Saturday Scores: Minot back on track with pair of wins
Kenai River 0 @ Aston 3 – The Rebels completed a weekend home sweep of the Brown Bears thanks to a 3-0 shutout win as Trevor Micucci stopped all 30 shots that came his way for his second shutout of the season. The Rebels jumped ahead 1-0 on a goal from Dean Balsamo in the 1st period. The two other goals came in the 3rd period from Jerry Miettuten and Michael Merulla. Kenai River goalie Brian Baker made 32 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Minot 7 @ Aberdeen 1 – The Minotauros got back on track with their second win of the weekend, which was a convincing 7-1 road win in Aberdeen. In his first career NAHL start, goalie Eric Dop made 30 saves for Minot to pick up the win. Zack Bross was the offensive star for the Minotauros, with a hat-trick and an assist. Minot jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the 1st period, which included two goals from Bross and others from Jack Murphy and Luke Davison. The lone Wings goal was scored by Jake Leitner. In the 3rd period, Minot piled on three more goals from Johnny Walker, Grayson Gavin and the third from Bross. Boxscore
Fairbanks 2 @ New Jersey 1 – Thanks to a late 3rd period goal from Reggie Lutz that broke a 1-1 deadlock tie, the Fairbanks Ice Dogs defeated the New Jersey Titans, 2-1 to complete a weekend road sweep. Each team scored power play goals in the 1st period as Logan Coomes scored for the Ice Dogs and Bruno Birzitis answered for the Titans three minutes later. That set up Lutz’s game-winner, which came with 1:10 remaining in regulation. Gavin Nieto made 28 saves in the win, while Spencer Wright made 46 saves in the loss. Boxscore
MN Wilderness 1 @ MN Magicians 2 – The red-hot Magicians picked up their second win of the weekend as they edged the Wilderness, 2-1. Will Ulrich made 26 saves in the win. The Magicians jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a goal midway through the 1st period from Braxton Collins. Early in the 3rd period a goal from Tyler Bump made it 2-0. The Wilderness tried to claw back into the game with a power play goal from Tyler Cline, which made it 2-1, but they could not get the equalizer past Ulrich. Chase Munroe made 21 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Lone Star 6 @ Wichita Falls 4 – Thanks to two goals apiece from Bud Madej and Peter Kessel, the Lone Star Brahmas completed a three-game weekend road sweep of the Wildcats in Wichita Falls by a 6-4 score. It was all Brahmas early as they opened up leads of 3-0 and 4-1 on goals from Kessell, Madej, Kyle Patava and Hogan Davidson. Madej and Kessel would scored the 5th and 6th goals respectively to give the Brahmas the cushion they would need. Wildcats goals came from Jeff Baum, Austin Albrecht, Austin Beaulieu and Garrett VanWyhe. Corbin Kaczperski made 27 saves to pick up his third straight win of the weekend. Justin Kapelmaster made 22 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Brookings 3 @ Bismarck 2 (SO) – The Blizzard picked up a big 3-2 shootout win in Bismarck on Saturday night. Bismarck led 1-0 after one period with a 1st period goal from Jared Pike. The Blizzard jumped ahead 2-1 with two 2nd period goals from Nick Cardelli and Peter Valent. Bismarck would tie things up early in the 3rd period on a goal from Harrison Aide. After a scoreless OT, the lone goal of the shootout was scored by Zach Mitchell from Brookings. Both goalies played well as Josh Kuehmichel made 31 saves in the win and Nick DeSimone made 33 saves in the loss in his Bobcats debut. Boxscore
Topeka 0 @ Springfield 3 – Nike Della Maggorie stopped all 29 shots that came his way for his second shutout of the year as the Jr. Blues snapped Topeka’s 10-game winning streak with a 3-0 shutout win on Saturday, which salvaged a weekend split. Springfield scored twice in the 1st period, which included goals from Matt Long and Coale Norris. Hunter Schneider added a 2nd period goal to complete the scoring. Topeka goalie Juho Niku was busy in the loss, making 44 saves. Boxscore
Corpus Christi 6 @ Amarillo 2 – The IceRays scored early and often to beat the Amarillo Bulls, 6-2 to salvage a weekend road split. It was all IceRays from the drop of the puck as they scored four, 1st period goals to take a 4-0 lead, which included tallies from Mason Krueger, Michael Bevilacqua, Brendan Miller and Brad Power. That would spell the end of the night for Bulls goalie Anton Martinsson. The IceRays added two more goals in the 2nd period for good measure, which included goals from Tobias Kircher and Regen Cavanagh. Amarillo goals came from Liam Ferguson and Jacob Nitsche. IceRays goalie Graham Hunt made 27 saves in the win. Boxscore
Austin 4 @ Coulee Region 2 – As fast start propelled the Austin Bruins to a 4-2 road win in Coulee Region on Saturday. Austin was helped by three, 1st period goals, which came from Dawson DiPietro, Zach Kennedy and Jade Miller. The Chill would answer with their first goal early in the 2nd period from Alex Falconer to make it 3-1, but the Bruins answered back with a goal from Michael Piehler to make it 4-1. Steven Quagliata had the other Chill goal. Robbie Goor was solid in the win, making 32 saves, while Hunter Vorva took the loss with 21 saves. Boxscore
Johnstown 2 @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 1 – Andrew Lindgren made 30 saves to lead the Tomahawks to a 2-1 road win in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday. Johnstown took the first lead of the game with a 1st period shorthanded goal from Luke Lynch. The Knights answered back early in the 2nd period with a goal from Stephen Kelly. The game-winner would come five minutes later midway through the 2nd period off the stick of Zak Galambos. Grant Valentine made 32 saves in the loss. Boxscore
