Home Ice Holds Strong With Perfect 6–0 Showing

Photo Credit: Bruce Rose

Bayou State 3 @ Texas (R) 5 - The Texas RoadRunners completed the weekend sweep Sunday night with the home victory over the Bayou State Rougarou by a score of 5-3. Texas showed their dominance in the home-series against the Rougarou, fueled by an explosive offense that pushed the Roadrunners to the victory. Logan Diskey was able to break the ice in the affair, finding the back of the net off the assist from William Dyker to give Texas the 1-0 lead. Bayou State answered back with a tally of their own, Peyton Essex grabbing the powerplay goal off the assist from Denis Portnoy. Less than a minute later, Texas stole back the lead with another goal from Diskey to make it a 2-1 game. Early in the second, the Rougarou once again found the equalizer as Gavin Vernarsky was able to put it home off the feeds from Evan McCreary and Kamdyn Smith. Yet once again, the RoadRunners quickly fired back as Michael Garrett took back the lead with a goal off the passes from Joseph Izzo and Jacob Brown. In the third, Izzo stretched the game to a 4-2 lead with a score of his own with the assist from Vincent Campbell, trying to take control in the last frame of the game. Anthony Riviello added onto the lead for Texas, finding the back of the net to make it a 5-2 game, the assists from Diskey and Quinn Mayo. Portnoy was able to close the gap late in the third off the assist from Nathan Daniels, making it a 5-3 final score in the game. With this win, the RoadRunners have officially clinched a spot in the 2026 Fraser Cup playoffs. 

Mason City 3 @ St. Louis 9 - The St. Louis Jr. Blues secured a dominant victory Sunday, overwhelming the Mason City Toros by a final score of 9-3. St. Louis showcased a relentless offensive attack, particularly in a high-scoring second period that allowed them to pull away and never look back. After a quiet opening frame with no scoring in the first period, the floodgates opened in the second. Jack Reuss broke the ice for St. Louis, finding the back of the net at 18:15 to give the Jr. Blues a 1-0 lead. Mason City responded quickly, as Mason Buchanan netted a goal off feeds from James Pautsch and Dom Despenas to tie the game. The Toros then took their only lead of the night on the power play, with T.J. Gibson scoring off assists from Luke Gustafson and Jason Williams. The Jr. Blues answered with a four-goal surge to close out the period. Stephen Craig leveled the score off assists from Carter Duy and Joseph Lopiccolo. Reuss then notched his second of the night to reclaim the lead, followed by a goal from Lonnie Land. Caden Lindley capped off the second-period explosion with a late tally, sending St. Louis into the locker room with a 5-2 advantage. In the third period, St. Louis showed no signs of slowing down. Reuss completed his hat trick early in the frame off assists from Brady Cook and Duy. Jace Jordan extended the lead further to 7-2 just minutes later. While Mason City’s Connor Pirsig managed to stop the bleeding momentarily with a goal assisted by Cooper Hedin and Elijah Elmer, the Jr. The Blues closed the game with two power-play goals. Lindley netted his second of the game, followed by a final marker from Mitchell Nappier to seal the 9-3 victory. In net, Aaron Sibert delivered a phenomenal performance, turning away 35 shots and grabbing St. Louis their 18th win on the season.

Atlanta 1 @ Pelham 4 - The Pelham Prowlers had a dominant second period to pull away from the Atlanta Capitals and secure a 4–1 victory at home to complete the weekend sweep. Atlanta struck first in the opening frame, scoring the lone goal of the period to take a 1–0 lead after 20 minutes of play. The Capitals generated solid pressure early, outshooting Pelham 12–9 in the first, but that would be as close as the game would remain. The momentum swung heavily in the second period as the Prowlers exploded for three goals, flipping the script and grabbing full control of the contest. Pelham peppered the Atlanta net with 13 shots in the middle frame, overwhelming the Capitals despite neither team converting on the power play. Heading into the third with a 3–1 advantage, the Prowlers stayed aggressive and added an insurance goal to seal the win. Pelham finished with a 36–24 edge in shots on goal and shut the door defensively the rest of the way, handing Atlanta a tough road loss. Marlon Derksen powered the Prowlers’ offense with two goals and an assist for a three-point night, giving him six points through three games in the series.

New Mexico 2 @ Austin 4 - The New Mexico Ice Wolves traveled to the Austin Ice Bats for a Sunday afternoon matchup. In previous meetings this season, the contests have been evenly matched up, with Austin having a slight edge in the series 4-3. The Ice Wolves would start the scoring at 9:52 in the first on a goal by Cade Tilley. The Austin Ice Bats would respond just twenty seconds later on a goal by Mason Manderfield to tie it at one. Callahan Butler would find the back of the net with just four minutes remaining for the Ice Wolves to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. In the second, the Ice Wolves would extend their lead to 3-1 three minutes into the period. However, the Ice Bats would tie it up at three with two goals in five minutes. In the third, the Ice Bats would score with Ethan Salter proving the hero, to break the tie with seventeen minutes left in regulation. Despite a push from the Ice Wolves, the Ice Bats take the 4-3 win.

Carolina 1 @ Louisiana 17 - The Carolina Rage took on the Louisiana Drillers in a Sunday afternoon matchup for game three of their weekend series. The Drillers have dominated the series this season, and Sunday’s game was no different. Skyler Tompkins topped the leaderboard with a hat trick plus an assist. Dylan Crossley, Brody Haas, Emerson Laroche, and Carter Tymchak tallied two goals each for the Drillers. Matthew Killen tallied four assists of his own. James Parnell broke the hopes of a shutout with just ten minutes remaining in regulation, assisted by Tobin Tuzinsky. The Drillers skated to a 17-1 victory to pick up the sweep. 

West Texas 2 @ Texas (B) 5 - The Texas Brahmas rallied after a slow start and poured it on over the final 40 minutes to defeat the West Texas Wranglers 5–2. West Texas opened the scoring in the first period, capitalizing on limited opportunities while being outshot 14–6, and carried a 1–0 lead into the intermission. The Brahmas responded with urgency in the second, matching West Texas with two goals of their own while allowing just one against to take a narrow 2–2 tie into the third. From there, Texas completely took over. The home team erupted for three unanswered goals in the final period, putting the game out of reach and silencing any chance of a Wranglers comeback. Texas finished with a commanding 37–29 advantage in shots on goal and converted once on the power play, while West Texas went scoreless on five chances. The strong third period capped off a convincing win for the Brahmas.