Saturday Scores: Game Five Are Forced as Minnesota and Austin Secure Road Wins

Minnesota 5 @ Wisconsin 1 (series tied 2-2) - The Minnesota Wilderness makes a statement in game four against the Wisconsin Windigo in the Division Final. The contest kicked off with Zach Homer scoring back-to-back goals in the opening frame. His first tally would be scored in wraparound fashion less than four minutes into the game. His second goal was scored midway through the frame in a similar fashion. Later in the period, Jackson Ernst would cut the deficit in half with a power-play goal in the final few minutes of the contest. As the power play would expire, the Wilderness would strike back. Jack Martens lights the lamp with a one-timer to end the scoring in the frame. Moving into the second period, Kevin Lysohir scores his first of the postseason by striking the top-left corner. Following that goal, Wisconsin’s netminder, Max Larsson, gets pulled as Easton Cody comes in for his first postseason start. In the final frame, the Wilderness would finish up their scoring in the contest with a power-play goal by Caleb Kim. Kim scores his first of the postseason with a tally through Wisconsin’s Easton Cody’s legs. The Wilderness forced a game five in this 5-1 road win. Between the pipes for the Wilderness was Valdemar Andersen. The ‘05 netminder turned aside 34 of 35 shots in his first postseason appearance.

Austin 4 @ Aberdeen 2 (series tied 2-2) - In a battle in the Central Division, the Austin Bruins take game four over the Aberdeen Wings thanks to a power-play goal in the opening frame. That spark was started with EJ Paddington finding twine in a scramble in front of Aberdeen’s net. Moving into the second period, Zander Lipsett would light the lamp following a rebound by Michael Coleman to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead. Exactly nine minutes later, Cooper Anderson strikes in one-timer fashion to cut the deficit in half. Moving into the final period, the Wings would tighten the scoreboard when Anthony Ciaramitaro fired a shot a little over six minutes into the last frame. The contest would be tied until the final few minutes of the contest. In the faceoff, the Bruins would win it as Michael Coleman finds twine off a rebound in front of Aberdeen’s net. As the Bruins had the 3-2 scoring advantage, the Wings would pull their netminder to bring another skater onto the ice. With 1:04 left on the clock, Sam Kline finds twine in empty-netter fashion to seal the 4-2 victory for Austin.