Friday Finals: Jackalopes stay hot to tighten race in the South

Friday Box Scores

New Mexico 4 @ Odessa 5 - Five different players got on the scoresheet as the Jackalopes inched their way closer to the playoff field with a 5-4 win over the New Mexico Ice Wolves. William Marshall and John Christen each had a goal and an assist to lead the Jackalopes. Jackson Hay, Trevor Mitchell and Ryan Mansfield all picked up tallies for Odessa in the victory. Yusaku Ando potted a pair of goals and Tony Leahy had a goal and an assist for New Mexico. Dillon Kuntz also got on the board for the Ice Wolves. Quentin Sigurdson picked up the win in goal with 33 saves while Carsen Stokes took the loss with 39 stops. 

Fairbanks 3 @ Anchorage 6 - Jackson Reineke scored twice as the Anchorage Wolverines defeated the Fairbanks Ice Dogs by a score of 6-3. Joe Cesario and Wilson Dahlheimer each had a goal and an assist for the Wolverines. Andy Ramsey and Revelin Mack also got on the scoresheet for Anchorage in the victory. Brady Welsch led the Ice Dogs offense with a goal and an assist. Cole Burke and Julian Recine also lit the lamp in the loss. Shane Soderwall got the win in goal as he made 30 saves. Kayden Hargraves took the loss as he stopped 23 shots. 

Minnesota 4 @ Kenai River 1 - Isak Posch was nearly perfect as he stopped 31 of the 32 shots he faced as the Minnesota Wilderness took care of the Kenai River Brown Bears 4-1. Michael Quinn and Brian Lonergan each grabbed a goal and a helper for Minnesota. Sawyer Scholl and Reid Daavettila both picked up goals in the win for the Wilderness. Nick Stevens scored the lone goal for Kenai River and Nils Wallstrom made 24 saves.

Maryland 5 @ Northeast 1: The Black Bears extended their sole lead of the East Division after a convincing 5-1 victory over Northeast. Hunter Ramos broke the deadlock 13:02 into the opening frame, Frank D'ancona following him up a minute later to make it 1-1. Dimity Kebreau, Trey Scott, and Samuel Stitz extended the Maryland lead to three with scores in the middle frame. Kebreau netted his second of the contest 10:59 into the 3rd period to put the game out of reach. William Hakansson kept out all but one of 27 shots faced while Toby Hopp kept out 24 in the loss. 

Johnstown 4 @ Maine 2: A four-goal 2nd period onslaught fueled the Tomahawks past Maine 4-2 to send the two squads to a series decider Saturday night. Kellen Murphy put the Nordiques on the board first with the lone goal in the opening frame. Evan Orloff scored again for Maine in the 2nd but goals from Anthony Galante, Drake Albers, and a pair of goals from Nick Ahern flipped the script. The Tomahawks and Adam Johnson shutout the Nordiques in the 3rd as Johnson finished the win with 22 stops. Kael Depape kept out 25 of 29 for Maine. 

Danbury 0 @ Philadelphia 4: Jakub Krbecek stopped all 24 shots that Danbury sent towards him to pick up his 3rd shutout of the season and fueled Philadelphia to their 21st win. A scoreless first 20 minutes led to Connor Sedlak breaking the deadlock with his 17th of the season late in the 2nd period. Greg Spitznagel doubled the lead with a powerplay goal with just 24 seconds remaining in the period. Carter Casper and Spitznagel provided some more insurance with scores in the 3rd. Karlis Mezsargs stopped 26 of 30 in Danbury’s crease. 

Janesville 2 @ Chippewa 3: Despite a tight scoreline the Steel came out flying in their first weekend matchup against Janesville, outshooting them 46-22 in the 3-2 victory. Matthew Brille gave Chippewa a quick lead as he scored his 15th of the season 15 seconds into the game. Kazumo Sasaki doubled the lead 2:17 into the 2nd before Janesville fired off a pair of goals from Will Troutwine and Kyle Kudrna to tie it. Chippewa’s leading scorer Kade Nielsen put Chippewa back in the lead 42 seconds before the 2nd intermission. Adam Gajan was the victor between the pipes, stopping 20 of 22 shots faced. Selby Warren gave the Jets a fighting chance as he kept out an impressive 43 of 46 shots. 

