Saturday Scores: Brahmas claim South title with another win
Brandon Avezov had five points in a 5-3 win on Saturday to help the Titans clinch a playoff spot in the East Division.
El Paso 2 @ TX Brahmas 7 – Blake Rothstein had a hat-trick and an assist as the Brahmas won the South Division’s regular season title thanks to a 7-2 win over the Rhinos. The Brahms got a 1st period goal from Padraig McEnery, two goals in the 2nd period from Rothstein, and goals in the 3rd period from Ian Erdman, Matej Palfy, Jack Cooper and the third from Rothstein. El Paso had goals from Ian Carpenter and Zach Carson. Brahmas goalie Dolan Gilbert made 38 saves in the win, while Ryan Nocerino made 27 saves in the loss.
Titans 5 @ Sharks 3 – Brandon Avezov had a hat-trick and two assists as the Titans clinched a playoff spot in the East thanks to a 5-3 win over the Sharks. After an opening goal from Sam Brickley for the Sharks, the Titans rattled off four straight goals in the 2nd period, including two from Avezov and two from Eyan Gonzalvez-Helm. Avezov added his hat-trick in the 3rd period. Zan Mojzer and Matthew Anastasio also scored for the Sharks in the losing effort. Grant Goodson picked up the win in goal, while Sebastian Couturier took the loss.
Great Falls 5 @ Helena 2 – Trever Mellen made 50 saves to lead the Americans to a 5-2 win, as they clinched a spot in the Fraser Cup Playoffs. The Bighorns led 2-1 early in the 2nd period thanks to goals from Andrew Deskin and Isaac Ellingson, while Lucas Gudz scored for Great Falls. The Americans then rattled off four straight goals to complete the win, including another goal from Gudz and others from Alex Jackson, Thomas Gazich, and Jake Hayes. Anthony Adleman was saddled with the loss, making 25 saves.
Missoula 4 @ Sheridan 11 – The Hawks rolled to their 34th straight win and closed in on the NA3HL regular season title with an 11-4 win and sweep of the Jr. Bruins. Nick Wieben had a hat-trick and an assist in the win. Sheridan scored six goals in the 1st period, including the first from Wieben and others from Derek Humphrey, two from Teejay Torgrimson, Jacob Cummings, and Stepan Ruta. Justin Schwartzmiller and Blake Billings added 2nd period goals and Wieben added two more in the 3rd period along with a goal from Logan Syrup. Missoula got two goals from Kieran Christianson and others from Sam Skillestad and Shane Dotto. Christian Wong-Ramos made 31 saves in the win, while Sam Miland made 51 saves in the loss.
Yellowstone 3 @ Bozeman 1 – Matt Schoer made 40 saves to lead the Quake to a 3-1 road win in Bozeman. Keegan Ferguson started the scoring in the 2nd period with a power play goal. Cole Whitman and Cade Rosansky added goals in the 3rd period for Yellowstone. Jack Enders had the lone goal for the Icedogs in the loss. Brandon Pellerito took the loss in goal, making 28 saves.
North Iowa 4 @ New Ulm 0 – Max Gutjahr stopped all 23 shots that came his way for his first shutout in a North Iowa uniform as the Bulls blanked the Steel, 4-0. North Iowa took a 2-0 lead in the 1st period with goals from Caden Smith and Jase Sofo. Garrett Freeman added a goal in the 2nd period to make it 3-0 and Sota Isogai scored in the 3rd period to make it a 4-0 final. Steel goalie Griffin Foster made 5 saves in the loss and Zach Foster made 42 saves in the loss.
Willmar 1 @ Granite City 5 – The Lumberjacks continued their hot play thanks to a 5-1 home win over the WarHawks. Bailey Huber made 30 saves in the win and five different players scored for Granite City. The Lumberjacks led 1-0 in the 1st period thanks to a goal from Braeden Bartoo. Willmar tied the game late in the 2nd period with a goal from Elbridge DeKraai. Granite City took the lead for good late in the period as Nicholas Richert scored the game-winner. The Lumberjacks then put the game away in the 3rd period as Brett Reed, Matthew Metsa, and Hanson O’Leary all scored. Lukas Haugen made 26 saves in the loss.
Milwaukee 1 @ Rochester 7 – Matthew DeRosa continued his hot weekend with a hat-trick and an assist in a 7-1 win on Saturday as the Grizzlies completed a sweep. Rochester scored five times in the 1st period, which included two goals from DeRosa and others from Dylan Schneider, Joey Fodstad, and Alex Villa. Villa and DeRosa would add goals in the 3rd period to complete the Grizzlies scoring. Mason Proskin had the lone goal in the Power loss. Shane Soderwall made 22 saves in the win, while Cole Shane made 24 saves in the loss.
Oregon 1 @ Wausau 2 – RiverWolves goalie Caleb Sauer made 23 saves to lead Wausau to a 2-1 win over the Tradesmen. After a scoreless 1st period, Wausau went ahead 1-0 in the 2nd period thanks to a goal from Trey Bociek. In the 3rd period, the RiverWolves got the eventual game-winner from Pavel Bakhtin. Sam VanderHoeven had the lone goal for Oregon in the loss. Tradesmen goalie Cole Garver made 29 saves in the loss.
Oklahoma City 8 @ Mid Cities 2 – Artem Korolev had five points as the Blazers beat the Stars, 8-2. It was all Blazers in the 1st period as they opened up a 3-0 lead with goals from Tynan Peacock, Gabe Shipper, and Petr Philippov. The Blazers added three more goals in the 2nd period thanks to another goal from Shipper and others from Samuel Miller and Tristan Rand. Korolev and Noah Henslee would add 3rd period goals to complete the scoring. Colton Sebastian and Michael Fatta had the goals for Mid Cities. Brandon Shantz made 11 saves in the win, while Nahuel Veyan made 65 saves in the loss.
St. Louis 2 @ Peoria 3 (OT) – Ethan Chesney scored on a breakaway in overtime to lead the Mustangs to a 3-2 win over the Jr. Blues. After a scoreless 1st period, St. Louis took a 1-0 lead thanks to a goal from Tommy Ramer. The Mustangs then made it 2-1 with back-to-back goals from Jack Craycroft and Tony Campise. The Jr. Blues tied the game in the 3rd period with a goal from Jared Bratton. Andrew Doran made 16 saves in the win, while Owen Carlson made 28 saves in the loss.
