Friday Finals: Wild win home opener

September 22, 2018

Missoula 4 @ Gillette 7 - Coleman Varty lit up the rink with two goals and four assists as the Gillette Wild earned their first win of the year, 7-4 over the Missoula Jr. Bruins. George Stilson (2), Gage Thompson, Austin Newson and Ethan Becker also posted tallies for the Wild, while John Bannon (2), Austin Leadbetter and Connor Frye countered for the Jr. Bruins. Evan Williams stopped 33 shots in the Missoula cage, and Cody Grogan earned the win with 18 saves in the Wild crease.

 

L/A 8 @ Skylands 1 - The L/A Nordiques exploded for five goals in the second period to put the game to bed early as they dropped the Skylands Kings 8-1 and moved into the top spot in the Coastal Division. Sam Frechette’s two goals and Daniel Miller’s 20 saves led the way, as Mike Keller, Joe Bisson, JP Chauvin, Armand O’Keefe, Joshua Sanchez and Hans Watson also lit the lamp. Dylan Dinzik scored the lone tally for the Kings, and netminder Tom Fornabia took the loss despite an impressive 82 saves between the pipes. 

 

Niagara Falls 4 @ Binghamton 11 - Binghamton continued it’s scorching start to the campaign with another rout, this time 11-4 over the Niagara Falls Powerhawks, Eleven different skaters netted for the Jr. Sens, including Liam Murphy, Mike Padgeon, Marcus Cook, Greg Simmons, Nico Corsaro, Caden Dearborn, Mason Fay, Rory Gresham, Will Darling, Riley Botting and reigning Northeast Division Star of the Week, Eric Melso. Binghamton’s two goaltenders, Jeff Zero and Casey Boone, combined for 34 saves, while the Powerhawks’ Noah Spiesz faced down 60 shots in the loss. 

 

Evansville 1 @ Rochester 10 - Ten different Grizzlies found twine as Rochester notched its first win of the young season with a 10-1 romp past the Evansville Jr. Thunderbolts. Ryan Lenker, Seth Bacon, Colin Mehren, Porter Haney, Lucas Newman, Joey Fodstad, Matthew DeRosa, Josh Hoffman, Lukas Jenkins and Brock Hildebrand scored for the visitors, while Chase Lewiston bagged the lone goal for the hosts. 

 

Peoria 6 @ Wisconsin 1 - Jaden Gardner stopped 24 of 25 shots, Ian McHenrey notched a pair of goals and the Peoria Mustangs recorded their second win of the season with a 6-1 decision over the Wisconsin Whalers. Jared Wisely, Bret Bauer, Tristan Trudel and Blake Finley also bagged goals for the Mustangs, and Anthony Fortin netted the lone marker for Wisconsin. Whalers goaltender Ryan Hooks stopped 37 pucks. 

 

St. Louis 2 @ Granite City 1 - With the game mired in a 1-1 deadlock with under two minutes to play in the third period, Dante Jones stepped up for the Jr. Blues and found the late winner over the Granite City Lumberjacks to help his team stay on pace with the Milwaukee Power in the Central Division. Tom Yurisich’s first-period strike had St. Louis ahead through much of the game before Daymin Dodge knotted things up with an early goal in the final frame. Mikael Foucher starred in net for the Jr. Blues, turning aside 26 of 27 shots. Matt Fitzgerald also stood tall for the Lumberjacks with 22 saves on 24 pucks. 

 

North Iowa 7 @ Breezy Point 2 - Behind four points from Cam Fagerlee and two goals apiece from Brendan Studioso and Marco Escobar, the North Iowa Bulls dropped the Breezy Point North Stars to move to the top of the West Division. Matt Dahlseide posted the other goal for the Bulls, while Carson Simon and Lukas Brockman scored for the North Stars. Evan Babekuhl stonewalled 30 shots in the North Iowa cage, and Max Eilefson stopped 47 of 54 pucks for Breezy Point. 

 

Northeast 4 @ Long Beach 3 - Ryan Cortez stopped a whopping 46 shots in the Long Beach net, but the Northeast Generals’ four goals proved enough to drop the Sharks 4-3 and keep them perfect on the year. Tyler Rudek (2), Kolye Bankauskas and Carson Asper netted for Northeast, countering Sharks strikes from Dino Mukovoz, Cade Lambdin and Avery Matthews. Devun Schneider earned the win with 24 saves on 27 shots.

 

Alexandria 3 @ Milwaukee 5 - The Power stretched their perfect start to a 5-0 record on the back of a 5-3 victory over the Alexandria Blizzard Friday night. Logan Geisness (2), Maris Graudins, Ethan Dabbs and Chuck Bay lit the lamp, and Aaron Dickstein turned aside 24 shots to pace Milwaukee’s win. Joe Dokken, Dylan Mattson and Tucker Kruse scored for the Blizzard. 

 

Yellowstone 0 @ Great Falls 6 - The Great Falls Americans kept pace on top of the Frontier Division, thanks to a 6-0 win over the Yellowstone Quake — their fourth straight to open the season. Payton McSharry’s hat-trick paced the attack, and Garrett Peterson, Alexi Suchomlin and Sean McLean added the other tallies. Drew Scites turned aside 17 shots in the shutout victory. 

 

Bozeman 8 @ Butte 1 - Two different skaters notched hat-tricks for the Bozeman as the Icedogs romped to an 8-1 win over the Butte Cobras. Devin Hoffman and Hazen McKay starred with three goals apiece, helped by Hayden Groth and Daniel Liner, who each nabbed a goal as well. Ethan Doney posted the single strike for Butte, and goaltender Casey Mattfeldt put forth a strong showing despite the scoreline with 52 saves. Bozeman’s Mikael Levokari took the win with 21 stops.