Round-Robin comes to a close with plenty of drama

April 1, 2016

It was an exciting final day of round-robin action at the 2016 NA3HL Silver Cup, which played out right to the wire in determining the four Semi-Final teams, who will play on Saturday.

 

In the end, despite the 4-3 loss to Point Mallard on Friday, North Iowa won Pool A because they had the best goal differential (+2) in the games played between the three teams that finished the round-robin with a 2-1 record (North Iowa, Great Falls and Point Mallard). As a result and to take the next step, the two teams remaining after that three-way tie was broken were Great Falls and Point Mallard.  Therefore, because a tie had to be broken with only two teams remaining (Great Falls and Point Mallard) the result of their head-to-head match-up in the round-robin was the determining factor, which Great Falls won 2-1, thus resulting in Great Falls advancing to the Semi-Finals as the #2 seed from Pool A.

 

Metro won Pool B with a 3-0 record. Twin City captured the #2 seed from Pool B because they had the best goal differential between the three teams tied with 1-2 records (Twin City, Texas and St. Louis).

 

Watch Saturday’s Semi-Finals live on FASTHockey

 

Semi-Final #1: North Iowa Bulls vs. Twin City Steel, 2pm

Semi-Final #2: Metro Jets vs. Great Falls Americans, 5pm

 

 

Game 9: Metro Jets 7 vs. St. Louis Jr. Blues 3 - A four-goal first period deficit cost St. Louis, which could not recover and fell to Metro, 7-3. With the win, the Jets won Pool B with a 3-0 record and advanced to Saturday’s Semi-Finals. The Jr. Blues were eliminated with a 1-2 record. Jacob Drinkard had two goals and two assists to lead Metro. Drinkard scored the first of his two goals at 14 seconds into the first period to make the score 1-0 Metro. Graham Day picked up the assist. Drinkard's next tally made the score 2-0 Metro with 8:13 left in the first period. Cam Schwartz assisted on the tally. Metro kept St. Louis' goalie busy throughout the game, and Jacob Weatherly made 44 saves on 51 shots. Metro additionally got points from Schwartz, who also finished with one goal and two assists. Metro also had goals scored by Kevin Shand, who had two and Stefan Boskovic and Devin Kelly, who scored one goal each. Other players who recorded assists for Metro were Chase Sereno and Jason Recchia, who contributed one each and Mathias Tellstrom and Matt Dempsey, who each chipped in two. St. Louis forced Metro goalie Austin Kane to work between the pipes, taking 34 shots. Boxscore

Game 10: Twin City Steel 5 vs. Texas Jr. Brahmas 2 - Joe Costello finished with two points to lead Twin City to a 5-2 victory over Texas. With the win, Twin City captured the #2 spot out of Pool B thanks to winning the tie-breaker over both St. Louis and Texas with a 1-2 record, but the best goal differential. The Steel will advance to Saturday’s Semi-Finals. In a losing effort, Texas was sparked by Bryan Whelan, who grabbed two goals. Whelan scored the first of his two goals at 45 seconds into the third period to make the score 1-1. George Hansen picked up the assist. Whelan's next tally made the score 3-2 Twin City with 13:07 left in the third period. Hansen assisted on the tally. Twin City additionally got points from Paul Stehr, who also racked up one goal and one assist. Others who scored for Twin City included Tyler Nystrom, Alex Egle, and Yannick Zehnder, who each put in one. More assists for Twin City came via Nicholas Campbell, James Hale, Luc Kreuser, and Jay Paul, who contributed one each. Twin City's Gunnar Howg stopped 17 shots out of the 19 that he faced. Brandon Perrone recorded 23 saves for Texas. Boxscore

 

Game 11: Point Mallard Ducks 4 vs. North Iowa Bulls 3 - The game between Point Mallard and North Iowa was tight through all 60 minutes, but in the end Point Mallard emerged with a 4-3 win. Neither team gained more than a one-goal lead, and Jake Champaign's goal in the third period proved to be the difference maker. Champaign had two goals to lead Point Mallard to victory, including the game-winner with just :15 seconds remaining in regulation and a beautiful breakaway move. Despite the win, the Ducks lost out on the tie-breaker with both North Iowa and Great Falls (see above).  Point Mallard also had goals scored by Justin Dunn and Justin Delisle, who scored one goal each. More assists for Point Mallard came via Josh Hamilton, who had two and Ian Precht and Jake Cox, who contributed one each. North Iowa was helped by Connor Bump, who tallied two goals. Bump scored the first of his two goals at 2:13 into the first period to make the score 1-1. Ryan Durant picked up the assist. Bump's next tally made the score 2-1 North Iowa with 3:19 left in the first period. Joe Burgmeier provided the assist. North Iowa also got points from Durant, who also registered one goal and one assist. In addition, North Iowa received assists from Tommi Ahlgren, Eric Piatt, and Austin Jackson, who each chipped in one. Cooper Seedott recorded 37 saves for Point Mallard. Boxscore

Game 12: Great Falls Americans 8 vs. Yellowstone Quake 1 -  Great Falls had a three-goal lead after two periods and cruised the rest of the way en route to an 8-1 win over Yellowstone. Great Falls captured the #2 seed out of Pool A thanks to their 2-1 record and head-to-head win over Point Mallard (see above).  Great Falls was led by Tyler Garcia, who finished with one goal and one assist. Garcia scored on the power play 19:40 into the first period to make the score 2-1 Great Falls. A slashing penalty on Mason Stewart had put Great Falls on the power play. Wade Wylie assisted on the tally. Great Falls additionally got points from Josh Larson, who also tallied one goal and one assist and Wylie, who also racked up three goals and two assists to lead the team in points. Stevan Goran also scored for Great Falls. More assists for Great Falls came via Tanner Congdon, who had one and Tegan Harrington, who had two. Yellowstone was led by Jake Dickison, who scored the team's only goal. Dickison scored 12:20 into the first period to make the score 1-0 Yellowstone. Hunter Ruschmeyer picked up the assist. Lauren Massie made 20 saves for Great Falls on 21 shots. Boxscore