Aberdeen's Upset Highlights Night One of the Robertson Cup Playoffs

The Brahmas celebrate their win in Game 1 versus New Mexico (Photo credits: Emma Dya, Cover: Hope Magelky)

Johnstown 2 @ Rochester 5 (Rochester leads East Division Semifinals 1-0): An emergency goalie saved Game 1 of the East Division Semifinals for the Jr Americans. Following a two-game sweep of the New Jersey Titans in the play-in round, the Johnstown Tomahawks traveled to Rochester to face off against the East Division champion Jr Americans. The Tomahawks were playing some of their best hockey entering the contest. Johnstown won five of its last six, including a two-game sweep of the Jr Americans in late March. It was the first time Rochester was swept all season. Forward Clay O'Donnell returned to the lineup for Rochester for the first time since February. He got the scoring started for the Jr. Americans in the first period when he chipped in a goal a foot away from the net after a Hugo Branthsson shot on goal. It was O'Donnell's first goal of the season and ended the night with two goals and an assist. The star of Rochester's win wasn't a skater, though. Rochester goalie Danick Leroux had two big stops in the early going of the match, including an instance where he bodied a shot on goal by defenseman Lukas Klemm and spun around to block a follow-up by forward Nick White with his paddle. The Tomahawks eventually got to the lockdown goalie when defenseman Jacob Ingstrup pierced Rochester's line across the left wing and slapped in a game-tying goal. A few minutes later, Leroux went down. With less than seven minutes to go in the first period and thirty seconds left on a power play, Leroux jerked to his left, reacting to a shot on goal, and hunched over the ice. Medical staff helped the team's star goalie into the locker room, and in came Jensen Carlstrom. An emergency backup goaltender, Carlstrom, could only sub in if Leroux was injured. Making his NAHL debut without a nameplate on his #30 jersey, Carlstrom was nails for top seed Rochester down the stretch in one of the franchise's most important games in its history. Carlstrom spent the remaining 46 minutes between the pipes, saving 17 of 18 shots on goal. The lone goal he allowed was to forward Adam Csabi. Calstrom's night was perhaps made easier thanks to the Jr Americans' sufficient offensive presence, who scored four more goals. Forwards Calle Karlsson, Landon Brownlee, and Gabe Randel were the three other skaters who found the back of the net.

Maine 4 @ Maryland 3 (Maine leads East Division Semifinals 1-0): Down 2-0 entering the third period, the Maine Nordiques offense exploded and scored four goals to take game one of the East Division Semifinals. The third-seeded Nordiques arrived at Piney Orchard Ice Arena having just edged out the New Hampshire Mountain Kings in a three-game play-in set. They needed to win two straight to take the series and meet the two-seeded Maryland Black Bears in Odenton. The Nordiques received a power play at the 13-minute mark of the first period due to a checking from behind penalty call on Maryland forward Owen Drury. However, despite being down a man, the Black Bears would be the ones to score first. With thirty seconds left in the man advantage, forward Isac Nielsen swiped the puck from Maine forward Kellen Murphy at the blue line and raced to meet goalie Carter Richardson at the net. Within seconds of the steal, the Black Bears were up 1-0. The Black Bears increased their lead to 2-0 in the second period; this time, Nielsen gained an assist by passing it to forward Harrison Smith, who then shoveled it to defenseman Mason Stenger for the score seconds after Maryland's power play had expired. For the Nordiques, it was a pair of defensemen that brought the team's offense back to life. Cole Estey lit the lantern and cut the lead in half after slipping into the middle of the ice and slapping in a 20-foot goal. The other defenseman, Alexandre Pellerin, produced more significantly. Pellerin scored back-to-back goals minutes apart from each other. The first came with thirty seconds left in power play. Pellerin recovered the puck that slipped out of scrum in front of the net and slapped it in from the far-side faceoff circle. The second came from a screen in the middle of the ice about 15 feet out. The game was tied 3-3 from a goal by Maryland's captain, forward Tyler Stern, inside the near-side faceoff spot. It was the second goal of the night where Maryland scored down a man inside Maine's power play advantage. Maine had four power plays during the entire game. Two of them ended in goals for Maryland, and the other two ended in goals for the Nordiques. The final power play was the punctuation mark for game one and the dagger for the Black Bears. With eight seconds left in the man advantage, forward Ethan Wongus tipped in the go-ahead and eventual game-winning score to silence the crowd and take the lead in the first meeting of the East Division Semifinal round. 

