Friday Finals: Jr. Oilers Grab First NA3HL Win

Long Beach 3 @ Norwich 2 - Long Beach would get this party started early, as Devon Fay would break the ice only 22 seconds into the contest. Shortly after, Ryan Janik would tie this game at one for the Sea Captains. Alec Dahlvang would find the back of the net later in the first, leading to Mason Jackson and the Sharks taking a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes. Jake Wilkerson would get his team to within one on a second period powerplay marker. Kameron Ragon would shut the door in the third, stopping all 19 shots, making an outstanding 45 saves on the night.

Maine 1 @ New Hampshire 3 - This game would be scoreless through 20 minutes at Tri-Town Arena. Tommy Titone would break the tie in this one, his tally would give his team momentum. Surely enough, Noah Levesque would find the beach of the net later in the period, twice. In the third, Maine would look to get one back, and Cam Plourde would do just that. As the clock hit zero, the Nordiques' comeback would fall short, leading to a Jr. Mountain Kings victory. Despite the loss, Ayden Linville would have 45 saves, while Charlie Donoghue made 29 saves in the win.

Tulsa 3 @ Texas R 1 - Tulsa would enter this matchup hungry for their first win of the season. After the first 20 minutes saw no score, Cooper Smolin would give the Jr. Oilers took the lead early into the second frame. Sam Cardona would double the lead for his team later in the second. Lucas Dyer would give his team some life, turning this into a one goal game heading into the third period. Midway through the third, Smolin would notch a power play goal that would prove to be the game winning goal. Hunter Houle would make 26 saves in the loss, while Jack Salverson would secure the first win of the season making a remarkable 54 saves.

Alexandria 3 @ Minnesota M 0 - Late into the opening frame, Ashton Collings would light the lamp, giving the Blizzard a 1-0 lead. Minutes later, Eli Fletcher would add another goal to the Blizzard lead. Now in the second, Easton Schmit would bury a power play goal to put the Blizzard up a field goal. The period would have no scoring, making the final period be pivotal for the Moose. Minnesota would be unable to score, letting Alexandria pick up the shutout win. Dylan Posch would be sensational in the loss, making 44 saves, with Chase Henessey taking home the win with 25 saves.

Granite City 6 @ Minnesota W 1 - Patty Dunaiski led the way with a goal and three helpers as the Granite City Lumberjacks dismantled the Minnesota Wilderness by a score of 6-1. Eli Tiernan netted the game’s opening goal in the first 80 seconds. Finn Greeley chipped in a goal in the second period with Ty Smith, Seth Terhell and Alex Doshan pouring it on in the third. Jeff Silvon netted the only tally for Minnesota. Nick Hansen was the winner in goal with 26 saves on 27 shots. Pierson Haislet was dealt the loss after making 23 saves.

Mason City 2 @ Willmar 3 - The rookie, Aidan Callaghan would give his team the early 1-0 lead in the contest, as he would light the lamp early in the first. Kaiden Jackson doubled the lead for the WarHawks, with his powerplay marker in the final minutes of the first period. Carson Wendorff would continue the momentum for Wilmar, giving the WarHawks a 3-0 lead early in the second frame. TJ Gibson would finally put his team on the board midway through the second period. Kellen Kantaris would make this game interesting, scoring a goal to put the Toros within one late in the third. This would unfortunately not be enough and Wilmer would take this one. Kai Girard would pick up the win, making 45 saves in the process, while on the other side, Brooks Currie made 30 saves in the loss.

Rochester 5 @ Wisconsin 2 - Ben Parent would break the ice early in this one, giving the Grizzlies the lead early. The first saw no more action, but in the second, Pierson Zittel knotted this game up at one. Later on, Maxim Lazo would give the Woodsman their first lead of the game on his second period tally. Within seconds however, Dre Berndt would bring this game back to a tie. In the third, the Grizzlies would begin to pull away, Josh Wolf would pot a goal midway through the final frame. Tommy Woods would add a short handed goal and Noah Gillette would score an empty netter. Gabe Otis would make 24 saves in the win.

Texas B 2 @ New Mexico 6 - The New Mexico Ice Wolves won their second game in the series against the Texas Brahmas Friday evening. The Brahmas after winning 13 straight games have dropped two against the Ice Wolves. The Ice Wolves scored the only goal of the first period off a power play goal from leading goal scorer Dantae Hunziker. The second period was an onslaught from the Ice Wolves, outsourcing the Brahmas four goals to one. Zak Wentworth scored the second power play goal early in the second period, followed quickly by Hunziker for his second of the game. The Brahmas 6:58 into the period scored their first from Nikolai Meshkantsov, who continues his scoring streak as the leading scorer in the league. Calahan Butler and Braeden Whitesell raised the Ice Wolves lead to 5-1 after 40 minutes. Meshkantsov earned his second goal of the game in the opening seconds of the third period, but it wasn’t enough as Ethan Niles put the final nail in the coffin for his first goal of the season.

