Friday Finals: Warriors Make Opening Night Statement

Janesville earned a win over the Windigo on Friday night

Johnstown 4 @ Danbury 1 - The Danbury Hat Tricks hosted the Johnstown Tomahawks to open the season. The first period was quiet other than 2 penalties committed by the Tomahawks but they successfully defended both power plays. The first goal of the game wouldn’t come until the 13 minutes mark in the second period. Kai Elkie scored the first goal of the season for the Hat Tricks, assisted by Svante Strandberg. The Tomahawks would answer quickly with a goal of their own, Jack Genovese scores on the power play being assisted by Camerson Ross. Going into the final period tied at 1 a piece. The Tomahawks would score their second goal early in the third period, scored by Peter Moore and assisted by Nick Jarmain. The Tomahawks would score again just 21 seconds later, this time Nick Jarmain scores a goal of his own and Evan Kensey gets the assist. The game would end with Jack Genovese scoring his second goal of the contest with just 3 minutes left in the game. Making the final score 4-1 in favor of the Johnstown Tomahawks. This was a close contest going off just the numbers, both teams having a similar number of shots on goal as well as penalties. Johnstown found some momentum in the very end and pulled away in what was a close contest.

Maine 5 @ Philadelphia 1 - The Maine Nordiques opened their season with a 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Rebels, outshooting Philadelphia 26 to 21. Rylan Oster struck first for Maine with an unassisted goal just two minutes into the game, giving the Nordiques an early lead. Dante Rodriguez added another goal for Maine later, assisted by Jack Klevby. Joe Gasperko closed out the first period with an assist from Ryan Santiago, giving Maine a 3-0 lead. Cam Wilson got Philadelphia on the board in the second period, assisted by Brayton Frick. Maine quickly answered as Jack Klevby scored, assisted by Joe Gasperko and Dante Rodriguez, restoring the three-goal advantage at 4-1. Adam Bauer sealed the win for Maine in the third period with a goal assisted by Cole Estey.

Maryland 1 @ Rochester 3 - The Maryland Black Bears opened their season on the road, heading to a rowdy and electric environment at the Rochester Ice Center to take on the defending Eastern Division Champions, the Rochester Jr. Americans. Last season, Maryland finished third in the Eastern Division, earning 63 points on the season. Ryan Shaw opened the scoring in this heavyweight matchup, scoring at the 6:45 mark in the first period to give Rochester the lead. Late in the second period, Maryland responded with a power play goal by Mate Tardi, tying the score at one. The third period was all Rochester. Murray Kanerva saw one of his shots hit the back of the net at the 11:59 mark, and the East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, native, Ryan Shaw, added his second goal of the night late to seal the deal for the Jr. Americans, 3-1 over the Black Bears. Jenson Carlstrom kept the crease clean for the Jr. Americans. He padded away 24 of the 25 shots on goal and secured the win for Rochester.

Shreveport 0 @ Oklahoma 4 - The Oklahoma Warriors made a season opening statement with their 4-0 home-game victory against the Shreveport Mudbugs. This win was made possible by a commanding first period and solid goal coverage by Billy Stuski. Oklahoma’s key three — Ben Likness, Dominik Kiss and Jakub Bednarik — did not waste any time on tallying up the board by the end of the first. Bednarik and Kiss set up Likness for an initiating goal at just 4:35 into the starting period. The trio would strike again at 7:29, as another swift sequence to Likness found its way into the goal. The second period was silent of any goals, but did not falter to entertain defensively. To snap the win in place, Oklahoma decided to end the match just how they started it with two more goals in the third by Kiss and Brendan Schooley.

Kenai River 7 @ Chippewa 5 - Coming down to the final moments, the Kenai River Brown Bears were able to push a little further for a 7-5 win against the Chippewa Steel. This high-scoring matchup kept the audience on the edge of their seats and made for an engaging first game of the season for the two teams. From the first tick of the clock, the Bears quickly showed their claws with David Greene and Braden Hansberger scoring just seconds apart to establish a 2-0 lead. The Kenai River squad outshined in offensive pressure, outshooting the Steel 39-22. However, the Steel did not let the slow start tear their chances down completely. Chippewa made a strong comeback in the second, netting three goals — one shorthanded by Lukas Bellinger and the other two on a power play by Kevin Lysohir and Mason Johnson. The Bears contested these goals with two of their own to bring the matchup to 4-3 going into the third. The final frame of the game ramped up tensions, as the Steel tied the game twice — once at 4-4 after a goal by Anthony Preskar and yet again at 5-5 after Sam Schulte delivered the puck to Anthony Nolan. With the score hanging on a balance in a t-minus two minute game, the deadlock was finally cracked by the Brown Bears’ Massimiliano Monson and sealed with a final goal by Dario Lass.

