Rochester and Wisconsin Earn Wins on Friday
by Justice Covert
The Jr. Americans and Windigo celebrate their victories at Fogerty Arena on Friday
Rochester 2 @ Bismarck 1 (Rochester leads Robertson Cup Semifinals 1-0) - The Rochester Jr Americans are one win away from playing in the Robertson Cup National Championship, thanks to a heroic performance from their returning goalie. In his first game back since going down with a non-contact injury in Rochester's first playoff game, Danick Leroux held the 47-win Bismarck Bobcats to just one goal on 30 shots — a notable feat against a team that has been scoring nearly three goals per game this postseason. The game remained tied heading into intermission. Bismarck's goalie Tomas Anderson had a productive day between the pipes, saving 34 of 36 shots on goal, but faltered five minutes into the second period. The first score came from Rochester's Adam Gionta. The forward received a pass from Calle Karlsson and caught Anderson off balance. Gionta chipped in a six-foot goal from just beneath the faceoff circle to record his first playoff goal this postseason and put the Jr Americans ahead 1-0. Rochester's second score came in the third period from Hugo Branthsson, his second goal in three games. A missed shot by forward Ryan Shaw caused the puck to pop up in the air. Branthsson was there to recover and was skating it back to the blue line before he quickly turned around and took a shot on goal. The puck found the back of the net, and the Jr Americans led the winningest team in the league this season 2-0. A goal by Bismarck forward Josh Lehto later on in the third period — his fourth of the playoffs — cut the deficit in half, but the Bobcats ran out of time and dropped the first game of this best-of-three Robertson Cup semifinal matchup.
Wisconsin 3 @ Lone Star 0 (Wisconsin leads Robertson Cup Semifinals 1-0) - For the first time this postseason, the Lone Star Brahmas lost a game. The Brahmas entered the Robertson Cup Semifinal round as the number two seed because re-seeding is determined by regular-season points, but they were perhaps the hottest team among the final four. The Brahmas went 6-0 in the postseason before Friday night and won their last ten, including the regular season. In those six playoff wins, the Brahmas outscored their opponents 22-4 and recorded three shutout victories. The Wisconsin Windigo, who had just survived a five-game series that went the distance against the Anchorage Wolverines, didn't just break the Brahmas' winning streak — they snapped it and handed the Brahmas their first shutout loss since Nov. 29. Wisconsin's goalie, Beau Altman, was the maestro behind the masterpiece for the Windigo, recording his second shutout this postseason, averaging just one goal allowed per game. Wisconsin scored a goal in each period, the most the Brahmas have allowed in a single game since March 8. In the first period, forward Alexios Georgaklis slapped in his second playoff goal. Defenseman Harper Frey recorded his second goal of the postseason as well, lighting the lantern halfway through the second period. Lastly, forward Theodore Richardson scored his third goal of the postseason late in the third period and extended the Windigo's lead to 3-0. Despite the six straight games of dominance, the Brahmas are now just one loss away from being eliminated.
