Saturday Scores: South standings shift thanks to sweeps
Saturday Stars: Minnesota Wilderness goalie Sam Livecchi (above) stopped 59 of 61 shots in a series sweep of Chippewa, while Northeast Generals forward Brent Keefer (below) had the overtime-winner as the Generals swept the Rebels.
Shreveport 2 @ El Paso 5 – Jack Anderson’s two early goals set the pace for El Paso to pick up a 5-2 victory and claim their second win of the weekend versus Shreveport. After the Rhino’s quickly established a two goal lead, Logan Valkama and Austin Brimmer both notched goals for Shreveport to even out the score. El Paso finished strong to break the draw with three straight as Alex Krause, Jan Olenginski, and Frank Tafelski all tickled the twine. Lassi Lehti and Connor McDonough joined forces going 29 of 31 for the Rhinos in net. Simon Bucheler was faced with the loss between the pipes despite saving 22 shots for the Mudbugs.
Chippewa 0 @ MN Wilderness 6 – Sam Livecchi stopped all 26 shots he encountered to lead the Wilderness to a 6-0 shutout victory against the visiting Steel. Cole Crusberg-Rossen and Matthew McQuade scored in the first frame to put the Wilderness up 2-0. The rush continued in the third period as Aaron Pionk, Brendan Doyle, William Persson, and Noah Decker all found the back of the net within 15:35 of one another. Charlie Erickson aided in the scoring as well, picking up two assists for the Wilderness. Croix Kochendorfer was handed the loss after he stopped 29 of 35 for Chippewa from behind the crease.
Jamestown 2 @ Northeast 3 (OT) – Brent Keefer was clutch for the Generals when it came down to the wire, scoring his 12th goal of the season to break the tie and give Northeast the weekend sweep against Jamestown via a 3-2 overtime win. Carter Casper and John Lundy added tallies to the score sheet, and Noah Szretter chipped in a pair of assists for the Rebels during regulation. Northeast struck twice in the middle frame with goals coming off the sticks of forwards Ryan Gordon and Paul Minnehan, both with help from Jared Scott. Keeper Cullen DeYoung continued his winning ways from behind the crease for the Generals stopping 32 of 34 opposing shots. Nolan Suggs made 34 saves in the Jamestown loss.
Minot 5 @ Austin 1 – Joe Westlund led the way for the Minotauros with a pair of goals to lift them over the Bruins by a score of 5-1. Ocean Wallace posted the lone Austin tally just 4:27 after puck drop with help from Alex Trombley. Tom Friden answered with a score of his own just 26 seconds later to tie it up. After Joe Westlund lit the lamp twice, Colby Joseph and Zack Simon followed suit for Minot. Zach Sandy was nearly perfect in net for the Minotauros as stopped 30 of 31 for his eighth win of the season. Austin goal keeper Hudson Hodges skated away with the loss after making 21 saves.
Corpus Christi 2 @ Amarillo 4 – Glebs Prohorenkovs had a three point outing on Saturday night paving the way to a 4-2 win that allowed the Wranglers to complete the weekend sweep of Corpus Christi. Dominic Schimizzi and Kristaps Skrastins also added tallies for Amarillo while Jakob Peterson and Anthony Vidrick picked up helpers to grow their season assist totals to 14 and 10, respectively. Nathan Butler and Charlie Merkley were responsible for the pair of IceRays goals that both came in the final period of play. Max Gutjhar was stellar in net for the Wranglers as he turned aside 28 of 30. On the other end of the ice, Corpus Christi keeper Damon Beaver fell short despite halting 30 chances.
New Mexico 6 @ Wichita Falls 3 – Six different Ice Wolves scored to give New Mexico the 6-3 advantage over Wichita Falls for their second win of the weekend. Mitchell Becker fired one past the goalie in the first period for the Ice Wolves, but Wichita Falls countered with tallies from Peter Lajoy and Carter Korpi who capitalized again later in the contest. New Mexico’s Aidan Emerson then scored his first of the season while William Howard and Dillan Bentley both secured number eleven for the year. Grant Ellings and Alex Gomez pitched into the scoring efforts for the Ice Wolves with goals of their own. Owen Parker and Beni Halasz teamed up in goal for New Mexico needing just 11 saves to get the victory.
