Drillers Win Instant Classic in Game 1
The Generals took Game 1 of the East Division Finals over Norwich
Louisiana 5 @ New Mexico 4 (OT) (Louisiana leads series 1-0): Jake Bergstrom scored in overtime as the Louisiana Drillers took an instant classic from the New Mexico Ice Wolves 5-4. Louisiana jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening period as Dominic Toews and Colton Sebastian lit the lamp. Stanley Hubbard and Alex Boyd traded goals in the second to give the Drillers a 3-1 lead heading into the final period. In the third, the New Mexico offense exploded as Makoto Sudoh and Jake Wenner scored to tie the game. Then in the final minutes, Braeden Whitesell scored to put New Mexico up for the first time all night with just 1:47 remaining in regulation. The Drillers would not go down without a fight as Casper Rys Sakrisvold scored with just 12 seconds left to force an extra period. That set the stage for Jake Bergstrom’s game winner as he capitalized on a turnover in the offensive zone and beat Owen Zenone with the game winner. Sebastian Thome stopped 38 shots to earn the win between the pipes. Zenone made 20 saves in the loss for the Ice Wolves.
Norwich 2 @ Northeast 5 (Northeast leads series 1-0): Matthew Nuzzolilo scored twice as the Northeast Generals took Game 1 of the East Division Finals over the Norwich Sea Captains 5-2. Sean Gorman, Levente Pakozdi and Tommy Lubin all found the back of the net for the Generals in the victory. Glen Farmer and Brian Essing netted goals for Norwich. Daniel Antal was the winner in goal as he made 25 saves. Peter Alfano took the loss on the other end as he stopped 30 of 35 shots.