Chippewa 3 @ Wisconsin 7 (Wisconsin leads Midwest Division Semifinals 1-0): In Game 1 of the Midwest Division semifinals, a four point night from Zachary Cline gave the Wisconsin Windigo the all important win, defeating the Chippewa Steel by a final of 7-3 in front of a packed home crowd at Eagle River Sports Center. A slow first five minutes wouldn’t be without some action, as at the 15:10 mark, Cline capitalized on a bad Steel turnover, and converted a cross ice pass from Logan Nickolaus to give the Windigo the early lead. That goal would jumpstart the Windigo, and they continued the attack, and just 63 seconds after, sustained zone pressure for the Windigo would pay off once again, as Hunter Hayes would cycle the puck in, and Jackson Ernst would find Braydon Beahm open in front of the net, and he capitalized to double the Windigo lead. Just past the midway mark of the opening frame, a bobbled puck deep in the Steel end found the stick of Ronnie Hill, and he buried it past Steel netminder Charlie Tritt to give the Windigo their third goal of the period, prompting a goaltending switch for the Steel. Windigo netminder Lucas Szyszka only faced four shots in the opening frame, but a pair of breakaway saves in quick succession fired the fans and his team up. The Steel would get one back before the end of the period, as a floater from the point was chipped out of the zone by Mason Johnson, finding the stick of a streaking Ryder McIntosh, and at the 3:50 mark, a McIntosh cross crease pass found the stick of Patrick Vogl, and he slid it through a sliding Szyszka to cut the lead back to two heading into the first intermission. Early in the second, another strong play below the dots from the Windigo, this time Cline circling before finding Theodore Richardson. A cross ice pass from Richardson found Michael Ryan, and a backhand shot beat Devin Shakar to restore the three goal Windigo lead. With just over six minutes to go, a long stretch pass from Nickolaus was deflected in, and once again, the Windigo dominated below the dots, this time Richardson found Cline all alone in front of the net, and his second of the evening made it 5-1. But once again, the Steel would get one late in the period. A long stretch pass from Tomas Trunda sprung the Steel on an odd man rush, and a Lance Mengel shot would initially be saved by Szyszka, but a third chance play from Henry Peterson would keep the game at 5-2 heading into the third. Early in the third, a bad clearing attempt would be caught at the line by Cline, and his cross ice pass found Wyatt Herres, and his point blast restored a four goal cushion for the Windigo. That would not last long, as just 18 seconds later, a clearing attempt for the Windigo would be caught by McIntosh, and he buried a top shelf shot to cut the lead back to three. Late in the third, a beautiful long pass from Ryan found Richardson, and he beat the defense, and found Hayes wide open in front to seal the deal on the man advantage.

Minot 3 @ Austin 1 (Minot leads Central Division Semifinals 1-0): The Minot Minotauros and Austin Bruins each turned the heat up in the second half of the opening series game, the first goal at 9:30 in the second period. Neither team found luck in the first period, Tauros Lukas Swedin and Bruin Jack Solomon each strong in net with ten and nine saves, respectively. The pressure ramped up in the second period, and the first domino fell when Army (U.S. Military Academy) commit Billy Batten took the quick assist from Braeden Jockims to give the Tauros the 1-0 lead. The Tauros kept the tempo high following Batten’s goal, and struck once again later in the period off a goal from John Small, who beat Solomon to double the Tauros’ lead. Now down multiple scores, the Bruins got breathing room from Zander Lipsett, who scored the highlight goal of the game. Assisted by Gustav Svantesson, Lipsett put the puck through his legs, flicking the puck into the net to cut the Tauros’ lead to one. Still down a goal entering the third period, the pressure was on the Bruins to tie. Solomon kept his team in the game after holding Minot’s Gavin Middendorf on an open breakaway that would’ve given the Tauros a multi-goal lead again. As both teams defenses stood pat, Austin was forced to pull Solomon with over two minutes left in regulation. It was in vain however, as Adam Mahler struck the dagger with an empty netter to secure the Tauros victory and the first in the series.

