Friday Finals: Harper's hat-trick leads Topeka to win
Travis Kothenbeutel had a big night to help Austin to a 6-4 win over Aberdeen.
Kenai River 2 @ Topeka 5 – Max Harper had a hat-trick as the RoadRunners beat the Brown Bears, 5-2 in Topeka. Topeka jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 1st period and never looked back, which included two goals from Harper and another from Jeff Makowski. The lead swelled to 4-0 early in the 2nd period with a goal from Topeka’s Marcus Russell. The Brown Bears got to within two with back-to-back goals from Ryan Mezera and Jonathan Marzec. Harper got his hat-trick late in the 3rd period. Ryan Snowden picked up the win in goal, making 22 saves, while Robbie Goor made 11 saves in the loss. Boxscore
New Jersey 0 @ Aston 4 – Mareks Mitens posted his league-leading 7th shutout of the season as the Rebels blanked the Titans, 4-0. Mitens, the Goalie of the Month in the NAHL for both October and November, made 31 saves in the win. The Rebels got goals from Evgeny Yakovlev in the 1st period, Aaron Maguyon and Jensen Zerban in the 2nd period and Gianluca Esteves in the 3rd period. Harrison Feeney made 24 saves in the Titans loss. Boxscore
Northeast 2 @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 6 – The Knights scored four goals in the 3rd period to break a 2-2 deadlock to roll past the Generals, 6-2. Six different players scored for the Knights including Mike Gelatt and Paul Maust in the 2nd period and Paul Cimilluca, Jimmy Elser, Dorian Dawson and Reed Robinson in the 3rd period. Generals goals came from Kohei Sato in the 1st period and Justin Jallen in the 3rd period. Colt Hanks made 19 saves in the win, while Gabe Vinal made 24 saves in the loss. Boxscore
MN Magicians 1 @ Coulee Region 4 – The Chill fought off a slow start to scored twice in the 2nd period and twice in the 3rd period to beat the visiting Magicians, 4-1. The Magicians took a 1-0 lead with a 1st period goal from Caleb Hite. The Chill responded with two goals in the 2nd period from Joe Sofo and Steven Quagliata to take a 2-1 lead. 3rd period goals from Matt Doran and Jackson Decker put the game on ice for the Chill. Coulee Region goalie Todd Scott made 32 saves in the win, while Ivan Prosvetov made 26 saves in the Magicians loss. Boxscore
Aberdeen 4 @ Austin 6 – The Bruins scored three times in the 1st period and held off a Wings comeback attempt to pick up a 6-4 win. The Bruins got 1st period goals from Tanner Dufault, Logan Haskins and Travis Kothenbeutel. Two Bruins got their first goals in the 2nd period as Cole Lawrence and Peter Zsombor-Garat scored their first goals of the season in the 2nd period and AJ Drobot added a 3rd period insurance goal. The Wings got a goal in the 1st period from Zach Noble, and three goals in the 2nd period from Nick Jenny, Trystan Isenhour and Kevin Fitzgerald. Jake Kucharski made 24 saves in the win, while Forbes Ploszaj made 15 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Janesville 3 @ Springfield 2 – The Jets snapped the Jr. Blues seven-game winning streak thanks to a late 3rd period goal from Peter Bates in a 3-2 win in Springfield. Each team scored once in the 1st period as Jakov Novak scored for Janesville and Christian Simeone answered for Springfield. The same occurred in the 2nd period as Adrian Holesinsky scored for the Jets with Jordan Muzzillo answering for Springfield. That would set up Bates’ heroics late in the 3rd period. Derek Schaedig made 23 saves in the win, while Mike Robinson made 29 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Lone Star 2 @ Odessa 1 – In a goaltending battle, Erik Gordon made 28 saves to lead the Brahmas to a 2-1 win and salvage a weekend road split in Odessa. Odessa took a 1-0 lead in the 1st period with a nice individual effort by Zach Zech, who scored a shorthanded goal. Lone Star got the momentum right back as :22 seconds later, Pete Kessel scored his 14th goal of the season on the power play. The game-winner came early in the 3rd period with a goal from Jakub Melisko. John Zimmerman assisted on both Brahmas goals. Jon Flakne made 30 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Amarillo 2 @ Shreveport 4 – A strong start led the Mudbugs to a 4-2 home win over Amarillo. Steven Mather scored both 1st period goals for Shreveport. Amarillo made a game of things with 2nd period goals from Alex Truscott and Hayden Broomhead, but the Mudbugs took the lead for good with a 2nd period goal from Gueorgui Feduolov and a 3rd period tally from Frankie Melton. John Roberts made 37 saves in the win and Nikita Babintsev made 44 saves in the loss. Boxscore
MN Wilderness 5 @ Bismarck 2 – Four goals in the 2nd period led the Wilderness to a 5-2 road win in Bismarck. Bismarck opened the scoring with a 1st period goal from Parker Mismash. The Wilderness then blew the game wide open with four goals in the 2nd period that came within a five minute span. Goals came from Tristan Rostagno, Dylan Mills, Charlie Parker and Alexander Esbjors. In the 3rd period, each team added one more goal as Tobias Fladeby scored for Bismarck and Zach Mills scored for the Wilderness. Trevor Micucci made 30 saves in the win, while Camden Haugenoe made 11 saves in the loss. Boxscore
