Friday Finals: Americans Win Fifth Straight
by Camryn Connors
Masen Kerr (above) had the game winner for Great Falls while Joseph Gutierrez scored in the shootout for the Rhinos
Austin 2 @ Texas B 1 - The Austin Ice Bats made a major statement on Friday night as they came back to beat the Texas Brahmas 2-1. Chase Forry netted his 19th of the season to put the Brahmas ahead first. In the second period, Georgii Tokarskll evened the game for the Ice Bats with his 12th of the year. Later in the frame Mikhail Levaniuk popped what would be the game winning goal. The unassisted tally was his seventh of the season. Gavin Morris was spectacular as he made 39 saves in the win for Austin. Luke Romney was just as good, finishing the night with 37 stops.
Minnesota M 5 @ Minnesota W 0 - There aren’t too many teams hotter than the Minnesota Moose right now as they routed the Minnesota Wilderness 5-0 en route to their fifth straight win. Luke Steffen scored in the opening period to break the ice. Then it was Xander Wilharm’s first of the season that doubled the Moose lead. In the third Sam Knight scored back to back goals to increase the lead to four. Brecken Meyer added his second of the season late to put the game away for good. Dylan Posch was electric in goal as the reigning star of the week stopped all 38 shots fired in his direction. Nate Jansen suffered the loss for the Wilderness as he made 21 saves.
St. Louis 4 @ Wausau 0 - Four different players found the back of the net as the Jr. Blues blanked the Wausau Cyclones 4-0. Eric Denny struck first with his fourth of the year. Carter Duy added his first and Michell Napier potted his second of the season to put St. Louis up 3-0 after 40 minutes. Mason Andrew made things less interesting in the third as his eighth of the year ended any chance of a Cyclones comeback. Travis Visvadra was a perfect 24 for 24 to pick up his first shutout of the season. Brady Faille and Dereck Namlick combined to stop 16 of 20 shots.
Granite City 6 @ Mason City 3 - Six different Lumberjacks tickled the twine as Granite City doubled up their rival Mason City by a score of 6-3. Ty Smith led all skaters with three points for the Jacks. Finn Greeley had a goal and an assist while Brady Moore and Alex Doshan each scored. TJ Lepisto, Blake Lokken and Thomas Gerum all got on the scoresheet as well for Granite City. Josh Giguere, Sam Menne and Luke Woodstock all found the back of the net for the Toros. Trent Peterson was the winner in the blue paint with 25 saves while Sawyer Torkelson ended the evening with 32 saves.
Alexandria 6 @ Willmar 3 - The Alexandria Blizzard picked up a strong win on the road against the Willmar WarHawks. Alexandria struck first with goals from Markus Olson and John Dube to take an early 2-0 lead at the end of the first period. Willmar responded in the second period with Zane Irion finding the back of the net, cutting Alexandria’s lead in half. In the third period, the Blizzard regained control with Olson scoring his second goal of the game, followed by Jack Carter to make it 4-1. The WarHawks fought back, with Aidan Callaghan capitalizing on a power play and Nathan Hinze adding another goal to bring Willmar within one. Alexandria sealed the win late as Ashton Collings scored on an empty net, and Carter added his second goal of the night to secure the 6-3 victory for the Blizzard.
Rochester 5 @ West Bend 2 - The Rochester Grizzlies claimed a 5-2 victory over the West Bend Power Friday night. No scoring took place in the first period. Mason Decker opened the scoring for the Grizzlies netting a power play goal 10 minutes into the second period. Decker added on his second of the night just 6 minutes later capitalizing on another power play. In the third period, Adam Sexton scored for the Power to get them on the board, but Noah Gillette responded for the Grizzlies shortly after. Hunter O’Neal added another goal for the Power to close the gap, but Andrew Politoski and Aiden Emerich each scored for Rochester late in the period to seal their 5-2 win.
New Mexico 2 @ El Paso 3 (SO) - The El Paso Rhinos earned a hard-fought victory at home against the New Mexico Ice Wolves. El Paso opened the scoring in the first period with Derrick Pedersen finding the back of the net on a power play. In the second period, El Paso’s Brooks Fegers netted a power play goal of his own to earn the lead for the Rhinos. New Mexico retaliated back with Braeden Whitesell netting two goals later in the period to tie the game. No scoring took place in the third period or in overtime forcing the game into a shootout. In the shootout, Jack Arnold scored for the Ice Wolves but the Rhinos earned the win with Joseph Gutierrez and Brooks Fegers both finding the back of the net.
Helena 5 @ Gillette 2 - The Helena Bighorns defeated the Gillette Wild 5-2 on Friday night. The Bighorns started off the game strong with both Caden Fenstein and Trey Pareja netting goals in the first period. In the second period, Chase Hapka kicked off the scoring with the first goal of the night for the Wild. Helena fought back quickly with goals from Clint Isakson and Austin Uecker. Beau Delich put another point up on the board for Gillette late in the second period bringing the score to 4-2 with the Bighorns in the lead. Kade Pareja found the back of the net in the third period to score the final goal of the night and help earn Helena’s 5-2 win.
Sheridan 2 @ Great Falls 3 - In was a closely battled game between Sheridan and Great Falls that saw the Americans come away with a 3-2 victory. Garren Narvaez and Elijah White traded goals in the opening period. Then it was Aiden Kennedy who gave Great Falls the lead in the second but Gavin Elliott evened the game just a few minutes later. Masen Kerr would score his first goal of the season exactly one minute later and it would prove to be the game winner. Kaden Rhyder was the winner in between the pipes as he had 31 saves. TJ Wonnacott was busy all night as he finished with 49 saves.
Badlands 3 @ Bozeman 4 - The Bozeman Icedogs outlasted the Badlands Sabres 4-3 in a shootout. Baron Masopust and Andrew Kaunas put Bozeman up 2-0 in the first period but a late goal in the first by Charlie Lorbiecki and a early goal in the second period by Patrick Gosselin to tie the game at two. In the third period, Spencer Wilkinson and Thayne Coston traded goals to force overtime. In the skills competition, Dan Upton scored the only goal to lift Bozeman to the win and extra point in the standings.
Yellowstone 3 @ Butte 10 - Easton Langemo had two goals and three assists to lead the Butte Irish to a 10-3 win over the Yellowstone Quake. Loghan Weber had a hat trick and added and assist while Weston Villers finished the night with four assists. Bobby Anselmo had two goals and two assists of his own while Andrew Bowe, Malloy Lomheim and Tarin Perez all visited the red light district for the Irish. Logan Nichols had two goals and an assists for Yellowstone while Jordan Murray notched a goal and two assists. Manny Pantow was the winner in goal with 33 saves. Matthew Neeser was busy by making 66 saves in the loss.
