Friday Finals: Richardson Blanks Black Bears
John Small celebrates one of his two goals from Friday night (Photo Credit, Cover: James Harding, Interior: Patty Bockoven)
Maine 2 @ Maryland 0 (East Division Finals, Maine Leads Series 1-0): The Maine Nordiques take Game 1 in the East Division Finals after defeating the Maryland Black Bears by a score of 2-0. After a scoreless first period, Farfield, CT native Ryan Panico put the Nordiques up 1-0 to round out the first 40 minutes of play. Shortly under halfway through the third, Cole Hipkin extended Maine’s lead to 2-0. Carter Richardson turned away all 36 saves for the shutout, while Owen Lepak made 28 of 30 saves.
Bismarck 2 @ Minot 5 (Central Division Finals, Minot Leads Series 1-0): The Minot Minotauros took Game 1 of the Central Division Finals by a score of 5-1. In the opening period, John Emmons got Minot on the scoresheet for a 1-0 lead. In the second period, Bismarck evened the game 1-1 with a goal from Tommy Cronin. Later in the middle frame, John Small extended the Minot lead to 2-1 and then Jack O’Hanisain netted a late goal to add to the lead, making it 3-1 to end the period. The third period saw a goal from Julian Beaumont scoring for Bismarck, making the score 3-2. The Minotauros scored back-to-back goals with Small and O’Hanisain, both scoring their second goals of the game, for a 5-2 Minot win. Minot goaltender Brady James was fantastic in net stopping 24 of the 26 shots he faced. Stephen Peck stopped 23 of the 27 shots he saw in the loss.
Shreveport 3 @ Lone Star 2 (South Division Finals, Shreveport Leads Series 1-0): Logan Heroux ended being the hero for the Shreveport Mudbugs as they knocked off the Lone Star Brahmas 3-2 in Game 1 of the South Division Finals. Carter McKay got the scoring started for Shreveport with a redirection in front of the net. The lead was short lived as Bryce Ingles tied the game just three minutes later. Ivan Zadvernyuk put Lone Star ahead with his fourth of the postseason. Heroux netted his first of the night late in the middle frame to tie the game heading into the third. Then about midway through the third, Heroux found the back of the net again and this one would prove to be the game winner as the Mudbugs held off the late push from the Brahmas. Eliot Seguin-Lescarbeau finished the evening with 25 saves to earn the win in goal. Jack Wieneke was stuck with the loss as he also made 25 saves.
Wisconsin 2 @ Anchorage 3 (Midwest Division Finals, Anchorage Leads Series 1-0): The Anchorage Wolverines held off the Wisconsin Windigo to take the lead in the Midwest Division Finals, winning Game 1 by a score of 3-2. Arvada Hovsepyan’s first of the postseason got Anchorage out to a lead in the opening period. Everett Pietila converted on the power play for Wisconsin to tie the game heading into the locker room. Drew Nelson scored his first junior goal to put Anchorage up again and Tyler Hennen added insurance just about four minutes later. Carter Theissen scored a highlight reel goal early in the third to bring Wisconsin within one but Liam Beerman would finish the final period with 10 saves and 29 for the game to secure the win for the Wolverines. Max Beckford was saddled with the loss as he made 13 saves for Wisconsin.
