Friday Finals: Ice Wolves Point Streak Reaches 14

Odessa 3 @ New Mexico 4 (OT): Graham Harris buried the game-winner in his 150th game with the Ice Wolves. Yusaku Ando had the lone goal in the opening frame for New Mexico. Michael Schermerhorn and Ethan Hull both tallied goals in the 2nd while Cameron Dunn got Odessa on the board. In the final frame, Hayden DeMars and Theodore Manlove scored consecutive goals 22 seconds apart to tie the game and send it to an eventual overtime. Jackson Fuller made 32 saves in the win while Ivan Zhigalov kept out 32 shots in the loss.

Kenai River 2 @ Anchorage 3 (SO): The Anchorage Wolverines pulled out a thrilling shootout win over the Kenai River Brown Bears by a score of 3-2. Romulus Riego De Dios got the scoring started just 47 seconds into the action for his 18th of the year. In the second period Samuel Sisik tied things up with his sixth of the year. Later in the period Arvega Hovsepyan netted his sixth of the season to help Anchorage regain the lead. Kotaro Tsutsumi tied the game in the third with his seventh tally of the year. After a scoreless overtime period we went to a shootout where Hovsepyan scored the only goal of the skills competition in the fourth round to give Anchorage the extra point. Liam Beerman earned the win in net as he made 21 saves. Marks Slavinskis-Repe took the tough loss as he ended his night with 47 saves for Kenai River.

Colorado 4 @ Corpus Christi 3: Four different players for Colorado found the back of the net as the Colorado Grit knocked off the Corpus Christi IceRays 4-3. Chris Graves and Wilder Jacober each had a goal and an assist for the Grit. Nolan Shaw and Jordan Gudridge each got on the scoresheet as well for the Grit. For the IceRays it was Cody Kempf tickling the twine twice. Will Reardon also lit the lamp for Corpus Christi. Jack Erickson was the winner in goal as he made 36 saves. Bryant Marks was dealt the loss as he made 28 stops.

Aberdeen 1 @ Minot 4: The Minot Minotauros defeated the Aberdeen Wings 4-1 on Friday night as Weston Knox and Will Dawson each grabbed a goal and had an assist for the Minotauros. Nicholas Sewecke and Colby Bear also got on the board for Minot. Luke Backel provided the only goal for the Wings in the loss. Brady James was nearly perfect in goal as he made 19 saves. Croix Kochendorfer was given the loss despite making 36 stops.

Lone Star 3 @ El Paso 4: Frank Tafelski scored in the final minute of regulation as the El Paso Rhinos beat the Lone Star Brahmas 4-3 in an exciting South Division matchup. Tristan Taylor and Jakub Jerman traded goals in the opening 20 minutes. Kyle Arias and Ivan Zadvernyuk did the same in the second period. Jake Cameron put El Paso up in the third but once again the game was tied as Charlie Masek netted a goal for Lone Star. Then as the final seconds were ticking away, Tafelski netted his 17th of the season to give the Rhinos the win and inch them closer to a playoff spot. Michael Manzi got the win in between the pipes with 28 saves on the evening. Deivs Rolovs was saddled with the loss as he finished with 22 saves.

Springfield 5 @ Fairbanks 4 (SO): It was a back-and-forth contest in Fairbanks as the Ice Dogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Kyle Rohrer and Nik Gudmundson. However the Jr. Blues responded with three straight tallies. Anthony Ruklic got Springfield on the board late in the first. Logan Ganz and Hadley Hudak potted goals in the second to give the Jr. Blues the lead after 40. Reece Cordray tied the game for Fairbanks early in the third before Conner Broadhead’s first goal gave Springfield the lead again. Nick Madsen then netted his first goal of the year to tie the game late in regulation. No one scored in overtime so the game went to a shootout where Logan Sutton netted the only goal in the third round for Springfield. JJ Cataldo was the winner in the blue paint as he finished with 39 saves. Tyler Krivtsov was given the shootout loss as he stopped 31 shots.

Rochester 6 @ Danbury 0: The Rochester Jr. Americans shutout the Danbury Hat Tricks by a final score of 6-0. Three goals were scored in the first period with Luca Leighton, Massimo Gentile and Matteo Disipio. In the second, Jaden Dyke added to the Rochester lead, 4-0. In the third period Thomas Rockey and Conor Humphrey scored for a 6-0 final. Rochester goalie Danick Leroux posted a 23 shot shutout win. 

