Saturday Scores: Smith's return propels Brahmas to sweep
Northeast forward Jake LaRusso had six points in a weekend sweep of Maine.
El Paso 0 @ Lone Star 2 – In his first start of the season, Arthur Smith denied all 19 shots he faced as the Lone Star Brahmas blanked the El Paso Rhinos 2-0. Connor Bergeron got on the scoresheet first with his first of the season. Bauer Swift and Ryan Prewitt picked up the helpers on the opening goal. Matthew Macdonald increased the Brahmas lead on the power play late in the third with his fourth of the year. Bauer picked up his second assist of the evening while Nate Mann got his first. Hunter Garvey finished the night with 15 saves for the Rhinos.
Northeast 4 @ Maine 3 – The Generals used a four-point night from Jake LaRusso to pick up a weekend sweep of the Nordiques thanks to a 4-3 win in Maine on Saturday. The Generals got goals from Jared Scott in the 1st period, Joseph McGraw and David Andreychuk in the 2nd period and the game-winner from LaRusso in the 3rd period. Maine got goals from Kellen Murphy, Henrik Hallberg, and Laurent Trepanier. Toby Hopp made 26 saves in the win, while Kael Depape made 22 saves in the loss.
Austin 4 @ North Iowa 5 (SO) - Cayden Casey and Max Scott scored in the shootout as the North Iowa Bulls edged the Austin Bruins by a score of 5-4. North Iowa owned the first period as Byron Hartley and Casey got the Bulls out to a 2-0 lead. However, the Bruins came out firing in the second as they score three goals in three and a half minutes. Dylan Cook got one on the power play while Matthew Desiderio picked up the other two. Scott tied the game at three with a power play goal of his own and Justin Mexico converted a penalty shot to give North Iowa the lead heading into the third. Walter Zacher tied the game at four with another power play tally for Austin, forcing overtime and the subsequent shootout. Mitch Day got the win in relief as he made 13 stops on 14 shots. Trent Wiemken made 17 saves in the loss for the Bruins.
Aberdeen 6 @ St. Cloud 3 – Three goals in the 3rd period and two goals from Brock Williams gave the Aberdeen Wings a 6-3 win on Saturday, completing a weekend road sweep of the Norsemen. The Norsemen took a 2-0 lead in the 1st period on goals from Kade Peterson and Jeremiah Konkel. The Wings responded with three straight goals from Kyle Contessa, Landon Parker, and Jackson Anderson to take a 3-2 lead. After Hunter Hanson tied the game at 3-3 late in the 2nd period, it was all Wings in the 3rd period as Williams scored twice and Nikolai Tishkevich also added a goal. Cole Moore made 35 saves in the win, while Will Ingemann made 16 saves in the loss.
Kenai River 4 @ Wisconsin 3 – The Brown Bears erased a 2-0 lead and got the game-winner the game’s final minute as they handed the Windigo their 5th straight loss thanks to a 4-3 win on Saturday, which completed a weekend road sweep. The Windigo led 2-0 early on goals from Nicholas Babbie and Will Schumacher. The Brown Bears then scored three straight goals from Bryce Monrean, Ashton Christman, and Ryan Finch. Zachary Cline scored for the Windigo to make it a 3-3 game, but with :48 seconds left in regulation, the Brown Bears netted the game-winner on a goal from Hunter Newhouse. Nils Wallstrom made 24 saves in the win, while Maxwell Beckford made 25 saves in the loss.
Anchorage 1 @ Minnesota 2 - The Minnesota Wilderness defeated the Anchorage Wolverines for the second consecutive night, this time by a score of 2-1. Noah Griswold scored the opening goal of the game on the power play. Andy Ramsey netted his first of the season just two minutes later to tie the game at one. The game would remain tied until the third period when Eddie Shepler fired home his second of the year and that would be the eventual game winner. Konrad Kausch was nearly perfect as he stopped 27 shots. Shane Soderwall was also very good for Anchorage, he also finished with 27 saves.
