Friday Finals: Mountain Kings Shock Rebels

Maryland 4 @ Danbury 1 - On Friday night, Maryland would make the visit up to Danbury in a great Friday night matchup. The Black Bears would be off and running via a first period goal by Tanner Duncan. Shortly into the second period, Trey Hinton would extend the Maryland, turning this into a 2-0 lead for the Black Bears. Then, Isac Nielsen and Luke Janus would both score two more quick goals to put Maryland up 4-0. Joey Mallozzi would do all he could and his late second period goal would be the last goal of this one, as he would finally put the Hat Tricks on the board. Benji Motew shut the door in the last frame, making 28 saves, while Jack Fialkoff picked up the loss with 31 saves.

Johnstown 4 @ Elmira 1 - Tate Pecknold and the Tomahawks would get the ball rolling early in this contest, scoring the only goal in the first to give his team the lead after 20 minutes. Alexis Billequey would break through for the Aviators, equalizing this one on the powerplay midway through the second period. Seconds into the third, Pecknold would score to take the lead and they would never look back. Dallas Potter would find the twine minutes later, with Nick White scoring the final goal later in the period. Nick Avakyan would be a factor in this one, making 35 saves en route to a win.

Philadelphia 3 @ New Hampshire 4 - Philadelphia would have all the momentum in this one early, with a pair of goals from Abzal Alibek and Caesar Bjork giving the Rebels the 2-0 lead going into the second period. Mikey Conlon would extend the Philadelphia lead in the second, making this a 3-0 contest. Early in the third, Jaden Davis scored to put the Mountain Kings on the board, and Kim Hilmersson scored minutes later to make this a one score game. However Oli Genest would find the back of the net twice in several minutes for the Mountain Kings to give his team the lead and the eventual victory. Sam Caulfield would make 35 saves in the win while Owen Crudale would make 32.

Maine 8 @ New Jersey 3 - Maine would make a statement in this first period, with Shane Kozlina getting things started early into this one. A few more goals would be scored by Ethan Wongus, Connor McNaughton, and Joseph Gasperko to give the Nordiques the early 3-0 lead. Matt Hanscom would put the Titans on the board before Zion Green would respond to put Maine up 5-1 after 20 minutes. Wongus would notch his second of the contest in the second, to which Archer Brown would respond on the powerplay. Logan Renkowski would score for the Titans, which would be their third power play goal of the game. However two more goals scored from Tomek Haula and Laurent Trepanier would continue to put this game out of reach. Maine would hold on to the win in the third and Carter Richardson would make 27 saves in the process.

Northeast 1 @ Rochester 4 - Landon Brownlee would get the ball rolling early, scoring a goal to the Jr Americans up only 19 seconds into the game. Later in the first, Gabe Randel would score and Alex Zakrzewski added a shorthanded goal to give Rochester the early 3-0 lead. The second period would be scoreless and in the third period, Rich Rucireto would give the Generals some life. However this would be all that they would have, as Keanan Dewberry would score to put this game out of reach. Ryan Nolan would be impressive in this one, making 30 saves despite the loss.

Aberdeen 4 @ St. Cloud 5 (OT) - Leonid Bulgakov and Gustas Zemaitis would get the Wings going early, making it 2-0 nearly five minutes into the contest. Kyle Miller responded to cut the lead in half going into the intermission. Leonid Bulgakov would score the only goal of the second period to extend the Aberdeen lead. Owen Pitters would score on the powerplay to give Aberdeen the 4-1 lead, before two goals from Andrew Cumming and Mason LeBel would get this game to within one. Alex Sandhu would be the hero, scoring with seven seconds left and Tim Runtso would beat the clock in overtime to win 5-4 in comeback fashion. Dane Callaway would win despite only making 21 saves. 

Minot 6 @ Minnesota M 5 (OT) - Jordan Gibbs and Leo Cabulis would notch goals in the first period to give the Minotauros the early two goal cushion. Dakotah Bailey would score late in the first to cut the lead in half. In the second, Jack O'Hanisain would score only for Trey Gnetz of the Mallards to score minutes later. O'Hanisain and Billy Batten would score not one but two powerplay goals to give the Minotauros a 5-2 lead. However, Grant Kohnen and Deke Davidson would score two quick goals in the second to make this a one goal game. The third would be scoreless before Bailey would score his second of the game to send this to overtime. Chuck Owens would destroy the Mallards’ comeback, scoring late in OT to win the game for Minot. Zane Spaniol would make 42 saves despite the loss, Lukas Swedin would make 29 saves in the victory.

Watertown 1 @ Austin 4 - Despite the far travels for the Shamrocks, the home town would grab the early lead in this contest. Ashton Bynum would take the early lead for the Bruins, with his power play goal that would find the back of the net, minutes into the game. Luc Malkhassian would add to the Austin lead shortly later, doubling up the Austin lead. In the second frame,  Alex Laurenza would continue the red hot start for Austin, turning it to a 3-0 lead. Bynum would only extend the lead in the 2nd, finding the back of the net for the second time in this contest. Cam Markham would break through for the Shamrocks, finally putting the Shamrocks on the board with less than a minute to go for Watertown. In the final 20 minutes, Jack Solomon would hold the fort down and claim the 32 save win. 

