Saturday Scores: Blizzard hand Lumberjacks first regulation loss

Saturday Box Scores

Granite City 1 @ Alexandria 4: The Alexandria Blizzard treated the fans at their home rink to a strong 4-1 victory over the division leading Granite City Lumberjacks. Alexandria held a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes thanks to goals from Joe Gronholz and Ethan Moerke. Jacob McPartland got the visitors within a goal early in the middle period with his 7th score of the year. Ashton Collings silenced the comeback bid, scoring two consecutive goals for the Blizzard. Collings would finish the night having a point on all four goals. Kyle Abrahamson was a great backstop for Alexandria, making 32 saves on 33 shots. Ryan Lehet kept out 28 of 32 for the Lumberjacks. 

Yellowstone 1 @ Bozeman 4: The Bozeman Icedogs picked up their second win of the weekend over the Yellowstone Quake in a 4-1 final. Bozeman struck first adding a goal from Chris Porciuncula (3:29) for a 1-0 score. The Quake evened up the game 1-1 with Wyatt O’Donoghue. Soon after, Duncan Needham (12:51) took back the lead for the Icedgos, 2-1. In the second it was all Bozeman as Owen House (2:09) and Bodie Shepardson (9:40) both scored for a 4-1 final score. Cam Millewski was strong in net stopping 36 of 37 shots. 

Austin 1 @ New Mexico 5: The Ice Wolves completed a three-game series sweep over the Austin Ice Bats after defeating them 5-1. New Mexico’s offense was buzzing early in the game as Jaden Stiller, Jo Kawagishi, Bode Ensign, and Erik Larsen all lit the lamp in the 3rd period. That 4-0 lead would stay until Jaylen Mendez broke the offensive stalemate for Austin with a powerplay goal. Evan Axell sent the fans home happy with another Ice Wolves goal late in the final frame. Krzysztof Jakubowski made a quiet 9 stops in the win while Collin Lemanski kept out 49 for the Ice Bats. 

Danbury 2 @ Long Beach 3 (OT): Dylan Harbour deposited his 12th goal of the season with just 17 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Sharks a 3-2 victory in their matchup against the Jr. Hat Tricks. Denis Radchenko got Danbury on the board first with a score late in the opening 20 minutes. Harbour and Noah Hope flipped the script with second period goals for Long Beach. Oleg Egorov got the visitors back in it with a late goal in the final frame. Ryo Murakami picked up the win in net, making 31 saves. Ryan Maguire kept out 50 of 53 shots in the overtime loss. 

St. Louis 1 @ Peoria 7: Tristan Trudel had a dominant outing in a Mustangs sweater, scoring four goals in their 7-1 victory over St. Louis. Jaycob Bland and Robin Kuusik provided Peoria a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes with goals. In the middle frame Trudel scored his first pair, both coming on the powerplay. Christopher Kondiles added another for the Mustangs while Anthony Bagnole got St. Louis on the board and broke the shutout. Trudel scored his 3rd and 4th in the final frame to put the finishing touches on the win. Joseph Ambroffi made 28 saves in the win while Jordan Behnen kept out 34 shots for the Jr. Blues. 

Milwaukee 1 @ Rochester 2: Owen Van Tassel put home the game decider with a 1:04 remaining in regulation to lift his Grizzlies past the Milwaukee Power 2-1. Bryce Garber gave the visitors the 1st lead with his 9th goal of the season late in the opening frame. Austin Meers evened the slate late in the 2nd period with a goal. Tate Cothern picked up the win in the crease while Spencer Northway took the loss as Milwaukee’s netminder. 

Wausau 1 @ Oregon 5: The Tradesmen continued their winning ways Saturday night, nearly doubling the Cyclones shot count and taking them down 5-1. Christian Tavare scored the only goal in the opening frame to give Oregon a lead through one period. Jordan Larkee, Carter Watters, and Easton Simpson extended the lead in the 2nd period with scores. Will Falconer added another goal in the 3rd to further widen the gap. Matthew Witt broke up the shutout bid late in the 3rd period to get the Cyclones on the board. Walker Berner stopped the other 32 shots Wausau sent his way in the win. Ryan Burke kept out 57 shots in the loss. 

