Friday Finals: Binghamton, Northeast and West Bend Advance
by Camryn Connors & Trevor Jolley
Binghamton, Northeast and West Bend all sweep their respective series to advance to the Division Finals
Binghamton 6 @ New Hampshire 4 (Binghamton wins series 2-0): The Binghamton Black Bears claimed a hard-fought victory on the road against the New Hampshire Mountain Kings in a back-and-forth battle. Tyler Hamlin and Daniel Tirendi put Binghamton on the board early, but New Hampshire responded late in the first period with a goal from Xander St. Pierre, cutting the deficit to 2-1. In the second, Trent Midura and Ethan Miller extended Binghamton’s lead, but the Mountain Kings surged back with goals from Nick Cox, Gabriel Leclerc, and Jacob Landry to tie the game at 4-4. The third period proved decisive, as Brody Bess broke the deadlock before Midura sealed the win with his second goal of the night.
Northeast 3 @ Norwich 2 (Northeast wins series 2-0): The Northeast Generals edged out the Norwich Sea Captains in a tightly contested matchup. Northeast jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, with Easton Sankey scoring on the power play, followed by goals from Ruslan Tuchyn and Ryan Solari, who capitalized on another man advantage. Norwich battled back, as Glen Farmer netted one in the second and Andrew Hill made it a one-goal game in the third. Despite the late push, the Generals’ defense held strong to secure the 3-2 win.
Austin 0 @ Louisiana 3 (Louisiana leads series 1-0): The Louisiana Drillers shut out the Austin Ice Bats in a defensive battle at home. After two scoreless periods, Hunter Merrick broke the deadlock early in the third to put Louisiana on the board. Skylar Bawcom extended the lead before Carson Spear sealed the victory with an empty-net goal. Cole Schmidt stopped all seven shots he faced to record the shutout, while Austin’s Gorial Yaro turned aside 21 of 23 shots in a strong effort.
Minnesota M 0 @ Alexandria 1 (Alexandria leads series 1-0): The Alexandria Blizzard secured a shutout victory in a goaltending duel against the Minnesota Moose. Both teams remained scoreless through two periods before Caleb Waller finally broke through in the third, scoring the lone goal of the game. Minnesota’s goaltenders combined for 29 saves on 30 shots, but Alexandria’s Kyle Abrahamson was unbeatable, stopping all 35 shots he faced to secure the win.
Rochester 3 @ Wausau 2 (OT) (Rochester leads series 1-0): The Rochester Grizzlies pulled off a thrilling overtime victory against the Wausau Cyclones. Felix Wadstromer put Rochester on the board in the first period, with Mason Decker adding a power-play goal to make it 2-0. Wausau responded with a goal from Thomas Gerum before Connor Dvoark tied the game at 19:04 of the third to force overtime. In overtime, Decker struck again on the power play to lift Rochester to the win. Grizzlies goaltender Andrew Dubin was outstanding, stopping 50 of 52 shots, while Wausau’s netminder turned away 24 of 27.
West Bend 5 @ Wisconsin 4 (OT) (West Bend wins series 2-0): Brody Josselyn’s overtime heroics pushed West Bend through to the Central Division finals of the Frasher Cup playoffs as the Power topped the Wisconsin Woodsmen with a 5-4 win in Game 2 on Friday night. Josselyn got to work right off the hop as he found the back of the net twice in the first period to put West Bend out to a two goal lead. Teagen Scheurer got his first goal of the playoffs to extend the Power’s lead up to 3-0 early in the second period. Joshua Kauppinen struck back for Wisconsin twice in the second period, sandwiching the goals of Tristen May-Robinson of Wisconsin and Jozef Silhar of West Bend. Trailing by one in the third, Nolan Mix stepped up with the equalizer with less than five minutes remaining in regulation. With the next goal deciding whether Winsconsin’s season was finished and West Bend moved on to the next round, neither side was willing to let up. However, it was ultimately Josselyn, whose hat-trick inducing goal closed the book of Wisconsin’s season. Steven Kelly made a hat-tipping 32 saves on 37 shots in the loss for Wisconsin, while Adam Prokop continued his successful ways as he made 23 saves on 27 shots to punch West Bend’s division final ticket with the win.
