Saturday Scores: Sweeps tighten Central Division race

December 2, 2018

Bismarck 4 @ Brookings 1 – The Bobcats won their fourth straight game and kept pace with the Central Division leaders thanks to a 4-1 win in Brookings on Saturday, completing a weekend road sweep of the series. Atticus Kelly made 30 saves in the win for Bismarck and Austin Jouppi scored two more goals, giving him four goals in the weekend series and five goals in his last three games. Brookings scored first on a tip-in goal from John Kaljian in the 1st period, but after that, it was all Bobcats. That included three goals in the 2nd period from Mitchell Walinkski, Andy Stoneman, and Jouppi, and then another from Jouppi midway through the 3rd period to complete the win and sweep. Blizzard goalie George McBey made 29 saves in the loss.

 

Lone Star 0 @ Odessa 4 – The Jackalopes picked up a weekend home sweep of the Brahmas and moved into 5th place in the South thanks to a 4-0 win on Saturday. Goaltender Alex Camarre stopped all 26 shots that came his way for his first shutout of the season. Camarre, who came in relief in Friday’s win, stopped all 46 shots he saw in 92 minutes of action on the weekend. The other star of the game was forward Kyle Herbster, who had two goals and two assists. Herbster started the scoring in the 1st period, Patrick Dawson added a 2nd period goal and Herbster added his second goal of the game in the 3rd period along with a tally from Connor Smith. Lone Star goalie Harrison Feeney made 25 saves in the loss.

 

Chippewa 3 @ Aberdeen 12 – Shawn Kennedy had a six-point night, including a hat-trick, as the Wings completed a convincing weekend sweep of the Steel by scoring an NAHL season-high 12 goals in a 12-3 win on Saturday. Kennedy, who had seven points and four goals in the weekend sweep, scored two goals in the 1st period as the Wings jumped out to a commanding 5-0 lead in the opening frame, which also included goals from Nic Sicoly, Joe Strada, and Peter Morgan. The Steel scored twice in the 2nd period with goals from Matt Clark and David Sudbrink, but the Wings countered with six more goals from six different players, which included strikes from Dalton Weigel, Riley Murphy, John Sladic, Thomas Rocco, Brad Belisle, and Kennedy’s third goal of the game. In the 3rd period, Clark would add his second goal of the night for the Steel, while the Wings got their 12th goal of the game from Connor Beatty. Connor Close made 20 saves in his third start of the year, while Josh Langford took the loss, making 24 saves. Wings forward Jon Bendorf picked up five assists in the win.

Amarillo 4 @ Shreveport 3 – Logan Jenuwine had two goals and an assist as the Amarillo Bulls completed a weekend sweep in Shreveport of the Mudbugs, pushing their South Division lead to seven points in the process. The Bulls jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Alex Peterson and Brett Abdelnour, but the Mudbugs stormed back with three straight goals from CJ Regula, Anton Rubtsov, and Ethan Harrison to take a 3-2 lead in the 3rd period. However, Jenuwine put the Bulls on his back and scored both his goals in the final five minutes of regulation to give the Bulls the win. Justin Evenson made 22 saves in the win, while Maiszon Balboa made 31 saves in the loss.

 

Minot 3 @ Austin 4 – Bruins forward Dante Sheriff was again a major factor as his three-point night helped the Bruins to a 4-3 win and weekend home sweep of the Minotauros as Austin moved into a 1st place tie with Minot in the Central Division. Austin never trailed in the game, which featured a back and forth battle the first two periods. The teams were tied at 2-2 after one period as Sheriff and Joe Winkelmann scored for the Bruins, only to see Justin Kelly and Levi Kleiboer answer for Minot. In the 2nd period, the Bruins went ahead 3-2 on Winkelmann’s second goal of the night, but a minute later Taylor Lantz scored for Minot to tie the game at 3-3. With just :20 seconds remaining in the middle frame, Devon Fields scored the game-winner for the Bruins. Brett Miller made 23 saves in the win, while Nick Grabko made 24 saves in the loss.

