Saturday Scores: Bruins and Black Bears clinch playoff spots
Maryland defenseman Kaleb Tiessen had a goal in a 5-1 win on Saturday, which clinched a playoff spot for the Black Bears.
Bismarck 2 @ Austin 5: The Bruins bounced back from Friday’s shootout loss and took down Bismarck 5-2 and in the process, clinched a playoff spot in the Central Division. Jackson Rilei and Josh Giuliani put Austin ahead by a pair early with goals in the 1st period. Attila Lippai scored his first of the season to get Bismarck on the board and cut the deficit in half. Matthew Desiderio extended Austin’s lead with the lone goal in the middle frame. Walter Zacher, Logan Valkama, and Ocean Wallace all lit the lamp in the 3rd period to cut out any comeback chances. Adam Prokop was the goalie in net for the Bruins, stopping 21 of 23 in the winning effort. Linards Lipskis kept out 27 of 31 for the Bobcats.
Johnstown 1 @ Maryland 5: The Black Bears continued their weekend dominance over Johnstown with a 5-1 victory pon Saturday, which clinched a playoff spot for the Black Bears. Hunter Ramos put Maryland ahead just 41 seconds into the contest. Kaleb Tiessen extended the lead with his 7th goal of the season with 4:52 remaining in the 1st. Adam Schankula extended the lead in the 2nd before Will Lawrence got the Tomahawks on the board to cut the deficit down. Kareem El Bashir and Riley Ruh both buried goals in the 3rd to provide insurance and seal the win. William Hakansson stopped 14 of 15 in the win while Alec Rajalin-Sharp kept out 37 of 42 for Johnstown.
Janesville 1 @ Wisconsin 6: The Windigo continued to solidify their top spot in the Midwest after dominating the Jets 6-1. Jonathan Bell broke open Wisconsin’s scoring with a goal 6:27 into the 2nd period. Janesville was able to tie the game just 29 seconds later off the stick of Jonathan Bell, his first goal of the season and first in a Windigo sweater. Victor Widlund and Max Martin secured a two goal lead with more goals before the 2nd intermission. Drew Fisher, Widlund, and Martin all found the back of the net to provide more insurance. Gavin Moffatt kept out 20 of 21 in the victory while Rowan White made 35 stops for the Jets.
Aberdeen 0 @ North Iowa 4: The North Iowa Bulls fished a weekend sweep over the Aberdeen wings in shutout fashion in a 4-0 win. Justin Mexico got the scoring going for the Bulls in the first period. In the second, North Iowa added three goals as Simone Dadie, Byron Hartley and Max Scott all scored. Mitch Day picked up the shutout win stopping 24 shots. Cole Moore made 16 saves in the loss.
El Paso 0 @ Shreveport 2: The Shreveport Mudbugs posted back-to-back shutout wins against the El Paso Rhinos as they took a 2-0 win. All of the goals came in the second period with Jake Mack and Hayden Nichol. Simon Bucheler got the win in net stopping all 19 shots he faced. Nolan Suggs made 26 saves in the loss.
Maine 4 @ Danbury 2: In the lone afternoon matchup of the day, the Nordiques came out on top 4-2 against Danbury. Quinn Kennedy provided Danbury the lead through 20 minutes of play when he scored 12:12 into the 1st period. Aidan Coupe leveled the scores 2:59 into the middle frame with a power play goal. Logan Nickerson put Danbury back in the driver's seat with a score 2:11 into the 3rd period before Seth Murch, Kellen Murphy, and Jonny Meiers fired off three consecutive goals to swing the tide in Maine’s favor. Kael Depape and Thomas Heaney split time in net for Maine, combining for 20 saves in the win. Thomas Kiesewetter stopped 32 of 36 in the loss.
Chippewa 1 @ Wilderness 2 (SO): The Minnesota Wilderness split wins with the Chippewa Steel after taking a 2-1 shootout win. The Wilderness scored in the second period with Oliver Stumpel and then the Steel in the third with Kade Nielsen for a 1-1 game. In the extra period Kevin Marx Noren scored the game winner for a 2-1 final. Goaltender Isak Posch took the win in net after turning away 29 shots. Steel goalie Adam Gajan made 18 saves in the loss.
