Friday Finals: Shutout keeps RoadRunners in drivers seat

Friday Box Scores

TX Roadrunners 2 @ TX Brahmas 0: The Texas Roadrunners took down the Texas Brahmas by a score of 2-0. It was a quiet game through 40 minutes as neither team was able to find the back of the net. Then at 13:21 the Roadrunners were able to get on the board with Matvey Ivanov getting the goal. The Roadrunners were able to add to their lead as Eitan Geralnik scored at 15:28 of the third period which would result in a 2-0 victory for the Roadrunners. Hunter Hein was perfect, stopping all 28 shots in recording his first shutout of the season, while Brendan Forden stopped 28 of 30 shots in the loss for the Brahmas. 

Alexandria 5 @ Mason City 2 - The Alexandria Blizzard picked up their fourth win of the season in game one of a weekend series against the Mason City Toros, 5-2. The Blizzard got ahead 2-0 in the first period with Ryan Hadland (18:44) and Cole Klingbeil (18:53) finding the back of the net. In the second period, Gavin Carlson (8:14) added to the Alexandria lead, 3-0. Mason City got on the board nearing the end of the period with a goal from Colin Hedland (18:34). In the final period, Luke Robertson (4:14) added to the Mason City score for a 3-2 score. The Blizzard added two more goals to end the game with Ryan Hadland (9:05) and Cole Klingbeil (14:06) both adding their second goals of the night for a 5-2 final. Kyle Abrahamson stopped 24 shots in between the pipes for the win. 

Rochester 3 @ St. Louis 0: The Rochester Grizzlies improved their win streak to four games in a shutout victory over the Jr. Blues. After a scoreless opening period, Austin Meers opened up the scoring with his 5th goal of the season on the powerplay 15:07 into the 2nd. Luke Sawicky doubled the lead midway through the 3rd period with a shorthanded goal. Five minutes later, Connor Stoffel buried the dagger to put Rochester up 3-0 and seal the victory. Kaleb Bents stopped all 22 shots that he faced to record the shutout. Jordan Behnen made 37 saves in the loss for St. Louis. 

Butte 4 @ Badlands 3: Trailing by a goal through 40 minutes of play, the Butte Cobras rallied to score two goals in the 3rd and pick up the come from behind victory. Badlands’ Brady Ridnour scored the only goal in the 1st to give them the lead through one. Caelin Chinery evened the scores six minutes into the 2nd only for Ridnour and Dawson Wirth to turn the lead into two for the Sabres. Luke Schleusner lit the lamp late in the period to give the Cobras momentum heading into the 3rd. Patrick Crooks put home the tying goal three minutes into the final frame and less than 2 minutes later, Cade Wessman tickled twine to give Butte their first lead of the contest. Caleb Cross was the victor in between the pipes, stopping 27 of 30 shots faced. Zach Broxterman had a quality outing for the Sabres, keeping out 38 shots in the loss. 

Helena 4 @ Yellowstone 3 (SO): A hard fought battle at Riley Arena saw the visiting Helena Bighorns come out on top with a 4-3 shootout victory. The score was 2-1 in favor of the Bighorns through one, Tyler Bloom and Harlan Wotjusik scoring for Helena and Donovan Knuckles burying for the Quake. Wotjusik found another goal in the 2nd but Nick Cofer and P.J. Comose brought the scores back to level with scores for Yellowstone. After a scoreless 3rd and overtime, Tyler Bloom settled the scores in the 5th round with the lone goal of the shootout. Aidan Wright and Jesse Schindel both stopped some pucks in the game for Helena, Wright being credited with the win. 

Gillette 9 @ Great Falls 4: The Gillette Wild improved their record to 9-1-1 after dominating the Americans 9-4 on the road. In the 1st, Sky Solig and Adam Severson scored for Gillette while Dawson Bunch and Noah Osiowy buried for Great Falls to keep the slate even through one. Solig, Alec Waller, and Ryan Jordan continued the offensive push for the Wild in the 2nd with goals. Isaac Young, Jace Johnson, and Johan Palmqvist added to the lead with goals in the final frame. Great Falls’ remaining two goals were scored by Tyler Sunagel and Russ Rassmussen. Jake Turek made 25 saves in the victory. Jake Regan and Koziol Josh shared time in net for the Americans, combining for 54 saves. 

