PowerHawks, Sharks complete winning weekends on Sunday
September 10, 2018
Long Beach Sharks 5 @ Maine Wild 2 - Maine mounted a brief comeback in the final 25 minutes of play, but the early five-goal cushion Long Beach built up stood strong as the Sharks skated to a 5-2 victory over the Wild. Eric Immel starred for the Sharks, notching a goal and two assists on the night, while netminder Darren Nathan turned aside 50 of 52 shots against to own his first win of the young season. Immel started the scoring late in the opening frame to send Long Beach to the break with a 1-0 advantage. Avery Matthews then doubled the lead just over three minutes into the middle stanza before three Sharks strikes in 2:38 from Matthew Victurine, Ryan Gridley and Quinn Sandor made it 5-0. Kyle Weeks got the Wild on the board before the second intermission and Luke Church made things interesting with a second Maine goal in the third period, but Long Beach held them off through the final 20.
Cape Cod Islanders 5 @ Niagara Falls Powerhawks 6 (OT) - Just hours after dropping Cape Cod 5-2 in the opening half of this weekend's back-to-back between the sides, the Niagara Falls Powerhawks stole another win from the Islanders, this time by a 6-5 margin in overtime. Third-period goals just 18 seconds apart from Dominic Cappella and Brandon Schweikert helped the Powerhawks complete their comeback and force overtime, where another Schweikert tally won the contest outright. Owen Green and Matthew Schemelia kicked things off well for Niagara Falls, setting the Powerhawks up with a 2-0 advantage after the first 20 minutes. But second-period goals from Cape Cod's Nick Ferrucci and Logan Rachow alongside a pair by Caleb Williams dwarfed a single strike by Miguel Mercado, pushing the 'Hawks to a 4-3 deficit heading into the final frame. Tanner Little nabbed an early goal to double the Islanders' lead before Cappella and Schweikert found twine to force extra time. Niagara Falls netminders Jonathan Sebastiano and Josh Mitchell combined for 22 saves on 27 shots in the win.