Shreveport 5 @ Corpus Christi 2: A pair of goals from both Nick Marino and Drake Morse lifted the Mudbugs past Corpus Christi on the road. IceRays defenseman Ryan Hintz picked up his first tuck of the season to give them a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes of play. Morse and Marino both found their firsts in the 2nd period to give Shreveport the lead. Marino and Garrett Steele extended the lead to three with scores midway through the 3rd period. Jackson Beach tried fueling a comeback after lighting the lamp for Corpus Christi but Morse silenced their bid with an empty netter late in regulation. Nikola Goich kept out 16 of 18 in the win while Patrik Jurcak kept out 36 in the loss. 

Wisconsin 3 @ Springfield 1: The Windigo improved their point streak to nine games after taking down the Jr. Blues 3-1. After a scoreless opening 20 minutes, Wisconsin put two goals in the back of the net from Benjamin Anderson and Will Schumacher in the 2nd period with the goals coming 23 seconds apart. Patrick Isiguzo provided some insurance 13:15 into the 3rd period with his 3rd goal of the year. Hagen Moe got Springfield on the board with 1:01 remaining in regulation which was too late to fuel a comeback. February Goalie of the Month Maxwell Beckford continued his strong play, stopping 26 of 27 shots in the win. Aksel Reid kept out 31 in the loss. 

St. Cloud 4 @ North Iowa 5 (SO): Tristan Kimmen found twine in the 6th round of the shootout to send the North Iowa fans home happy with a 6-5 win over St. Cloud. Jack Wandmacher put the Norsemen ahead first with a goal 13:03 into the game. Byron Hartley tied the scores late in the 2nd period with his 18th of the season. The two teams traded a combined six goals in the final frame as Tyler Dysart, Sever Sulonen, and Andrew Clarke buried for St. Cloud while Simone Dadie, Blake Ulve, and Logan Dombrowsky buried for the Bulls. Mitch Day kept out 21 in regulation for the Bulls while Ethan Dahlmeir made 23 stops for the Norsemen.  

Minot 4 @ Aberdeen 2 - Lawton Zacher made 34 saves as the Minot Minotauros doubled up the Aberdeen Wings by a score of 4-2. Hunter Longhi got his 18th goal in the second period while Braden Fischer, Adam Mahler and Trevor Stachowiak all netted goals in the third period to secure the victory. Michael Casey and Alexander Gullichsen both found the back of the net for Aberdeen. Cole Moore took the loss in goal, he made 21 saves. 

Lone Star 3 @ Oklahoma 1 - Ivan Zadvernyuk scored twice as the Lone Star Brahmas beat the Oklahoma Warriors for the second consecutive game. After Cole Teleki scored the game’s first goal for Oklahoma, Johan Rosenquist tied things up with his 10th goal of the season. Then after a scoreless second period, Zadvernyuk scored the go ahead goal before adding the empty netter in the final minutes. William Gramme grabbed the win in the blue paint as he stopped 24 shots. Daniel Duris suffered the loss as he made 13 saves. 

Austin 1 @ Bismarck 4 - The Bismarck Bobcats kept pace in the playoff race as they topped the division leading Austin Bruins 4-1. Logan Valkama scored just over two minutes into the action before Vert Jantunen scored in the second period to increase the lead to 2-0. James Goffredo scored just seconds into the final period to bring the Bruins within one. Then Patrick Johnson and Calvin Hanson each scored empty net goals in the final minutes to seal the win for Bismarck. Hunter Garvey made 35 saves to pick up the win in between the pipes while Trent Wiemken made 20 saves for Austin. 

Amarillo 3 @ El Paso 0 - Carter Clafton stopped all 26 shots fired in his direction as the Amarillo Wranglers blanked the El Paso Rhinos 3-0. Jack McDonald put home two goals to give him 11 on the season. Blake Farrell scored an empty net goal in the dying seconds for Amarillo. Nolan Suggs was dealt the loss in goal as he made 26 saves for El Paso.