Maryland 2 @ New Jersey 6 – The Titans turned the tables on the Black Bears and earned a weekend split thanks to a 6-2 win on Saturday. Brendan Dumas led the way for the Titans with two goals and two assists. The Titans scored first thanks to a 1st period goal from Ryan Novo. Maryland responded with back-to-back goals early in the 2nd period from Christian Catalano and Dimitry Kebreau to take a 2-1 lead. It was all Titans after that as Dumas scored twice and Tyler Sanborn, Michael Young, and Johnny McMahon also scored. Jacob Torgner made 22 saves in the win, while Jack Wieneke made 19 saves in the loss.
Philadelphia 4 @ Johnstown 3 (OT) – The Rebels erased a 3-1 lead and then got a goal from Greg Spitznagel in overtime to spoil the Tomahawks home-opener thanks to a 4-3 win on Saturday. Johnstown had a 2-1 lead after one period as Johnny Ulicny and Will Bowman scored for the Tomahawks, while Trevor Burns scored for the Rebels. In the 2nd period, the Tomahawks lead increased to 3-1 on a goal from Tyler DesRochers. After that it was all Rebels as they stormed back with three unanswered goals from Klaus Jogi, Kristians Samitis, and Spitznagel. Jakub Krbecek made 24 saves in the win, while Matt O’Donnell made 21 saves in the loss.
Fairbanks 2 @ Springfield 5 – Tyler Borgula had two goals and an assist and Nikita Nikora had a four-point night as the Jr. Blues salvaged a weekend split with the Ice Dogs thanks to a 5-2 win on Saturday. The Jr. Blues opened up a 3-0 lead through two period as on goals from Nikora, Cole Lonsdale, and Johnny Mead. Fairbanks tried to comeback with goals in the 3rd period from Julian Recine and Tyler Herzberg, but a pair of goals from Borgula in the 3rd period secured the Jr. Blues win. Aksel Reid made 24 saves in the win, while Jack Olson made 27 saves in the loss.
Janesville 3 @ Chippewa 2 - The Janesville Jets earned a weekend split as they took home a 3-2 win on Saturday night over the Chippewa Steel. Jimmy Doyle, Kyle Kudrna, and Matthew Hale netted three straight tallies for the Jets offense. Kade Neilson and Matthew Brille netted goals for the Steel in the loss. Selby Warren earned the win in net as he stopped 33 shots for the Jets. Adam Gajan took the loss in goal as he stopped 29 of the 32 shots he faced.
New Mexico 6 @ Corpus Christi 5 - The New Mexico Ice Wolves held on to win a wild game in Corpus Christi as they beat the IceRays 6-5. The Ice Wolves had a three goal lead 15 minutes into the action as Tyler Samodral, JD Metz and Graham Harris all got on the scoresheet. The IceRays cut the lead down to one with goals from Anthony Cafarelli and Jack Wandmacher but Will Howard doubled the lead heading into the final frame. Samodral and Howard would each score their second goal of the game in the third but Corpus would make things interesting with goals from Kiernan Gately, Cameron Crolley and Tomas Trunda but William Craig would end the night with 31 saves to secure the win. Thomas Kiesewetter was dealt the loss as he made 28 stops.
Oklahoma 3 @ Shreveport 4 - The Shreveport Mudbugs ended their losing skid as they grabbed a 4-3 win over the Oklahoma Warriors. Jake Mack scored 43 seconds into the game but then the score remained the same all the way until the third period. That’s when Garrett Horsager scored twice in four minutes to give Oklahoma the lead. Garrett Steele and Logan Gotinsky put the Mudbugs back in front with back-to-back goals before Hunter Jones’ fifth of the season once again tied the game. Gotinsky would net his second of the game to give the Mudbugs the lead and the eventual win. Tommy Aitken took home the win with 29 saves and Cameron Korpi suffered the loss as he turned aside 25 saves.
Minot 4 @ Bismarck 1 - The Minot Minotauros spoiled opening night for the Bismarck Bobcats as they took home a 4-1 victory on Saturday night. Colby Joseph and Hunter Longhi got Minot out to a 2-0 lead. Adam Pietila cut the lead in half with his first goal of the season but Max Martin and Tory Lund helped Minot pull away midway through the final period en route to the win. Lawton Zacher earned the win in between the pipes as he made 23 saves. Linards Lipskis was given the loss despite making 28 stops.