Danbury 5 @ Johnstown 4 – Five different skaters contributed to the Danbury offensive effort to earn the 5-4 victory on Saturday evening over Johnstown on the road. Hunter Mccurdy claimed the first goal for the Jr. Hat Tricks but Sean Ramsay buried the equalizer shortly after for the Tomahawks. Robert Hyde and Matthew Danziger lit the lamp for Danbury to regain the lead at the close of the second frame. Johnstown’s Stephen Kyrkostas and Braedon Ford found the back of the net to bring it back to a deadlock until Roberts Andersons and Boris Skalos provided some insurance for the Jr. Hat Tricks. Jake Black scored his 15th of the season in an attempt to bring the Tomahawks within reach. Josh Seeley turned aside 27 of 31 from the blue paint for Danbury in the win, while Johnstown tender Tommy Heaney did all he could gathering 25 saves in the defeat.
MN Magicians 2 @ Janesville 5 – It was a four-goal run that gave way to a 5-2 Janesville victory over the Magicians leading to a weekend series split between the two Midwest Division teams. Jan Lasak and Tristan Thibeault tickled the twine in the opening twenty minutes of play for the Jets to open up the scoring. Cy LeClerc fired one past the goalie in the second period to extend his goal streak to six consecutive games. William Gustavsson and Ethan Begg secured the final two tallies for Janesville. The pair of Magicians goals came from Nicholas Babbie and Lucas Kanta under two minutes apart in the final frame. Owen Millward was dominant between the pipes in the Janesville win, scooping up 32 pucks fired his direction.
North Iowa 7 @ St. Cloud 4 – The North Iowa goal-scoring was shared amongst seven different players on Saturday night, giving way to a 7-4 win over St. Cloud on opposing ice. Blake Perbix struck just 3:07 into the contest for the Norsemen, but North Iowa began the second period with four back-to-back goals within three minutes by recent trade acquisition Jake LaRusso, and teammates Hunter Bulger, Jack Mesic, and Greg Japchen. Kade Peterson found the back of the net and Evan Murr doubled up on scoring to bring the St. Cloud total to four. Carter Rapalje, Simone Dadie, and Brett Morich were the other goal scores for the Bulls in the tilt. North Iowa net minder Hunter Garvey saved 38 of 42 to earn the win. Ethan Dahlmeir and Tomas Bolo combined for 29 saves in a losing effort for the Norsemen.
Aberdeen 5 @ Bismarck 3 – Cade Neilson took charge for the Wings with two goals and two assists on Saturday evening against Bismarck to split the weekend sequence by way of a 5-3 win. After Cade Neilson netted a goal 1:41 into the contest, Aberdeen forward Ronan Walsh and Quinn Rudrud of Bismarck exchanged tallies in the second frame. The Wings then went on a 3-0 run in the third period with scores coming off the sticks of Jacob Bosse, Cade Neilson, and Chase Davis. Adam Pietila and Jake Mclean lit the lamp for Bismarck to try to close the gap in the final minutes of play. Dominik Wasik made 21 saves in goal for Aberdeen. Bismarck tender Ben Behrens gathered 22 stops in the loss.
Fairbanks 2 @ Anchorage 4 – Four different Wolverines found the back of the net as Anchorage doubled up Fairbanks 4-2. Joey Moffatt broke the ice in the first to give Anchorage the early lead. However, Brendan Miles was able to beat the buzzer and tie the game heading into the first intermission. Bohdan Panasenko scored the only tally of thee second period, giving the Wolverines the advantage with 20 minutes to play. Talon Sigurdson scored his league leading 18th goal of the season to pad the lead for Anchorage before Jack Ring netted a power play goal to bring the Ice Dogs within one. Jackson Reineke finished off Fairbanks with an empty net goal in the dying seconds. Raythan Robbins earned the win in between the pipes as he stopped 30 of 32 shots. Kayden Hargraves was dealt the loss as he made 26 stops for the Ice Dogs.
Springfield 7 @ Kenai River 4 – A five goal outburst in the first period helped the Springfield Jr. Blues cruise to a 7-4 victory over the Kenai River Brown Bears. Carson Jones led the way with two goals and two helpers while Cole Schneider logged a goal and three assists. Noah Marino contributed a goal and an assist while Will Magnuson and Michael Valdez both lit the lamp for Springfield. David Vieten, Ryan Finch, Caden Triggs and Luke Helgeson all netted goals for Kenai River in the loss. Ethan Roberts turned aside 40 shots fired in his direction to pick up the win in goal. Tommy Aitken and Bryant Marks teams up to stop 30 Springfield shots.
