Friday Finals: Magicians widen lead in Midwest

December 22, 2018

MN Magicians 6 @ Chipppewa 3 – John Keranen, Carter Breitenfeldt, and Matt Stanton each scored twice to give the Magicians a 6-3 win in Chippewa on Friday, as the Magicians pushed their division lead back to five points. Stanton put the Magicians ahead with the only goal of the 1st period. The Steel briefly tied the game at 1-1 in the 2nd period with a goal from Dylan Moulton, but just :16 seconds later, the Magicians regained their one goal edge thanks to Keranen’s first of the game. A goal late in the 2nd period from Breitenfeldt and another early in the 3rd period from Keranen made it a 4-1 content. The Steel tried to stay close with two more goals in the 3rd period from Killian Kiecker-Olson and Austin Mikesch, but the Magicians would put the game on ice with more goals from Stanton and Breitenfeldt. Jack Robbel picked up the win in goal, making 27 saves, while Josh Langford took the loss with 29 saves.

 

Corpus Christi 2 @ Lone Star 1 - The Corpus Christi IceRays picked up their seventh win in a row on Friday night, a 2-1 defeat of the Lone Star Brahmas, to move into a tie for second place in the NAHL’s South Division. Kyle Moore and Santeri Hartikainen scored for the IceRays while goaltender Sam Best made 24 saves. In his first appearance of December, IceRays captain Kyle Moore returned to the lineup and immediately found his way onto the scoresheet. Moore received a centering pass from Blake Bennett and fired a shot in from the top of the slot at 17:58 to open the scoring. In the opening minute of the second period, Joey Baez scored a power-play goal for the Brahmas to tie the game, 1-1. Corpus Christi regained the lead when Santeri Hartikainen recorded a power-play goal of his own just 25 seconds into the third period. Brahmas goalie Harrison Feeney made 29 saves in the loss.

 

Shreveport 1 @ Odessa 4 – With the Stanley Cup making a special appearance in Odessa, the inspired Jackalopes got two goals and an assist from Jared Christy as they upended the visiting Mudbugs, 4-1. Odessa was propelled by a strong start, which saw them jump out to a 3-0 lead thanks to 1st period goals from Christy and Everett Wardle and a 2nd period goals from Zach Heintz. Late in the 2nd period, the Mudbugs found the back of the net for what would be their only goal as Lukass Sicevs scored his 5th goal of the season. Christy would add his second goal of the game with an empty-netter late in the 3rd period. Jacks goalie Kade Phipps was the other star in the win, making 36 saves, while Leo Chuard took the loss with 29 saves.

 

Springfield 5 @ Topeka 2 – Jack Williams made 24 saves and five different players scored for the visitors as the Jr. Blues moved back into the 4th and final playoff spot in the Midwest Division thanks to a 5-2 win in Topeka, handing the Pilots their fourth straight loss. The Jr. Blues jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 1st period thanks to goals from Nick Techel and Ben Schmidling. Topeka would cut the lead to 2-1 with a 2nd period goal from Quinn Green. However, Springfield would blow the game open in the 3rd period with three more goals, which included power play goals from Caden Villegas, Brandon Puricelli, and then a late goal from Aaron Swanon. Brendan Schultz had the other goal for the Pilots. McLean Dorr made 20 saves in the loss for Topeka.

 

Northeast 3 @ New Jersey 4 (SO) – The Titans saw a three-goal lead disappear only to gain the extra point and win in a shootout as they edged the Generals, 4-3. After a scoreless 1st period, the Titans appeared on their way to a win in regulation as two goals from Josef Glamos and another from Chris Garbe put the home side ahead 3-0 midway through the 3rd period. The Generals did not quit and socred three goals in the final eight minutes of regulation to tie the game, which included markers from John Jaworski, Svet Kuchynski, and Brady Gaudette. After a scoreless overtime, the Titans netted the extra point as Shane Haviland scored the lone goal. Brandon Perrone made 37 saves and stopped all three shooters in the shootout for the win, while Dave Fessenden made 45 saves in the loss.

 

Maryland 3 @ Jamestown 5 – The Rebels continued their hot play as they won their third straight game thanks to a 5-3 win over the visiting Black Bears. Goaltender Ryan Keane won his 7th straight start and forward Antonio Venuto scored twice in the win. The Rebels jumped out to a 4-0 lead thanks to two goals in the 1st period from Alex Frye and Nick Petruolo and two more goals in the 2nd period from Jim Glynn and Venuto. The Black Bears tried to make a game of it in the 3rd period as they scored three goals from Daylon Mannon, Jake Sujishi, and Luke Mountain, but another goal from Venuto secured the win for the Rebels. Keane made 20 saves in the win, while Kevin Lake made 33 saves in the loss.