Saturday Scores: Mudbugs sweep; Norsemen break through for win
16-year-old goalie Paxton Geisel stopped 36 shots as the St. Cloud Norsemen won their first game of the season, defeating the Minot Minotauros 3-1.
Odessa 2 @ Shreveport 3 (OT) - The Shreveport Mudbugs scored their second overtime win in consecutive nights as Dawson Sciarrino buried a highlight reel goal midway through the extra period. Sciarrino finished with a goal and an assist. Matt Weber’s power play goal got the Mudbugs on the board after Odessa got out to a 2-0 lead. Dilan Peters’ first goal of the season tied the game at two to force overtime and led to Sciarrino’s heroics. Cole Hudson picked up the win in between the pipes as he made 37 saves. Joey Musa and Ben Doherty were the goal scorers for Odessa and Connor Hasley made 31 stops.
St. Cloud 3 @ Minot 1 - 16-year-old goalie Paxton Geisel stopped 36 shots as the St. Cloud Norsemen won their first game of the season, defeating the Minot Minotauros 3-1. Kyle Kukkonen opened the scoring for Minot with his fourth of the season. Blake Mesenburg tied it up just minutes later on the power play with his second tally of the year. The game would remain tied until the third period when Blake Perbix netted his first goal of the season. Nikolas Hong added an insurance goal midway through the third to secure the victory. Carter Clafton made 22 saves in the loss for Minot.
New Mexico 2 @ Lone Star 4 - The Lone Star Brahmas won their fifth straight game as they doubled up the New Mexico Ice Wolves 4-2. Cole Beilke and Mitchell Digby each had a goal and an assist to lead the Lone Star offense. TJ Koufis and Andrew DeCarlo also found the back of the net for the Brahmas. Graham Burke picked up the win in the blue paint as he turned aside 30 of the 32 shots he faced. Cole Hanson had a goal and an assist for New Mexico while Brandon Holt also lit the lamp. Christian Wong-Ramos made 29 saves in the loss.
Northeast 3 @ Maine 4 - The Maine Nordiques grabbed a series victory as they defeated the Northeast Generals in the rubber match of their three game set by a score of 4-3. Cooper Swift and Stefan Owens netted goals in the first period for Maine as they took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission with the Northeast goal coming off the stick of Tyler Varin. James Philpott converted on the power play to put the Nordiques up by a pair after 40 minutes of action. Liam McCanney got the Generals within one less than a minute into the final frame but Reese Farrell’s fifth goal of the season put the Nordiques up by two and proved to be the game winner. McCanney would add another goal in the final seconds but it would not be enough to complete the Northeast comeback. Avery Sturtz got the win in goal as he made 28 saves while Hugo Haas took the loss despite making 37 stops.
Austin 3 @ Bismarck 2 - The Austin Bruins brought their losing streak to an end as they scored a 3-2 win over the Bismarck Bobcats. The scoreless tie was broken by Jens Richards in the opening minutes of the second period. Mason Poolman added to the lead as his second goal of the year made it a 2-0 lead for Austin. Barrett Brooks extended the Bruins lead to three with his third of the season. Bismarck made things interesting late in the third period as Ben Troumbly scored on a penalty shot. Lars Rodne scored minutes later to bring Bismarck within one. Hudson Hodges would shut the door in the final seconds preserving the Austin victory. He finished the night making 24 saves. Tommy Aitken and Cameron Korpi combined to make 17 stops.
