Friday Finals: Bobcats Extend Winning Streak to Nine
Will Lawrence's hat trick paced the Johnstown offense in 7-5 win over Philadelphia
Bismarck 3 @ Minot 0: The Bobcats extended their win streak to nine games on the road Friday night, backstopped by a strong performance from Stephen Peck. Bismarck got their offense rolling early on in the contest as Evan Hunter and Kade Kohanski both scored before the halfway point of the opening frame. That score held until nine minutes into the 3rd when Julian Beaumont deposited the comeback silencer and his 15th of the season. Peck recorded his 2nd consecutive shutout, stopping 32 shots in the effort. Brady James kept out 23 of 26 shots for the Minotauros.
Austin 1 @ St. Cloud 2 (OT): Hagen Moe found space on the powerplay and fired home the game-winner from Braden Panze in overtime. Michael Coleman found the back of the net early on in the 1st period to give the Norsemen a lead through 20 minutes. That lead would hold until Jackson Luther leveled the scores 5:30 into the final frame, his 4th goal of the season. Max Weilandt was the victor between the pipes, stopping all but one of 29 shots faced. Trent Wiemken made 17 saves in the loss.
North Iowa 2 @ Aberdeen 6: The Wings scored two goals in all three periods en route to a convincing 6-2 win over the Bulls. Aberdeen’s Leonid Bulgakov and Drew Mackie both scored in the 1st while Jack Seaverson kept North Iowa in it with a goal. Nolan Grier tied the game midway through the 2nd period before Riley Sharun and Grant Winkler regained the lead for the Wings. Bennett Koupal and Nikolai Tishkevich put the game out of reach in the 3rd with goals. Croix Kochendorfer kept out 23 saves in the victory while Connor Graham made 35 saves for North Iowa.
Janesville 2 @ Wisconsin 4: Tyler Grahme scored twice as the Wisconsin Windigo doubled up the Janesville Jets by a score of 4-2. Jacob Jastrzebski and Will Schumacher each added a tally in the victory. John Brown and Nick Sajevic scored for Wisconsin who increased their winning streak to eight. Max Beckford needed just 18 saves to earn the win in goal while Matthew Alberti suffered the loss, making 26 stops.
Johnstown 7 @ Philadelphia 5: Will Lawrence registered a hat trick as the Johnstown Tomahawks won a wild one over the Philadelphia Rebels 7-5. Chase Sandhu had a goal and a helper for Johnstown while Will Moore, Hank Reed and Dylan Shane also visited the red light district for the Tomahawks. Ryan Bunting notched a goal and two assists for the Rebels while Billy Sheridan, Josh Galizia and Luke Minard all had a goal and an assist for Philadelphia. Paddy Fortune also scored in the loss. Zack Ferris took home the win in relief, he made 18 stops after Jacob Osborne made 12. Owen Curdle was saddled with the loss as he made 27 stops in relief of Jakub Krbecek, who made seven saves.
Rochester 6 @ New Hampshire 4: Luca Leighton’s four point night paced the Rochester Jr. Americans to a 6-4 win over the New Hampshire Mountain Kings. Massimo Gentile had two goals and an assist while Adam Gionta scooped up a pair of goals as well for the Jr. Americans. Landon Brownlee also got on the scoresheet in the victory. For the Mountain Kings, Tommy McDonough had a goal and an assist. Caden Hunter, Matt Hanscom and Joseph Arnold all netted goals in the loss. Danick Leroux stopped 24 saves in the win for Rochester.
Danbury 2 @ Maine 3 (OT): Charles Tardif scored the game winning goal in overtime as the Nordiques edged the Jr. Hat Tricks by a 3-2 decision. Zion Green scored in the first period to give Maine the lead while Tomek Haula scored in the second period to increase the lead. Jack Wuertz and Logan Nickerson tickled the twine to tie the game at two but it took just 46 seconds for Tardif to net his 27th of the year and give the Nordiques an extra point. Thomas Heaney denied 17 shots to pick up the win in the blue paint. Lukas Fursten was the losing goaltender as he made 31 stops.
Anchorage 1 @ Chippewa 2: The Chippewa Steel outlasted the Anchorage Wolverines in a 2-1 win on Friday night. Jackson Stimple struck first for the Wolverines as he picked up his seventh of the season. Joe Kelly tied the game in the second period with his 13th tally of the year. Then in the third it was John Christen’s first goal as a member of the Steel that was the difference. It was his first game in green after 135 career games in Odessa. Carter Wishart was tremendous in goal as he made 32 saves. Liam Beerman was stuck with the loss, he stopped 22 of 24 shots thrown in his direction.
Kenai River 0 @ Minnesota 3: Nick Erickson turned aside all 25 shots he faced as the Minnesota Wilderness blanked the Kenai River Brown Bears 3-0 on Friday night. Daniel Astapovich notched his 10th of the year in the opening frame then after a scoreless second period, Nick Blood got on the board in the third with 11th of the season and first as a member of the Wilderness. Joe Cesario struck just 55 seconds later to add some insurance and increase the lead to three. Erickson didn’t need much help as he was perfect on the night. Conor Sullivan stopped 33 shots in a losing effort for the Brown Bears.
Shreveport 5 @ Corpus Christi 1: The Shreveport Mudbugs dominated the Corpus Christi IceRays with a final score of 5-1. After a scoreless first period, Liam Fleet and Nick Marino scored for the Mudbugs to get ahead 2-0. In the third, Shreveport netted three unanswered goals with Ryan Burke, Nick Marino and Carter McKay for a 5-0 score. Late in the game, the IceRays added their lone goal of the contest for a 5-1 final. Nikola Goich was nearly perfect in net only allowing a goal off of 23 shots.
Lone Star 3 @ Oklahoma 1: The Lone Star Brahmas topped the Oklahoma Warriors in a 3-1 score. Oklahoma added a goal in the opening frame with William Ahlrik for a 1-0 score. In the second, Charlie Masek and Owen Kerr scored to take the lead, 2-1. In the third, Brock James scored to end the game for a 3-1 Brahmas win. Devis Rolovs stopped 29 of the 30 shots he faced in the win.
New Mexico 2 @ Odessa 3 (OT): The Odessa Jackalopes took an overtime win against the New Mexico Ice Wolves, 3-2. Odessa got on the board in the first period with a goal from Riley Rosenthal for a 1-0 score. The second period was back and forth with Tyler Pfister and Luca Ricci scoring for the Ice Wolves and Micheal Kadlecik for the Jackalopes to make the score 2-2. After a scoreless third, the game went into overtime where Cameron Dunn took the win for Odessa, 3-2. Jackalpes netminder Ivan Zhigalov stopped 35 shots in the win.
Amarillo 4 @ El Paso 1: The Amarillo Wranglers defeated the El Paso Rhinos by a final of 4-1. The Wranglers got ahead in the second period by three goals with Luke Morris scoring twice and Roman Zap. In the third, Camden Bajzer got the Rhinos on the scoresheet, making it a 3-1 game. Later in the game, Nolan Gagnon found the back of the net for a 4-1 final. Connor McDonough was great in net, turning away 14 shots.
