Saturday Scores: Woodsmen Stay Hot, Win Sixth Straight
by Sydney Cordova, Josh Frojelin & Michael Seitz
The Bighorns kept their win streak alive with a sweep of Gillette this weekend
El Paso 0 @ Louisiana 5 - Louisiana got back in the win collum with a shutout victory at home over El Paso. The Drillers opened the scoring with a pair of goals 58 seconds apart from each other in the first period. Carter Tymchak scored at 5:33 before Carson Unger found the back of the net at 6:51. Goaltenders Dylan Newton and Cole Schmidt then held their opponents scoreless in the middle frame before Louisiana pulled away in the third. Jake Bergstrom pushed the score to 3-0 Drillers scoring on the power play early in the final 20 minutes. Johnathon Berndt then added a power play tally of his own later in the period. Brendan Johnson’s team-leading 11th goal of the season capped the scoring, giving Louisiana the 5-0 victory. Newton stopped 38 of 43 shots for the Rhinos while Schmidt pitched the 18-save shutout. Louisiana moves to 10-0-1-1 and remains in second place with the win while El Paso continues to sit seventh in the South Division.
West Bend 6 @ Peoria 3 - West Bend powered passed Peoria 6-3 for the weekend sweep of the Mustangs. Despite a combined 24 first-period shots, goaltenders Ben Glaesman and Charlie Maquet kept the game scoreless for more than the first 20 minutes. West Bend finally broke the ice early in the second period with Michael Maillette scoring his first goal of the season. The Power’s leading goal scorer then made his presence known under two minutes later. Jackson Hoem’s 11th of the year made it 2-0 West Bend. Peoria continued to hang around, though, thanks to Jordan Mini’s fourth goal of the season. The Power led 2-1 after 40 minutes. The third period proved to be an eventful one with the teams trading a pair of goals each. Teagan Scheurer made it 3-1 West Bend just over two minutes into the final frame before Colten Cox scored his team-leading 10th of the year for the Mustangs. Hoem then potted his second goal of the game, and 12th of the season, before Ian Ingles pulled Peoria back within one. West Bend proved to be too much in the end as William McDonald gave his side an insurance marker before Maillette added an empty net goal for his second of the night. Gaesman stopped 25 of 28 shots in the victory while Maquet made 39 saves in the losing effort. The Power collected their 19th point of the year in the win and will remain third in the Central Division. The loss drops the Mustangs to 1-14-0-0 as they sit last in the Central.
New Hampshire 3 @ Maine 6 - Maine completed a massive weekend sweep of New Hampshire with a 6-3 victory on home ice. The Jr. Mountain Kings struck first in the game. It took Tommy Titone only 2:16 to score his seventh of the year. Maine would not trail for long. Trenton Impens tied the game just over four minutes later. The Nordiques then took the lead at 13:13 in the first thanks to Hayden Brown’s first of the year. Genrikh Rozhkov’s tally late in the period made it 3-1 Maine after 20 minutes. New Hampshire cut their deficit back to one in the middle frame thanks to Braeden Gagnon’s fifth goal. The story of the first then repeated itself with Maine finding three consecutive goals. Impens once again started the scoring with his second of the night before Brody Emond extended his team lead in goals on the power play. Kael Bilick then pushed the score to 6-2 Nordiques less than two minutes into the third period. Preston Jones finished the game’s scoring with his first of the season for the Mountain Kings. Thomas Baker stopped 46 of 49 shots for Maine in the win while Tristan Harris and Evan Johnston both allowed three goals for New Hampshire. Harris made 14 saves while Johnston stopped 13 shots. New Hampshire stands firm at 18 points and in third place in the East Division. Maine improves to 14 points on the season and sit fifth in the East.
Long Beach 0 @ Norwich 3 - Norwich captured a shutout victory over last place Long Beach last night. Both goaltenders played well in this game as Turner England stopped 40 of 42 shots for the Sharks while Presley Patrin stopped all 16 pucks thrown his way for the Sea Captains. Norwich’s Ryan Janik opened the scoring midway through the second period with his first of the season. Logan Niesen put the Sea Captains up a pair 13:06 into the final frame with his fifth goal of the year. Jake Soboleski added an empty net goal to push the game’s final to 3-0. Norwich improved to 11-3-1-0 and earned their 23rd point of 2024-25. The Sea Captains remain one point behind Binghamton for first place in the East Division. Long Beach stays at nine points and in the basement of the East.
New Mexico 3 @ Austin 2 (OT) - New Mexico completed the weekend sweep on the road in Austin with a 3-2 overtime victory. However, it was the Ice Bats that opened the scoring with a pair of power play goals. Thomas Forgrave’s fifth of the year 15:29 into the opening period gave Austin the lead. Arys Perardi then struck in the period’s final minute to put the Ice Bats up a pair. It was Perardi’s 10th goal of the season to tie him for the team lead. The second period had the opposite result of the first. Brant Tiedeman pulled New Mexico back within a goal at 8:28 before Braeden Whitesell’s power play tally tied the game. The teams entered the second intermission knotted at two apiece. Goaltenders Ryan Wallin and Bryson Frazee kept the score even in the final 20 minutes to force overtime. The Ice Wolves completed the comeback in the extra frame with Whitesell potting his second of the night. Wallin stopped 23 of 25 shots in the win for New Mexico while Frazee made 35 saves in the loss. Austin collected their 15th point in the win to improve to 7-6-1-0. The overtime loss gave New Mexico’s 15 points push their record to 7-2-1-0. The teams are tied for fourth place in the South Division with New Mexico having played four less games than Austin.
