Saturday Scores: Fox Cities Steals the Victory in OT

Provided by Nate Porath (@PorathPhoto)

West Bend 8 @ St. Louis 1 - They say that pressure makes diamonds, and if so, the West Bend Power made quite a few diamonds against the St. Louis Jr. Blues. With 8 goals on 44 shots, both of which were spread throughout the game, West Bend kept up a constant state of pressure. The Jr. Blues still managed a goal, with Chase Kozma lighting the lamp in the first period. The Power’s ensemble of goals came from many hands; Wyatt Emmett, Brandon Behke and Rece Beckwith in the first, Kinnick Kehoh, Cole Craft e Adam Sexton in the second, and Shaun Paulson in period three. And even in the face of all the scoring, West Bend’s Crew Staudacher still managed to finish with a 0.963 save percentage. 

New Hampshire 8 @ Garden State 2 - The visiting New Hampshire Jr. Mountain Kings rolled into The Ice Palace and took the Garden State Gamblers lunch money. Garden State’s Stephen Davis netted the lone two goals for Garden State as they ran out of poker w. The Jr. Mountain Kings, conversely, settled nicely into The Ice Palace, with four scores from Talon Schackman leading the charge. 

New Jersey 2 @ Long Beach 4 - The Long Beach Shack hosted the New Jersey Titans in the Long Beach Metropolitan Arena. The Titans, who totaled just 5 shots through the first two thirds of the game, finally punched their ticket with a pair of scores in the final period of play, courtesy of Dom Marnauza and Ian McGrath. The Sharks, meanwhile, already had their goals accounted for, with Eli McCarthy and Tate Cakir both scoring in the first, before Long Beach’s Anthony Valeri and Rhett Micall each scored to give the Sharks their third and fourth goals. In a game that saw both teams control long stretches of action. 

Austin 8 @ Atlanta 1 - The Austin Ice Bats visited the Atlanta Capitals, and escaped with a monstrous Halloween win. Austin’s netminder, Michall Ocnaschek, was stellar, allowing just one goal on 20 shots attempts against him. The Ice Bats offense, meanwhile, was more productive. Said offense was led by two goals each from the sticks of Gunnar Hillman and James Parnell, and others did join the festivities on All Hollow’s Eve. 

Granite City 5 @ Minnesota W 2 - A multi-goal performance and a strong special-teams effort carried the Granite City Lumberjacks past the Minnesota Wilderness in a 5-2 road victory at Historic Eveleth Hippodrome. Ethan Jacobson opened the scoring short-handed for Minnesota early in the first period, but Noah Betker answered for Granite City on the power play just minutes later. The Lumberjacks took control in the middle frame behind tallies from Connor Posthumus and Vince Murn to build a cushion. Prentiss Maier extended the lead early in the third period before Antony Eertmoed pulled the Wilderness within reach. Ashton Stoll sealed the win with an empty-net goal in the final minutes of regulation. Goaltender Griffen Bunnell turned aside 26 of 28 shots to earn the victory in net, while Cal Keating recorded 43 saves for Minnesota.

Willmar 4 @ North Iowa 7 - A lethal power play powered the North Iowa Bulls past the Willmar WarHawks in a 7-4 victory at Mason City Arena. Alex Heinkel set the tone early in the first period for North Iowa, and the Bulls erupted in the middle frame with four goals, featuring tallies from Grant Harder, Christian Plaga, Boone Theiler on a short-handed effort, and Trenton Impens on the man advantage. Willmar fought back with goals from Maddux Domagala and Wyatt Garvey, but North Iowa maintained its momentum in the third period. Plaga cashed in on another power play and Wyatt Hauer struck twice, while Logyn Kaufman added an empty-net goal to secure the win. Brock Devlin stopped 24 shots to pick up the victory between the pipes, while Tate Metcalf finished with 25 saves for the WarHawks.

Minnesota Vulcans 7 @ Alexandria 3 - Cooper Heihir and Wyatt Mineheine each tallied twice to lead the Minnesota Vulcans past the Alexandria Blizzard in a 7-3 road victory at Runestone Community Center. Cooper Hehir opened the scoring for Minnesota in the first period, but Malloy Lomheim and Preston Gamer traded tallies to keep the contest close. The second period featured explosive special teams play as Mineheine struck twice on the power play for Alexandria, while Heihir, Grady Miller, and Wyatt Hoepfl answered for the Vulcans, with Hoepfl scoring a short-handed goal. Noah Osland and Heihir added insurance tallies in the third frame to put the game away. Goaltender Gavin Bajda turned aside 28 shots to secure the win, while Bode Ekblad recorded 32 saves for the Blizzard.

Bayou State 1 @ Texas 6 - Kristopher Pope put on a dominant offensive display with two goals and three assists to lift the Texas RoadRunners over the Bayou State Rougarou in a 6-1 victory at Spirit Ice. Pope opened the scoring early in the first period, and although Cooper Saari answered for Bayou State, Cole Sweitzer struck right back to give Texas a lead they would not relinquish. The RoadRunners pulled away in the middle frame with three unanswered goals from Benjamin Deutsch, Quinn Mayo, and Memphis Palmer Gummer. Pope capped off his stellar night with his second tally of the contest in the third period. Goaltender Brenden Patterson stopped 18 of 19 shots to earn the victory in net, while Alex Doyer turned aside 34 shots for the Rougarou.

