Friday Finals: Bismarck, Wisconsin Clinch Division Tiltes

Elmira 3 @ Northeast 9 - The Northeast Generals were one goal shy of hitting double digits in their 9-3 home win over the Elmira Aviators. Forwards Spencer Hirsch and Rich Rucireto did most of the scoring for the Aviators. Rucireto slapped in his first hat trick of the season, and Hirsch lit the lantern twice in the win. The other four goals were scored by defensemen Cole Mckenna and Emerson Miller and forwards Owen O'Rear and Kai Dunits. The nine goals were scored on two different Elmira goalies: Wesley Jefferson Swint II and Ty Levy. Jefferson Swint II allowed 25 of 31 shots on goal, and Levy, who subbed in with eight and a half minutes of game time left, allowed 2 of 5. The Generals' win swaps the two teams' positions in the East Division standings. Northeast is now ninth with 45 points, and Elmira is tenth with 44.

Philadelphia 1 @ Danbury 4 - The Danbury Hat Tricks secured a rubber match victory over the Philadelphia Rebels, winning 4-1 at home. The Hat Tricks got an early lead thanks to a goal from forward Brendan Boring less than two minutes into the contest. Forwards Ameen Ghosheh and Austin Michaud and defenseman Pierre Larocque each scored a goal later on to bring Danbury's lead to 4-0 heading into the third period. Philadelphia forward Billy Sheridan did get the Rebels on the board and broke the shutout in the third with less than four minutes to go, his twelfth goal of the season. Danbury goalie Ryan Crowshaw gets credited with the win, his fifth of the season. Crowshaw saved 17 of 18 shots on goal and nearly missed out on what would have been his first shutout this year.

Maryland 5 @ Johnstown 1 - The Maryland Black Bears delivered on the road and defeated the Johnstown Tomahawks 5-1. Five different skaters scored a goal in the win for Maryland, but one player helped the offense more than the others. Forward Harrison Smith added four points to his season total, slapping in his ninth goal of the season and recording three assists. The other goals were scored by forwards Thomas Holtby, Isac Nielsen, Tyler Stern, and defenseman Evan Sofikitis. Forward Cullen Emery scored the lone goal for the Black Bears, his eighteenth of the year.  

New Hampshire 2 @ Maine 4 - The New Hampshire Mountain Kings were mounting a comeback late, but the Maine Nordiques shut the door in the third to win 4-2 at home. Forwards Kellen Murphy, Joseph Gasperko, and Michael Stenberg each scored a goal in the second period to put the Nordiques up 3-0 entering the third. New Hampshire answered back with two goals from forwards Jack MacDonald and Len-Thomas Wright, but Maine defenseman Luke Chappelle later wrapped things up. Chappelle scored his twelfth goal of the season on an empty net with less than a minute remaining. Maine has won two straight and is in third place in the East Division with 74 points.

Rochester 6 @ New Jersey 2 - Six-straight goals from the Rochester Jr Americans to open the game was enough to secure a 6-2 road win over the New Jersey Titans and extend their first-place lead in the East Division. Forwards Hugo Branthsson and Owen King each scored a pair of goals — Branthsson's third multi-goal game this year and King's fifth. Forwards Ryan Shaw and Landon Brownlee also lit the lantern for the Jr Americans. For the Titans, defenseman Ty Creech scored his first career goal, and forward Owen Leahy slapped in his 22nd goal of the season. The win snaps Rochester's six-game losing streak and puts the team back on track heading into the playoffs.

St. Cloud 1 @ Watertown 2 (SO) - A shootout was needed for the second day in a row to determine the winner between the St. Cloud Norseman and Watertown Shamrocks. This time, the Shamrocks came out on top with a 2-1 home win over the Norsemen. Watertown forward Carter Sproule scored the game's first goal, then St. Cloud forward Tyler Wishart answered back later in the first period. For the following two periods, St. Cloud goalie Damian Slavik and Watertown goalie Phileas Lachat blocked every shot on goal. In total, Slavik saved 33 of 34 shots, and Lachat saved 30 of 31. Both offenses were shut out through overtime as well and forced a shootout. It took three rounds, but Watertown ultimately came out on top thanks to forward Cam Markham, who scored his second career shootout goal.

Wisconsin 3 @ Springfield 2 (OT) - The Wisconsin Windigo won on the rod 3-2 over the Springfield Jr. Blues in a back-and-forth contest that required overtime. Forward Niko Laus scored his sixteenth goal of the season to get Springfield on the board before forward Felix Haibock tied the game less than three minutes later. Later on in the third period, forward Luke Baker put the Windigo out in front with his second goal in the last three games, and forward Aidan Hickok tied it up again. This was Hickock's second straight game with a goal. The Windigo came out on top in the end; defenseman Mario DiMaggio lit the lantern in overtime for his third game-winning goal this year.

Austin 4 @ North Iowa 1 - The Austin Bruins handed the North Iowa Bulls their fourth-straight loss, winning 4-1 on the road. Forward Alex Laurenza scored his 36th of the season in the second period to put Austin up 1-0, extending his lead on the team's leaderboard for goals. Later in the second period, Iowa forward Cole Wirun scored the only goal for the Bulls, his 17th of the season. Austin pulled away in the third period thanks to a goal from forward Gustav Svantesson and two more from forward John Hirschfeld. The loss keeps the Bulls in sixth place in the Central Division with 44 points — nine points behind the fifth-place St. Cloud Norseman. 

