Friday Finals: Long Beach Takes Down New Hampshire

Provided by Brandon Lauchnor

Pelham 6 @ Bayou State 1 -  The Pelham Prowlers defeated the Bayou State Rougarou 6-1 on Friday night. The Prowlers found four straight goals in the first period. Benjamin Yerxa continued the scoring momentum in the second as he opened that period up with a goal. Bayou State would finally answer when Kamdyn Smith tallied their only goal of the game. William Hartle of the Prowlers sealed the deal in the third with one final goal, leaving the score 6-1.

Norwich 7 @ New Jersey 6 ()T) - In a thrilling showdown at the Middletown Sports Complex, the Norwich Sea Captains edged the New Jersey Titans with a 7-6 overtime victory. The action was relentless from the start, with the Titans striking first at 15:28 of the first period, courtesy of Nate Ashkinazi, assisted by Lincoln Walters and Justin Saban. Just later, Kane Clark doubled the lead at 9:28, followed swiftly by another goal from Clark at 8:43, showcasing his offensive prowess. Norwich rallied back in the second period, with Louis Allanson netting a power-play goal at 17:37. Henry St. Germain answered for the Titans at 12:30 while Tyler Calkins narrowed the gap to 3-2 at 12:11, and minutes later, Royce Teall continued to help Norwich’s comeback efforts with another power-play goal. Lincoln Walters ended the third period with a goal at 5:26 leaving the score 5-3. Norwich continued to battle back with two goals opening the third. Kane Clark attempted to secure the win for the Titans with a goal at 4:24, but just seconds later Norwich would force the game into overtime, where Allanson would score the final game winning goal, completing a hat trick.

Long Beach 6 @ New Hampshire 3 - The Eastern Showdown ended with Long Beach taking the win over New Hampshire with a score of 6-3. Eli McCarthy would score the only goal of the first period for the Sharks. Peyton Dahlke extended the Sharks lead at 8:54 of the second, before the Jr. Mountain Kings had a power play opportunity, where Talon Schackmann found the back of the net. James Steinberg ended the second period with a goal at 0:11. The third period was a back and forth battle in the beginning, with the Sharks and the Jr. Mountain Kings each finding two goals. In the end, the Sharks capitalized on two power plays to secure the win 6-3.

St. Louis 3 @ Peoria 5 - The Peoria Mustangs secured a 5-3 win over St. Louis. Collin Woods and Brendan Miller got things started early for the Mustangs when they tallied the opening scores. The Jr. Blues would finally answer in the second period when Jack Vahle found the back of the net. Landen Smith would respond and find the back of the net at 2:55 remaining in the second. Miller scores his second goal of the night on a power play to end the second period. St. Louis tried to answer in the third and gear for the comeback when Robert Kelly and Stephen Craig scored early in the third. Hayden Gray extended Peoria’s lead and sealed the win with a power play goal to round out the game. 

Alexandria 5 @ Minnesota 4 - The Alexandria Blizzard and the Minnesota Wilderness went back and forth in an exciting showdown. Alexandria came out on top with a final score of 5-6. Parker Lycke started things off early for the Blizzard when he found a goal at 15:39. Marcus Anttila answered for the Wilderness only minutes later with a power play goal, evening up the score at the end of the first. The Blizzard would score twice more in the second, while the Wilderness found one goal during a power play opportunity. The third period was a race to the finish as the Blizzard went in up by one, and scored twice early in the third. Minnesota tried to answer by finding goals at 10:36 and 2:10, but the Blizzard hung on for the win. 

Fox Cities 4 @ Wausau 2 - The opening goal came at 15:40 of the first period when Joel Anderson of the Cyclones capitalized on a power play, assisted by Maksim Salienko. Just under eight minutes later, at 07:55, Maxim Bachmann of the Forge responded, assisted by Egor Kondratev, leveling the score. The second period saw Harrison Howell put the Forge ahead at 05:56 with a power-play goal, assisted by Maxim Bachmann and Cole MacDonald. As the third period unfolded, Jarek Solak of the Forge further extended the lead with a power-play goal at 17:33 and 14:05. Joel Anderson tried to rally the Cyclones with a goal at 03:10, assisted by Salienko and Brady Schutte, but the Forge's defense held strong, ending the game 4-2. 

Granite City 9 @ Willmar 2 - The Granite City Lumberjacks put on a show against the Willmar WarHawks, cementing a 9-2 win over them. The first period was a scoring frenzy. Granite City put together three back to back goals to start the game, before Jesse Hendrickson answered for the WarHawk at 13:10. Granite City would again find three back to back goals only minutes apart before Willmar ended the first period with a goal from Wyatt Garvey. Cam McCormack scored the only goal of the second. Kaden Larson of Granite City would end the game with two goals in the third period, sealing the win for Granite City. 

Phoenix 4 @ West Texas 3 - The Phoenix Inferno held on for a 4-3 win over West Texas on Friday night. The exciting matchup started off strong when West Texas found an early power play opportunity at 15:16. The Wranglers extended the lead when Easton Massengale found the back of the net only minutes later. Phoenix would answer right before the 1st period ended when James “JC” Greenwood capitalized on the power play to leave the Inferno trailing by 1. The second period is when the Inferno really started to light things up when Nicholas Nunez and Jacob Gabrick found back to back goals, taking the lead. Gabrick would open the third with his second goal of the night, extending the Inferno’s lead. Gunnar Vick of the Wranglers would try to start the comeback efforts but they couldn’t put out Phoenix’s flames, as they ended the game on top by 1.

