Saturday Scores: Lumberjacks stay hot and close in on West title
Rochester 6 @ Peoria 1 – The Grizzlies cruised to a weekend sweep of the Mustangs thanks to a 6-1 win on Saturday. Ryan Berglund scored twice and Tate Cothern made 22 saves in the win. Peoria scored first with a goal from Ethan Chesney early in the 1st period. After that, it was all Grizzlies. Berglund tied the game later in the 1st period with his first goal. Spencer Klotz, Ben Oakland, and Riley Dueber all scored in the 2nd period, and Marco Sandelgard and Berglund added 3rd period goals. Cam Pendleton made 22 saves in the loss.
Long Beach 5 @ Norwich 4 – The Sharks helped their playoff chances thanks to a 5-4 win in Norwich. Zac Kretzschmer and Jack Fitzpatrick had two goals apiece in the win. Christopher Keller also scored in the win for the Sharks. Norwich got goals from Tony Morran, Andry Guy, Jack Kinahan, and Darrell Smith in the loss. Sharks goalie Ryo Murakami made 38 saves in the win, while Andrew Yocum made 22 saves in the loss.
St. Louis 1 @ Wausau 6 – The Cyclones kept their slim playoff hopes alive as six players scored in a 6-1 win over the Jr. Blues. Evan Drus and Ricky Nelson scored in the 1st period to make it a 2-0 game. Adam Wiggins, Gabe Randel, and Zac Maupin added goals in the 2nd period, and Blake Neill scored in the 3rd period. Ryan Callahan had the lone goal for the Jr. Blues in the loss. Ryan Burke made 22 saves in the win.
Mason City 4 @ New Ulm 1 – In their lone game of the weekend, the Toros got 47 saves from Will Kunka in a 4-1 win in New Ulm. Cal Levis III opened the scoring in the 2nd period and Hayden Siegel also added a power play goal to make the scored 2-0 for the Toros at the end of two periods. In the 3rd period, Dominic Thomas scored and Levis added his second of the game. Harrison Albrecht would late add the lone Steel goal of the game. Steel goalie Nolan Lacosse made 52 saves in the loss.
Granite City 5 @ Alexandria 3 – The Lumberjacks moved closer to the West Division title and won their 8th straight game as they picked up a 5-3 road win in Alexandria on Saturday. Five different players scored for the Jacks, which included 1st period goals from Ashton Ericksen and Nolan Widman, a 2nd period goal from Lyncoln Bielenberg-Howarth and 3rd period goals from Zak Kennett and Luke Delzer. Jack Whitmore scored two goals and Cole Klingbeil had a goal in the Blizzard loss. Ryan Lehet made 26 saves in the win, while Alex Lamont made 22 saves in the loss.
Milwaukee 3 @ Oregon 5 – The Tradesmen got a hat-trick from Dayne Deanovich as they kept their Central title hopes alive with a 5-3 win over the Power. The game was tied at 3-3 after two periods with Max Rotsaert, Max Cohen, and Deanovich scoring for Oregon. Luke Nemeth had two goals and Michael Dalaly scored for the Power. Deanovich would then add two more goals in the 3rd period to complete the hat-trick and win. Walker Berner made 27 saves in the win and Adam Prokop made 59 saves in the loss.
Willmar 9 @ Minnesota 6 – Eight different players scored for the WarHawks and Luke McCarthy had two goals as Willmar beat Minnesota, 9-6 on Saturday. After the Loons opened up a 2-0 lead in the 1st period with goals from Sebastian Schuehle and Gavyn Lund, the WarHawks stormed back with five goals in the 2nd period, including two from McCarthy and others from Denys Honcharenko, Blaise Schutt, and Jake Hosszu. In the 3rd period, the WarHawks added four more goals from Hudson Zinda, Gunnar Sibley, Michael Sweetland, and Sam Holm. Other Loons goals came from Jacob Behnke, Jack Hanson, and two from George Moore.
Great Falls 0 @ Helena 5 – The Bighorns continued their winning ways as Jesse Schindel stopped all 32 shots that came his way for his third shutout of the season as Helena won their 12th straight game thanks to a 5-0 win over Great Falls. Five different players scored for Helena including Padraic Whited, Garrett Bogan, TJ Norris, Harlan Wojtusik, and Tyler Bloom.
Sheridan 5 @ Badlands 0 – Patric Loeffler stopped all 25 shots that came his way for his first shutout of season as the Hawks blanked the Sabres, 5-0 on Saturday, which completed a weekend sweep. Five different players scored in the Hawks win, including Dalton Thomas, Josh Humphreys, Teejay Torgrimson, Parker Norling, and Tie Schumacher.
Yellowstone 2 @ Bozeman 8 – Kole Morris and Braden Koliha each scored twice as the Icedogs salvaged a weekend split against the Quake thanks to an 8-2 win. Bozeman jumped out to a 4-0 lead with goals from Spencer Wilkinson, Owen House, Koliha, and Morris. The Quake pulled to within 4-2 on goals from PJ Comose and Teagan Scheurer, but the Icedogs would pull away with four answered goals, included the second of the game from Koliha and Morris and others from Dominik Hauer and Sam Ingram. Sean Smer made 35 saves in the win.
Gillette 4 @ Butte 2 – The Wild came back from a 2-1 deficit with the final three goals of the game as they beat the Cobras, 4-2. Butte led 2-1 midway through the game with goals from Cade Wessman and Luke Schleusner, while Cade Voge scored for the Wild. Gillette stormed back late in the 2nd period and into the 3rd period with three straight goals from Isaac Young, Josef Lalli, and Anthony Foster to secure the 4-2 win. Cole Wheaton made 50 saves in the win, while Nikolai Wallery made 59 saves in the loss.
Atlanta 4 @ Austin 1 – No game report available