Sheridan 6 @ Bozeman 3: After a wild 1st period that ended in a 3-3 tie, the Sheridan hawks continued their offense and shut things down in the defensive end to take down the Ice Dogs on the road. Dominik Hauer, Owen House, and Braden Koliha scored the early goals for Bozeman while Jackson LeBrasseur, McCaffrey Billings, and Josh Humphreys kept things level with goals. Wyatt Noble, Makhai Sparks, and Dalton Thomas buried goals in quick succession in the 2nd to pull away from Bozeman. Offense quieted down in the 3rd, leaving a final score of 6-3. Jack Wood picked up the win, completing the night with 31 stops. Cam Milewski and Branigann Stalder both spent time in the crease for Bozeman, combining for 27 saves. 

Louisiana 9 @ Mid Cities 0: The Louisiana Drillers defeated the Mid Cities Jr. Stars by a score of 9-0. The Drillers were led by 3 point scorers in Thomas Mougin and Brody Neish. John Mariarty stopped all 22 shots in which he faced to record his first shutout of the season. 

Granite City 6 @ Minnesota 0: The Granite City Lumberjacks defeated the Minnesota Loons by a score of 6-0. The Lumberjacks were led by Tucker Skime as he recorded 2 goals and 1 assist for a total of 3 points. Ryan Lehet stood tall between the pipes stopping all 23 shots to record his first shutout of the 22-23 campaign, while Keaton French stopped 31 of 36 shots and Matthew Ryynanen turned away 9 of 10 shots in the loss for the Loons. 

Long Beach 1 @ New Jersey 3: The New Jersey Titans defeated the Long Beach Sharks by a score of 3-1. New Jersey got things started in the first period by rallying for two goals with those coming from Ryan Talorico and Kurt Johnson. Then in the 2nd period at 10:17 Long Beach was able to cut the deficit to one with a goal coming from Henry Slager. The Titans were able to get the only goal in the third period to secure a 3-1 victory with that goal coming from Sam levin at 19:12. Daniel Antal was the winning goaltender for the Titans stopping 36 of 37 shots, and Ryo Murakami turned away 30 of 32 shots in the loss for the Sharks. 

El Paso 4 @ Austin 1: The El Paso Rhinos defeated the Austin Ice Bats by a score of 4-1. It was an even game after the first with the Rhinos goal coming from Tristen Elmhurts and for the Ice Bats Maddox Hoff. Then it was all El Paso from there as they scored three unanswered goals to secure the 4-1 victory with goals coming from Landon Albrecht, Kameron Smith, and Payne Pent. Christopher Burns stood tall between the pipes for El Paso stopping 30 of 31 shots to get the win, while Colin Lemanski turned away 41 of 45 shots in the loss for Austin.

Willmar 5 @ New Ulm 3 - The Willmar WarHawks took a 5-3 win over the New Ulm Steel in game one of the weekend series. Willmar took a 2-0 lead in the first frame with Chandler Dennis (3:10) and Nik Johnson (7:12) scoring. In the second period, the Steel evened the game 2-2 early with Jackson Heim (1:03) and Jack Laser (4:06). The WarHawks answered back with three unanswered goals to end the period with a 5-2 lead with Ethan Dennis (5:39), Connor Garcia (7:08) and Braydon Buckingham (19:43) all scoring. In the third period, Landen Schwantes (15:29) netted the final goal for the Steel for a 5-3 final. Payton Mancuso picked up the win in net stopping 34 of the 37 shots he faced. 

Milwaukee 4 @ Wausau 3 (OT) - The Milwaukee Power battled back to force overtime where they took a 4-3 win against the Wasua Cyclones. The game was tied in the first period with Patrick Toomey (2:05) scoring for Milwaukee then Gage Vierzba (15:00) for Wausua, 1-1. In the second, the Cyclones broke the tie with Brennan Valencia (3:00) for a 2-1 score. In the third the Cyclones added to their lead with another goal from Brennan Valencia (3:12), 3-1. The Cyclones answered back to tie the game 3-3 with back-to-back power-play goals from Patrick Toomey (18:04) and Micheal Golosinski (19:10) to force overtime. In the extra frame, Patrick Toomey (1:20) scored his third of the night to get the win, 4-3. 

Peoria 5 @ Oregon 4 (SO) - The Peoria Mustangs took a 5-4 shootout win over the Oregon Tradesmen. In the first period, Massimo Polistina netted two goals for a 2-0 Peoria lead. Late in the second, Will Falconer scored to get the Tradesmen on the board, 2-1. Connor Bruns answered back to add to the Peoria lead, 3-1 to end the second period. In the third, the Tradesmen added three unanswered goals with Nathan Walker, Easton Simpson and Max Rotsaert to take the lead 4-3. With seconds remaining in the game, Perry Lagatuz scored to force overtime. After a scoreless overtime period, the game went to a shootout where Tristian Trudel and James Duenwald scored to get the Mustangs the win, 5-4.