Saturday Scores: Granite City, Helena, Louisiana and New Mexico Advance
The Lumberjacks, Bighorns, Drillers and Ice Wolves are moving on to the Division Finals
Austin 0 @ Louisiana 2 (Louisiana wins series 2-0): The Louisiana Drillers shut out the Austin Ice Bats on home ice Friday night. The first period remained scoreless as both teams battled defensively. In the second, Cameron McEwan broke the deadlock, netting the first goal of the game for Louisiana. The Ice Bats fought to even the score, but Drillers’ goaltender Cole Schmidt stood strong, keeping them off the board. Late in the third period, Jake Bergstrom extended Louisiana’s lead, securing the 2-0 win. Schmidt stopped all 25 shots he faced, while Austin’s Gorial Yaroh made 18 saves on 20 shots in the loss.
Alexandria 0 @ Minnesota M 1 (Series Tied 1-1): The Minnesota Moose edged out the Alexandria Blizzard in a defensive battle Friday night, securing a 1-0 shutout win. The lone goal of the game came in the second period when Ryan Andor found the back of the net at 12:10, with assists from Ryker Sago and Brady Johnson. Both teams generated scoring chances throughout the game, but strong goaltending kept it a low-scoring affair. Minnesota’s netminder, Gabe Otis, was perfect in net, stopping all 20 shots he faced, while Alexandria’s Kyle Abrahamson made 37 saves on 38 shots in the loss.
Wausau 5 @ Rochester 2 (Series Tied 1-1): The Wausau Cyclones powered past the Rochester Grizzlies in a dominant 5-2 victory on Friday night. Alec Mellon opened the scoring early in the first period to put Wausau on top. In the second period, the Cyclones extended their lead with back-to-back goals from Connor Dvorak, followed by another from Easton Placetka, making it a 4-0 game. Rochester responded in the third, as Josh Wolf scored twice to cut the deficit, but Wausau held strong. With time winding down, Thomas Gerum sealed the win with an empty-net goal, securing the 5-2 final score.
Granite City 6 @ Willmar (Granite City wins series 2-0): The Granite City Lumberjacks’ jacked-up offense popped off for five straight goals to claim Game 2 of West Division semifinal with a 6-1 win over the Wilmar WarHawks on Saturday Night. Brayden Willis’ 11th goal of the season served as double for his first goal of the playoffs as he found the back of the net less than four minutes after puck drop. Elliot Domagala quickly responded with his first career goal for Wilmar less than three minutes later to knot the score at one goal apiece. After about eight minutes of tied play, the ice began to tilt for Granite City in a way that Wilmar could never recover from. Patty Dunaiski and Dominic Thomas each netted goals in the first period to put the Lumberjacks up 3-1 after one. Following a scoreless second frame, Granite City wasted no time putting the nail in Wilmar’s coffin. The Lumberjacks scored three goals in 16 minutes thanks to TJ Lepisto, Seth Terhell and Easton Portner. Three Lumberjacks had multi-point outings, including Thomas, Lepisto and Dunaiski. Kai Gerard’s second start in 24 hours proved to be too quick of a turn around time, as the usually sturdy netminder stopped 29 of 35 pucks. Conner Miller made two saves on three shots, but was replaced in the first period by Nick Hansen, who went a perfect 23 saves on 23 shots to clinch the deciding win for Granite City. With the win, the Lumberjacks advance to the West Division finals where they will take on the winner of the Alexandria Blizzard-Minnesota Moose series.
Texas B 0 @ New Mexico 2 (New Mexico wins series 2-0): The New Mexico Ice Wolves broke out the brooms as they secured a decisive 2-0 victory to complete the best-of-three series sweep over the Texas Brahmas on Saturday night. Texas’ offensive struggles reared its ugly head again in Game 2 of the South Division semifinal after the Brahmas only scored a pair of goals in Game 1 on Friday night. Saturday’s tilt was win or go home for Texas, but it was New Mexico who dictated the style of play as Jake Wenner scored a little less than halfway through the first period. Looking for a response, Texas was left empty handed as Wenner set up Carson Gotelaere to put New Mexico up by two. Just as a star burns brightest before death, Texas’ offense laid everything on the line in the final frame with 15 shots on goal, but was unable to get one where it matters, which is in the back of the net. New Mexico secured the win to move on to the South Division finals
Badlands 2 @ Helena 7 (Helena wins series 2-1): Marcus Fritel’s hat-trick fueled a five goal streak for the Bighorns as Helena clinched the series winner with a 7-2 win over the Badlands Sabres on Saturday night. Rhylan Olson’s second goal of the playoffs put Badland up by one near the midpoint mark of the first perio. However, Olson only threw fuel on Helena’s fire as the Bighorns scored three goals in a 1:45 span of gameplay, before also adding two more goals in the second, followed by two more in the third. Helena’s scorers included Marcus Fritel, Trey Parejah, Austin Tyler and Warren Ryser. With a commanding lead, Helena did not loock back as they crushed their opponents. After allowing five goals on 20 shots, Jackson Roethler was pulled and replaced by Oger Hunter, who made 18 saves on 20 shots in the loss for Badlands. However, Branson Appleman did not let the back-to-back starts go to waste as he stood tall to make 32 saves on 34 shots and clinch Helena’s trip to the Frontier Division final.
