Friday Finals: Wilderness offense explodes in home opener
Brennan Blaszczak rallied the Springfield Jr. Blues with a hat trick in the third period, to grab a 4-2 win in Topeka.
Springfield 4 @ Topeka 2 – Four unanswered goals in the third gave Springfield a win on the road in Topeka on Friday night. While the RoadRunners led the game with goals from Max Harper and Brendan Doyle through the first and second, Springfield wasn’t ready to go home without the win. Brennan Blaszczak rallied the Jr. Blues with a hat trick in the third period, to grab the victory for Springfield. The Jr. Blues saw their fourth goal come from Ryan Leibold to give them a 4-2 final score. Devin Cooley took the come-from-behind win for the Jr. Blues with 24 saves, while Topeka’s Ryan Snowden was given the loss in a 40 save effort. Boxscore
Aberdeen 1 @ MN Wilderness 8 – The Wilderness put on a show for their home opener, netting eight goals for a 8-1 win over the Aberdeen Wings on Friday. Three first period goals were credited to Tim Nicksic, Logan Stork and Nick Olczyk. Aberdeen snuck in a goal early in the second from Zach Noble, until the Wilderness would add 5 more goals in their win. The next five Minnesota goals came from Alexander Esbjors, Charlie Parker, Troy Dobbs, Tim Nicksic and Pavel Mikhasenok. Luke Kania took the win in net for the Wilderness with 21 saves, while Aberdeen’s Arttu Kulmala was given the loss with 19 saves. Boxscore
New Jersey 3 @ Northeast 2 (OT) – Overtime hero Nick Boyagian picked up a goal just 1:41 minutes into bonus hockey for the New Jersey Titans on Friday night. Northeast controlled the game early, with two goals from Devin Pierce and Kohei Sato in the first period. New Jersey had one goal on the board from Tyler Antonucci, as the teams stayed at a 2-1 Generals score until the third period. The Titans’ Anthony Cusanelli gave New Jersey the chance to send the game to overtime, where Nick Boyagian sealed the win. Harrison Feeney took the win for the Titans in net with 24 saves, while Gabe Vinal was given the OT loss for the Generals, despite 44 saves. Boxscore
Aston 5 @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 1 – A third period finale sealed the deal for Aston as they traveled to take on the Knights. The first was an even affair, with goals from Aston’s Ryan Solomon and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Khristian Acosta. The Rebels’ Andreas Maier gave Aston a 2-1 lead in the second, until Ryan Patrick, Gianluca Esteves and Drew Blackmun broke open the scoring in the third, giving the Rebels a 5-1 victory. Mareks Mitens took the win for the Rebels with 13 saves, while Colt Hanks took the loss for the Knights with 25 saves. Boxscore
Bismarck 1 @ Austin 4 – The Austin Bruins sealed a win at home in a Friday night matchup with the Bismarck Bobcats. A scoreless first led to two second period goals for Austin, credited to Logan Haskins and Evan Cholak. In the third, Bismarck’s Zach Kennedy put the Bobcats within one with an early 3rd period goal. The Bruins would add two more goals from AJ Drobot and Michael Piehler to seal their 4-1 win. Jake Kucharski took the Bruins’ victory with 25 sabes, while Will Ulrich was handed the loss for Bismarck with 26 saves. Boxscore
Odessa 2 @ Corpus Christi 1 – Single goals in each period made for a close game between South Division rivals Odessa and Corpus Christi. In the first, The Jackalopes kicked things off with a goal from Nck Klishko. Corpus Christi’s Brad Power found the back of the net in the second to even the score out. In the third, the game-winning goal was credited to Odessa’s Christian Hausinger, who scored with just 59 seconds left in regulation. Jonny Hogue took the win for Odessa with 18 saves, while Corpus Christi’s Tomas Vomacka was given the loss, despite 28 saves. Boxscore
Lone Star 4 @ Amarillo 2 – The battle of Texas took place between Lone Star and Amarillo on Friday, ending in a 4-2 road victory for the visiting Brahmas. Lone Star set the tone early with three straight goals from Drake Glover, Pete Kessel and Troy York. Amarillo’s Jake Nitche brought the game back within 2, until the Brahmas’ Junter Stanley added a fourth goal for Lone Star. The Bulls’ Kosta Likourezos found the net late in the second period, but Lone Star held on for the 4-2 win. Alec Calvaruso took the victory with 24 saves, while Amarillo’s Nikita Babintsev took the loss with 29 saves. Boxscore
Coulee Region 4 @ MN Magicians 3 – A close game between the Chill and Magicians ended with a Coulee Region victory on Friday night. The Chill’s Billy Duma opened the first period scoring, until Minnesota’s Brendan Skarda and Timo Walther put the Magicians ahead 2-1. In the second, Coulee Region took their lead back with two goals from Matt Hines and Larry Jungwirth. Trenton Bliss added a fourth Chill goal early in the third to put Coulee Region up 4-2. Minnesota’s Cameron Buhl brought the game within one with his third period goal, but the Chill held on for the win. Joe Marcoullier took the win for Coulee Region with 30 saves. The Magicians’ Ivan Prosuetov took the loss with 24 saves. Boxscore
Brookings 6 @ Minot 5 (OT) – With two goals through the night, Brookings’ Cade Borchardt found the net in overtime to give the Blizzard a win over Minot on Friday. The first period had five scoring plays, each back and forth between the teams. Brookings had goals from Zach Mitchell, Cade Borchardt and Brandon Kruse, while Minot had two goals from Zack Bross and Chase Springman. In the second, Minot rallied off three straight tallies from Zack Bross, Alex Adams and Kyle Craddick to put the Minotauros ahead. Brookings would score two goals by Chase Brand and Doug Larson to force the contest into overtime, where Cade Borchardt made his game-winning goal. Josh Boyko took the win with 33 saves for Brookings, while Lucas Murray was given the loss despite 33 saves for Minot. Boxscore
