Saturday Scores: Bayou State defeats Pelham

Provided by Connor Hill

Pelham 2 @ Bayou State 4 - The Bayou State Rougarou earned their first win of the season Saturday afternoon, defeating the Pelham Prowlers, 4-2. Kamdyn Smith opened the scoring for the Rougarou, sending a slap shot into the back of the net. Pelham answered minutes later when Evan Frye scored on a slap shot of his own to even the score at 1-1. Preston Hall then restored Bayou State's lead before the end of the opening frame. The second period remained quiet until the final minute, when Tristan Hall sent a backhand shot between the pipes on the power play to extend the Rougarou's advantage to 3-1. Moving into the final frame, Pelham cut into Bayou State's lead when William Hartle scored shorthanded, earning his 12th goal of the season and bringing the Prowlers within one. With time winding down, Pelham pulled its goalie in search of the equalizer. Brenden Flowers capitalized on the empty net, sealing Bayou State's 4-2 victory.

Long Beach 5 @ New Hampshire 3 - The Long Beach Sharks continued their undefeated season Saturday night, defeating the New Hampshire Jr. Mountain Kings, 5-3. Both teams recorded 13 shots on goal in the first period. Anthony Valeriote broke the scoreless tie for Long Beach in the final four minutes of the frame, giving the Sharks a 1-0 lead heading into intermission. Long Beach carried its momentum into the second period, as Tate Cakir scored on the power play in the opening minute to extend the lead to 2-0. New Hampshire responded with a power-play goal of its own from Ethan Ross, cutting the deficit to one. The third period opened with a flurry of scoring. Kingsley Solomon found the back of the net in the opening minute to extend Long Beach's lead before Caden Shafer scored on an odd-man rush. A minute later, Eli McCarthy added another goal, giving the Sharks a commanding 5-1 advantage. The Jr. Mountain Kings responded with two power-play goals of their own. Gabe Williams scored midway through the period to cut into the deficit, and Kyle Bouiver added another to bring the score to 5-3. New Hampshire outshot Long Beach 15-7 in the final frame, but the late push wasn't enough to overcome the Sharks' lead. Long Beach held on for the 5-3 victory to remain undefeated.

New Jersey 5 @ Norwich 1 - A dominant first period sparked the New Jersey Titans to a 5-1 road victory over the Norwich Sea Captains at RoseGarden Ice Arena. Dom Marnauza opened the scoring midway through the first frame to give New Jersey the early lead, before Bryce Rudderforth doubled the margin less than two minutes later. Zach Huettl capped the first-period surge with just 33 seconds remaining on the clock to send the Titans into the intermission with a three-goal cushion. New Jersey kept the momentum going in the middle frame as Kane Clark and Lincoln Walters each found the back of the net to extend the advantage to five. Norwich answered midway through the third period when Nick Rembish broke the shutout bid, but the Titans closed out the contest behind 25 saves from goaltender Tony Shaw. Henrik Strubberg stopped 42 of 47 shots in net for Norwich.

St. Louis 3 @ Peoria 5 - The Peoria Mustangs triumphed over the St. Louis Jr. Blues with a commanding 6-3 victory. The opening goal came at 3:33 of the first period, courtesy of Brendan Miller, with assists from Jackson Alilovich and Breyon Maroney. Just under three minutes later, Max Greenya doubled the lead at 0:55, setting the tone for a high-octane game. The second period saw Brendan Miller striking again at 18:58, assisted by Grant Hubert, further extending Peoria's lead. However, St. Louis responded with a power play goal by Wyatt Thomas at 11:30, assisted by Jack Vahle. Max Greenya added another at 8:45, thanks to Braden Hillebrand and Landen Smith. The Mustangs' Zach Staelgraeve capitalized on a power play at 4:13, assisted by Breyon Maroney and Corbyn Cady. In the third period, Brendan Miller completed his hat trick at 11:08, with assists from Grant Hubert and Breyon Maroney. St. Louis fought back with goals from Jack Vahle at 17:52 and Chase Kozma at 14:27. Peoria's goaltender, Chase Vaughn, made 27 saves on 30 shots, while St. Louis' Gavin Arnold faced a barrage, stopping 35 of 41. 

Fox Cities 1 @ Wausau 7 - The Wausau Cyclones defeated the Fox Cities Forge in a 7-1 victory. Wausau kicked things off early when Brayden Myers found a goal in the first period. The second period was a scoring frenzy as six of Wausau’s goals would be scored then. Brady Schutte scored twice in the second period, while Myers also found his second goal of the night in the second. Harrison Howell of Fox Cities had a short handed goal at 11:03 in the second. That would be their only goal of the night. The third period was scoreless, leading to a 7-1 victory for the Cyclones.

Phoenix 5 @ West Texas 4 (OT) - The Phoenix Inferno remain undefeated after beating the Wranglers 5 - 4 in overtime. Phoenix wasted no time after coming out strong in the first period and putting up three quick goals. It was Otaro Inoue who got things started for Phoenix after he grabbed his 10th goal of the season followed by two goals off the sticks of James Greenwood and Zayne Maragh. The commanding three goal lead was wiped away in the second period after Charlie Skinner, Gavin Brown, and Gunnar Vick found an answer against Phoenix to tie the game at three. Phoenix was determined to go into the final period with the momentum, and it was Kash Benson who gave his team the go ahead goal in the second period, allowing Phoenix to carry the lead into the final period of play. The Wranglers continued applying the pressure and would tie the game at four after Skinner found the answer for the second time in the game and sent this one to overtime. Stas Ershov delivered the decisive blow, scoring the game-winner at 4:30 to secure the 5-4 victory for Phoenix. The Wranglers showed tremendous resilience after falling behind early, but Phoenix's ability to respond under pressure proved the difference.

