Friday Finals: Wild, Bighorns stay perfect with wins
Peoria forward Ethan Chesney had a hat-trick in an 8-0 win on Friday and leads the team in scoring with 21 points in 16 games played.
Great Falls 2 @ Gillette 4: Gillette continues to remain undefeated in 17 games, scoring four times in 66 tries Friday night to outlast Great Falls. Now sitting at the top of the scoring leaderboard across the league, Declan Young found the back of the net twice for the Wild and also dished an assist. Tristan Baker was also involved on offense for Gillette, scoring and assisting once. Great Falls’ goals came in succession as Daniel Crutcher and Tyler Sunagel would keep the game interesting with a goal a piece. Jake Turek completed the victory in net with 28 saves and Zac Hattan made a valiant 62 save effort in the loss.
Helena 6 @ Yellowstone 2: Helena remains undefeated in their 6-2 over Yellowstone and on top of the Frontier division thanks to consistent goaltending and production from their top point producers. Samuel Feamster scored twice for the Bighorns and Adam Harvey recorded a goal and two assists. Defensemen Johnathan Peterson and Taber Gutschick each assisted on two goals, Gutschick extending his league leading assist total with 36 on the season. Yellowstone’s goals both came late into the 2nd period as Keegan Ferguson and Tyler Hanson scored 42 seconds apart, Hanson with his first of the season. Dylan Romanow made 17 saves for Helena, while Cole Eastman kept out 46 shots for the Quake, looking to snap their five game losing streak.
New Ulm 0 @ Peoria 8: Joe Ambroffi secured a quiet shutout win in net, keeping out 13 shots in Peoria’s dominant 8-0 victory over the Steel. Eleven Peoria skaters combined for 23 points, Ethan Chesney leading the goal column with a hat trick. Perry Lagatuz beat the goaltender twice and had two assists. Tristan Trudel and Christopher Kondiles each recorded a goal and three assists for the Mustangs. Nolan Lacosse did all he could, taking the loss with 42 saves.
Danbury 4 @ Norwich 3: Nikita Kovalev led a 3rd period offensive charge, scoring twice for Danbury and assisting on the eventual game winner to give the Jr. Hat Tricks a 4-3 victory. After a scoreless 1st, Norwich’s Sean Loftus scored his first of the season and breached the deadlock 44 seconds into the middle slate. Goals added by Danbury’s Eryk Francher and Norwich’s Troy Harwell kept the Sea Captains ahead 2-1 into the 2nd intermission, however three unanswered tallies by the visitors awarded them the comeback victory. Brennan Churchill was outstanding between the pipes, completing the win with 45 saves. Brendan Pellerito took the loss with 22 saves.
Mid Cities 7 @ Atlanta 5: Facing a 4-1 deficit after one period, the Mid Cities Jr. Stars scored six unanswered goals to lead them past Atlanta 7-5. Ilnur Madiarov found the back of the net three times for Mid Cities in an outstanding hat trick performance. Anfernee Machado recorded a goal and three helpers for the victors as well. Defensemen Austin MacDonald and Kyle Russell each contributed three-point performances. For Atlanta Nick Mumford, Kaleb Miller, and Nick James all buried a goal and recorded multi-point performances. Carson Holliday scored his first of the season for the Capitals. Quillon Bowman and Adler Hoagland both had responsibility in net, combining for 28 stops in the win. Paul Jarvis finished the loss with 33 saves.
El Paso 4 @ Oklahoma City 8: After the contest remained scoreless through the first 20, Robby Rabroker scored his first goal of three to open the offensive floodgates for Oklahoma City just 41 seconds into the 2nd period. The Ice Hawks would score four more times in the period and three more in the 3rd to give them the 8-4 victory. Carl Bengtsson recorded two goals while Vincent Anderson, Aaron Best, and Richard Indermill scored the remainder. Garrett Conner, Noah Henslee, and Jakob Holley all recorded multiple assists. El Paso’s Connor Thompson and Colin Clough scored and assisted twice, keeping the game in reach. Jaxon Penner and Jack Olson also found the net. Netminder Nathan Hadley saved 17 shots in the win and Peyton Brendel made 40 saves in the loss.
