Friday Finals: Oklahoma City picks up first win of season
Bozeman forward Grayden Pond had four points in a 6-4 win over Great Falls on Friday.
Oklahoma City 5 @ El Paso 2 – The Ice Hawks saw four different players find the back of the net, never trailing as they picked up their first win of the 2021-22 season. Jakob Holley broke the deadlock early, his fourth of the year for Oklahoma City. Patrick Wyers beat the goaltender twice, earning himself the player of the game. Forwards Noah Henslee and Aaron Best also had multi-point games, both scoring and dishing an assist in the visitor’s victory. Payne Pent and Noah Easterson each scored their third goals of the season for the Rhinos, but they weren’t enough to close the deficit. Nathan Hadley finished the contest stopping 23 of 25, while El Paso’s Camden Pendleton saved 44 taking the loss.
Bozeman 6 @ Great Falls 4 – The Bozeman Icedogs travelled north to Great Falls and secured a win against their rivals, largely contributed by a four goal 2nd period. Grayden Pond netted a goal and assisted two others, while four other skaters for Bozeman also had multi-point nights. Great Falls outshot the Icedogs 51-47, but could only get four past the netminder Collin Soderholm. Jackson Henningsgard scored once and assisted twice for Great Falls. Ben Winkler was credited with the loss, stopping 41 of 47 shots.
New Jersey 5 @ Norwich 4 – The New Jersey Titans overcame a two goal deficit to defeat the Norwich Sea Captains by a final score of 5-4.Noah Scherff and Teito Ishigaki had goals to get the Titans out to a two goal advantage. Norwich would get the next four as Drew Schemmel, Trevor Souza, Ethan Ranger and Jack Kinahan found the back of the net for Norwich. Cameron Burns’ first goal of the year got New Jersey back within one. Lucas Salas tied the game with just over seven minutes remaining and Ishigaki’s second of the night would be the game winner. Logan Hensley got the win in goal as he made 33 saves. Alex Tsymbalyuk had 17 stops in the loss.
Louisiana 2 @ Mid Cities 3 – The Mid Cities Jr. Stars brought the Drillers unbeaten streak to a close as they grabbed a 3-2 victory on Friday night. Ilnur Madiarov had a goal and an assist to lead the offense for the Jr. Stars. Austin MacDonald and Timothy Pickrell netted their first goals of the year. Thomas Mougin provided all the firepower for Louisiana. Quillon Bowman was sensational as he denied 43 of 45 shots. Evan Wiittchow took the loss making 21 saves.
Peoria 1 @ Rochester 5 – The Rochester Grizzlies remained unbeaten as they took care of Peoria 5-1. TJ Norris potted a pair of goals while Kyle Bauer and Justin Wright each had a goal and an assist. Noah Roitman chipped in a goal as well for Rochester. Zach Wiese was nearly perfect for the Grizzlies stopping 20 of 21. Joe Ambroffi was credited with the loss as he stopped 24.
Atlanta 3 @ TX Brahmas 8 – Three points from Erik Vrkoc led the Texas Brahmas to a 8-3 win over the Atlanta Capitals. Michael Kramer scored twice while Elijah Roofe netted a goal and an assist. Troy Kirk, Seth Manning, Matt Coe and Luc Yorkison all contributed goals as well for the Brahmas. Nick Mumford scored twice for the Capitals and Kaleb Miller tallied a goal and an assist in the loss. Anthony Russo needed just six saves to grab the win in goal. Paul Jarvis and Brendan Smith combined for 61 saves on the night.
New Ulm 2 @ Alexandria 7 – Logan Lukasezck had a goal and three helpers as the Alexandria Blizzard knocked off the New Ulm Steel 7-2. Sean Kenny notched a goal and an assist for the Blizzard while Ryan Hadland had two goals and one assist. Cole Klingbeil got on the scoresheet twice and Ben Tschida also visited the red light district. Conner Souza and Lahoussine Salama scored for New Ulm in the loss. Joey Greilich improved to 3-2 on the year as he made 30 saves. Zach Foster and Nolan Lacosse teamed up to make 47 saves for the Steel.
TX RoadRunners 9 @ Austin 0 – Matthew Edestrand scored four times and assisted on another as the RoadRunners offense exploded for nine goals in a 9-0 win over Austin. Jaron Ketterman was dishing out everyone assists as he finished with five of them. Jack Herron had two goals and two assists while Kyle Portlock and Tyler Love each had a goal and an assist. Samuel Bourdon also found the back of the net. Hunter Hein was the winner in goal for Texas while Connor Edwards took the loss for Austin.
Granite City 5 @ Mason City 2 – Five different Lumberjacks found the back of the net as Granite City took care of Mason City 5-2. Carson Van Zuilen got the scoring started with his second of the season but it was the second period when the Jacks really took over. Three goals in six minutes blew the game open as Kullan Daikawa, Matthew DeLany and Ben Anderson all tickled the twine. Cal Levis and Dillon Schmidt got Mason City back into the game midway through the third but Tucker Skime iced the game late with an empty net goal. Matthew Smith was the winner in goal for Granite City, he had 18 saves. Owen Carlson was dealt the loss as he had 31 stops.
Helena 3 @ Badlands 2 (OT) – The Helena Bighorns still remain undefeated after Friday night’s battle, outlasting the Sabres in overtime. After a quiet 1st period, Badlands forward Brady Ridnour opened the scores seven minutes into the 2nd. The Bighorns answered with two of their own in the period, coming from Johnathan Peterson and Tylor Greene. Badlands responded in the 3rd with a powerplay goal from Kael Delzer, which eventually forced an extra period. Gavyn Galloway sealed the winner for Helena late in overtime, rewarding Eric Buchholz with the 29 save victory.
Wausau 2 @ St. Louis 1 (SO) – Wausau snapped their three-game losing streak in spectacular fashion after grabbing the win over St. Louis in a shootout. 12:45 into the 2nd, Jacob Horrall broke the ice for St. Louis. Scoring the eventual shootout winner, Gage Vierzba tied the game mid-way through the 3rd. Wausau’s Mitch Miscevich proved to be the star of the show, stopping 35 combined shots throughout regulation and overtime, while stopping all four shootout attempts from St. Louis.
Sheridan 2 @ Yellowstone 1 (OT) – Fans at Riley Arena were treated with a game that that saw 23 penalties, 101 combined shots, and an overtime winner. The visitors broke the deadlock in the 1st as Caden McDonald scored his fourth of the season from Mason Friedricks. Thanks to Jack Harris, Yellowstone forced overtime scoring with only 1:21 remaining in the 3rd period. Sheridan continued the late period heroics in overtime however, as Nick Tigges silenced the home crowd and scored for the Hawks with only 24 seconds left on the clock. Tommy Kariscak got the win with 58 saves, while Jarret Perino made 40 saves with the loss.
