Bighorns and Generals ride goalies to wins on Day 1
Northeast Generals goalie DMar McCoy made 39 saves in a 5-2 win over Rochester on Day 1 of the 2022 Fraser Cup.
Pool A, Round-Robin: Northeast 5 vs. Rochester 2 – Bolstered by three goals in the 1st period, the Northeast Generals cruised to a 5-2 win in the opening game of round-robin play of the 2022 Fraser Cup against the Rochester Grizzlies. It took just over five minutes in the opening period for the Generals to net the game’s first goal as Sean Gorman scored on a shorthanded breakaway. The Generals then made it 2-0 as a defensive zone turnover by the Grizzlies led to a wide-open chance in the low slot for Braeden Kennedy, who fired a shot home. With just :02 seconds left in the period, Nolan Murphy converted on a 2-on-1 from a sharp angle to make it 3-0. In the 2nd period, the Grizzlies got on the board early on a wrap-around goal from Ben Oakland. However, the Generals regained their three-goal lead as Tyler Ramm converted from the high slot on a 3-on-2 that would end the night for Rochester goalie Zach Wiese. The Grizzlies tried to make a late charge, which included a goal on a shot from the point by Logan Kroyman that made it 4-2. However, with an empty-net and under three minutes left, the Generals secured the win as Nicholas Wracker put home a rebound for the 5-2 win. Generals goalie D’Mar McCoy was outstanding in the win, making 39 saves, while Wiese and Nikola Goich combined for 38 saves in the loss.
Pool B, Round-Robin: Helena 2 vs. Granite City 0 – Helena goaltender Eric Buchholz stopped all 52 shots that came his way as he led his team to a 2-0 win over the Granite City Lumberjacks in the second game of Day 1 at the Fraser Cup. The Bighorns took a 1-0 lead in the 1st period thanks to a power play opportunity as Samuel Feamster found Liam Bland streaking in the slot and Bland slipped a shot past Lumberjacks goalie Quentin Sigurdson for the game’s first goal. The remainder of the period featured some solid saves from Helena goalie Eric Buchholz and also from Sigurdson. The 2nd period saw 29 combined shots, but both Buchholz and Sigurdson held firm as neither team was able to find the back of the net and the score remained 1-0 for the Bighorns after two periods. Midway through the 3rd period, a turnover in the Lumberjacks defensive zone led to a one-timer from Helena forward Tylor Greene, who fired a shot past Sigurdson for a 2-0 lead. The rest of the way it was all Buchholz, who ended up making 52 saves in the shutout.
The 2022 NA3HL Fraser Cup Championship continues with Day 2 on Thursday, March 24th and takes place from March 23-27 at the St. Peters Rec Plex in St. Peters, Missouri. Six teams have advanced to the season-ending event, which annually crowns the NA3HL National Playoff Champion.
A round-robin format with two pools will be implemented, with the top two teams in each pool advancing to the Semi-Finals, where they will then cross over to play the other top two teams from the other pool. The winners of the Semi-Finals will advance to the Fraser Cup Championship Game. The six teams that advance to the Fraser Cup Championship Tournament will be seeded 1-6 based on their regular season winning percentage.
Games can be seen live and in HD on HockeyTV
Admission to all Fraser Cup games is free.
For more information about the Fraser Cup, please visit: http://na3hl.com/fraser-cup/
The seeding for the event will be as follows and was based on point totals in the 2021-22 NA3HL regular season standings:
Pool A: #1 Northeast Generals (East), #4 Rochester Grizzlies (Central), #6 Gillette Wild (Wild Card)
Pool B: #2 Granite City Lumberjacks (West), #3 Helena Bighorns (Frontier), #5 El Paso Rhinos (South)
2022 Fraser Cup Championship Schedule (all times Central)
Wednesday, March 23: Rochester Grizzlies 2 vs. Northeast Generals 5 | Helena Bighorns 2 vs. Granite City Lumberjacks 0
Thursday, March 24: Gillette Wild vs. Northeast Generals, 4pm | El Paso Rhinos vs. Granite City Lumberjacks, 7pm
Friday, March 25: Gillette Wild vs. Rochester Grizzlies, 4pm | El Paso Rhinos vs. Helena Bighorns, 7pm
Saturday, March 26: Pool A 1st place vs. Pool B 2nd place, 4pm | Pool B 1st place vs. Pool A 2nd place, 7pm
Sunday, March 27: Championship Game, 3pm
