Brahmas, Bruins, Nordiques and Windigo Win in Game 1

Photo Credits: Annie Durko and Emmy Vitali

Maine 2 @ Rochester 0 (Maine leads East Division Final 1-0): The Maine Nordiques stole home ice advantage with a 2-0 Game 1 victory over the Rochester Jr. Americans. The game was scoreless after 20 minutes but a Dexter Kichline cross-checking penalty in the second period opened the door for the dangerous Nordiques power play where Ocean Fancy potted his first goal of the postseason. In the third period, after a Rochester bench minor for too many men, Laurent Trepanier grabbed his second goal of the playoffs to increase the Nordiques lead to 2-0. The rest of the way was the Carter Richardson show as the Jr. Americans outshot the Nordiques 15-4 in the final frame but no pucks would get behind the Lake Superior State commit. Richardson would finish the evening with 34 saves as he earned his second shutout of the Robertson Cup playoffs. Jensen Carlstrom was dealt the loss in goal as he finished the evening with 20 stops. 

Anchorage 2 @ Wisconsin 5 (Wisconsin leads Midwest Division Final 1-0): In Game 1 of the Midwest Division finals, a Ronnie Hill hat trick powered the Wisconsin Windigo to a 5-2 win over the Anchorage Wolverines in front of the home crowd at Eagle River Sports Arena. Just over five minutes into the game, a Windigo clearing attempt was caught by Daniel Bagnole, and his third-chance effort beat Lucas Szyszka to give the visitors an early lead, with assists being credited to Patrick Tolan and Andrew Karkoc. With under five minutes to go in the period, a nice pick play from Hunter Hayes gave the Windigo an odd man rush, and a cross crease pass from Rio Treharne found the stick of Braydon Beahm, and he equalized with his third of the playoffs. Just 80 seconds after that, however, a low-to-high pass from Karkoc found the stick of Landon Greenough, and his initial point shot was saved by Szyszka, but the rebound came right out to Aaron VanWie, who deposited it past Szyszka to give the Wolverines the lead after 20 minutes. Just under five minutes into the middle frame, a bounce pass off the end boards from Harper Frey came out to Jackson Ernst, and his centering pass found the stick of Hill, and Hill beat Michael Manzi to tie the game. Later in the period, a bad line change from the Wolverines led to an odd-man rush, and a centering pass from Mario DiMaggio found Hill once again, and he buried it to give the Windigo the lead heading into the final frame. Just past the midway point of the third, strong play below the dots from the Windigo would pay off, as a low-to-high pass from Ben Aucoin would find Wyatt Herres at the point, and his point missile found twine to double the Windigo lead. Late in the third, with Manzi pulled from his net for the extra attacker for the Wolverines in a 6-on-4 man advantage with a Windigo player sitting in the penalty box, a point shot was blocked by Alexios Georgaklis, and his pass found Hill to complete the hat trick and the dominant game one victory. Between the pipes, Szyszka stopped 14 in the win, while Manzi had 29 in the loss. 

Austin 3 @ Bismarck 1 (Austin leads Central Division Final 1-0): The Austin Bruins took a commanding 1-0 lead in the Central Division Final against the Bismarck Bobcats Friday evening. Both teams felt the intensity of the playoffs early in the game; the Bruins took the early 1-0 lead only 28 seconds into regulation after Jackson Rilei rifled the puck past Bobcats goaltender Tomas Anderson. The game tightened defensively after that in the first period, and the Bruins outshot the Bobcats on the period 7-6. That didn’t stop the Bruins from doubling their score in the period. Rilei cut the Bobcats defenders before tripping in front of the net, but Gavin Hruza picked up the rebound to score his third goal of the postseason. Bismarck got their offense going in the second period with double-digit shots on goal but failed to get past Jack Solomon who stood strong in net for Austin. The Bobcats didn’t get on the board until 17:45 in the third period. Evan Hunter off an intercepted pass launched the puck across the ice to Julian Beaumont who beat Solomon to cut the lead in half. Unfortunately for Bismarck, the Bruins struck the dagger on the empty net 39 seconds later, Nathan Williams unassisted credited with the winning goal.

Corpus Christi 0 @ Lone Star 1 (OT) (Lone Star leads South Division Final 1-0): It took just over 70 minutes and 52 shots but the Lone Star Brahmas finally solved the puzzle that was Benji Motew to win Game 1 of the South Division Finals 1-0. Cooper Faughnan took a feed from Owen Kerr in the high slot and was able to bury the game winner upstairs past a sprawling Motew. Teams traded power play opportunities in the first period with each team coming up empty. In the second, Corpus Christi had two power play chances but Ryan Cameron and the Lone Star penalty kill would not fold. The IceRays played with fire in the third, giving Lone Star three chances with the man advantage but they survived to reach overtime. Then finally halfway through the first overtime period, Tess sent a pass from behind the net to the front, it got past two IceRay defenders before finding the tape of Faughnan who scored his first goal of the postseason. Cameron was a perfect 28-for-28 in between the pipes to earn the shutout for Lone Star. Motew was sensational for Corpus Christi, stopping 51 shots on the night.

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