Saturday Scores: Lumberjacks close in on West title

Saturday Box Scores

Granite City 6 @ Alexandria 2: Granite City’s four goal 2nd period was enough to take down the Blizzard and improve their win streak to 31. After a scoreless opening frame Cody Dias, Wyatt Halvorson, Brett Reed, and Kyle Mortenson would all score for the visitors to carry a 4-0 lead through 40 minutes. Nick Mountain and Reed’s 2nd goal would answer Ethan Moerke and Zachary DeMarce’s goals for Alexandria to retain the four goal lead through the end of the 3rd period. Xander Roberts made 27 saves for the Lumberjacks while Andrew Tuttle and Bailey Rosch shared Alexandria’s net, Tuttle being credited the loss stopping 17 of 21 shots. 

Peoria 8 @ St. Louis 2: Perry Lagatuz and Jake Ratner each scored two goals in Peoria’s emphatic victory over the Jr. Blues. Hubert Guzy added a goal and dished a helper in the winning effort. Other Mustangs goal scorers were Massimo Polistina, Thomas Kayner, and Ethan Chesney. Polistina also landed three assists in the contest. St. Louis’ goals were provided by Jack Dapron and Duke Boccardi. Joe Ambroffi made 22 saves in Peoria’s crease while Espen Reager stopped 28 of 36 for the Jr. Blues.

Oklahoma City 8 @ Mid Cities 2: Ice Hawks defenseman Richard Indermill scored a hat trick and added an assist in their decisive victory over Mid Cities. Avery Pittman also added a pair of goals in the contest as well as a helper. Other Oklahoma City goals came from Daniel Flodman, Noah Henslee, and Aaron Best. Henslee tallied four assists on top of his goal. Mid Cities offense came from goals by Ilnur Madiarov and defenseman Dakota Sullivan. Blake Sprow captured the victory in net making 19 saves. Aaron Palos saved 34 of 42 in the loss. 

Milwaukee 3 @ Rochester 6: Rochester continued their hot streak taking down the Power in consecutive nights, Luke Morrisette highlighting the win by burying a pair of goals. Milwaukee took an early lead thanks to two 1st period goals coming from Riley Planey and Ben Cremers. In the middle frame Rochester rallied off three goals from Kade Shea and Morrisette’s pair to retake the lead. With just a second remaining in the 2nd period, Milwaukee evened the scores with a goal from Patrick Toomey. In the final 20, all offense came from the Grizzlies. Cole Gibson and Layten Liffrig would light the lamp 11 seconds apart midway through the period and Max Breon tickled the twine late to seal it. Nikola Goich took home the victory stopping 25 of 28 shots. Austin Bartell made 48 saves for the Power. 

TX RoadRunners 3 @ TX Brahmas 4 (OT): Jeremiah Snyder found the back of the net 28 seconds into overtime to lift the Brahmas past the RoadRunners. The RoadRunners held a 2-0 lead through one period as Jack Herron and Nico Corsaro both lit the lamp for the visitors. Blake Rothstein and Snyder scored the only goals in the middle frame, evening the score through 40 minutes. Herron scored his 2nd of the game to retake the RoadRunners lead but Benjamin Mondou would bury the game tying goal and send the contest to overtime. Brandon Shantz captured the victory in the blue paint, keeping out 26 of 29 shots. Hunter Hein was credited with the overtime loss stopping 32 shots. 

Oregon 4 @ Wausau 0: Fred Roufs stopped all 20 shots he faced to earn the shutout in Oregon’s emphatic 4-0 victory over the Cyclones. Sam VanderHoeven broke the deadlock under 5 minutes into the contest with a goal. Dillon Schmidt doubled up the lead a minute into the middle frame and Carter Stobb and VanderHoeven each tickled the twine in the 2nd to extend the lead to four. A scoreless 3rd period meant a Roufs shutout while Zach Dosan took the loss keeping out 36 of 40 shots. 

Minnesota 2 @ Willmar 9: Patrick Wyers and  Elbridge Dekraai each potted a pair of goals to lift the WarHawks past Minnesota. Dekraai, Wyers, Anthony Foster, and Shawn Ohlenschlager van Coller each buried in the 1st to widen the lead early. Dekraai and Will Anderson each found 2nd period goals to extend it. Wyers, Mikhail Kukareka, and Tyler Misialek added onto the offensive dominance in the final frame and sealed the deal. Minnesota’s goals came once in the 1st and 3rd, Blake Keller and Xavier Brooks scoring them respectively. Will Pinney made 19 saves for Willmar while it was a busy night for Matthew Ryynanen, facing 78 shots and stopping 69 of them. 

