Ironmen sweep their way into North Division Finals

North Division Semi-Final, Game #3

Jamestown Ironmen 2 @ Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings 1 (Jamestown wins series, 3-0)

The Jamestown Ironmen extended their season last night with a 2-1 victory on the road over the Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings in North American Hockey League playoff action, as the Ironmen won the best-of-five North Division semi-final playoff series with Kalamazoo, 3-0. In what was just another day at the office, Ironmen goalie Joe Ballmer put together another outstanding performance between the pipes, making 29 saves on 30 shots in his third victory of the post-season. Jamestown took an early lead in Wednesday’s contest as Ryan Doucet netted a goal 7:36 into the first period.  The second period was scoreless and the third looked to be headed down that same path until Kalamazoo notched a goal with just under five minutes remaining in regulation to tie the game up, 1-1 on a strike from Mac McDonnell. The Ironmen didn’t even flinch as Evan Ritt buried an opportunity less than ten seconds later to give Jamestown a 2-1 edge. Luc Gerdes was in on the assist and the goal proved to be the game winner.  The Ironmen will now advance to the North Division Finals, where they will take on the winner of the other semi final series between the Soo Eagles and the Port Huron Fighting Falcons.  Boxscore

West Division Semi-Final, Game #3

Wenatchee Wild 1 @ Fresno Monsters 2 (OT) (Fresno leads best of 5 series, 2-1)

The West Division champion Wenatchee Wild will need a big comeback in order to win their NAHL West Division semifinal playoff series after suffering a 2-1 overtime Game 3 loss to the Fresno Monsters Wednesday at the Gateway Ice Center in Fresno, Calif.  After 60 minutes of play Wednesday the Wild and Monsters mustered one goal apiece and headed into overtime. During a power play in OT the Monsters’ Trevor Husch entered the Wild zone down the left wing and slid a drop pass to Matt Salituro, who scored the game-winner from four feet inside the blue line. Mitchell Snyder also assisted on the game-winner.  The Wild controlled the first period of play Wednesday night, and were rewarded for their efforts when Evan Schmidbauer scored the first goal of the game at the 12:33 mark when he cleaned up a rebound.  The Monsters scored the only goal in the second period to force a 1-1 tie heading into the third period. During a 3-on-2, Dan Sherer scored on his backhand on helpers from Kyle Buffardi and Mark Bittner.  The game went to overtime after a scoreless third period, setting the stage for Salituro’s game-winner.  Wenatchee outshot the Monsters 38-28 in Game 3 and had more scoring chances, but Fresno’s Tomas Sholl was equal to the challenge making 37 saves.  Game 4 of the West Division semifinals between the Wild and Monsters is Thursday at Gateway Ice Center in Fresno, Calif. Faceoff is set for 7m. Boxscore

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