Saturday Scores: Norwich Sails to Victory over New Hampshire

Photo Credit: Ryan Holden

Norwich 2 @ New Hampshire 1 (SO) - The New Hampshire Jr. Mountain Kings hosted the Norwich Sea Captains for their second matchup of the weekend against each other. New Hampshire won Friday night’s contest in overtime. Saturday night’s game was quieter than Friday’s, with both teams unable to get a goal in the first period. In the second period, forward Nick Brophy broke the ice for the Jr. Mountain Kings with a goal at 7:27. This would be the only goal of the period. In the third period, forward Trenton Impens was able to tie it up for the Sea Captains and send the game into overtime. Both teams were unable to finish the game in overtime, which led to a shootout. In the first round of the shootout, forward Kolin Krizan and forward Jacob Landry were able to match goals for their respective teams in the shootout. In the second and third rounds of the shootout, neither team was able to score. In the fourth round, forwards Henry Pinkerman and Simon Langenegger were able to score goals for their respective teams. In the fifth round, Impens was able to score and give Norwich the win against New Hampshire. Peter Alfano started in net for Norwich and made 28 saves. Risdon Baynard-Fernhall started in net for New Hampshire and made 20 saves.

Pelham 2 @ Carolina 4 - The Carolina Rage hosted the Pelham Prowlers for a second night in a row. On Friday night, Carolina won the game in overtime and extended their winning streak to four games. In the first period, Pelham defenseman Lorenzo Pekarek was able to break the ice with a goal at 15:48. 43 seconds later, Carolina forward Tobin Tuzinsky was able to tie up the score. With a little over two minutes remaining in the first, Pelham was able to capitalize on their power play, and forward Matthew Hunter was able to give the Prowlers a 2-1 lead at the end of the period. In the second period, Carolina conducted a fierce comeback. At 16:23, forward Reece Beckwith tied up the game for Carolina. Less than a minute later, forward Isaac Emmerich was able to convert on the power play and give Carolina a one-goal lead. At 13:06, Beckwith scored his second of the game to end the period 4-2. Neither team would score in the third period, and the game would conclude with a win for Carolina. Kole Roth started in net for Carolina and made 37 saves. Oscar Gribauval started in net for the Prowlers and made 56 saves.

Bayou State 0 @ Louisiana 14 - The Louisiana Drillers' undefeated streak hit 17 games to start the season Saturday, as a four-goal, five-point game from Emerson LaRoche led the Drillers to a 14-0 smashing of the Bayou State Rougarou. Louisiana dominated the entire game, conceding only three shots on goal and sending 82 shots at the Bayou State net. The Drillers reach a perfect 17-0 with the win, good for 34 points and second place in the Southeast Division. Louisiana trails only the Texas RoadRunners in the division, behind by 12 points but with seven games in hand. The Drillers wasted no time opening the game. LaRoche scored just 11 seconds into the game for his 20th goal of the year to get Louisiana on top. LaRoche was joined by Carter Gnau (20th goal) and Dylan Crossley (10th goal) as scorers in the opening frame. Laroche added his second of the period with just under six minutes to play to send the teams to the break with Louisiana leading 4-0. The Drillers exploded for five more goals in the middle frame. Gnau added his second of the night and 21st of the season, followed by goals from Skyler Tompkins (10th), Dayton Ruppel (11th), LaRoche’s hat-trick goal (23rd), and Brody Haas (eighth) to extend the lead to 9-0 after 40 minutes. LaRoche tallied his fourth of the night and 24th goal of the season to begin the third period – just 31 seconds in. Cohen Palmer (sixth), Brody Neish (30th), Zachary Marsell (15th), and Ruppel’s second tally of the night (11th) capped off the scoring and a 14-0

domination by the Drillers. With a five-point night, Laroche is now up to 55 points on the season. A three-point night from Neish puts him up to a team-leading 71 points.

