Day 1 of Showcase Brings Plenty of Offensive Fireworks

Wausau 1 @ Helena 2 - The Helena Bighorns continue their hot streak by defeating the Wausau Cyclones 2-1 Sunday evening, their 22^nd win of the season. After a scoreless opening period, Trey Pareja struck first for Helena, as his 14^th of the season gave them an early lead. Landon Bechtolt hit the back of the net early in the third to even the score, however Jason Hammett quickly regained the lead for the Bighorns, which would wind up being the game-winner, as they held on 2-1. Branson Appelman led the way in net, stopping 22/23 shots faced in the victory. Despite the loss, goaltender Dereck Namlick played solidly, padding aside 23/25.

Northeast 1 @ Minnesota 4 - The Minnesota Wilderness use their strong start to outlast the Northeast Generals 4-1. A pair of goals courtesy of Stratton Maas and Kaden Rocheleau gave the Wilderness an early lead in the first. From there, Jake Hodd-Chlebeck would tack on another. Samuel Gusty lit the lamp in an attempt to spark a comeback for the Generals, however, an empty netter from Kaden Postal would seal the deal late in the third for the 4-1 victory. Despite only facing 14 shots, Nate Jensen came out on top in the crease, stopping 13 of them.

Alexandria 1 @ New Mexico 2 - Despite nine opportunities on the power play, the Alexandria Blizzard succumb to defeat against the New Mexico Ice Wolves, 2-1 Sunday night. Mason Buchanan netted the Blizzard’s lone goal of the game, before Ethan Coleman evened it up for the Ice Wolves. Late in the third, Carson Gotelaere lit the lamp to score the game-winner for New Mexico, as they hung on for the 2-1 win. Netminder Ryan Wallin was spectacular, stopping 28/29 in the win for the Ice Wolves. Kyle Abrahamson certainly had nothing to hang his head over though, as he padded away 29/31 for the Blizzard, despite the loss.

Long Beach 3 @ Atlanta 4 (OT) - In a true back-and-forth matchup, the Long Beach Sharks edged the Atlanta capitals 4-3 in overtime. Atlanta struck first late in the opening period, thanks to Delton Hoffman. Michal Stojka evened the score halfway through the second, before Brett Phillips would regain the lead for the Capitals. Sam O’Neil then tied it up 17-seconds into the third for Long Beach, however, Aldiyar was quick to tack another on for the Capitals. With under a minute to go, O’Neil’s laser of a shot tied the game for the Sharks at three apiece. Headed into overtime, Nick Macri sealed the deal for Atlanta, as they came out on top 4-3 in this overtime thriller.

Badlands 1 @ Minnesota M 5 - The Minnesota Moose dominate the back-half of the game to cruise past the Badlands Sabres, 5-1. Kaden Milles opened the game, scoring just 54 seconds in to give Minnesota an early lead. Later, Charlie Lorbiecki would light the lamp to tie it for Badlands. A pair of goals from Owen Meyer and Milles would extend the Moose’s lead in the second. They would later close it out, with another pair of goals in the third, this time from Luke Steffen and Reid Watson. Goaltender Dylan Posch was excellent in the crease, padding away 31/32 en route to the 5-1 victory.

West Bend 4 @ Norwich 2 - The West Bend Power propel late over the Norwich Sea Captains 4-2 Sunday night. Teagan Scheurer and Lucca Weinkauf opened the game, netting a goal apiece to give the Power an early advantage. The Sea Captains, however, stormed back with a pair of goals themselves, thanks to Andrew Hill and Ryan Bernard to even things up. Jackson Home and Evan Buchardt closed this one out late in the third, thanks to them lighting the lamp to secure the 4-2 victory for West Bend. Owen Soderholm was solid in net, saving 25/27 in the win.

Granite City 2 @ Louisiana 1 - In the first period, Easton Portner scored for the Lumberjacks assisted by Ty Smith and Finn Greeley. Gavin Forest increased Granite City’s lead assisted by Teagan Dodge and Brady Moore. The second period remained scoreless. In the third, Max Workman put the Drillers on the board assisted by Brody Neish and Johnathan Berndt. Trent Peterson made 22 saves for the Granite City Lumberjacks. Cole Schmidt made 30 saves for the Louisiana Drillers. 

