Saturday Scores: The Wilderness Clinch the Midwest Division Title with Sweep Over Springfield

Wisconsin 7 @ Chippewa 1 - The Wisconsin Windigo earned a decisive 7-1 victory last night against the Chippewa Steel. The Windigo’s offense got to an early start as Alexios Georgaklis and Liam Grant notched in a pair of goals in the first period; Aidan Hickok tallied in one more in the second to bring their lead to three. The Steel responded in the third period with a goal from Blake Graff, but it was not enough to make the comeback. Wisconsin tallied four more goals–including a second goal from Grant–in the final frame to secure the victory.

Northeast 2 @ New Jersey 3 - The New Jersey Titans rallied from an early deficit to earn a 3-2 comeback win over the Northeast Generals. Northeast jumped out to a quick start in the first period, with Beckett Hinchsliff opening the scoring just 40 seconds into the game before Logan Poulin added a power-play goal at 12:09, assisted by Kody Moyer and Vinny Ipri, to give the Generals a 2-0 lead after one.The Titans responded in the second period when Arseni Zharikov scored shorthanded at 13:39, with assists from Jonathan Lanza and Matt Hanscom, cutting the deficit to one heading into the third. New Jersey completed the comeback early in the final frame as Hudson Slenker buried the game-winner at 4:49, set up by Ty Creech and Eduard Gubeladze. Nathan Walsh added an insurance goal at 16:11 off passes from Ryan Murphy and Nikolas Doumas.The Generals narrowly outshot the Titans 39-38, but Andrew Bely turned aside the chances he faced to secure the win, while Will Mizenko made 35 saves in the loss.

New Hampshire 2 @ Maine 1 (SO) - The New Hampshire Mountain Kings edged the Maine Nordiques 2-1 in a shootout after a tightly contested matchup that remained deadlocked through overtime. Both teams were held off the scoreboard in the opening period before New Hampshire struck first in the second. Tanner Anctil capitalized on a power play at 6:49, finishing a setup from Lucas Mann to give the Mountain Kings a 1-0 lead. Maine responded in the third period while shorthanded, as Damon Myers buried a goal at 5:33 with assists from Ryan Santiago and Liam Sheward to even the game at 1-1. Neither side could break the tie through the remainder of regulation or overtime, sending the contest to a shootout where New Hampshire ultimately came out on top. The Nordiques held a 33-28 advantage in shots, but Jason Cai turned aside 32 of 33 attempts for the Mountain Kings, while Lukas Fursten stopped 27 of 28 shots for Maine in the hard-fought game.

Philadelphia 0 @ Elmira 2 - The Elmira Aviators used a strong defensive effort and timely scoring in the second period to earn a 2-0 victory over the Philadelphia Rebels. After a scoreless opening frame, Elmira broke through at 1:23 of the second when Evan Dantas finished a power-play opportunity with assists from Corson Maguire and Ilya Baldin. The Aviators doubled their lead later in the period as Nico-Patrick Pohjonen found the back of the net at 8:47, set up by Kevin Delaney and Cole Brown. That would be all the offense Elmira needed as they locked things down defensively the rest of the way. Elmira outshot Philadelphia 37-23 in the contest. Goaltender Aiden McKenna was perfect between the pipes, stopping all 23 shots he faced to record the shutout. On the other end, Ben Varsa turned aside 35 of 37 shots for the Rebels in a strong effort despite the loss.

Danbury 1 @ Rochester 3 - The Rochester Jr. Americans secured the weekend sweep over the Danbury Hat Tricks following last night’s 3-1 victory at Rochester Ice Arena. The Jr. Americans got an early lead after Brendan Giles found the back of the net late in the first period. Danbury responded in the middle frame with a goal from Peter Freel, but Rochester secured the Saturday win with two more goals from Giles. Jon Dukaric earned 27 saves in net for the Hat Tricks, and Jensen Carlstrom defended the Jr. Americans with 21 saves between the pipes.

Maryland 4 @ Johnstown 2 - The Maryland Black Bears put together a steady offensive effort across all three periods to secure a 4-2 victory over the Johnstown Tomahawks. Johnstown struck first just 1:43 into the opening frame when Ben Norris found the back of the net off a setup from Sean Morgan, but Maryland answered midway through the period with a goal from Sokrat Markarian at 11:30 to even the game heading into the intermission. The Black Bears took control in the second period when Dom Gatto scored at 13:58, assisted by Harrison Smith and Kristofers Krumins, giving Maryland its first lead of the night. Johnstown pulled back even early in the third as Evan Kensey finished a play at 6:01 with help from Sean Morgan, but Maryland responded quickly and never looked back. Tanner Duncan restored the lead at 16:06 off passes from Harrison Smith and Ryan Franks, and Brayden Wade added a late goal with 25 seconds remaining to seal the win. Maryland held a 34-16 edge in shots, and goaltender Ryan Denes stopped 14 of 16 shots to earn the victory. Zack Ferris turned aside 31 of 34 shots for the Tomahawks in the loss.

