South, NAHL Selects and Central win on Day 1 at Top Prospects

February 16, 2016

It was an entertaining opening day of the 2016 NAHL Top Prospects Tournament in Plymouth, Michigan.

 

The morning featured the two NAPHL Championship games that were each decided by a goal and the morning also featured the start of the NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament.

 

Day 2 is on Tuesday and fans can watch all the action live on FASTHockey

 

Here is the schedule for Tuesday (all times Eastern):

 

11:00am: Midwest Division vs. South Division

2:00pm: Central Division vs. East Division

5:00pm: NAHL Selects vs. USNTDP 17-Team

 

South 4 vs. East 3 (SO) – The South and East divisions got things off to an exciting start as each team erased deficits to see the South ultimately win 4-3 in a shootout. After a fairly tame first half of the game, things started to heat up in the second half. East took a 1-0 lead thanks to some nice passing that led to a goal from Ryan Cusin (Aston). Early in the 3rd period, the South took a 2-1 lead with back-to-back goals less than a minute apart from JB Baker (Topeka) and George Mika (Amarillo). East tied the game on another nice play and this time is was Derek Frentz (Minot) who scored. The South briefly regained a one goal lead as Drake Lindsay (Corpus Christi) found himself along in front to give South a 3-2 lead.  Just over two minutes later, the East tied the game on a nice individual effort from Andrew Durham (New Jersey). In the shootout, Lone Star teammates Alex Berardinelli and Martin Mellberg scored for the South to give them the win. All four goalies split time with Anton Martinsson (Amarillo) making 10 saves and Graham Hunt (Corpus Christi) making eight saves for the South. Meanwhile for the East, Darion Hanson (Aston) stopped all 16 shots that came his way, while Peter Thome (Aberdeen) made 17 saves. Boxscore

 

NAHL Selects 6 vs. Midwest 2 – Six different players scored for the NAHL Selects in their 6-2 win over the Midwest Division. The NAHL Selects took a 1-0 lead with a 1st period goal from Ryner Gorowsky (Fairbanks). Midwest tied the game midway through the 2nd period on a tally from Joey Sardina (Kenai River). The NAHL Selects then scored three straight goals in a one minute span late in the 2nd period to take a 4-1 lead as Luke Lynch (Johnstown), Logan Coomes (Fairbanks) and Todd Burgess (Fairbanks) all scored. The Midwest cut the lead to 4-2 with an early 3rd period shorthanded goal from Adam Winborg (Janesville). The NAHL Selects would finish the final period with two more goals including strikes from Cameron Clarke (Lone Star) and Rourke Russell (Wichita Falls). The winning goalie from the NAHL Selects were Tyler Johnson (Topeka) who made 12 saves and Jack LaFontaine (Janesville) who made 17 saves. For the Midwest, Matiss Kivlenieks (Coulee Region) made 16 saves and Tommy Nappier (Springfield) made 12 saves. Boxscore

Central 3 vs. USNTDP 2 – The Central Division team came from behind in the 3rd period and got great goaltending from both Hunter Shepard (Bismarck) and Kris Carlson (Austin) in a 3-2 win over the USNTDP team on the final game of the opening day of the Top Prospects Tournament. The Central team took a 1-0 lead with a goal in the 1st period from Jared Pike (Bismarck), who ripped a shot past the glove of NTDP goalie Adam Scheel. The NTDP equalized just over :30 seconds later as Josh Norris scored on a nice give-and-go. However, that would all that Shepard would allow in his first half, making 14 saves. After a scoreless 2nd period the NTDP took a 2-1 lead early in the frame on a goal from Scott Reedy. However, the Central came back with two goals to win as Tanner Okeson (Aberdeen) and Jade Miller (Austin) scored in the late stages to give the Central the 3-2 win. Carlson made 15 saves in the win, while Scheeel made 35 saves in the loss. Boxscore