Bozeman 5 @ Austin 3 - In the first period, Lex Steckelberg scored for the Icedogs assisted by Andrew Kaunas. Thomas Forgrave tied up the game assisted by Ashton Morin and Kaiden Gordon. In the second period, Mikhail Levaniuk gave the Ice Bats the lead, assisted by Taras Korotchenko and Troy Dechmann. In the third period, Guhnar Hillman scored for Austin assisted by Arys Perardi. Sam Trufant scored a goal for Bozeman with help from Dan Upton and Tyler Klingbeil. Baron Masopust added another goal assisted by Devin Bruns. Reid Wilkinson increased the Icedogs lead assisted by Trufant and TJ Kelsey. Steckelberg scored assisted by Upton and Klingbeil. Brett DeVincent made 29 saves for the Bozeman Icedogs. Bryan Frazee made 12 saves for the Austin Ice Bats and Gavin made 2 saves for them.

El Paso 1 @ Willmar 7 - The first period remained scoreless. During the second period, Zane Irion scored a goal early for the WarHawks assisted by Jett Wheeler and Jordan Kennedy. Wheeler scored a goal. Jake Bamback put the Rhinos on the board with a goal assisted by Jacob Mish. Keegan Montgomery increased Willmar’s leas assisted by Owen Amon. Carson Wendorff kept the momentum going by scoring another goal for the WarHawks. Gabriel Adams scored a goal assisted by Wendorff. In the third period, Nathan Hinze put another goal on the board for Willmar with help from Kennedy. Mason Wanka assisted by Kennedy and Irion scored the final goal of the game. Dylan Newton made 9 saves for El Paso and Nathan Graybill made 4 saves for El Paso. Carson Cronquist made 14 saves for the Willmar WarHawks. 

Texas B 4 @ Sheridan 3 - In the first period, Brahmas’ Henry Griffin scored a goal assisted by Tayte Lusk. In the second, Jake Malzone scored a goal early in the period with help from Griffin and Cael Freehling. Zane Mazzola increased the lead for Texas by scoring a goal assisted by Carter Kotrba. Vincent Leaf put a goal on the board for the Hawks assisted by Josh Serino. In the third period, Zach Longnecker scored a goal assisted by Serino. Elijah Ferris tied up the game for the Hawks with a goal assisted by Sean Harris and Ernest Allen. Kotrba scored the game winning goal for the Brahmas. Luke Romney made 34 saves for the Texas Brahmas and John Simon made 31 saves for the Sheridan Hawks.

Rochester 5 @ Binghamton 1 - During the first period, Noah Gillette scored a goal for the Grizzlies assisted by Tyler Steuck and Aiden Emerich. Gillette scores another goal with help from Steuck and Emerich. Mason Decker snuck another goal late in the period assisted by Andrew Politoski and Isaac Flatley. In the second period, Flatley scored a goal assisted by Noah Joyce and Felix Wadstromer. Jason DiMatteo put the Buzz on the board with assists from Andrew Heath and Ethan Miller. In the third period, Rochester’s Andrew Bastian scored a goal assisted by Brody Olson. Andrew Dubin made 24 saves for the Rochester Grizzlies and Matthew Ketcham made 47 saves for the Binghamton Buzz.

Gillette 9 @ New Jersey 1 - The Gillette Wild earned a strong 9-1 win over the New Jersey Titans. The Wild kicked off the scoring in the first period with a power play goal from Chase Borene. Max Arlt netted the first goal of the second period followed by Dylan Peterson capitalizing on a power play. Arlt and Caleb Gamboa added two more goals before the period’s conclusion making the score 5-0 at the end of the second. The Titans struck first in the third period with Nicholas Lamprhet scoring the lone goal of the night. The Wild closed out the game with goals from Issac Peterson, Michael Mckernan, Hudson Fisher, and Dylan Peterson to claim a decisive 9-1 victory. The Titans goaltenders saved a combined 36 out of 45 shots, while the Wild’s netminder Wylen Cambensy made 25 saves out of the 26 shots he faced.