 

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 2 @ Maryland 1 – Knights goalie Zach Stejskal was sharp for a second straight night, making 24 saves, as the Knights completed a weekend road sweep of the Black Bears with a 2-1 win on Saturday night. The win vaulted the Knights into a tie for the 4th and final playoff spot in the East Division. All the scoring came in the 1st period. Maryland took a 1-0 lead just over a minute into the game as Jonathan Young scored his 3rd goal of the season. That was answered by back-to-back Knights goals late in the period from Jacob Badal and the game-winner from Tyrone Bronte. Black Bears goalie Anthony Del Tufo, an NAPHL alum, made 29 saves in his NAHL debut in the loss.

Johnstown 5 @ Northeast 3 – Samuel Solensky scored twice to lead the Johnstown Tomahawks to their 16th straight win as they defeated the Northeast Generals, 5-3 on Saturday. After an early Generals goal from Louis Boudon, the Tomahawks ripped off five straight goals, including four in the 2nd period to take a commanding 5-1 lead after two periods. Solensky scored both of his goals and Mitchell Hale, Christian Gorscak, and Carson Briere also scored for Johnstown. The Generals didn’t quit, scoring two goals in the 3rd period from Aurel Naus and Clark Kerner, but Johnstown would have enough for the win. Carter McPhail made 29 saves in the win, while David Fessenden made 23 saves in the loss.

 

Springfield 2 @ Topeka 6 – The Pilots salvaged a weekend home split with the Jr. Blues thanks to a 6-2 win on Saturday night as six different players scored for the Pilots in the win. After an opening goal in the 1st period from Springfield’s Nick Techel, the Pilots responded with four straight goals from Brenden Rons, Brendan Schultz, Quinn Green, and Michael Muschitiello to take a 4-1 lead. The Jr. Blues cut the lead to 4-2 with a goal late in the 2nd period from Ben Schmidling, but goals in the 3rd period from Eric Brown and Cole Thiessen secured the 6-2 win for the Pilots. Pilots goalie Emil Gransoe made 16 saves to earn the win, while Jack Williams took the loss making 11 saves.

 

Jamestown 1 @ New Jersey 2 (OT) – Newly acquired goalie Ryan Winter made 31 saves in his Titans debut to help New Jersey move into sole possession of 2nd place with a 2-1 overtime win over the visiting Rebels. After a scoreless 1st period, New Jersey took a 1-0 lead thanks to a 2nd period goal from Kyle Jeffers, his 15th goal of the season. Jamestown tied the game midway through the 3rd period as Alex Frye netted his team-leading 13th goal of the season. In the overtime, Mac Wiseman converted on a 2 on 1 to give the Titans the extra point. Rebels goalie Noah West made 28 saves in the loss.

 

Kenai River 4 @ Fairbanks 3 – A four-goal 2nd period propelled the Kenai River Brown Bears to a 4-3 win in Fairbanks as they snapped a five-game losing streak against the Ice Dogs and salvaged a win in the three-game series. The Ice Dogs held a 1-0 lead after the 1st period thanks to a goal from Luke Ciolli. The Brown Bears then scored four goals in the 2nd period to take a 4-1 lead, which included tallied from Michael Spethmann, Zach Krajnik, Brandon Lajoie, and Laudon Poellinger. The Ice Dogs made a comeback in the 3rd period with two goals from Noah Wilson and Jack Johnston, but could not find the equalizer. Gavin Enright made 31 saves in the win, while Ethan Lahmon was saddled with the loss.

 

MN Wilderness 8 @ Janesville 2 – The Wilderness turned the table on the Jets to earn a weekend road split as Dylan Johnson had two goals and two assists and Isaac Kobienia had two goals and one assist in an 8-2 win in Janesville. The Wilderness took a 3-0 lead into the early stages of the 2nd period with goals from Nick Portz, Austin Grzenia, and Kobienia. The Jets got on the board midway through the middle frame with a goal from Sean Driscoll to make it 3-1, but less than a minute later, the Wilderness responded with five straight goals to put the game out of reach, which included a pair from Johnson and others from Jack Johnson, Nathan Poolman and another from Kobienia. Justin Engelkes had the other goal for the Jets late in the 3rd period. Wilderness goalie Ryan Fanti made 31 saves in the win, while Cole Brady took the loss making 24 saves through two periods.