El Paso 9 @ Tulsa 0 - After putting on a show in Tulsa Friday night, the El Paso Rhinos continued their dominant weekend with a 9-0 win over the Oilers. The Rhinos dominated every facet of this game and capitalized on every chance they were given, leading to an undefeated weekend. It took much longer than Friday to find the first tally of the game. With eight minutes left in the first frame, Mikhail Levaniuk got in behind the defense and scored on a breakaway to gain the first lead of the contest. Just a minute later, Carter Lehmann intercepted a pass in the Oilers' zone and dished to Carter Tuplin, who had a wide-open shot at the net. The floodgates remained open as Parker Brinner found the back of the net just a minute later. The score stayed at 3-0 heading into the first intermission, a much tighter score differential compared to the night prior, where the Rhinos had a 6-0 lead after the first. About four minutes into the second frame, Lehmann broke loose and put some silky mitts on the goaltender to extend the lead to 4-0. Lehmann stayed hot and scored the next goal on a feed from Kenneth Cadwallader. Benjamin Green scored the next one on a shot from the top of the circle, and Aldiyar Irik sniped one a minute later. Tuplin then got his second of the night, and so did Levaniuk to finish off the second period. The 9-0 advantage stood strong in the third period, and the game ended in another blowout. Much like Friday evening, the Rhinos had everything working at a high level. A stunning 58 shots led to 9 goals, and they were able to hold Tulsa to just 22 shots. Brayden Macko with another perfect game, and the Rhinos of El Paso could not have dreamt of a better evening.

Rochester 4 @ St. Louis 3 - The Rochester Grizzlies got a big road victory over the second-place St. Louis Jr. Blues Saturday night, taking a tightly contested matchup by a final score of 4-3. Mason Decker was the hero for the Grizzlies on Saturday, potting the game-winning tally on the power play late in the second period. He was joined offensively by Baylor Stebbins, who potted two goals in the game. The win helps Rochester inch closer to third-place Wausau, trailing by just two points with 16. The Jr. Blues fell four points back of first-place West Bend with the loss, which defeated Peoria Saturday. St. Louis scored first just 4:30 into the opening period thanks to Cooper Palazzolo’s first goal of the year. His goal was quickly responded to by Rochester just 1:22 later, off the stick of Stebbins. His fifth goal of the year evened the score at 1-1. Jace Jordan’s 10th tally of the campaign got St. Louis back on top with just under seven minutes to go in the opening 20 minutes. Stebbins again answered quickly – just 1:41 later – with his sixth tally of the season to knot the score up once again heading to the second period. Rochester finally took its first lead of the game just under three minutes into the second period on Felix Wadstromer’s first tally of the season. Just as Rochester had done in the first period, St. Louis responded quickly to even the score. Chase Kozma’s fifth of the year, just 1:05 later, squared the game again at 3-3. The Grizzlies had yet another answer to a St. Louis goal. Decker nabbed his 16th of the year via the power play to give Rochester the lead it would not relinquish. St. Louis desperately searched for the equalizer in the third period, but Rochester goaltender Callum Keating turned away all nine shots he faced in the frame to seal the 4-3 win for the Grizzlies.

Texas R 13 @ Atlanta 3 - The Atlanta Capitals hosted the Texas RoadRunners for a second night in a row and for their fifth matchup of the season. On Friday night, the RoadRunners extended their winning streak to 16 games, and the Capitals were unable to capture their first win of the season. In a high-scoring game for Texas, they would start the first period with goals from forward Ronin Draffan at 18:27, defenseman Hillard Johnmeyer at 12:16, and forward Lucas Dyer at 10:16. The Capitals would get their first goal of the game from an unassisted goal by forward Preston Hall at 6:11. Texas would close out the first period with a goal by forward Logan Diskey at 2:30. The second period would open with a short-handed goal by Dyer for his second of the game at 19:27. Texas would proceed to extend their four-goal lead with goals from forwards Michael Garrett at 18:26, Joseph Izzo at 5:48, and William Heskett at 5:29. Forward Gavin Koehler would give the Capitals their second goal of the game with two minutes remaining in the period. Defenseman Vincent Campbell would score Texas’ ninth goal of the game with 33 seconds remaining in the period. In the third period, Dyer would complete a hat trick with a short-handed goal at 18:36. Campbell would score his second of the game at 10:38, and forward Kristopher Pope would score for Texas at 6:12. Atlanta would get their third of the game off of a power-play goal by forward Dylan Warmath with less than two minutes remaining in the third. Garrett would score his second of the game and end the game 13-3 for Texas, extending their winning streak to 17 games. Brenden Patterson started in net for the RoadRunners and made 12 saves. Milo Pricinsky started in net for Atlanta and made 43 saves  before Maxwell Pelton closed out the game with 6 saves.

