Jr. Americans, Bobcats and Wolverines Tie Series, Lone Star up 2-0

Photo credits: Emmy Vitali and Annie Durko

Maine 0 @ Rochester 1 (East Division Final Tied 1-1): It’s been a defensive showdown through the first two games of the East Division Finals. The Maine Nordiques took game one from the top-seeded Rochester Jr Americans 2-0, but Rochester bounced back in game two on Saturday and shut out the Nordiques 1-0. It’s been a testament to the teams’ goalies: Maine’s Carter Richardson and Rochester’s Jensen Carlstrom. Between two games Richardson has saved 60 of 61 shots on goal and Carlstrom has saved 47 of 49. Even though both teams had five power plays in game two, they were still stonewalled by the two in between the pipes. The first two periods were a stalemate, but within the first few seconds of the third period, the Jr Americans led for the first time in the series thanks to a pair of defensemen. Defenseman Demitri Dilflorio slapped across a pass from the farside faceoff circle to defenseman Liam Chapman who sent a shot from fifteen feet out. The puck bounced off to the left of the goalie where forward Jaden Dyke was sitting to tip it in for his fourth goal this postseason. Dyke’s four playoff goals are tied with forward Calle Karlsson for the most playoff goals on the team. That’s all that was needed for the Jr Americans to eventually win the game and tie the series at one apiece. Carlstrom, the former emergency replacement goalie, staved off the Nordiques' offense for the remainder of the third period for his first career shutout. 

Anchorage 2 @ Wisconsin 1 (OT) (Midwest Division Final Tied 1-1): In Game 2 of the Midwest Division finals, Daniel Bagnole would be the overtime hero for the Anchorage Wolverines as they defeated the Wisconsin Windigo by a final score of 2-1, bringing the series even at a game apiece. Early in the first, a neutral zone pass between Mario DiMaggio and Michael Ryan found a streaking Braydon Beahm, and as he crossed the blue line, he beat Michael Manzi upstairs to give the Windigo the lead less than two minutes into the game. Late in the third, with a Windigo player in the penalty box, a solo rush from Taisetsu Ushio found twine, and the game headed to the extra session. Late in the extra session, Bagnole received a pass from Toby Carlson and made no mistake as he beat Lucas Szyszka upstairs to be the hero, and even the series. Manzi would end the night with 41 saves, while Szyszka would have 27 in the losing effort. 

Austin 0 @ Bismarck 2 (Central Division Final Tied 1-1): It was a bounce back game for the Bismarck Bobcats as they tied the Central Division Finals against the Austin Bruins. Despite coming out on fire offensively in the opening period, the Bobcats were consistently denied by Bruins goaltender Jack Solomon who helped keep his team from being down early. The second period saw Austin take the lead offensively, but it was Tomas Anderson’s turn to stay strong in net for his team, keeping the Bruins from getting on the board. The deadlock was broken early in the third period. Kyle Doll on a turnover against the boards turned and fired the puck past Solomon’s glove to put Bismarck on the board. Now with the lead, Bismarck clamped down on defense; Austin was limited to only 9 shots on the period. With less than 90 seconds to go in regulation, the Bobcats struck the game winner on the empty net after Alexandr Kim launched the puck down the ice to end any hopes of a Bruins comeback. Anderson in net was credited with the shutout, stopping all 23 shots faced tonight.

Corpus Christi 2 @ Lone Star 3 (Lone Star leads South Division Final 2-0): The Lone Star Brahmas took a stranglehold of the South Division Finals as they defeated the Corpus Christi IceRays 3-2 in Game 2 on Saturday night. The IceRays made sure they would get on the scoresheet tonight as they got on the board just 28 seconds into the action with Michael Valdez scoring his third of the postseason off a pass from Matthew Green. Corpus Christi would take the lead into the locker room but before they could even get settled in for the second they would give up the lead. Cooper Faughnan had a Maddox Tulacro pass go off his skate and past Benji Motew to tie the game just 68 seconds into the middle frame. The crowd at the Shoe Box barely had time to relax before the Brahmas got them out of their seats again as Tulacro scored just 26 seconds later to put Lone Star ahead. Pierson Sobush would even the game late in the second period with his third of the playoffs and once again we were all tied up through 40 minutes. Early in the third it was a great shot off the blade of Elias Kumlin which put the Brahmas up for good. Ryan Cameron would stop 27 of the 29 shots he faced to earn the win between the pipes for Lone Star. Motew once again finished the night with a tough loss despite making 31 saves. 

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