Minnesota W 6 @ Springfield 2 - Following Friday’s win, the Minnesota Wilderness amped up the energy last night to defeat the Springfield Jr. Blues 6-2. The Wilderness hit the ground running at the start of the contest, scoring three in the first period. The Jr. Blues responded with a power-play goal from Niko Laus to go into the middle frame down by two. Both clubs tallied a point in the second period, with Minnesota’s Caleb Kim and Springfield’s Drew Berres finding the back of the net. Kim notched another goal to start the third period, and River Freeman earned his second goal of the night to secure the 6-2 victory for the Wilderness.

Minot 0 @ St. Cloud 3 - The St. Cloud Norsemen earned an exciting Saturday night victory as they shut out the Minot Minotauros 3-0 at St. Cloud Municipal Athletic Complex. Christian Garrity kick-started the offense for St. Cloud with his goal scored late in the opening frame. After a quiet second period, two more earned points for St. Cloud in the final frame. Andrew Karkoc and Avry Shaw each tallied on in for the Norsemen to secure the shutout win. Brian Cooke earned 35 saves between the pipes for Minot, and St. Cloud’s Beck Liden saved all 25 shots faced.

Lone Star 4 @ Oklahoma 3 (SO) - The Lone Star Brahmas went on the road to take on the Oklahoma Warriors. In the opening period, the Brahmas would get on the board first with a last-minute goal, Samuel Lussier scoring with an assist from Gustav Lexell and Vincenzo Capano. In the second period, the Brahmas extended their lead with another goal from Samuel Lussier, assisted by Gustav Lexell once again. Just a minute later, the Warriors would get on the board with a Trace Day goal, Mason Wright and Jackson Hone picking up the assist. The Brahmas would then answer back just 24 seconds later, Dylan McFadden scoring, assisted by Austin Petersen and Jackson Vaites. The Warriors would then respond with a power-play goal from Jackson Hone, with Trace Day returning the assist, and Denny Oh earning an assist. In the final period with just a minute left, Trace Day would score his second goal of the game to send it to overtime, Jakub Galnor and Denny Oh getting an assist on the game-tying goal. Both teams would go scoreless in overtime, leading to a shootout. After 5 shots from each team, Leo Isaksson, Vladimir Saibel, and Vincent Gellar would score the game-winning goals. The Brahmas win a close one on the road over the Warriors 4-3.

Amarillo 1 @ Corpus Christi 5 - The Amarillo Wranglers went on the road to take on the Corpus Christi Icerays. In the opening period, the Icerays would take the early lead, Nick Sinani scoring with an assist from Justin Thibault and Chayse Laurie. The Wranglers would then answer back with an unassisted goal from Caden Hegarty. The Icerays would shortly take the lead back with a goal from Andrej Paricka, Jack Mackenzie picking up the assist. The Icerays would continue to grow their lead with a goal from Islom Dzabberganov, Easton Swift with an assist, and Justin Thibault with his second assist. Right before the end of the period, Emil Obstfelder would score for the Icerays, Nick Sinani and Nikita Konevych with the assist. In the second period, the Icerays would score again, Jonathan Cifaldi scoring, Jack Mackenzie with another assist, and Andrej Paricka with an assist. Neither team would score again for the rest of the game, leading to an Icerays win over the Wranglers 5-1.

Minnesota M 2 @ Austin 8 - The Minnesota Mallards went on the road to take on the Austin Bruins. In the opening period, the Bruins would strike first with a goal from Carter McKay, Tucker Lovejoy, and Kyle Sorensen picking up the assist. Just a few minutes later, the Mallards would respond with a power play goal, Bryce Wiitala scoring with an assist from Bauer Murphy. The Mallards would then take the lead with another goal from Bryce Wiitala, this time unassisted. The Bruins would shortly after tie the game back up, Tucker Lovejoy scoring a goal of his own, Carter McKay returning the assist and Andrew Leung getting an assist. The Bruins would then take the lead back with a short-handed, unassisted goal from Zander Lipsett. With just 9 seconds left in the first period, the Bruins would score a goal from Gavin Hruza, Austin Doyle, and Sam Kline, picking up the assist. In the second period, the lone goal would belong to the Bruins, Matsvei Marshchanok scoring, Gavin Hruza and Andrew Leung picking up another assist. In the final period, the Bruins would score on three power plays. The first being scored by Sam Kline, Matsvei Marshchanok, and Nathan Williams, picking up the assist. Then Zander Lipsett would score, Carter McKay and Michael Coleman being credited with the assist. Finally, Carter McKay scored the last goal of the game, being assisted by Ryan Lund and Kyle Sorensen. The Bruins defeat the Mallards 8-2.