Willmar 5 @ Alexandria 2 - The Willmar Warhawks picked up a win against the Alexandria Blizzard in a well-fought, evenly matched contest. Thanks to Sam Moen in net, the Blizzard offensive was contained, and the Warhawks found the path to victory. The first period consisted of some high-octane shooting with both sides combining for 29 shots, but neither team could find the back of the net. About seven minutes into the second period, Carson Wendorff broke the seal and gave Willmar the lead off a rebound on a rush into the zone. Just five minutes later, Zach Benson buried the biscuit on a short-handed opportunity that evened up the score. Alexandria wasn’t done as just a minute and a half later, Thomas Foley broke loose and picked the corner to give his squad the lead. Staring at a 2-1 deficit, Willmar had to answer quickly to start the third, and that’s what they did. Just a minute and a half into the frame, Gabe Adams stole the puck in the neutral zone and scored on a breakaway. From this point on, it was all Warhawks. On the power play, Dylan Mees stepped down from the point and fired a rocket into the top shelf to extend the Warhawk lead. A few minutes later, Mees found Mason Wanka on the cross-crease feed to extend the lead again. Logan Woods potted the empty-netter, and the Warhawks left in the win column. This game was won by the Warhawks in the crease. After facing an onslaught of shots the night prior against the Mason City Toros, Sam Moen saved 43 of 45 shots faced in this contest. With eight players tallying points and showcasing some fundamental offensive hockey, the Warhawks were able to churn out the win.

Texas B 5 @ West Texas 3 - After dropping Friday evening's contest against the Wranglers, the Brahmas found a way to win late in game two to even up the weekend. A well-spread-out offensive performance allowed the Brahmas to fill the net and leave with a win.

Xavier Othon got the evening started for the Brahmas on a feed from Aidan Liebold on the rush. Six minutes later, Sven Svensson found Justin Fielden in the slot to even up the score. In the second period, Caden Michael was responsible for the only goal of the frame and gave the Brahmas the lead heading into the third period. Just a few minutes into the final period, Fielden gave a beautiful saucer pass to Gunnar Vick on the rush, who found the back of the net and evened the score. Not long after, Jason Fatta cleaned up a rebound to regain the lead for the Brahmas. The Wranglers simply would not quit and evened up the score again, courtesy of Caelen Cross. Jayani Benson scored what would eventually be the winning goal, and Benjamin Humphries grabbed the empty-netter. With five different players lighting the lamp, the Brahmas did an excellent job of spreading out the offense and playing a fundamental team game. Despite the Wranglers playing a close game from behind, it was the Brahmas leaving with a smile and the win.

Minnesota M 8 @ Wisconsin 1 - The Minnesota Moose continued their successful weekend with a convincing win over the Wisconsin Woodsmen. After needing overtime to decide their Friday night matchup, Minnesota came into game two with a full head of steam and completely shut down the opposing Woodsmen. Minnesota wasted no time as they got out to a quick power play, and Connor Zgoda buried the rebound. Four and a half minutes later, Rory Kronick stole the puck on the forecheck and sniped the corner to extend the Minnesota lead. Three minutes later, it was Charlie Marchand who collected the rebound and potted the third Minnesota goal of the first frame. The second period featured the lone Wisconsin goal as Ty Paulios fired the puck over the right shoulder of the goaltender. 15 minutes would go by without a goal, but Minnesota finished off the period with a bang. First, it was Wyatt Hoepfl who grabbed a rebound and lit the lamp. Hoepfl continued just a minute later on yet another rebound to give his team a 5-1 lead. Will Burnevik finished off the period with a power play goal, and Minnesota entered the final frame with a 6-1 lead. In the third period, Hunter Rappel gave his team some more insurance when a rebound led to a wide-open cage. Luca Salak scored one more for good measure in the dying moments of the contest, and the Moose won 8-1. Shots on goal for this contest ended at 40 to 20 in favor of Minnesota, and a considerable number of their shots came from rebound opportunities. The Moose did an excellent job of crashing the crease, making plays on the net, and playing until the whistle. Paired with some stifling defense, Minnesota had a clear route to victory.

Minnesota W 0 @ Granite City 4 - The Granite City Lumberjacks shut out the Minnesota Wilderness 4-0 on Friday night, scoring twice in each of the first two periods and controlling the pace throughout. Granite City opened the scoring when Micah Saxon buried a feed from Prentiss Maier and Ty Smith. They doubled the lead later in the period as Ty Smith scored off assists from Saxon and Jake Vukich, giving Granite City a 2-0 lead after one. In the second period, Jack Postula extended the lead on a goal assisted by Alexander Zelazowski and Teagan Dodge. Granite City scored again on the power play when Ty Smith scored his second goal of the night, assisted by Saxon and Easton Sankey, pushing the lead to 4-0. Neither team scored in the third period, and Granite City shut the door defensively, going 2-for-4 on the power play while holding Minnesota to 0-for-4.