Maine 6 @ Northeast 2: The Maine Nordiques took down the Northeast Generals by a final score of 6-2. The first period ended tied 1-1 with Brandon Spaudling scoring for the Generals and Jake Bernadet for the Nordiques. In the second, Maine broke the tie by adding back-to-back goals with Liam Gilmartin and Charles Tardif for a 3-1 score. In the third, Maine kept their foot on the gas adding three unanswered goals with Kellen Murphy, David Helledy and Zion Green to make the score 6-1. The Generals scored a late one from Joseph McGraw ending the game with a 6-2 final. Maine netminder Carter Richardson picked up the win stopping 23 shots. 

Johnstown 4 @ New Hampshire 2: The Johnstown Tomahawks added two goals in the first and two in the third to take a 4-2 win over the New Hampshire Mountain Kings. Johnstown went ahead 2-0 in the opening period with Alexey Yarmulnik and Jaden Johnson. In the second, Ryan Yates scored for New Hampshire to get on the board. In the third period, Johnstown netted two goals with Nick White and Zach Aben, while New Hampshire scored with Sean Bradley for a final score of 4-2. Jacob Osborne took the win in net for Johnstown where he stopped 34 shots. 

Maryland 2 @ New Jersey 4: The New Jersey Titans defended their home ice in a 4-2 win over the Maryland Black Bears. The Titans came out the gates hot in the first period to get ahead 3-0 with Dominik Bartecko, Jack Hillier, and Logan Renkowski scoring. In the second, Tryace Johnson and Samuel Stitz got the Black Bears to within a goal for a 3-2 score. Later in the second period, Logan Renkowski added the final goal of the game for the Titans to take the win 4-2. New Jersey netminder Zakari Brice stopped 30 shots. 

Janesville 5 @ Chippewa 0: The Janesville Jets blanked the Chippewa Steel in a 5-0 final. Rhett Kodsi got the scoring going in the first period. The Jets kept flying in the opening period adding goals from Nicholas Stevens, Ethan Begg and Haden Kruse for a 4-0 score. The second period was silent, then in the third period Christian Venticinque scored to end the game 5-0. Jan Kasal picked up the shutout win where he stopped 25 tries on net. 

Austin 1 @ St. Cloud 0: In a primarily defensive and goaltending battle, Trent Wiemken and the Bruins came out on top to pick up a big win on the road. The game remained scoreless through the 1st period. Just 10 seconds into the middle frame, Dylan Cook netted his 12th goal of the season, assisted by Ocean Wallace and Austin Salani. That goal would become the decider as Wiemken was able to keep out all 29 shots sent his way for the shutout. Max Weilandt was nearly perfect between the pipes for the Norsemen, stopping 18 of 19 shots faced in the loss. 

North Iowa 3 @ Bismarck 8: The Bobcats tallied multiple goals in all three periods en route to a dominant 8-3 win over the Bulls. Kyle Doll netted a pair of goals in the 1st for Bismarck while Tommy Cronin and Kade Kohanski also lit the lamp. Doll picked up the natural hat trick five minutes into the 2nd before Kohanski found the back of the net again. Trent Anfinson and Landon Fandel provided more insurance in the final frame with scores. Nolan Grier, Yibin Yoo, and Sangyeob Kim provided the offense for North Iowa. Stephen Peck made 18 saves in the win while Santo Simmchen kept out 46 for the Bulls. 

Shreveport 4 @ Oklahoma 6: The Warriors tallied a trio of goals in the final half of the 3rd period to secure a come-from-behind victory over the Mudbugs. Connor Smith got Oklahoma on the board in the 1st before Colin Vassallo turned the course for Shreveport. Max Vig tied the game in the 2nd period but minutes later Brent Litchard regained the lead. The two squads would trade goals early in the 3rd before Brandon Reller, Geno McEnery, and Kaden Nelson tallied consecutive goals to secure the victory for Oklahoma. Owen Bartoszkiewicz made 20 saves in the win while Eliot Seguin-Lescarbeau kept out 25 shots in the loss.  

Wisconsin 1 @ Minnesota 2: Payton Nelson found the back of the net with 11 seconds remaining in regulation to secure an exhilarating 2-1 win on home ice against the division leaders. Aiden Shirey broke the deadlock midway through the 2nd for the Wilderness. Recent Mercyhurst commit Will Schumacher leveled the scores later in the period with his 28th goal of the season. Nick Erickson was the victor between the pipes making an impressive 40 saves. Linards Lipskis kept out 25 shots for the Windigo.