Louisiana 5 @ Austin 1: The game remained knotted at one a piece after 20 minutes but the Drillers scored a pair in the following two periods to power past the Ice Bats on the road. Louisian’s Josh Hrip and Austin’s Maddox Hoff each found the back of the net in the first. Hrip scored his 2nd of the game late in the middle frame to snag the eventual game winner. Mark Kurrliandchyk, Anderson O’Connor, and Frank Steinway all followed Hrip with goals that would extend Louisiana’s insurmountable lead. Pavel Grishin was nearly perfect in Louisiana’s blue paint, keeping out all but one of 29 shots. Sebastian Skarzenski made 28 saves in the loss. 

Mason City 5 @ New Ulm 0: Mason City snapped a two game losing streak in their convincing shutout victory over the Steel. Rex Staudacher broke the deadlock early in the 1st with his 6th goal of the season. Cullen Hogan extended the lead to two in the middle frame. Cal Levis scored a pair of goals in the 3rd and Nathan Gilleshammer added on another to finish the contest 5-0. Owen Carlson kept out all 27 shots faced to secure the shutout. Nolan Lacosse made 39 saves for the Steel. 

Gillette 3 @ Butte 1: Gillette secured their 11th straight victory Saturday night with a great defensive performance, holding the Cobras to a singular goal. Tristan Baker’s score gave Gillette the lead midway through the opening frame. Caleb Sanborn doubled the lead late in the 2nd with a goal. Butte cut the lead in half thanks to Fabian Vik, scoring his 18th of the season 29 seconds into the 3rd period. Tucker Lien retook the two goal lead four minutes later. Jake Turek saved 29 shots in the Gillette net. Caleb Cross had a valiant effort for Butte, stopping 56 of 59 shots. 

Atlanta 3 @ El Paso 7: Payne Pent and Connor Thompson each buried two goals to carry the Rhinos past Atlanta on home ice. Caden Butler added an El Paso goal and dished two helpers in the winning effort. Riley Hunt-Bahn and Matthew Gross were the other Rhinos goalscorers, each dishing a helper as well. Atlanta’s offense was provided by goals from Kaleb Miller, Jake Huska, and Landon Welch. Miller and Huska also met the assists column with one a piece. Camden Pendleton made 31 stops in El Paso’s net while Atlanta’s Paul Jarvis kept out 44 of 51 shots. 

Great Falls 0 @ Helena 3: Eric Buccholz kept out all 29 shots he faced to lead the Bighorns past Great Falls and take home the shutout victory. Tylor Greene opened the scoring late in the opening period with a powerplay goal. TJ Norris and Tyler Alldredge each buried a goal in the 2nd to widen the gap. A scoreless final frame led the contest to finish by a final score of 3-0 in Helena’s favor. On the other end of the ice, Zac Hattan had a busy game between the pipes, making 60 saves on 63 shots. 

Badlands 3 @ Bozeman 6: The Icedogs snapped their three-game losing skid in their home victory over Badlands, largely due to a four-goal 2nd period. After a scoreless opening frame Luke Busher, Bentley Simcox, Grayden Pond, and Ian Bowman each found the back of the net to carry a 4-0 lead into the final period. Adam Kahpeaysewat potted a pair of goals for the visitors and Zach Vockler tallied on another to keep the score tight. However, Wesley Rees and Ian Bowman each found empty netters to seal the victory. Cameron Milewski made 11 saves in the win while Maxim Currie kept out 27 of 31 in the loss. 

Yellowstone 1 @ Sheridan 3: Parker Norling scored a pair of goals and the eventual game winner to lift the Hawks past Yellowstone. Caden McDonald broke the deadlock midway through the opening frame with a Sheridan powerplay goal. Norling added his first in the 2nd period but Brandon Kididis would help Yellowstone fight back with a goal of his own. In the final frame Parker Norling added his 2nd of the game and 7th of the year to help Sheridan hold out to victory. Thomas Kursicak shined in net for Sheridan, facing 45 shots and allowing only one goal. In the other net, Edvin Falkenstrom was dealt the loss stopping 27 of 30 shots.