Corpus Christi 5 @ Odessa 6 (SO): The Odessa Jackalopes picked up a 6-5 shootout win over the Corpus Christi IceRays. In the first period Odessa netted three goals with Ryan Kelly and Cameron Dunn scoring twice. Corpus scored twice in the opening period with Anthonly Cafareli and Jack Linton. In the middle frame the Jackalopes scored two more goals with Emerson Goode and Noah Marino for a 5-2 score. In the third the IceRays evened the game after scoring 3 unanswered goals with Cameron Crolley twice and Connor Brust to force overtime. In the shootout frame the Jackalopes had two players score to take the win, 6-5. Gergely Orosz took the win in net.
New Jersey 0 @ Northeast 3: The Generals flipped Friday’s script and shutout New Jersey 3-0 thanks to a strong performance from netminder Cullen DeYoung. The game remained scoreless until the 17:36 mark of the 3rd period when Ryan Remick found his 12th goal of the season on the power play. Josep Mcgraw doubled the lead a few minutes later and Tyler Ramm deposited an empty netter with 57 remaining to seal the win. DeYoung was perfect between the pipes for Northeast, stopping all 36 shots New Jersey sent his way. Zakari Brice kept out 29 of 31 in the loss.
Amarillo 6 @ Oklahoma 2 - Six different Wranglers found the back of the net as Amarillo picked up a 6-2 win over the Oklahoma Warriors. Ronan Walsh got the scoring started with his 12th goal of the season. All of the Warriors offense came in 30 seconds early in the middle frame as Blaise Miller and William Lawson-Body got Oklahoma into the lead for the first time. The Wranglers would respond with three goals before the end of the second period as Jack Ivey, Rihards Simanovics and Luke Morris lit the lamp. Connor McNaughton and Zack Kent added tallies in the third period to help secure the win for Amarillo. Connor Mcdonough earned his first NAHL win as he made 20 saves while Daniel Duris and Dylan Johnson combined to make 20 saves in the loss for Oklahoma.
New Mexico 4 @ Lone Star 5 - The Brahmas scored three times in the final frame to pull off the come from behind win over the New Mexico Ice Wolves 5-4. Nate Mann put Lone Star in front first with his sixth goal of the season. Ryan Johnson and JD Metz scored within four minutes of each other to put New Mexico in the lead before the end of the first period. Johan Rosenquist and Alfred Lindberg traded to goals to keep the Ice Wolves in the lead. Nikolai Dulak scored in the opening minute of the third to increase the lead to 4-2 but the Brahmas stormed back. Dhillon Wilde started the comeback with his 16th of the year. Ivan Zadvernyuk tied the game just about midway through the period and Mann’s second goal of the night proved to be the game winner with just over three minutes left in regulation. Arthur Smith scored the win in goal as he stopped 34 shots. William Craig was given the loss as he made 16 stops for New Mexico.
St. Cloud 3 @ Minot 1 - The St. Cloud Norsemen picked up a crucial win to keep pace in the chase for the Robertson Cup playoffs. Anthony Ruklic netted his fifth of the year early in the opening period. Broten Sabo added his ninth in the final minutes of the period to give the Norsemen a 2-0 lead at the break. Trevor Stachowiak brought the Minotauros within one as he netted his 12th of the year. Blake Perbix put the Norsemen back up by two with his 18th tally of the campaign. Will Ingemann turned aside 31 of the 32 shots that he faced. Lawton Zacher and Noah Ruppprecht teamed up to make 28 saves for Minot.
Springfield 3 @ Fairbanks 2 - The Springfield Jr. Blues overcame a two-goal deficit to pick up the sweep of the Fairbanks Ice Dogs as they won on Saturday night 3-2. The Ice Dogs owned the first 20 minutes of play as they picked up goals from Billy Renfrew and Brady Welsch. The game changed in the second period Springfield lit the lamp three times. Landry Schmuck scored his seventh of the campaign to bring his team to within one. Then about eight minutes later Adyn Merrick tied the game at two with his sixth goal of the year. Then just 63 seconds later Carter Cloutier scored the eventual game winning goal as he buried his third of the season past Kayden Hargraves. Carson Dorfman received the win in goal as he made 31 stops. Hargraves and Jack Olson worked together to make 29 saves for Fairbanks.