Texas B 2 @ New Mexico 5 (New Mexico leads series 1-0): A three goal third period propelled New Mexico to pick up a 5-2 win in Game 1 of the South Division semifinals of the Frasier Cup Playoffs on Friday night. A quiet first period was held scoreless for nearly 17 minutes until Braeden Whitesell found the back of the net for New Mexico. Texas answered back by scoring back to back goals midway through the second period, with Zane Mazzola and Carter Kotrba tallying the Brahmas only goals of the evening. Momentum sometimes shifts, but it fell like an avalanche for the Ice Wolves as they scored four unanswered goals on the sticks of Caiahan Butler, Kyle Mackintosh and Max Arit. Luke Romney made 29 of 34 saves for Texas in the loss, while Ryan Wallin 18 saves on 20 shots to secure the win for New Mexico.
Willmar 2 @ Granite City 5 (Granite City leads series 1-0): The Granite City Lumberjacks secured a solid 5-2 win over the Willmar WarHawks to secure Game 1 of the West Division semifinals of the Frasier Cup Playoffs on Friday night. Jett Wheeler broke the ice for Willmar with a late first period tally, but was answered by Ty Smith for Granite City early in the second period. Nathan Hinze scored 30 seconds later to put Willmar back out front, but his lone tally was no match for the slew of four straight goals by Granite City. Patty Dunaiski, Teagan Dodge, and the aforementioned Smith all buried for Granite City in the last half of the game to push Willmar to the brink of elimination. Kai Gerard stood on his head as he made 46 saves on 49 shots, but was unable to secure the win for Willmar. Trent Peterson used a steady but relaxing evening to secure 14 saves on 16 shots and the Game 1 win for Granite City.
Badlands 1 @ Helena 5 (Series Tied 1-1): Five unanswered goals through two periods of play were decisive for the Helena Bighorns as they used a 5-1 win to advance to the Frontier Division Final of the Frasier Cup Playoffs on Friday night. Helena came out all gas, no breaks as Austin Uecker scored his second goal of the playoffs just 1:04 after puck drop to put Helena up with the lead. Uecker’s early tally sparked in the hearts of his teammates as they continued to pour gas on the flames. Four more different Bighorns scored in the match, including Austin Tyler, Finn Theriault, Clint Isakson and Trey Pareja. Rhylan Olson finally got on the board for Badlands early in the third, but Helena’s lead just proved to be insurmountable as they ultimately fell. Riley Swanson and Jackson Roethler split time between the posts, with the former making 19 saves on 23 shots and the latter making 20 saves on 21 shots as the Badlands pair combined for 39 saves on 44 shots total. Helena’s Branson Appleman was nearly perfect as he made 20 stops on 21 pucks to secure the series for Helena.
Sheridan 2 @ Great Falls 4 (Series Tied 1-1): Late game heroics saved Great Falls from elimination as the Americans used a 4-2 win to force Game 3 of the Frontier Division semifinals on Friday night. Great Falls came into the game with their backs already on the wall. Needing to get the win, Aiden Kennedy and Sebe Perez found the back of the net in the first period for Great Falls. Not going to go down without a fight, Sheridan scored twice in four minutes with strikes from Vlad Zubriichuk and Kiefer Dunham. With the final 20 minutes, holding potentially season ending consequences, Aiden Kennedy and Gavin Debis scored two goals in 43 seconds in the third period to secure the win and live to survive another game. TJ Wonnacott did all he could as he made 35 saves on 39 shots in the loss for Sheridan, while Kaden Ryder earned his chance at a Game 3 with 43 saves on 45 shots for Great Falls