Watertown 5 @ North Iowa 4 (SO) - In a thrilling matchup at Mason City Arena, the Watertown Shamrocks defeated the North Iowa Bulls 5-4 in a shootout. The Bulls got an early lead in the contest as Vitaliy. Korolyuk and Niko Ross each found the back of the net. The Shamrocks responded with two in the middle frame–but not before North Iowa’s Jack Holland would notch a goal in to keep the Bulls in the lead. Justin Bartley and Antons Macijevskis scored back-to-back goals for Watertown to bring them into the lead at the beginning of the third period. In the final seconds of regulation, Brody Dietz tied up the contest with a goal for the Bulls to send them to overtime. After a long battle, Erick Comstock brought Watertown to victory as he scored the winning goal in a shootout.

Aberdeen 4 @ Bismarck 1 - The Aberdeen Wings went on the road to take on the Bismarck Bobcats. In the opening period, the Bobcats would strike first with a goal from Charlie Kresl, Hugo Kruse and Alex Lunski with the assist. In the second period, the Wings would get on the board, Caden Lee scoring with an assist from David Hruby and Zan Spari-Leben. Five minutes later, the Wings would score again, Brody Dustin scoring on a power play, Jibber Kuhl and Gavin Reed picking up the assist. Before the end of the period, the Wings would grow their lead with another power-play goal, this time Easton Edwards scoring, Gavin Reed and David Hruby each getting another assist. Then, in the final period, Brody Dustin would score the dagger on an empty net, with Jonathan Doucette and Sam Scheetz getting the assist. The Wings scored four straight to defeat the Bobcats 4-1.

Shreveport 1 @ New Mexico 3 - The Shreveport Mudbugs went on the road to take on the New Mexico Ice Wolves. In the opening period, the Mudbugs would strike first with a goal from Grayson Gerhard, Evan Hoglund getting the assist. The Ice Wolves would then get on the board with a goal from Sean Gibbons, with Nayan Pai getting the assist. In the second period, the Ice Wolves would take the lead with a Brock Fairbanks goal, with Jeremy Sprung getting the assist. The Ice Wolves would continue to grow their lead with a goal from Jeremy Sprung, Anton Malyshev getting an assist, and Brock Fairbanks returning the assist. The rest of the game would go scoreless. The Ice Wolves scored three consecutive goals to defeat the Mudbugs 3-1 at home.

Fairbank 5 @ Kenai River 3 - After falling to the Kenai River Brown Bears the night before, the Fairbanks Ice Dogs responded with a big 5-3 victory. The opening frame kicked off with a trio of goals by the Ice Dogs. Starting things off midway through the frame, Thomas Gunderson scores on his former team with a goal at the 11:30 minute mark. Almost five minutes later, the captain, Luca Ricciardi, scored with 6:55 on the clock. The scoring would continue with a tally by Matthew Volkman to give Fairbanks a solid three-goal lead. Before the period ended, Samuel Sisik lit the lamp for the Brown Bears with 1:19 left on the clock. Moving into the second period, the Brown Bears would tighten the score with a tally midway through the second period, thanks to Michal Tkac. The contest would continue into the final 20 minutes of regulation, and the Brown Bears would even the score on the man advantage thanks to Parker Newman. However, that even scoreboard would only last for 10 minutes as Fairbanks’ Oliver Barna scores to give the Ice Dogs the lead once again. The Brown Bears would pull their goaltender to give them the player advantage on the ice; however, Barna would tally another with no goalie in net. The Ice Dogs skate away with a 5-3 victory.

Janesville 1 @ Anchorage 5 - With a big first-period push, the Anchorage Wolverines skate away to a victory on Saturday night. Kicking things off, the Wolverines tally four consecutive goals in the opening frame. Starting things off was Sam Evert, almost two minutes into the period. Following him minutes later was Duke Gentzler, adding to Anchorage’s lead. Eight minutes later, Bowen Burke scored his 11th of the season. Chase Trompeter would finish out the scoring for Anchorage in the first period with a tally at the 5:04 minute mark. Heading into the second period, the Jets were looking to respond. While on the man advantage, Ty Bashaw scores for Janesville. As the contest progressed into the third frame, Anchorage would tally one more, this time Harout Arutyunyan finding twine. The Wolverines would skate away to a 5-1 win.