Janesville 4 @ Wisconsin 1 - The Janesville Jets traveled to Wisconsin to play the Windigo to open the season for both squads. As well as the Windigo first game in a new building in Brookfield, WI. The Janesville Jets came out on fire scoring two goals in the first period, one of which came just a minute and a half into the game. Mason Minsky scoring the first goal of the game assisted by Murray Marvin-Cordes and Sammy Smith. The second goal would come just six minutes later, scored by Grant Dillard with Joseph Hyten picking up the assist and Murray-Corde already getting his second assist of the game. The second period would go scoreless going into the third with the Jets up 2-0. The Jets would once again score eight minutes into the third period, Hans Hedlund scoring and Evan Foilfes and Connor Hillig picking up the assist. The Windigo would finally get on the board with Brendan Finley scoring an unassisted goal. The game would end with Sammy Smith scoring an empty net goal assisted by Mason Minsky. Making the final score 4-1 in favor of Janesville.

Springfield 2 @ Minnesota W 4 - The Minnesota Wilderness opened their season hosting the Springfield Jr. Blues at the Northwoods Credit Union on Friday night. The Jr. Blues and Wilderness both finished in the middle of the pack last year in the Midwest Division, with Minnesota finishing 5th in the standings, with the Jr. Blues right behind them in 6th. After a scoreless first period, the Jr. Blues opened the scoring with a Niko Laus power play goal. Minnesota responded shortly after with a power play goal of their own, courtesy of Caleb Kim. Minnesota found themselves with the man advantage yet again later in the second, when Talon Blanck lit the lamp. In the final thirty seconds of the second period, Ben Cameron kept Springfield in the game and tied the game at two as the period ended. It was all Minnesota in the third. Zachary Homer and Nathan Murray both dented the twine to secure the win for the Wilderness, 4-2 over the Jr. Blues. Valdemar Anderson stood tall between the pipes for Minnesota. Hailing from Herning, Denmark, the 6’3” goalie padded away 24 of the 26 shots on goal.

El Paso 1 @ Lone Star 4 - The Lone Star Brahmas skated to a 4-1 win over the El Paso Rhinos in their season opener, outshooting El Paso 30 to 15. El Paso struck first on the power play when Tommy Shore scored, assisted by Ethan Woolcott. El Paso carried their 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Lone Star pulled even early in the second period as Nolan Davis scored on the power play with assists from Christian Venticinque and Camden Prier. Lone Star took control in the third period. Vincenzo Capano scored the game-winner, assisted by Vladimir Saibel. Less than five minutes later, Ryan Coots extended the lead with another assist from Vladimir Saibel. Lone Star sealed the victory in the final minute when Tyson Scanlon scored an unassisted, empty-net goal.

Amarillo 2 @ New Mexico 1 - The New Mexico Ice Wolves hosted the Amarillo Wranglers for the first game of both teams seasons. In this low scoring contest Danylo Dolin started the scoring with a goal for the Wranglers, assisted by Tyler Tsoukalas. That would be the only goal scored, until in the second period Andy Earl would find the leveler for the Ice Wolves tying the game at one a piece, Nayan Pai and Jacob Guille picking up the assist. This would stay true until there was three minutes left in the game where Tyler Tsoukalas would score the game winner for the Wranglers with Padraic Whited getting the assist. This was a very clean contest with only two penalties in the entire game being split between the teams. Despite the relatively low scoring the Wranglers keeper Charles Antoine-Girard had his work cut out for him with the Ice Wolves taking 40 shots on goal. The only big difference in the numbers was the shots on goal. New Mexico attempting a lot more shots on goal than Amarillo. Despite that the Wranglers edged out a close win against the Ice Wolves 2-1.