Yellowstone 0 @ Tulsa 4 - The first period remained scoreless. In the second period, Brayden Hagemann scored for Tulsa assisted by Cooper Smolin. In the third period, Austin Tyler scored a goal for the Jr. Oilers with help from Willy Fischer. Malachi Clark increased the lead assisted by Sam Harristhal and Reese Blasdell. Miles Clark scored an unassisted goal for Tulsa. Matthew Neeser made 32 saves for the Yellowstone Quake. Jack Salverson made 21 saves for the Tulsa Jr. Oilers.

Great Falls 2 @ Texas R 1 - The Great Falls Americans edged out the Texas Roadrunners in a close matchup on Sunday evening. The first period saw both teams exchange goals. The Americans struck first when Cal Laggis found the back of the net to open the scoring. The Roadrunners answered back a few minutes later with Carson Spear netting a goal to even the score at 1-1. After a scoreless second period, the Americans’ Aidan Kennedy scored midway through the third to secure the 2-1 win for Great Falls.

New Hampshire 0 @ St. Louis 5 - The St. Louis Jr. Blues claimed a decisive win over the New Hampshire Jr. Mountain Kings. Carter Duy opened the scoring in the first period, netting 2 goals just a few minutes apart for St. Louis. In the second period, Joseph LoPiccolo found the back of the net just 37 seconds in followed by a goal from Brady Cook later on in the period bringing the score to 4-0. Mason Wright secured St. Louis’ win on a short-handed goal with 42 seconds left in the third period. New Hampshire’s goaltender, Charlie Donoghue saved 33 out of the 38 shots he faced in the loss, while Alexander Rivolta saved all 20 shots he faced to earn his first NA3HL shutout.

Maine 1 @ Butte 7 - The Butte Irish were victorious over the Maine Nordiques on Sunday evening. The Irish opened the scoring early in the first period with a goal from Dylin Harildstad and assisted by Bobby Anselmo and Andrew Browe. The Nordiques retaliated back midway through the period with Genrikh Rozhkov finding the back of the net for Maine’s only goal of the night. Butte’s Weston Villers netted a pass from Loghan Weber late in the period to give the Irish a 2-1 lead heading into the second. In the second period,Browe found the back of the net for the Irish with an assist from Weber. Harildstad, Villers, Weber, and Anselmo all netted goals in the third period to secure a 7-1 win for the Irish. The Nordiques goaltenders saved a combined 25 out of 32 shots, while the Irish’s goaltender Manny Pantow saved 25 out of the 26 shots he faced.

NA3HL Selects 1 @ Peoria 12 - The Peoria Mustangs outplayed the NA3HL Selects on Sunday evening. Peoria’s Wyatt Duke opened the scoring in the first period, netting 3 consecutive goals in a little over 5 minutes into the game. Later on in the period, Skyle Tompkins, Jordan Mini, and Rex Rhodes all found the back of the net for the Mustangs. Jett Weatherred netted the lone goal of the night for the Selects. In the second period, Andrew Johnson and Johnny Switzer scored to bring Peoria to a 8-1 lead. Tompkins netted two goals late in the period to complete his hat trick. Breyon Maroney and John Martino both found the back of the net in the third period to secure a 12-1 win for the Mustangs.

Wisconsin 6 @ Mason City 7 (SO) - The Mason City Toros arose victorious over the Wisconsin Woodsmen in a neck-and-neck game. Mason City opened the scoring with a power play goal from Luca Salak, but Wisconsin quickly responded with a goal from Justin Funk. The Toros ended the first period with Sam Menne finding the back of the net to take a 2-1 lead. Early in the second, Tristen May-Robinson tied the game for Wisconsin before Caden McDonald gave the Woodsmen their first lead. Mason City answered back later in the period as Salak netted his second goal of the night. Moments later, TJ Gibson reclaimed the lead for the Toros, setting up a 4-3 score heading into the final period. In the third period, it was a back and forth exchange of goals for both teams. The Woodsmen struck first and went on to net two more goals from May-Robinson and Maxim Lazo. Nolan Smith and Jack Larson both found the back of the net for the Toros forcing the game into a shootout. Menne and Marcus Fritel proved to be the difference makers in the game, netting their shootout goals to secure Mason City’s 7-6 win.

Boxscores