Tulsa 1 @ Texas 8 - The Texas Brahmas found themselves down early but overcame the early deficit to defeat the Tulsa Oilers 8-1. Tulas struck first in the opening period but Texas quickly responded with two goals to carry the lead into the second period 2-1. Texas would go on to score three goals in the second and third period to complete the victory. Reaska, Conrad, and Hymphreys all stood out on the attack for the Brahmas tonight, and helped Texas outshoot Tulsa 76-16, and push their team to 5-3 on the season. 

North Iowa 6 @ Willmar 2 - The North Iowa Bulls would score four unanswered goals to defeat the WarHawks 6-2. The opening period proved to be a back and forth competition. Wyatt Garvey scored first for Willmar but Grant Harder quickly responded after finding the back of the net to tie the game at two. The teams would trade another pair of goals with Maddux Domagal and Jackson Pinney each scoring for their respective sides to send this one into the second tied at two. Harder grabbed his second of the night for Iowa before Dylan Bieber gave his team a 4-2 advantage after he secured a quick goal. The night would remain quiet for Willmar offensively, yet Iowa would add two more to seal the win off the sticks of Plaga and Heinkel in the third period. Despite being outshot 17-10 in the opening period, the Bulls finished with a 34-31 advantage in shots and held Willmar scoreless over the final two periods.

Rochester 1 @ West Bend 5 - The West Bend Power delivered a strong performance to secure the win over the Rochester Grizzlies 5-1. Braylon Jansen would secure the only goal in the first period putting West Bend on top 1-0. It would be all West Bend as they went into the second, Tristian Hearley would score twice with Shaun Paulson making his presence known by securing a goal of his own. The final period of play belonged to Blake Kohnen as he secured two goals of his own, along with Trenton Impens who would secure the only goal for Rochester for the night to ensure they were not shutout. While Rochester outshot West Bend 25-23, they could not find the answer again a strong West Bend defense and goaltending performance. 

Minnesota 1 @ Granite City 2 (SO) - Cam McCormack comes up big in shootouts to give Granite City the win. The game began with a scoreless first period as neither side was able to find the answer. Connor Posthumus found the back of the net at the four minute mark in the second period for the Lumberjacks. Granite City would take the lead into the third period, when Brooks Skogland would even things up at 17:48, with the remaining period staying perfect. Both teams could not find the answer as they headed into overtime as this one called for shootouts. Just one puck would find its way past the goaltender, and it would be off the stick of Cam McCormack to give Granite City the win and preserve their undefeated record. 

Oklahoma City 0 @ New Mexico 7 - The New Mexico Ice Wolves shutout the Oklahoma City Warriors on Friday with a commanding 7-0 victory. The Ice Wolves would find scoring opportunities in every period. Grant Jakaboski showed up on the scoresheet the most, as he had two goals on the night - one in the first period and one in the third. Caden Meringa earned himself a perfect save percentage and a shutout over the Warriors. 

Yellowstone 4 @ Gillette 1 - The Yellowstone Quake toppled the Gillette Wild with a decisive 4-1 victory. The Quake's offensive avalanche began at 19:11 of the second period with Grady Perry lighting the lamp, assisted by Hunter Hilde. Just a minute and a half later, Anthony Moorehead delivered, marking his first goal at 17:42. Tyler Currah added to the tally at 09:36, with the period wrapping up as Moorehead found the net once more at 02:11, assisted by Carson Joersz. The Wild's lone goal came in the third period when Brady McGinn scored a shorthanded goal at 08:08, assisted by Dylan Crossley.

Butte 1 @ Helena 13 - The Butte Irish fell to the Helena Bighorns on Saturday. Helena capitalized on multiple scoring opportunities in every period, leading to a 13-1 victory. Helena struck first in the first period, while Butte’s Keegan Adams responded shortly after at 11:28 of the first, tallying their only goal of the night. Helena scored four times in the second period, and eight times in the third, dominating the game. They boasted an impressive 98 shots on goal. Landen Bullock Pahua of the Bighorns stopped 31 out of 32 shots on goal, earning a .969 save percentage.

Bozeman 3 @ Great Falls 2 - In a thrilling clash at the Great Falls Ice Plex, the Bozeman Icedogs edged out the Great Falls Americans with a 3-2 victory. The opening goal came at 17:54 of the first period when Oden Fiebelkorn found the net, assisted by Chase Foy, setting the tone for the Icedogs. The Americans responded at 17:12 of the second period as Keifer Lundmark scored, assisted by Colton Bacon, leveling the score 1-1. The Americans took the lead early in the third when Jordan Antar scored on a power play, but the Icedogs were relentless; Kingston Esters tied the score at 8:35 of the third period, with assists from Fiebelkorn and Ryan McCreary. The game-winner came late in the third, at 00:35, as Seth Hanson secured victory with assists from Chase Foy and Avery Martin. Bozeman's Jack Ryan was a fortress in goal, saving 42 shots, while Zachary Bohan stopped 41 for the Americans. 

Sheridan 2 @ Badlands 3 - The Sheridan Hawks fell to the Badlands Sabres in a shootout on Saturday, after a gritty back and forth game. The Hawks took an early lead in the game when Eli Farris and Caden Gleason found goals in the first period. Badlands started their comeback efforts when Dayton Neidert found the back of the net in the second. Rhylan Olson forced the game into overtime when he tied the score at 9:43 of the third. In the end, Rhylan Olson would also score the game winning shootout goal for the Sabres. Both goaltenders had good performances in the net. Wyatt Knott of the Hawks saved 31 out of 33, while Gavin Peery of the Sabres saved 23 out of 25 shots on goal.