Rochester 3 @ Wisconsin 4 (SO) - The Wisconsin Woodsmen took the win over the Grizzlies after a gritty battle all night with a shootout. Both the Grizzlies and the Woodsmen found goals in the first period. The Grizzlies would open the second when Chayton Sarles found the back of the net early in the period. The Woodsmen went two for two back to back in less than a minute when Jackson Haupt found the back of the net and Ozbej Muzan scored on a power play. Trenton Impens ended the second period with a goal for the Grizzlies, tying up the score. Both teams remained scoreless in the third period and during the overtime period. Parker Holloway of the Woodsmen would secure the win in the shootout for the Woodsmen. 

Tulsa 0 @ Texas 7 - The Texas Brahmas shutout the Oilers with a final score of 7-0. The Brahmas were able to find the back of the net in all three periods. Dayne Kauffmann and Jayani Benson got things started off in the first period for the Brahmas. Owen Cambell would open the second period with a goal, and Titan Horton would find two back to back goals of his own in the second. Benjamin Humphreys and Jason Fatta would end the game with two goals in the third, cementing the win. Gavin Erickson ended the game with a perfect save percentage for the Brahmas, earning himself a shutout. 

New Mexico 4 @ Oklahoma City 0 - The New Mexico Ice Wolves shutout the Oklahoma City Warriors, 4-0, inside Outpost Ice Arena, Friday.  The Ice Wolves struck nine minutes into the contest as Sammy Albano lit the lamp to give New Mexico a 1-0 lead. Nolan Dufour extended the lead to 2-0 with two minutes remaining in the second period. Hunzeker Piersomi gave the Ice Wolves a 3-0 lead. Twelve minutes into the third period, Grant Sexton doubled the New Mexico lead to give the Ice Wolves a 4-0 advantage. In net,  Oklahoma City’s Tyler Miller made 26 saves in the loss. New Mexico’s Chase Rayburn turned aside all shots on goal to earn himself a shutout.

Helena 6 @ Great Falls 2 - The Helena Bighorns bested the Great Falls Americans, 6-2, inside Steed Arena, Friday. Helena took a 1-0 lead as Chase Berg found the back of the net with three minutes left in the first period. Later in the frame, Braden Davis added onto the Helena lead to make the score 2-0. Davis netted his second goal of the game to give the Bighorns a 3-0 lead. Ty Schell extended the lead to 4-0 with just under a minute left in the second period. One minute later, Jacob Weber got Great Falls to make the score 4-1. It was Joey Hemr who responded 10 minutes later to take a 5-1 lead before the third period. Late in the third period, Blake Chapman gave the Bighorns a 6-1 advantage. Cooper Palazzolo lit the lamp for the first goal of the third period for a 6-2 Helena lead. In net, Helena’s Oliver Skog made 19 saves in the win. Great Fall’s netminder JD Stephens turned aside 33 shots in the loss.

Badlands 7 @ Yellowstone 6 (OT) - The Badlands Sabres defeated the Yellowstone Quake, 7-6, in overtime inside Roosevelt Ice Arena, Friday. Badlands took a 2-0 lead as Dayton Niedert and Matthew Cordis lit the lamp. Yellowstone had a three-goal flurry later in the period when Grady Perry (2) and Carson Joersz found the back of the net to take a 3-2 lead. The Sabres knotted up the game at 3-3 when Rhylan Olson found the back of the net with just under two minutes left in the second period. Yellowstone received goals from Shayne Smith and Cameron Beaver in the second period. The Sabres responded with three unanswered goals courtesy of Gage Behrens, Maddox Harn and Olson to take a 6-5 lead prior to the second intermission. In the third period, Chance Bryson tied the game at 6-6 with nine minutes left in regulation. Oliver Giles netted the game-winning goal for Badlands in the extra session.  In net, Parker Kelly made 26 saves in the win for the Sabres. Damen Baxter made 34 saves in the loss for the Quake.

Gillette 4 @ Sheridan 1 - The Sheridan Hawks bested the Gillette Wild, 4-1, inside Spring Hall Ice Center, Friday. Gillette took a 1-0 lead 11 minutes into the first when Maguire Dewees opened up the scoring for the Wild. One minute later, Anze Gudino knotted up the contest 1-1 for Sheridan. Eight minutes into the second period, Max Krueger gave the Hawks a 2-1 lead before the second intermission. In the third period, Tate Haugenoe gave the Hawks a 3-1 lead with 15 minutes remaining in regulation. Luke Lebens concluded the scoring for Sheridan securing a 4-1 win. In net, Sheridan’s Otto Reinhart made 18 saves in the win. Gillette’s Andrew Knox made 35 saves and was credited with the loss.

Bozeman 4 @ Butte 2 - The Bozeman Icedogs beat the Butte Irish, 4-2, inside Bottcher Arena, Friday. Bozeman took a 1-0 lead seven minutes into the first period as Preston Wight gave the Ice Dogs a 1-0 lead. Three minutes later, Bryce Hodges tied the game a 1-1 for the Irish late in the first period. In the second period, Bozeman took a 2-1 as Lex Steckelberg tallied the second goal of the game for the Icedogs. With two minutes remaining in the third period, Keegan Adams tied the game at 2-2 for the Irish. The Icedogs extended the lead to 3-2 with Steckelberg tallying his second goal of the game and 10th of the season. Bozeman netted the final goal of the game as Matthew Stamp scored his first goal of the season to secure the Icedogs a 4-2 victory.  In net, Butte’s Zackary David made 29 saves in the loss. Bozeman’s Jack Ryan turned aside 20 shots and received the win.