Friday Finals: Minotauros move into 1st place with win
Pat Egan had two goals to help the Lone Star Brahmas to a 5-1 win over 1st place Topeka on Friday.
Minot 6 @ MN Magicians 3 – The Minotauros cooled off the Magicians thanks to a hat-trick from Jake Howie, who scored the final three goals of the game for Minot in a 6-3 win. The Minotauros led 4-1 after two periods. Luke Davidson, John Snodgrass, Jon Lizotte and Howie all scored for Minot. Kris McKinzie had the lone goal for Minnesota. In the 3rd period, Howie added two more goals for the hat-trick. Brandon Loven and Tony Uglem had the other goals for the Magicians. Atte Tolvanen made 20 saves in the win. Boxscore
Michigan 1 @ Johnstown 2 (SO) – 72 combined shots and two 1st period goals would not be enough to decide things as the Warriors and Tomahawks went through 14 shooters to decide the game, which went to the Tomahawks. Johnstown led 1-0 early on a goal from Cam Bleck, but Michigan would answer late in the 1st period on a goal from Zed Dietrich. In the shootout, Jake Houston had the winner. Ryan Bednard made 29 saves in the win, while Trevor Gorsuch was also good in the loss making 40 saves. Boxscore
Janesville 5 @ Keystone 0 – The two Jets goalies combined for a shutout as the 1st place Jets blanked the Ice Miners on the road, 5-0. The Jets led 1-0 on an early 1st period goal from Dan Kucerovy. Janesville then exploded for four goals in the 3rd period including two from Roberts Smits and others from Zach Yoder and Evan Feno. Jared Rutledge stopped all 12 shots that came his way before exiting the game in a skirmish with Ice Miners goalie Alex Blankenburg. Matt Jurusik came into the game in relief and stopped all 18 shots that came his way. Boxscore
Topeka 1 @ Lone Star 5 – The Brahmas slowed down the red-hot RoadRunners thanks to a 5-1 home win on Friday. Pat Egan scored twice for the Brahmas in the win to extend his point streak to four straight games. Egan and Hogan Davidson scored in the 1st period to put the Brahmas ahead 2-0. Hunter Stanley scored to make it 3-0 for Lone Star, before Daniel Brickley would answer for the lone Topeka goal to make it 3-1. Egan added a 3rd period goal as did Alexey Solovyev to make the final 5-1. TJ Black made 22 saves in the win. Boxscore
Springfield 4 @ Soo 6 – The Eagles scored three, 3rd period goals as they took the second game of a three-game set with the Jr. Blues, 6-4. The Eagles got off to a good start with three goals in the 1st period from Keegan Miller, Nick Belger and Raymond Brice. The Jr. Blues would respond in gest as they took a 4-3 lead behind goals from Kevin Shand, Anthony Scarsella, Jason Dhooghe and Brian Rigali. However, in the 3rd period Miller and Belger would add their second goals of the game and Nick Keck would also score. Boxscore
Austin 1 @ Coulee Region 4 – Adam Carlson made 37 saves as the suddenly hot Chill won their third straight over the Bruins with a 4-1 win. It would be the Bruins who would score first as Jade Miller scored a shorthanded goal, but it was all Chill after that. Charlie Parker tied the game at 1-1 with a goal late in the 1st period. Dominik Florian added a 2nd period goal and Parker would score his second goal of the game in the 3rd period and Vince Marinaro would also score. Zach Driscoll was busy in goal for the Bruins, making 42 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Odessa 1 @ Corpus Christi 5 – Wes Michaud had a three-point night, including two goals and Luke Pickar made 30 saves as the IceRays beat the Jackalopes, 5-1. Michaud scored both goals in the 1st period to put the IceRays ahead 2-0. Ryan Cusin and Nic Laburn scored in the 2nd period to make it 4-0. Nathan Bryer added a 3rd period goal to make it 5-0. Pickar’s shutout bid ended with just over four minutes to go in the game as Jesse Junttila lit the lamp for the IceRays. Boxscore
Amarillo 2 @ Wichita Falls 5 – Five different players scored as the Wildcats beat the Bulls on Friday, 5-2. After a scoreless 1st period, the Wildcats jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Jonathan Lazarus and Max Reisinger. Cody Gylling scored for the Bulls to cut the lead to 2-1 after two periods. Kevin Charyszyn and Colin Staub scored to make it 4-1 midway through the 3rd period. After a goal from the Bulls’ AJ Duggan made it 4-2, Austin Albrecht scored to complete the 5-2 win. David Zevnik made 29 saves in the win. Boxscore
Brookings 0 @ Bismarck 3 – Alex Bitsakis stopped all 23 shots that came his way for his second shutout of the season as the Bobcats blanked the Blizzard, 3-0. Bismarck scored in each period and also took advantage of good special teams play. In the 1st period, Bismarck opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal from Oskars Batna. In the 2nd period, a power play goal from Matt Perry made it 2-0. In the 3rd period, Cole Souto scored an even-strength goal to make it 3-0. Justin Ketola took the loss for Brookings, making 34 saves. Boxscore
MN Wilderness 3 @ Aberdeen 1 – The Wilderness snapped their losing skid thanks to a stifling defense in a 3-1 win in Aberdeen. Wilderness goalie Brock Kautz has to make just 16 saves in the win. Aaron Miller had two goals for Minnesota, including the game’s first goal early in the 1st period to put the Wilderness ahead 1-0. A goal from Brett Heikkila made it 2-0 in the 2nd period. Aberdeen got their only goal early in the 3rd period from Bjorn Sigurdarson, but a goal late in the 3rd period from Miller secured the win. Boxscore
Kenai River 1 @ Fairbanks 9 – The Ice Dogs scored three times in each period on their way to a 9-1 blowout of the Brown Bears on Friday. The Brown Bears scored the first goal of the game on a marker from Jack Gessert, but it was all Ice Dogs after that. Robin Karlsson, Jacob Hetz and Chandler Madry scored 1st period goals. The lead swelled to 6-1 win the 2nd period with another goal from Hetz and others from Hans Gorowsky and Yannick Vedel. Fairbanks added three more goals in the 3rd period including another from Vedel and more from Todd Burgess and Cayden Cahill. Boxscore
Rio Grande Valley 5 @ Wenatchee 3 – The Killer Bees scored the final four goals of the game to erase a 3-1 Wenatchee lead and win 5-3. Things were all knotted up at 1-1 after one period as Troy Conzo scored for the Wild and Kyle Stephan scored for the Killer Bees. The Wild pushed the lead to 3-1 in the 2nd period on another goal from Conzo and one from Ivan Bondarenko. The Killer Bees responded with four unanswered goals to win including two from Parker Wood, one from JB Baker and another from Stephan. Boxscore
