Friday Finals: Jr. Stars edge out rival Imperials in a shootout
Dallas Jr. Stars 4 @ Sugar Land Imperials 3 (SO): Tommy Stock tallied a power play and shorthanded goal as he led the Dallas Jr. Stars to a 4-3 shootout win over the Sugar Land Imperials. The Imperials were playing in their home opener tonight and got the crowd on their feet as Avik Bordak struck in the first period to give the Imperials the early 1-0 lead. Stock struck shorthanded not long after the Imperials goal off an assist from Ben Owen, last weeks South Division Player of the Week. The Jr. Stars and Imperials traded off goals in the second and third period, which led to a shootout. In the shootout the Jr. Stars made quick work getting goals from Cam Choate, Maxim Ledyankin and Jake Gevaart. Chris Mallon stopped 28 shots and did not allow an Imperials shooter to score during the shootout. Boxscore
Minnesota Flying Aces 1 @ Alexandria Blizzard 6: Aaron Ryback and Bryce Mitzel each scored a pair of goals and Evan Bisek stopped 22 shots as the Alexandria Blizzard defeated the Minnesota Flying Aces 6-1. The Blizzard were lethal on the man advantage scoring three power play goals including one from both Ryback and Mitzel. AJ Gullickson scored the Flying Aces lone goal on a pass from Jake Mullendore, who added on to his team leading point total. This was the third straight win for the Blizzard after their sweep of Wisconsin last weekend. Boxscore
Granite City Lumberjacks 5 @ Breezy Point North Stars 2: Aidan Verbeke added to his commanding lead on the NA3HL goal scoring lead tallying two more in the Granite City 5-2 victory over the Breezy Point North Stars. Verbeke, who now has 16 goals in 12 games, scored back-to-back goals in the second period in response to a Breezy Point tally scored by Jason Pischke to take the 1-0 lead. The Lumberjacks never lost the lead as goaltender Austin Wilson had an easy night only seeing 15 North Stars shots. Granite City brings their record on the season to 10-2-0 and has not lost a game after losing both games in the opening weekend to division rival North Iowa Bulls. Boxscore
North Iowa Bulls 9 @ Twin City Steel 4: The North Iowa Bulls continue their win streak to open the season bringing the win total to 7 as they beat the Twin City Steel 9-4. The high scoring line of Richie Marenis, Timothy Santopoalo and Matt Kroska struck again with Marenis and Santopoalo each scoring four points while Kroska added three assists. Calvin Miska, a 2013 NA3HL Top Prospect selection, scored a goal and added an assist for the Steel during the game. North Iowa goaltender Jared Schletty stopped 25 shots earning his fifth win on the season. Boxscore
Battle Creek Jr. Revolution 3 @ Chicago Jr. Bulldogs 4: Newly acquired goaltender Nathan Mortland stopped 62 shots but it wasn’t enough as the Chicago Jr. Bulldogs led by the two goal night of Ryan Maksimovic beat the visiting Battle Creek Revolution 4-3. The Jr. Bulldogs used 3 goals in the second period to overcome the visiting Revolution, who matched their season high for goals scored in a game. Maksimovic, who leads Chicago with 8 goals, struck again in the third giving the Jr. Bulldogs all the offense they would need. Battle Creek took advantage of their opportunities scoring twice on the power play with goals from Michael Schmitt and Eric Stewart. Chicago goalie Joey Garapolo was strong in the crease turning away 48 shots to pick up the W. Boxscore
