Friday Finals: Bighorns win Frontier, Alexandria gets in playoffs

March 9, 2019

Alexandria 4 @ Willmar 1 - The Blizzard jumped out to a 4-0 lead through 40 minutes and held on late despite a Warhawks goal to take a 4-1 win and clinch their spot in the Fraser Cup playoffs. Carter Rieland, Dylan Giorgio, Caleb Strong and Connor Busse provided the offense as Ville Hyttinen held strong in net with 28 saves for the win. Marquez Ginger bagged the only Willmar goal in front of 32 saves from Jake Sumner. 

 

Butte 0 @ Helena 9 - Hunter Pierce and Ty Niskanen each posted hat-tricks and Carver Thompson recorded a 46-save shutout to pace a 9-0 Bighorns win over the Cobras at home on Friday. Porter Tirrill, Hayden Seitz and Ian Zaleski also tallied for Helena. Butte netminder Casey Mattfeldt stopped 22 shots in the loss. With the win, the Bighorns claimed the Frontier Division regular season title.

 

Yellowstone 4 @ Missoula 8 - A hat-trick from Misha Akatnov marked a historic evening as the Bruins knocked off the Quake 8-4. With Akatnov's markers, he surpassed the NA3HL all-time scoring record with 248 career points, and the NA3HL single-season goals record with 62 in the current campaign. But he wasn't alone in his efforts on the night, as Vadim Zubkov bagged a hat-trick as well and Ty Dittman and John Bannon netted individual goals. Josh Sample and Seth Daniel posted a shared 31 saves for the win, conceding only to Jack Harris twice and Brendyn Hewitt and Will Yates once apiece. Logan Cooksy finished with 49 saves in the Yellowstone net. 

 

Rochester 5 @ Coulee Region 3 - Oskar Stahl netted twice in the third period to help the Grizzlies fend off a ferocious Chill comeback and take a 5-3 win on the road on Friday. Lukas Jenkins, Lucas Newman and Vladislav Sorokin also scored for Rochester, as Nick Bucklin stopped 23 of 26 in the win. Thomas Magnavite led Coulee Region with two goals, with Brady Lindauer potting a goal and Devin Naidow turning aside 29 pucks.

 

Granite City 4 @ New Ulm 1 - The Lumberjacks rode a 19-save performance by David Mulligan to a 4-1 win over the Steel on Friday. Cooper Smith led the offense with two goals, as Matt Moran and Jordan Olson tallied as well. Michael Savelkoul bagged the lone New Ulm marker in the first period in front of a stout 39 saves by Henry Baribeau. 

 

Peoria 3 @ North Iowa 4 - Jimmy McDermott's first hat-trick of the season was the key as the Bulls rode his offense to a slim 4-3 win over the Mustangs at home. Nick Bowlin also lit the lamp for North Iowa, while Tristan Trudel, Zachary Eddington and Austin Keil provided the Peoria attack. Dysen Skinner and Evan Babekuhl stopped a shared 20 pucks to take the win over Jaden Gardner's 27 saves in the Mustangs' cage. 

Cape Cod 4 @ Long Beach 5 (OT) - A banner, four-goal evening for Dino Mukovoz that saw him net the both the game-tying and game-winning goals culminated in a 5-4 win for the Sharks over the Islanders on Friday. Leevi Kervinen and Daniel Bazarin each bagged a pair of goals to help the Islanders erase a 3-1 deficit in the third period, before Mukovoz struck at 18:59 to force overtime and added his fourth just 47 seconds into the extra frame. Kieran Bohonan nabbed the other Long Beach strike as Ryan Cortez turned aside 28 of 32 in the win. Josh Chausse took the loss with 29 saves of his own. 

 

St. Louis 9 @ Wausau 1 - The Jr. Blues erupted for four unanswered goals in the first 20 minutes and never looked back, as Jacob Wiethaupt and Matthew Monreal each nabbed hat-tricks in a 9-1 road win over the RiverWolves. Ivan Galaguzov, Jack Moore and Dominic Lesnock also lit the lamp for St. Louis, while Janne Rukamp did the same for Wausau. Mikael Foucher stopped 19 pucks for the win, while Alexandr Gilev suffered the loss despite a stunning 67 saves in the Wausau net. 

 

Evansville 0 @ Milwaukee 12 - Logan Geisness potted a hat-trick, Garrett Alton scored twice and Aaron Dickstein stopped all nine shots against as the Power cruised to a 12-0 win over the Thunderbolts on Friday. Also scoring for Milwaukee were Zach Miceli, Brady Rossback, Mason Evans, Dylan Davenport, Ryan Payne, Santana Pinkert and Caleb Beversdorf. Evansville's Noah Brandau finished with 53 saves between the pipes. 

 

Bozeman 5 @ Gillette 3 - Duncan McGarrah stood tall in the third period, striking twice to help the Icedogs snap a 2-2 deadlock and ultimately outlast the Wild 5-3. Dominic Canic, Adam Franklin and Luke Hartge also lit the lamp for Bozeman, while Coleman Varty, Ethan Becker and Nolan Conrad provided the Gillette offense. AJ Ruskowski put forth a stellar 40 stops for the win, outmatching Shane Phillips' 34 for the Wild.