Austin 2 @ New Mexico 5 - The New Mexico Ice Wolves defeated the Austin Ice Bats 5-2 on Friday night, breaking the game open with a four-goal second period and never looking back. After a scoreless first period, New Mexico scored first when Connor Hanley scored off assists from Caleb DeBruyne and Ryan Hoogsteen. Austin tied the game on the power play as Liam Cardona scored, assisted by Mason Manderfield and Ethan Salter, but New Mexico responded quickly. Cade Tilley put New Mexico back on top, assisted by Christopher Mason and Connor Hanley, and Calahan Butler extended the lead with a goal from Alex Ihling. New Mexico scored again as Ryan Hoogsteen scored off assists from Hunzeker Piersimoni and Zachary Polkes, making it 4-1. Austin answered with a power-play goal from Owen Rattray, assisted by Jake Bamback, cutting the deficit to two heading into the third. In the final period, Calahan Butler scored his second of the game, assisted once again by Ihling, sealing the 5-2 win for New Mexico.

Peoria 3 @ West Bend 12 - The West Bend Power overwhelmed the Peoria Mustangs 12-3 on Saturday night, fueled by scoring depth and a dominant third period. West Bend opened the scoring when Shaun Paulson scored off assists from Owen Miller and Grant Schiable. They extended the lead as Andrew Bunyan scored from Jace Fitzgerald and Bjorn Bahneman, followed by Malloy Loheide, assisted by Jackson Hoem and Quinn O’Connor. Peoria answered with a shorthanded goal from Jordan Minn, assisted by Wyatt Duke, but West Bend scored twice more on the power play, Owen Grudgen scored from Duke and Nathan Pleva, and Bjorn Bahneman added another from Fitzgerald and Miller, giving West Bend a 5-1 lead after one. In the second period, Armani Fisher made it 6-1 off assists from Paulson and Michael Maillette. Quinn O’Connor added another, assisted by Maillette and Elijah Covey. Peoria responded with goals from Brendon Miller, then Jace Fitzgerald scored from Hoem and Covey, cutting the lead to 7-3 heading into the third. West Bend broke the game open in the final period. Bjorn Bahneman buried his second goal of the night from Fitzgerald and Blake Kohnen. Cole Craft followed with a goal assisted by Evan Burchardt and Loheide. Danny Jurcich added a tally from O’Connor and Hoem, before Hoem scored one of his own, assisted by Wyatt Garvey. Malloy Loheide capped off the night with a power-play goal assisted by Garvey, sealing the 12-3 win.

Buzz 3 @ New Jersey 5 - The New Jersey Titans hosted the Buzz for a second night in a row, as well as their fourth matchup of the season. New Jersey won Friday night’s game in overtime and was able to break their losing streak. Buzz forward Theo Fritz would open up the first period with an unassisted goal at 12:12. The Titans were quick to strike back, with goals from forwards Eduard Gubeladze at 9:14, Jackson Dougherty at 8:55, and Sam Hedrick at 6:35. The Buzz were able to tie the game up before the period ended with a goal by forward Yaromir Chicherin at 2:42, and a power-play goal by forward Evan O’Bryne. In the second period, New Jersey Forward Ivan Korshikov would score the lone goal of the period and give the Titans the lead. In the third period, the Buzz were unable to turn the game around, and during their last effort of pulling the goalie, Korshikov would score an empty netter to end the game 5-3 for New Jersey. Tony Shaw started in net for New Jersey and made 39 saves. Jackson Horst started in net for the Buzz and made 10 saves on 13 shots before Dalton Elliott closed out the game with 17 saves on 18 shots.

Butte 5 @ Helena 11 - There was no shortage of offense Saturday night in Helena, as the Bighorns downed the Butte Irish by a final score of 11-5. Despite a hat trick from Butte’s Easton Langemo, the Bighorns' offense was too much for the Irish to overcome, outshooting the Irish 84-20 in the contest. Second-place Helena gained a point of ground on first-place Sheridan in the Frontier Division with the win, as the Hawks dropped their contest with the Badlands Sabres in overtime. Butte remains in last place with 12 points – two points behind Yellowstone. Butte got the scoring started thanks to Logan Weber’s ninth of the season with 8:28 to go in the opening period. Helena had a response, getting goals from Austin Uecker (14th) and Austin Tyler (6th) to give the Bighorns a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes. The offense exploded in the second period, as the teams combined for seven goals in the frame. Cameron Kimmerly (first) and Uecker (15th) scored within the first three minutes to extend Helena’s lead to 4-1. Langemo stopped the bleeding midway through the period with his 19th of the season, but was quickly answered by Mason Blair’s second of the year just 33 seconds later to stretch Helena’s lead to 5-2. Caden Feinstein (fifth) then added another to Helena’s goal total only 21 seconds later to give the Bighorns a 6-2 advantage. Tyler (seventh) and Langemo (20th) traded goals late in the period to put the score at 7-3 after two periods. Joe Viox put up Helena’s eighth lamp-lighter of the night just 19 seconds into the final frame. The goal was answered six minutes later thanks to Butte’s Jack Whitelaw’s ninth of the campaign. Langemo completed his hat trick midway through the period to inch his team closer at 8-5, but Ty Schell (seventh), Kade Pareja (first), and Kimmerly (second) provided all the insurance Helena needed in the final eight minutes to seal the 11-5 win.