Corpus Christi 0 @ Shreveport 3 - Three separate goal scorers would be all the Shreveport Mudbugs needed on Friday, defeating the Corpus Christi IceRays by a final of 3-0. In the first, a David Erhard goal opened the scoring, before second period goals from Bryce Boucher and Cole Hutchinson opened the game up. The IceRays fought to get back in the game, but Nikola Golch stopped all 32 in the winning effort for his fifth shutout of the season.

Oklahoma 0 @ Amarillo 4 - Four separate goal scorers would be enough for the Amarillo Wranglers on Friday, defeating the Oklahoma Warriors by a final of 4-0. The lone goal of the first belonged to Cole Saterdalen, and second period goals from Marc LaFrance, Kirill Evstigneev, and Jacob Miller opened the game up, and that would be all she wrote on the night. 23 saves from Amarillo netminder Charles-Antoine Girard would earn him his second shutout of the season.

Minnesota M 0 @ Bismarck 4 - The Bismarck Bobcats secured the Central Division championship on Friday, defeating the Minnesota Mallards by a final of 4-0. In the first, Julian Beaumont opened the scoring in the first, before Alexandr Kim doubled the lead. Third period goals from Tommy Cronin and Keanu Krenn sealed a dominant win, and 22 saves from Tomas Anderson earned him another shutout, his eighth of the season.

Colorado 8 @ Odessa 6 - In a back and forth slugfest, the Colorado Grit secured their berth to the Robertson Cup, defeating the Odessa Jackalopes by a final of 8-6. In the first, Kennan Reyelts opened the scoring before Lucca Ori doubled the lead. Late goals in the first from Nolan Smith and William Johnson grew the lead to four. Jordan Larkee got one back for Odessa, and the score was 4-1 Colorado after 20 minutes. In the second, Lucas Mann and George Poirier expanded the lead to five, but Caden Ghiossi kept the deficit at four heading into the final frame. Jack L’Esperance, Larkee, Nicholas Arrington, and Christian Tavare brought the game close, but third period goals from Sheldon Rioux and Ben Rakowski sealed the win and the playoff berth for the Grit.

Janesville 3 @ Minnesota W 5 - A night after a back and forth, physical game saw the Janesville Jets defeat the Minnesota Wilderness, the Wilderness returned the favor as they defeated the Jets by a final of 5-3, earning an all important split. The lone goal of the first belonged to Joseph Hyten for Janesville, and the visitors led by a goal heading into the first intermission. Ben Roulette would even the score, but Hans Hedlund would give the Jets the lead, but Lucas Jendek would score for the Wilderness to bring the game skidding into the second intermission deadlocked at 2-2. In the third, Avery Anderson gave the Wilderness their first lead of the night, before Karson Young doubled that lead. Murray Marvin-Cordes would get one back for the Jets, but Roulette would get his second as time expired to seal the win.

Minot 1 @ Aberdeen 2 - Two late goals in the first would be all the Aberdeen Wings needed, as they defeated the Minot Minotauros by a final of 2-1 on Friday. Gavin Middendorf opened the scoring for Minot, but with just under two minutes to go, a Grant Winkler point shot found twine, and equalized the game. With just under a minute to go, Jibber Kuhl put the Wings ahead, and that would be all they needed, as a suffocating defensive effort and 31 saves from Damon Cunningham secured an all important win.

El Paso 1 @ Lone Star 4 - Four second period goals would be all the Lone Star Brahmas needed, defeating the El Paso Rhinos by a final of 4-1. In that middle frame, Charlie Masek opened the scoring, before just 70 seconds later, Elias Kumlin doubled the lead. Maddox Tulacro would bury his third of the year to give Lone Star a three goal lead. Roope Tuomioksa got one back for El Paso, but Christian Venticinque netted his ninth of the season to seal the Lone Star win. 

Chippewa 4 @ Fairbanks 2 - After giving up the first two goals of the game, the Chippewa Steel responded with four unanswered tallies to defeat the Ice Dogs by a score of 4-2. Patrick Vogl scored early in the middle frame to bring Chippewa within one but it was Hunter Weisenand, Mason Johnson and Jackson Lackas scored three goals in a span of 4 minutes to put Chippewa ahead for good. Thomas Corneille and Adam Timm were the goal scorers for Fairbanks in the loss. Devin Shakar earned the win in goal as he stopped 37 of 39 shots. Charlie Menard was stuck with the loss as he came 27 saves for the Ice Dogs. 

Anchorage 5 @ Kenai River 4 (SO) - The Anchorage Wolverines stayed in the hunt for home ice advantage in the first round of the Robertson Cup playoffs as they took down Kenai River 5-4 in a shootout Friday night. The Brown Bears were up by two after the first 20 minutes of action but two goals by Aaron VanWie in the second period evened the score heading into the final frame. Patrick Tolan and Cole Christian would put Anchorage up by two midway through the third. However Luke Hause brought Kenai within one with just under 3:30 to play before Thomas Gunderson tied the game with just 16 seconds left in regulation. After a scoreless overtime, all three Anchorage shooters found the back of the net to give them the critical point in the standings. William Lubimov was the winner in goal despite making just 17 saves. Mitchell Mccusker was given the loss as he made 30 stops on the evening. 

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