Mason City 5 @ Minnesota 2: The Toros picked up a big win on the road Saturday night, taking down Minnesota 5-2. Jacob Miller and Ethan Peterson both tickled twine in the opening frame for Mason City. Jacob Behnke got the Loons on the board in the 1st as well. Cal Levis III and Luke Robertson both scored within three minutes into the 2nd period to jump out to a 4-1 lead. Willem Kerr scored late for Minnesota to draw within a pair of goals. In the 3rd, Cullen Hogan put home the dagger with his 9th of the season to seal the win. Connor Graham kept out 40 shots in the victory. Keaton French made 28 stops for Minnesota.

Louisiana 2 @ TX RoadRunners 5: The Texas RoadRunners bounced back after a loss the night before to defeat the Louisiana Drillers in a 5-2 game. The game did not see its first goal until Jack Klunk (13:07) scored for the RoadRunners in the second period. The Drillers evened the game at 1-1 with Colton Sebastian (17:17) to end the second. In the third, Eitan Geralnik (1:58) took back the lead for the RoadRunners netting his 10th of the year. Jack Lambert (3:20) evened the game once again for the Drillers. Soon after, the RoadRunners took full control of the game adding 3 unanswered goals as TJ Lipsky (9:01/19:20) and Jack Klunk (11:25) scored to end the game. Goaltender Hunter Hein picked up the win stopping 26 of 28 shots. 

Atlanta 3 @ El Paso 2 (SO): The Atlanta Capitals picked up their second win of the weekend over the El Paso Rhinos in a shootout, 3-2. Atlanta got on the board with Anthony O’Neal (11:05) to take the lead, 1-0. In the second period, the Rhinos evened the game 1-1 with Bryan Wood (12:26). In the third period, Joe McLaughlin (4:06) took back the lead for the Capitals. Soon after, Bryan Wood (6:08) struck again to even the game at 2-2. After a scoreless OT frame, the game went to a 12 round shootout where Jazek Terrell scored to take the win for the Capitals, 3-2. Aleks Sumoski stood tall between the pipes stopping 32 shots in the win. 

Willmar 5 @ New Ulm 2: The Willmar WarHawks completed a weekend sweep over the New Ulm Steel with a 5-2 victory. The game stayed tied 1-1 with Micheal Sweetland (10:36) scoring an unassisted WarHawks goal and Gus Cantwell (12:41) scoring to end the opening frame. In the second, the game stayed tied once again but this time at 2-2 with Denys Honcharenko (3:14) for the WarHawks and Hunter Nelson (10:11) for New Ulm. In the third period it was all WarHawks as they scored 3 unanswered goals with Luke McCarthy (3:23), Christian Kankelfritiz (11:23), and Sam Holm (16:11) for a 5-2 win. Zack Ortolano stopped 31 shots in the victory. 

Butte 2 @ Helena 5: The Helena Bighorns took a 5-2 win over the Butte Cobras to split wins in the weekend series. Helena opened up the first period adding 3 goals as Tyler Alldredge (4:43), and Harlan Wojtusik (14:42/18:17) scored twice. In the second frame, Braden Cunningham (18:41) added to the Helena lead, 4-0. Butte opened up the third period scoring back-to-back goals with Nick Bradshaw (3:23) and Patrick Crooks (7:47). With seconds left in the period, Thomas Hollon (19:54) added another goal for the Bighorns to take a 5-2 final. Marek Andres took the win in net for the Bighorns stopping 36 shots.

Gillette 4 @ Great Falls 1: The Gillette Wild bounced back from a loss on Friday night to take a 4-1 win over the Great Falls Americans. Sky Solig (9:12) scored the lone goal in the first period to get Gillette ahead 1-0. In the second Alec Waller (13:37) added to the Wild lead, 2-0. In the third period, the Americans scored with Tyler Sunagel (9:05) making the game 2-1. The Wild then added back-to-back goals with Saizha Norwegian (11:57) and Jace Johnson (17:40) for a 4-1 final. Gillette goaltender Jake Turek stopped 29 shots in the win. 

Badlands 1 @ Sheridan 6: The Sheridan Hawks swept the Badlands Sabers in the weekend series with a 6-1 final score after adding two goals in each period. In the opening frame Reid Hojan (3:07) and Ryan McKenna both scored for a 2-0 Sheridan lead. In the second, Dalton Thomas (13:55) scored to add to the Hawks lead, 3-0. Izaiah Phillips (14:18) netted a goal for the Sabres to make the score 3-1. Ryan McKenna (18:58) scored his second of the game to get the Hawks ahead, 4-1. In the third Sheridan added two more goals with Nathan Awoyemi (1:08) and Makhai Sparks (4:32) to end the game with a win, 6-1. Thomas Mellenthin took the win in net for the Hawks stopping 32 shots.