Saturday Scores: Sweeps by Topeka, Lone Star tighten South
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 1 @ Aston 7 – The Rebels dominated in their only game of the weekend as Michael Merulla scored four goals and Ryan Cusin added five assists in a dominating 7-1 win on Saturday. Merulla scored his first two goals in the 1st period to put Aston ahead 2-1. Jacob Hamacher had the lone goal for the Knights, which came via the power play. Merulla then added the next two goals in the 2nd period and Eric Carreras also scored to make the lead 5-1 in favor of the Rebels. Dom Garcia, who had three points on the night, scored in the 3rd period as did Dean Balsamo. Trevor Micucci made 29 saves in the win. Boxscore
Topeka 4 @ Amarillo 2 – Tyler Johnson made 40 saves and John O’Connor had a three-point night as the RoadRunners completed a weekend road sweep in Amarillo with 4-2 win on Saturday. After a scoreless 1st period, each team scored in the 2nd period as Joey DiBenedetto scored for the Bulls and Johnny Walker answer for Topeka. The RoadRunners then added three more goals in the 3rd period, including strikes from O’Connor, Dominic Lutz and Cam Strong. Coale Norris had the other goal for the Bulls. Amarillo goalie Anton Martinsson made 34 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Wichita Falls 4 @ Odessa 5 – The Jackalopes erased a 4-1 Wildcats lead with four, 3rd period goals to defeat the Wildcats 5-4 on Saturday, which completed a three-game home sweep and move Odessa into the 4th and final playoff spot in the South. It was all Wildcats in the opening two periods as both Trent Dillinger and Michael Rounds scored twice to put the Wildcats ahead 4-1. Andrew McLean had the lone Odessa goal through two periods. However, Odessa stormed back with four goals in the 3rd period including another from McLean, two from Brandon Tucker and one from Zach Zech. Boxscore
Kenai River 0 @ Springfield 4 – Niko Della Maggorie stopped all 24 shots that came his way for his 3rd shutout of the season as the Jr. Blues blanked Kenai River 4-0 to complete a weekend home sweep. The Jr. Blues jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 1st period with goals from Kyle Meeh and Sam Craggs. Springfield added two more goals in the 2nd period to complete the scoring as Josh Bell and Keenan Sabatini scored :30 seconds apart to secure the win. Brown Bears goals Magnus Lindhe made 38 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Corpus Christi 0 @ Lone Star 1 – One goal is all the Brahmas and goalie Corbin Kaczperski would need as they blanked the visiting IceRays 1-0 to pick up a weekend sweep and close the gap for the South lead to just seven points. Kaczperski made 16 saves for his second shutout of the year. The lone goal of the game came early in the 3rd period via a power play goal from Brahmas forward Alex Berardinelli with assists to Cameron Clarke and Peter Kessel. IceRays goalie Dryden McKay played well in the loss, making 23 saves. Boxscore
Coulee Region 4 @ Austin 3 – Matiss Kivlenieks made 33 saves to lead the Chill to their second win of the weekend as they beat the Bruins on Pink in the Rink night in Austin, 4-3. The Chill jumped out to a 2-0 lead with 1st period goals from Kevin Dineen and Joey Sofo. The Bruins responded with a goal from Gilbert Gabor to make it 2-1. The Chill went back up by two with a power play goal in the 2nd period from Isaac Theisen. The Bruins didn’t quit and eventually tied the game at 3-3 thanks to a 2nd period goal from Jade Miller and a 3rd period power play goal from Austin Rueschhoff. The game-winner came with just over six minutes to go from Scott Corbett, who scored his second goal in as many nights. Boxscore
Johnstown 2 @ New Jersey 5 – Spencer Wright made 40 saves to lead the Titans to a 5-2 home win over the Tomahawks. Roberts Smits led the way for New Jersey with two goals and an assist. The Titans took a 1-0 lead in the 1st period with a power play goal from Bruno Birzitis. After Johnstown tied the game up in the 2nd period with a goal from Drew Doyon, the Titans answered with three straight including the first from Smits and others from Andrew Durham and Anthony Cusanelli.
Fairbanks 5 @ Janesville 3 – Fairbanks got their first win in six tries this season against the Jets, which also earned them a weekend road split as they won in Janesville on Saturday, 5-3. The Ice Dogs scored the final three goals of the game after the Jets had leads of 2-1 and 3-2. Todd Burgess scored twice for Fairbanks, included the game’s opening goal. Logan Coomes also scored twice for Fairbanks and Liam Stirtzinger had the other goal. Scoring for the Jets was Adrian Holesinsky, Taylor Fernandez and Shane Sellar. Ice Dogs goalie Gavin Nieto made 26 saves in the win. Boxscore
Brookings 5 @ MN Magicians 2 – Brookings fired 47 shots on goal and scored three goals in the 3rd period to pick up a 5-2 road win against the Magicians. The team’s were knotted up at 2-2 after two periods as Brady Heppner and Matt Sherman scored for Minnesota and Nick Ford and Chase Gamelin added goals for Brookings. In the 3rd period, the Blizzard stormed to the lead with three goals, including two from Kane Durment and another from Parker Revering. Griff Jeszka also added three assists in the Brookings win. Blizzard goalie Jacob Gwillim made 26 saves in the win. Boxscore
MN Wilderness 2 @ Bismarck 0 – Chase Munroe stopped all 22 shots that came his way for his third shutout of the season as the Wilderness snapped the Bobcats winning streak with a 2-0 shutout on Saturday, earning a weekend split of the road series in Bismarck. The game was scoreless through the opening period, but Minnesota broke through early in the 2nd period on a goal from Janis Jaks. Ryan Bloom added a 3rd period power play goal to complete the scoring. Nick DeSimone made 23 saves in the Bobcats loss. Boxscore
Aberdeen 0 @ Minot 2 – Minot goalie Lucas Murray stopped all 29 shots that came his way as the Minotauros picked up a 2-0 home win over the Wings to move to within a point of 1st place in the Central Division. It was a goaltending battle for much of the game, until finally the Minotauros broke through early in the 3rd period on a goal from Christian Mohs. Minot added their second goal of the game via the power play four minutes later as defenseman James LaDouce scored. Tyler Jeanson picked up assists on both Minot goals. Wings goalie Peter Thome played well in the loss, making 33 saves. Boxscore
