West and South Divisions take charge on Day 1 of Top Prospects

February 18, 2020

The West and South Division’s won both of their games on a busy opening day of the 2020 NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament.

The evnt continues on Tuesday with the final day of action as each team has one more game to play.

For more information on the 2020 NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament, please visit: http://na3hl.com/tpt/

Watch all the games live on HockeyTV

Northeast 3 vs Central 4 (OT) - Sam VanderHoeven's (Coulee Region) late OT heroics gave the Central a 4-3 win over the Northeast in the first game of the Top Prospects Tournament on Monday. Liam Murphy (Elmira) scored twice for the Northeast, joining teammate Thomas Liebold (Elmira) on the scoresheet. Logan Olson (Rochester), Joey Boccardi (St. Louis) and Marco Escobar (Coulee Region) rounded out the scoring for the Central. Cole Walter (Peoria) made 14 saves and Mathias Backstrom (Rochester) stopped all nine he faced in the Central cage, while Andrew Engel (Elmira) turned aside 12 pucks and Timothy Brillaud (Long Beach) stopped 20.

Coastal 2 vs West 6 - A tight game gave way to a comfortable 6-2 win for the West as they rattled off three unanswered in the third to take down the Coastal. Lucas Wahlin (North Iowa) led with two goals, as Brandon Holt (Willmar), Garrett Freeman (Breezy Point), Stanislav Danaev (New Ulm) and Sota Isogai (North Iowa) also lit the lamp for the West. Carson Asper (Northeast) and Connor Barter (NE Stars) grabbed the lone Coastal goals in front of 12 Jason St. Pierre (L/A) saves and 11 from Zach Roncarati (NE Knights). Lukas Haugen (Willmar) and Evan Babekuhl (North Iowa) won with 17 and 11 saves, respectively.

South 5 vs Frontier 2 - Matthew Macumber's (Atlanta) double led the way as the South built up a 5-0 advantage and held on from there for a 5-2 win over the Frontier. John Ogeka (TX Brahmas), Kyler Garsjo (Butte) and Brandon Morgan (Atlanta) bagged the remaining South goals, while Dylan Rumpke (Yellowstone) and Will Kutch (Bozeman) each netted for the Frontier. Bryce Runyan's (TX Brahmas) 15 saves and Patrick Egdorf's (Atlanta) 17 earned the South win between the pipes, while James Downie (Sheridan) and Michael Allman (Yellowstone) stopped 10 and 20, respectively, for the Frontier.

Central 0 vs West 9 - It was a dynamite offensive outing for the West, with Derek Dropik (Alexandria) and Blake Spetz (Granite City) each striking twice to lead their team to a 9-0 win over the Central. Lukas Haugen (Willmar) made 13 saves and Evan Babekuhl (North Iowa) stopped 19 to share a shutout, with Ryan Pogue (Granite City), Lucas Wahlin, (North Iowa), Callahan Nauss (North Iowa), Sota Isogai (North Iowa) and Stanislav Danaev (New Ulm) chipping in goals as well. Mathias Backstrom (Rochester) stopped 12 and Cole Walter (Peoria) stopped 18 for the Central.

Coastal 5 vs Frontier 4 (SO) - A back-and-forth regulation time battle gave way to some shootout heroics from L/A's Sam Frechette to guide the Coastal past the Frontier 5-4. Nolan Murphy (NE Knights), Connor Barter (NE Stars), Michael Lempiainen (NE Stars) and Joe Clarke (L/A) scored in the first 60 for the Coastal, while Luke Hartge (Bozeman) netted a pair for the Frontier, with Mi-Kwan Tallman (Missoula) and Blake Billings (Sheridan) joining in the scoring as well. Jason St. Pierre (L/A) and Zach Roncarati (NE Knights) posted 19 and 27 Coastal saves, respectively, while James Downie (Sheridan) made 9 and Michael Allman (Yellowstone) stopped 17 for the Frontier.

South 4 vs Northeast 2 - Garrett Wilderman (TX RoadRunners) grabbed the game-winner as the South held off the Northeast's late comeback bid to win 3-2. Elmira forwards Liam Murphy and Thomas Liebold were once again at the forefront of the Northeast attack after contributing heavily in the first Northeast game, but South goals from Matthew Macumber (Atlanta), RJ Muckensturm (Mid Cities) and Blake Siewertsen (Louisiana) set the stage for Wilderman's winner. Bryce Runyan (TX Brahmas) made 11 saves and Patrick Egdorf (Atlanta) stopped 15 for the South, while Andrew Engel (Elmira) and Timothy Brillaud (Long Beach) turned aside 15 and 19, respectively, for the Northeast.