Milwaukee 1 @ Rochester 3: 11:13 into the middle period Luke Morrisette scored his 2nd of the season and the decisive goal to give Rochester their 4th consecutive win at home. Kolton Kane started the game’s scoring for Rochester in the opening period. Kade Shea provided an assist on all three goals for the Grizzlies. Milwaukee’s lone goal came from Michael Dalaly, scoring his seventh goal of the season. Lucas Henderson remained sturdy in net for Rochester, recording 24 saves. Spencer Northway was credited with 32 saves in the loss for Milwaukee.
Mason City 8 @ Minnesota 3: The Mason City Toros put on an offensive clinic against Minnesota, recording 61 shots and scoring eight times in the victory. Nathan Gilleshammer breached the deadlock just 55 seconds into the contest, eventually scoring and assisting on other Mason City tallies. Sota Isogai and Shota Kaneko would match Gilleshammer with two goals to their name and three other Toros skaters had multiple point performances. Blake Keller scored twice for the home squad to carry his season total to eight goals. Trent Daly scored the remaining goal for the Loons as Mason City goaltender Owen Carlson would stop the remaining 25 shots in the win. Payton West and Matthew Ryynanen would share the net for Minnesota, combining for 53 saves.
Wausau 2 @ Oregon 3: Ian Hedican helped carry Oregon past the Cyclones Friday night, saving an impressive 36 shots in the 3-2 victory. Oregon’s Abe Laggis scored twice, his second being the game winner 13:41 into the final period. Wausau would take the first lead and their only lead thanks to Hayden Shoemake’s score midway through the 1st. The game was deadlocked at one a piece after two periods, and early 3rd period goals traded by Carter Watters and Wesley Coquet would lead to Laggis’ game decider. Zach Dosan’s 31 saves would not be enough as the Cyclones dropped their second straight.
Bozeman 6 @ Sheridan 1: Forrest Musselman and Bentley Simcox both scored twice in Bozeman’s convincing 6-1 win over the Hawks. Bozeman’s goals were spread evenly across the three periods, Nick Stevens and Nate Brunelle scoring the other goals for the visitors. Stevens also had two helpers in the contest. Makhai Sparks scored the lone Sheridan goal with just 13 seconds remaining in regulation to spoil Collin Soderholm’s shutout. Soderholm finished the contest with 19 saves. Thomas Kuriscak and Patric Loeffler each spent time in the blue paint for Sheridan, combining for 51 saves.
Badlands 1 @ Butte 7: Butte’s Jonah Gilbert was the marquee performer in the game against Badlands, recording a hat trick in their 7-1 win. Cade Wessman, Nick Bradshaw, Caelin Chinery, Caleb Manson, Carson Streich, and Tamer Billman all recorded multiple points for the Cobras. The Sabres’ Adam Kahpeaysewat got his first goal of the season 6:38 into the 3rd to get them on the board. Caleb Cross kept out the other 30 shots from the visitors to secure the victory in net. It proved to be a busy night for Brooks McLean as he would make 54 saves in the losing effort.
Granite City 6 @ St. Louis 2: Granite City outmatched St. Louis in the 2nd period in their 6-2, finding the back of the net five times in a seven goal period. Ben Anderson lead the goal column with two of those Granite City goals in the middle slate, Anderson also contributing an assist on the night. Nick Mountain buried a goal and assisted twice for the Lumberjacks and Kyle Mortenson also dished two helpers. Eight other Granite City skaters got on the points sheet to bring the team points total to 17 in the contest. Brayden Wilson and Kelly Coldwater scored the goals for St. Louis, Coldwater scoring his first of the season. Xander Roberts stopped 20 shots in the victory and Brendan Cobb made a busy 46 saves in the loss.