Corpus Christi 2 @ Shreveport 1 (3OT) (Corpus Christi leads South Division Semifinals 1-0): After beating Colorado, Corpus Christi would advance to play Shreveport. Both teams would go back and forth, with neither team being able to put the puck in the back of the net. It wouldn't be until the third period that Aidan Puley would give the Mudbugs the lead. This would not last long, as Grayson Gerhard would score to level the game at one. This game would require more time, as the overtime period would have to decide the winner. However, after the first overtime period came to a close, it would require even more time. Early into the third overtime period, Pierson Sobush would score to win the game for Corpus Christi. Benji Motew would stand on his head, as he would stop 58 of 59 en route to taking the victory.

Aberdeen 4 @ Bismarck 3 (OT) (Aberdeen leads Central Division Semifinals 1-0): Holding off a late comeback to force overtime, the Aberdeen Wings took Game 1 in the series over the Bismarck Bobcats in an upset victory. A bouncing puck ended in the lone goal of the first period in the Wings favor, credited to Nikolai Tishkevich. Tishkevich later went on to save the game from being quickly tied after, batting the puck from behind goaltender Damon Cunningham as it got away from him following an unlucky bounce. A bad start turned worse for the Bobcats in the second period, Nick Comfort finding Bryce Johnson in the corner of the net to make it 2-0 Wings. Not going down without a fight, the Bobcats roared back quickly with two goals in under a minute. The first scored by Tommy Cronin, who was assisted from behind the net by Julian Beaumont. The second off a cross-ice pass on the power play from Louie Kamienski, Cronin further adding to his point total on the night with the first assist. Now tied, the Wings had to claw back from two momentum-swinging goals, getting the lead back to finish the second period thanks to Sebastian Lillsund to make it 3-2 after 40 minutes. With the lead back in their favor, the Wings stifling defense in the third period held the Bobcats to only six shots. Their best chances came on a four minute power play at 14:15 thanks to a high-sticking call on Aberdeen. With less than two minutes to go in regulation, Keanu Krenn off a deflection from Cunningham’s pads sent the game into overtime. The Wings only needed one shot to win the game, however: Matthew Martin-Gaudreault firing the puck into heavy traffic to silence the home crowd in Bismarck, and take Game 1 for his team.

New Mexico 0 @ Lone Star 4 (Lone Star leads South Division Semifinals 1-0): After advancing a round, New Mexico would be tested, as they would face the Lone Star Brahmas. Despite Jackson Fuller making 12 saves in the opening frame, he would let up his first goal of the game in the second, with Christian Venticinque putting the puck in the back of the net. In the third period, the Brahmas would mount their attack and start pulling away. With Venticinque lighting the lamp once again and Saxton Tess scoring a powerplay goal and a shorthanded goal. Ryan Cameron would blank the Ice Wolves on Friday, with Lone Star taking a 1-0 series lead.

Anchorage 2 @ Fairbanks 1 (Anchorage leads Midwest Division Semifinals 1-0): In Game 1 of the Midwest Division semifinals, the battle of Alaska saw the Anchorage Wolverines travel to Fairbanks to take on the Ice Dogs in front of a packed crowd at Big Dipper Ice Arena, and special teams would be the name of the game, as the Wolverines defeated the Ice Dogs by a final of 2-1. The first period saw plenty of opportunities, but stellar defensive play and goaltending kept the game scoreless heading into the middle frame. Just before the midway point of the second, a interference penalty put the Wolverines on the man advantage, and they didn’t waste much time, as Brock Devlin shot it to the net,and a rebound found Duke Gentzler, and at the 11:01 mark, his rebound was converted by Cole Christian to put the visitors up one. Under three minutes later, with a Wolverine sitting in the box for high-sticking, a Camden Shasby dump attempt would be caught by a Fairbanks defenseman, but his stick was lifted by Daniel Bagnole, and he beat everyone to the net to shelf Mason McElroy and double the lead for the Wolverines. Late in the third, the Ice Dogs would get a power play, and 16 seconds would be all it took, as with McElroy pulled for a sixth skater, a beautiful passing play found the stick of Wyatt Carlson. His cross ice pass found Caden Pendo, and his pass found Kyle Rohrer open at the top of the circles, and his bomb found twine to give the Ice Dogs life with three minutes to go. However, 12 saves in the third, including many in the last three minutes from Michael Manzi, stonewalled any comeback, and the visitors secured the all important Game 1 victory. Manzi finished with 31 saves on the night, while McElroy finished with 34 in the loss. 

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