 shots in the contest, helping to keep his team in the hunt from when he got the nod to come in.

Lone Star 4 @ Amarillo 3 (OT) - In a back-and-forth battle between two Texas clubs, the Lone Star Brahmas would come out on top thanks to an overtime tally by the captain. The contest opened with Dylan Chernoff scoring a goal for the Brahmas midway through the first period. Four minutes later, Amarillo’s Hugo Rasten would equalize the contest for the Wranglers. Heading into the second period, Amarillo would take the lead when Jackson Nesheim scored his first of the night. Following that Amarillo tally, Lone Star would make a goaltender change as Ethan Ramonetti came in to play between the pipes for the Brahmas. The advantage would not last long as Lone Star veteran Jackson Vaites lit the lamp with 7:59 on the clock. The Wranglers would be quick to regain the lead as Amarillo’s newcomer, Nikolai Kharinov, nets his first in the League of Opportunity. As the contest moved into the final 20 minutes of regulation, Lone Star’s captain, Vincenzo Capano, got to work quickly as he found twine on the power play for the Brahmas 57 seconds into the frame. With the game tied, the contest was forced into overtime. The game-winner would come from the captain with 57 seconds left in the frame, Vincenzo Capano. The Brahmas skate to an overtime victory and a sweep over their in-state rival.

Odessa 2 @ New Mexico 1 - With a desire to complete the sweep on the road, the Odessa Jackalopes secure another road win at the Outpost Ice Arena. The contest opened with Odessa netting their first tally in the first frame when Patrick Thomas lit the lamp with 2:20 to spare. Moving into the second frame, the Jackalopes continued their scoring ways as Max Pieninkeroinen scored midway through the frame to give Odessa a two-goal advantage into the final period. In the last 20 minutes of regulation, Anthony Leech of the Ice Wolves cut the deficit in half with a tally in the last three minutes of the contest. The Jackalopes complete the sweep thanks to a big performance by Cody Niesen in net. Niesen turned aside 46 out of 47 shots by the Ice Wolves.