Wausau 4 @ Rochester 5 (OT) - Landon Bechtolt scored a goal for the Cyclones in the first period assisted by John Kriz and Easton Plachetka. The Grizzlies answered with a goal made by Aiden Emerich assisted by Noah Gillette and Noah Joyce. Cyclones’ Connor Dvorak made a goal early in the second assisted by Brady Knutsen and Jake Garrow. Cooper Johnson with help from Ole Fevold scored a goal for the Grizzlies. Joyce and Issac Flatley put another on the board for Rochester: Truman Zerse assisted by Eiji Hofmann and Chase Benbow snuck a goal in for the Cyclones. In the third, Fevold had an unassisted goal to take the lead for the Grizzlies. Dvorak assisted by Plachetka and John Kriz tied the game for the Cyclones. In overtime, Andrew Bastian assisted by Gillette ended the game with a Grizzlies win. Andrew Dubin made 26 saves for the Grizzlies, while Dereck Namlick made 34 saves for the Cyclones.
Alexandria 3 @ Minnesota M 1 - In the first, Eli Fletcher with a goal assisted by Fletcher Collings put the Blizzard on the board. The Minnesota Moose tied the game with a goal from Easton Simpson assisted by Reid Watson. The Alexandria Blizzard took the lead in the second, with a goal from Reece Hubmer assisted by Caleb Waller. Eli Paloranta put another goal on the board for the Blizzard unassisted. The third remained scoreless. Jayden Serene made 26 saves for the Alexandria Blizzard. Oscar Pupillo made 40 saves for the Minnesota Moose.
St. Louis 2 @ Wisconsin 8 - In the first, Daniel Svozil assisted by Maxim Lazo and Charles Murray put the Woodsmen on the board early. Hugh Deinema assisted by Nolan Mix added another goal for Wisconsin. Vincent Greene assisted by Brandon Slasor and Joshua Kauppinen increased the lead. Johnny Thrasher assisted by Deinema and Mix added another. Andrew Catalano with assists from Greene and Murray added another goal for the Woodsmen in the first. The second got started early with a goal from Deinema assisted by Lazo and Mix. Eric Denny answered for the blues with help from Lucas Lange. Mason Wright added another goal for St. Louis shortly after. In the third, Thrasher had an unassisted goal for the Woodsmen. Mix also had an unassisted goal for Wisconsin. Travis Visvadra made 4 saves and Alex Rivolta made 24 saves for the St. Louis Jr. Blues. Andrew Peterson made 20 saves for the Wisconsin Woodsmen.
Minnesota W 3 @ Granite City 4 (OT) - During the first, Seth Turhell assisted by Parker Comstock put a goal on the board for the Lumberjacks. Simon Davidson snuck a goal in near the end of the period for the Wilderness. In the second, Ansen King with an assist from Mark DeNoyer added another goal for the Wilderness. Coltin Wassengeso assisted by Caleb Alderson and Ty Smith added a goal for the Lumberjacks. Kaden Rocheleau assisted by Tyler Webb snuck a goal in before the end of the period taking the lead for the Wilderness. Patty Dunaiski assisted by Smith snuck a goal at the end of the third to take the game into overtime. The Granite City Lumberjacks comeback in overtime with a goal made by TJ Lepisto and assisted by Dunaiski. Nate Jansen made 47 saves for the Wilderness. Tyler White made 26 saves for the Lumberjacks and Trent Peterson made 1 save for the Lumberjacks.
Gillette 1 @ Helena 6 - The Helena Bighorns quickly took the lead and never looked back to defeat the Gillette Wild. Trey and Kade Pareja, Owen Gruener, and Caden Feinstein gave Helena a 4-0 first period lead. Trey Pareja and Chase Berg extended that lead in the second. Jonathan Odgers spoiled Tyler Miller's shutout bid late in the third period, but Miller still saved 19-of-20 in the victory.
Bozeman 1 @ Badlands 3 - Lochlin Johnson's 29-save performance helped the Badlands Sabres win over the Bozeman Icedogs. After a scoreless first, Patrick Gosselin and Ryan Jordan lit the lamp to give Badlands the two-goal lead. Devin Burns gave the Icedogs life with two minutes left and the team outshot the Sabres 10-5 in the final frame. But, Jordan's empty netter sealed the win for Badlands.
Butte 11 @ Yellowstone 3 - The Butte Irish put up another 11-goal performance to rout the Yellowstone Quake 11-3. Early in the second, Wesley Amos helped Yellowstone tie the game 3-3. After that, Butte took over. Tristan Ward's hat trick headlined the eight consecutive goals and 82 total shots on goal for the Irish.
