Saturday Scores: Wilderness in 1st place with sweep
Minnesota Wilderness 3 @ Soo Eagles 0 –Different goalie, same result. The Minnesota Wilderness continue to be one of the early season success stories in the NAHL as they moved into 1st place in the Midwest Division with a 3-0 shutout win and sweep of the Soo Eagles. This time it was goaltender Frank Oplinger with the shutout, making 24 saves. The Wilderness outshot the Soo by a wide 47-24 margin and got 2nd period goals from Darian Romanko and Nolan Culver and a 3rd period marker from Michael Covach on the power play. It was another perfect penalty killing night for Minnesota who is perfect on the season. Boxscore
Topeka RoadRunners 0 @ Amarillo Bulls 2 – It was another shutout for the Bulls over the RoadRunners only this time it was goalie Paul Berrafato making 36 saves to shut down the RoadRunners offense for second straight night. The win and sweep moved Amarillo into a 1st place tie in the South with Rio Grande Valley. After a spirited and scoreless 1st period, the Bulls damage came in the 2nd period via goals from Tyler Gernhofer and Cody Gylling. That would be all Berrafato and the Bulls would need to complete the sweep. RoadRunners goalie PJ Bridges made 31 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Kenai River Brown Bears 1 @ Austin Bruins 3 – 22 saves from Nick Lehr and two assists from Jay Dickman propelled the Bruins to a 3-1 win on Saturday, which completed a weekend sweep of the Brown Bears, who fell out of 1st place. Things were looking up for Kenai River after a 1st period power play goal from Albin Karlsson, but that would be all that the Brown Bears could manage. Lucas Kohls and Simon Petersson scored in the 2nd period and Josh Bretner added a 3rd period goal to give Austin the win. Boxscore
Minot Minotauros 3 @ Brookings Blizzard 2 (SO) – The MInotauros did themselves some good this weekend with a sweep of the Brookings Blizzard to control 4th place in the Central Division. Brookings had a 2-0 lead as late as midway through the 3rd period on goals from Eric Brenk and Jared Goudreau, but Minot stormed back to two goals late in the 3rd period from Cameron Rowat and Michael Bigelbach. In the shootout, Troy Degler and Colton Kramer scored, while Minotauros goalie Merrick Madsen stopped all four shooters that came his way. Boxscore
Fairbanks Ice Dogs 1 @ Wenatchee Wild 2 – Veteran goalie Gustaf Johansson had another impressive outing as he made 28 saves to help the Wild to a 2-1 win over Fairbanks, sweeping the Ice Dogs in front of over 3,400 fans in Wenatchee. The Wild took a 1-0 lead in the 1st period on a goal from Trey Bradley with an assist to Troy Loggins. Gadel Gumerov scored midway through the 3rd period to increase the lead to 2-0. Tayler Munson scored for Fairbanks with less than five minutes to go, but that would be all the Ice Dogs could muster. Boxscore
Corpus Christi IceRays 1 @ Odessa Jackalopes 4 – Yoshihiro Kuroiwa made 30 saves and the Jackalopes scored three times in the game’s final five minutes to cap a weekend sweep of the IceRays by a 4-1 score. Odessa is now on a three-game winning streak. Joey Palumbo opened the scoring for the Jacks and the lead held until the 3rd period. That’s when Wes Michaud tied the game for the IceRays. However, Odessa scored three times in a three minute span as Lukas Laub, Austin Fletcher and Alex Alger lit the lamp to secure the win. Boxscore
Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees 3 @ Wichita Falls Wildcats 1 – There is now just a two-way tie for 1st place in the South after Rio Grande Valley went into Wichita Falls and swept the Wildcats with a 3-1 win on Saturday night. Goaltender Olli Kalkaja made 26 saves in the win. The score was even at 1-1 through the first 20 minutes as Nicklas Balboa scored for Rio Grande Valley and Josh Haverstrom scored his second in as many nights for the ‘Cats. But, it was the Killer Bees the rest of the way as Evan Schmidbauer and Cam Ashley scored and the Killer Bees rode Kalkaja the rest of the way to the win and sweep. Boxscore
Minnesota Magicians 4 @ Janesville Jets 2 – In the second game of a three-game set, the Magicians turned the tables from the night before and picked up a 4-2 win in Janesville riding 28 saves from veteran goalie Bryan Nies. The Magicians jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 2nd period on goals from Kris McKinzie and Joe Kleven. The Jets responded with two goals, both from Drew Callin, to tie the game at 2-2, but the 3rd period was the difference as the Magicians scored twice more as Thomas Delaney scored the eventual game-winner and Will Johnson added an empty net goal. The runner match of the three-game set is Sunday. Boxscore
Michigan Warriors 3 @ Springfield Jr. Blues 2 – Trevor Gorsuch made 29 saves as the Warriors got some revenge and picked up a weekend split in Springfield thanks to a 3-2 win on Saturday night. Springfield led 2-1 after one period on goals from Kyle Shreve and Max Kalter, which were scored just :12 seconds apart. Alec Pellegrino scored the game’s opening goal for Michigan. Cody Kuster tied the game at 2-2 in the 2nd period and Jake Hopfner added a 3rd period power play goal, which ended up being the difference. Boxscore
Port Huron Fighting Falcons 4 @ Johnstown Tomahawks 1 – The Fighting Falcons continued their dominance over Johnstown and increased their North Division lead thanks to a 4-1 win on Saturday in front of over 2,500 fans in Johnstown. Alex Blackenburg continued his hot play with 28 saves in goal for Port Huron. Port Huron dominated much of the game scoring once in the 1st period on a goal from Jon Hall, twice in the 2nd period on goals from Nick Horne and Alex Archibald and one more in the 3rd period to take a 4-0 lead from Zach Badalamenti. Brady Bender ended Blackenburg’s shutout bid with less than five minutes to go with Johnstown’s only goal. Boxscore