Bozeman 1 @ Great Falls 4 -The Great Falls Americans remained hot Saturday night, downing the Bozeman Icedogs by a final score of 4-1. The Americans got the win off the back of a two-goal performance from Tallon Caron, who nabbed his ninth and 10th goals of the season in the victory. Great Falls kept pace with the Helena Bighorns in the Frontier Division, as both teams came away with wins Saturday. The third-place Americans – with 26 points – remain one point behind the Bighorns, who sit in second place with 27. Bozeman dropped four points behind Great Falls with the loss at 22 points. With the win, Great Falls has now won six of its last seven contests. The first period saw no scoring, as Great Falls outshot Bozeman 10-5 in the period. Caron finally broke the ice just 1:15 into the second period. The Icedogs found the equalizer just under five minutes later, thanks to Matthew Stamp’s fourth marker of the campaign. The goals stood as the lone offense of the period, sending the team to intermission knotted up at 1-1. Great Falls took the game over in the third period, posting three unanswered goals. Reid Lezubski got the Americans the lead back with his eighth goal of the year just over seven minutes into the final frame. Caron got his team insurance with just over three minutes to play, then Jase Troyer sealed the deal with his second of the season to secure the 4-1 home victory of the Americans.

Gillette 3 @ Yellowstone 4 - The Yellowstone Quake edged the Gillette Wild 4-3 on Friday night, riding a strong second period and a late third-period goal from Tucker Sarkisian to secure the win. Yellowstone opened the scoring in the first period when Carson Joersz scored, assisted by Jordan Murray and Tagen Stout, giving Yellowstone a 1-0 lead after one. The second period featured four combined goals. Yellowstone extended the lead on the power play as Tucker Sarkisian scored from Jordan Murray and Lawson Hewitt. Gillette answered quickly when Donovan Balek put Gillette on the board, assisted by Michael McKernan and Riley Schmidt. Gillette tied the game moments later as Brady McGinn scored off a feed from Levi Ness, but Yellowstone responded to regain the lead when Shayne Smith scored, assisted by London Jett and Lucas Hill, making it 3-2 heading into the third. Gillette tied the game early in the final period when CJ Lang scored with assists from John Vail and Dylan Herold. Yellowstone answered just 11 seconds later, Tucker Sarkisian scored his second goal of the night, assisted by Carson Joersz and Cameron Beaver, securing the 4-3 final.

Badlands 2 @ Sheridan 1 (OT) - The Badlands Sabres completed a massive upset victory on the road Saturday night, going into Sheridan and taking down the Frontier Division-leading Sheridan Hawks in overtime by a final score of 2-1. Kyyan Jahner played Superman for the Sabres in Saturday’s contest, scoring both goals in the upset victory. Badlands inch just one point behind fourth-place Bozeman with the win after the Icedogs fell Saturday to Great Falls. The Hawks get a consolation point for the overtime loss – now sitting at 34 – but lose one point of ground to second-place Helena, who defeated Butte on Saturday. The teams played a tightly-contested first period, with Sheridan narrowly holding the edge in shots at 12-8. Despite the shot's advantage, Badlands found the only offense of the period. Jahner’s third of the season, just under nine minutes into the frame via the power play, gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. Similar to the first period, the middle frame saw the teams in a close battle. Sheridan sent 17 shots on Badlands goaltender Parker Kelly while the Sabres put 16 shots on Hawks goaltender Otto Reinhart. Kelly and Reinhart turned all 33 combined shots aside to send the game to the final frame with the same 1-0 Badlands lead. It took Sheridan all the way down to 3:32 remaining in the third period to finally find the equalizer. Elijah Farris’ sixth goal of the year was Kelly’s first mistake and sent the game to overtime. Just 57 seconds into overtime, Jahner ripped his third goal of the year past Reinhart to stun the Hawks and give Badlands a huge 2-1 road victory.