Springfield 1 @ Janesville 6 - Six separate goal scorers powered the Janesville Jets to a 6-1 victory over the Springfield Jr. Blues on Friday night. In the first, Rylan Brady opened the scoring for Janesville, but Owen Lowe responded for Springfield on the man advantage, but once again, Reese Lantz would give Janesville the lead, and that would be the score after 20 minutes. The second would be all Janesville, as 41 seconds would be all it took for Noah Gibbs to double the lead, and Grady Magner and Phillippe Lalonde would also net goals to give the Jets a 5-1 lead after 40 minutes. The lone goal of the third would belong to the Jets, as Sullivan Miller would complete the victory for Janesville. In net, Christian Kirsch would stop 33 in the win, while Matt Schoephoerster would stop 37 in the loss

Bismarck 6 @ North Iowa 1 - Two goals from Evan Hunter powered the Bismarck Bobcats to their sixth straight victory, in a dominating 6-1 fashion over the North Iowa Bulls on Friday night. Three goals in the first from Matthew Rafalski, Hunter, and Nate Bannister staked an early lead for the Bobcats and they never looked back. Fuji Suzuki would get one back for the Bulls, but three goals in three minutes from Gabe Kenne, Keanu Krenn and Hunter would seal the dominating performance for the Bobcats

El Paso 3 @ Amarillo 2 - The El Paso Rhinos defeated the Amarillo Wranglers by a final score of 3-2 on Friday night. The lone goal of the first belonged to the Rhinos, and it came off the stick of Rasmus Mousiainen. The lone goal of the second also belonged to the Rhinos, and that came off the stick of Paavo Hiltunen. In the third, Alexandre Pellerin would strike on the man advantage to give the Rhinos the all important third goal. Goals 56 seconds apart from Ashton Breyer and Trace Day cut the Rhinos lead to one, but El Paso would hold on for an all important two points.

Wisconsin 5 @ Minnesota 1 - The Wisconsin Windigo defeated the Minnesota Wilderness in dominating fashion on Friday night by a final score of 5-1. The Wilderness would open the scoring, as Zach Homer would finish a feed from Noah Dziver, but that lead wouldn’t last long, as just over four minutes later, Jordan Brothers would equalize, and that would be the score after 1. In the second, goals just over three minutes apart from Elliot Gulley and Lucas Busch on the man advantage would flip the game to a two goal Windigo lead after two. Two late goals from Luke Baker with the empty net, and Michael Maillette would seal the deal for the Windigo.

Oklahoma 2 @ New Mexico 5 - Three goals in the final two minutes gave the New Mexico Ice Wolves a 5-2 win over the Oklahoma Warriors on Friday night. The lone goal of the first would belong to Damon Bickler for the Ice Wolves, and that would hold for a while, but just past the midway point of the second, Nate Farrell would equalize. That wouldn’t last long at all, as Johnny Johannson would take the lead back for New Mexico just 78 seconds later. With just over three and a half minutes left in the third, Louie Kamienski would deliver the equalizer, but once again that lead wouldn’t hold long, as it took just 90 seconds for Tim Hewko to deliver the eventual game winner, and then Sloan Farmer and Sean Gibbons on the empty net would seal the deal for New Mexico.

Odessa 3 @ Corpus Christi 4 (OT) - 60 minutes would not be enough, but two goals from Pierson Sobush would be enough for the Corpus Christi IceRays to defeat the Odessa Jackalopes by a final score of 4-3 on Friday night. The first period brought plenty of opportunities, but 11 saves for Benjamin Vatis and nine from Nikita Volsky kept the game scoreless.  The second period brought a goal from Jordan Larkee for Odessa, but Sobush would bury his first of the night on the man advantage to send the game to the second intermission deadlocked at a goal apiece. The third would start quick, as just 40 seconds in, Charlie Smith would give Odessa the lead, but two goals in 90 seconds, one on the man advantage from Cooper Conway and the other from Michael Valdez, flipped the game into a IceRays lead, but Caden Ghiossi would send the game to overtime, where Sobush would be the hero for the IceRays.

Lone Star 4 @ Colorado 1 - Four separate goal scorers powered the Lone Star Brahmas to a 4-1 win over the Colorado Grit on Friday night. The lone goal of the first belonged to the Brahmas, as Owen Kerr buried one off a feed from Charlie Masek. The second would start in the Brahmas favor as well, as Emerson Marshall and Leo Bergstrom would stake a three goal lead. Alexander German would cut the lead back to two, but late in the third, Saxton Tess would seal the deal for the Brahmas.

Anchorage 0 @ Fairbanks 4 - A penalty filled matchup between the Anchorage Wolverines and the Fairbanks Ice Dogs saw the Ice Dogs win by a final score of 4-0. In the first, Luca Ricciardi would bury one to give the Ice Dogs the lead. The second would bring two power play goals for the Ice Dogs, those coming from Cam VanSickle and Kyle Rohrer. The lone goal of the third would belong to Aidan Bergner, sealing the deal for Fairbanks.

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