St. Louis 3 @ West Bend 4 (OT) - A late goal to get to overtime propelled the West Bend Power to a victory against the St. Louis Jr. Blues. The Power jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the first period through goals from Monte Goold and Brody Josselyn, followed by a scoreless second period. The Jr. Blues rebounded in the third period, scoring three unanswered goals from Stephen Craigh and Mason Andrew, the latter scoring the last two. With a comeback win seeming likely, Jace Fitzgerald would tie the game in the final two minutes to force overtime. Fitzgerald once again was called upon in the overtime period, scoring the game-winning goal for the Power off his second of the game.

El Paso 6 @ Atlanta 3 - The surging Atlanta Capitals were snuffed by the El Paso Rhinos. After winning their last three games, the Capitals found themselves down four goals in the second period after a scoreless first period. The Rhinos relied on their star power, three of those goals coming from leading scorers Donovan Bradford and Kacper Gach. Nick Macri gave the Capitals some relief, cutting the deficit to three goals with his third of the season 13:03 into the period. The third period was largely back-and-forth, with the Capitals scoring their second from Riley Erickson to begin play, followed soon after by Gach for his third of the game to secure the hat trick. A few minutes later, Erickson scored his second of the period, but Jake Bamback increased the lead again for the Rhinos just over a minute after. Gach led both teams in scoring, all three points coming from goals and his first hat trick.

Great Falls 3 @ Gillette 6 - The Gillette Wild had a get-right game against the Great Falls Americans, winning decisively. Coming off a sweep by the Helena Bighorns, the Wild saw themselves go down one goal halfway in the first period, the Americans getting the score from Aiden Kennedy. The Wild’s leading goal scorer, Chase Hapka, scored in the final second of the first period to tie the game. The second period was all Wild, getting a two goal lead from Ryan Kirkman and Max Arlt, scoring their second and eighth goals of the season respectively. Garren Narvaez did his best to keep the Americans in the game, scoring early in the third period, but Max Arlt at 9:14 in the period widened the gap with his second of the game. Narvaez scored his second of the game two minutes later, but two unanswered goals from Tai Kontrac and Wylen Cambensy ended any chance of a comeback by the Americans.

Sheridan 4 @ Bozeman 3 - The Sheridan Hawks took the first game of the series against the Bozeman Icedogs. The Icedogs struck first off a power play goal from Lex Steckelberg for his eighth of the season. Down 1-0 to begin the second period, the Hawks tied the game from an unassisted goal by Vincent Leaf, propelling himself into the top five in league scoring with his eleventh goal of the season. The Icedogs didn’t falter, regaining the lead a few minutes after from Jude Edgerton, but the lead lasted less than a minute. Charles Stow scored his first goal of the season to tie the game once again. In the final two minutes of the second period, Icedogs leading goal scorer Devin Bruns gave his team the lead for the third time of the game to end the period. Entering the third period down 3-2, the Hawks relied on their top goal scorer Josh Serino, who scored goal 16 of the season in the first two minutes. Elijah White in the middle of the period put the final goal to give the Hawks their first lead of the game, and ultimately the winning goal.

Badlands 4 @ Butte 5 (OT) - The Butte Irish survived a late comeback by the Badlands Sabres, winning in an overtime thriller. The Irish have some of the top scorers in the league, and that was on full display today. The Irish scored three goals in under three minutes, the first from Tristan Ward for his eighth of the season. Kazden Stineff raised the lead to two goals with his 12th of the season, and Sebaquien Chlud followed soon after with his first of the season, giving the Irish an early 3-0 lead. The Sabres started their comeback in the second period, cutting the deficit to one from goals by Zach Vockler and Charlie Lorbiecki, the former for his 13th of the season. Sabres leading goal scorer Loghan Weber got the final score of the period however, scoring his 14th of the season unassisted. Down two goals in the third period, the Sabres didn’t tie the game until late in the period, getting goals within a minute of each other from Thayne Coston and Gaven Marx. Overtime would be short lived, the winning goal coming from Keegan Adams for his first goal of the season.

Louisiana 3 @ Austin 2 (OT) - A combined 83 shots on goal still ended with the Louisiana Drillers and Austin Ice Bats finishing in overtime. The first goal didn’t come till late in the second period, an unassisted goal by Thomas Forgrave to give the Ice Bats the lead. Three minutes later, Briggs Beam scored his first goal of the season to tie the game 1-1 after 40 minutes. It was either team’s game in the third period, with Beam giving the Drillers the lead halfway in the third period. In the final minutes of the game, Ethan Salter sent the game to overtime with his first goal of the season. Overtime lasted less than three minutes, with the Drillers getting the winning goal from Casper Rys Sakrisvold. Ice Bats goaltender Gavin Morris was a standout in the loss, stopping 48 of a whopping 51 shots faced.

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