New Mexico 3 @ Texas Brahmas 4 (OT) - Joshua Reaska played the hero in sudden death, burying the game-winner to lift the Texas Brahmas over the New Mexico Ice Wolves in a thrilling 4-3 overtime thriller at NYTEX Sports Centre. Jason Fatta opened the scoring for Texas on the power play in the first period, but New Mexico responded swiftly with tallies from Bryson Quimby and Hunzeker Piersimoni. Xavier Othon and John Scharf struck back for the Brahmas before the intermission to reclaim the lead. Michael Manchik leveled the score for the Ice Wolves in the second period, sending a physical contest into extra hockey. Reaska ended the thriller with a clutch goal three minutes into the extra session. Jacob Brumm stopped 27 shots to secure the victory in net, while Caden Meringa recorded 32 saves for New Mexico.

Rochester 3 @ Fox Cities 4 (OT) - Fox Cities earned its second win of the season with a hard-fought 4-3 overtime victory over Rochester on Saturday night. The first period saw Rochester outshoot Fox Cities 16-3, but neither team found the back of the net heading into the first intermission. Midway through the second period, Owen Feary opened the scoring for the Forge after a strong forecheck forced a turnover behind the net. Feary found the puck in the slot and buried his chance to give Fox Cities a 1-0 lead. Rochester answered late in the period as leading scorer Konnor Golcan found a rebound and slipped it past Eli Graf to tie the game. The third period featured plenty of offense, beginning with Taevon Welle giving Rochester a 2-1 lead with 10:54 remaining after finishing a rebound on a three-on-one opportunity. Fox Cities responded shorthanded as Maxim Bachmann intercepted a pass at the blue line and finished a breakaway chance to even the score at 2-2. The Forge then took the lead when newcomer Hayden Weir forced a turnover in front of the net and scored his first point in his first game with the team. Rochester refused to go away, tying the game with just 36 seconds remaining as Jace Jordan buried a rebound off a shot from the blue line to force overtime. Bachmann completed the comeback for Fox Cities in the extra period, deking around a defender before roofing the puck over Christian Hill for the game-winning goal and a 4-3 victory on home ice.

Bozeman 3 @ Gillette 1- Bozeman traveled to Spirit Hall and earned a 3-1 road victory over Gillette. The Wild opened the scoring early as Maguire Dewees poked a rebound past the goaltender to give Gillette a 1-0 lead. Bozeman responded late in the first period when Hayes Masopust finished a two-on-one opportunity, scoring through the five-hole to tie the game heading into the second. The Icedogs took the lead midway through the period as Seth Hanson buried a rebound after a shot from center bounced off the pad of Gillette goaltender Blake Belden. Belden made several key saves throughout the night to keep the game within reach, holding Bozeman to a one-goal lead late into the third period. In the final seconds, Jacob Harasek cleared the puck the length of the ice, and it rolled into the empty net to seal the 3-1 victory for Bozeman. Both goaltenders turned in strong performances, with Belden stopping 35 shots for Gillette and Jack Ryan making 26 saves for the Icedogs.

Helena 9 @ Butte 0 - Helena traveled to Butte, Montana, and earned a dominant 9-0 road victory over the Irish. Joey Hemr and Austin Uecker led the way offensively for the Bighorns, with both players recording hat tricks. Hemr opened the scoring midway through the first period with a wrist shot from center that beat Butte goaltender Zackary David. Uecker followed shortly after, tipping a shot from the blue line through the five-hole to give Helena a 2-0 lead. Early in the second period, Uecker scored his second goal of the game on the power play with a wrist shot to extend the lead to three. Hemr added another goal shortly after, breaking through a battle along the boards before finding the back of the net to make it 4-0. Mason Blair extended the lead late in the period, roofing his own rebound after a wraparound attempt. Hemr completed his hat trick in the third period by burying a rebound off a shot from the blue line. Braeden Davis added another goal minutes later, tapping in a shot from John Freitas to make it 7-0. Uecker then completed his hat trick with another power-play goal from the blue line before Kade Paraeja scored the ninth and final goal of the game. Helena earned the shutout behind a 24-save performance from Oliver Skog, while David stopped 64 shots for Butte.

Badlands 3 @ Yellowstone 4 - Yellowstone defended home ice with a 4-3 victory over Badlands. The scoring started in the opening minute as Dayton Niedart buried a rebound off a shot from the blue line to give the Sabres an early lead. Mason Chapman answered late in the first period, finishing a pass from the defensive zone for a breakaway goal to tie the game for Yellowstone. Bentley Michalek broke the deadlock at 9:46 of the second period when an intended pass deflected off a Quake defender and found its way into the net. Five minutes later, Carson Joersz tied the game for Yellowstone after taking advantage of a defensive mistake in the neutral zone to create a breakaway opportunity. The Quake then took their first lead of the game as Hunter Hilde beat Parker Kelly through the five-hole with a shot from the blue line to make it 3-2. Badlands responded quickly after a turnover in the Yellowstone zone led to a two-on-one opportunity, which Rhylan Olson finished with a one-timer to tie the game at 3-3. The teams remained even until the closing stages of the third period, when Grady Perry finished a pass on a two-on-one opportunity to give Yellowstone a 4-3 lead. The Quake held on to secure the home victory.

Great Falls 2 @ Sheridan 5 - Sheridan earned a 5-2 home victory over Great Falls. Reid Lezubski opened the scoring early in the first period, finishing a pass from behind the net to give the Americans a 1-0 lead. The score remained unchanged until early in the second, when Eli Farris tied the game for Sheridan with a power-play goal during a five-on-three advantage, beating Jaxon Kruzich from a sharp angle. Midway through the period, Tate Haugenoe won a race to the puck after an errant pass and sent it across to Caden Gleason, who finished with a one-timer to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead. Frank Barncord extended the advantage with a power-play goal, tipping a shot from the blue line to make it 3-1. Barncord scored again shortly after, stealing the puck from a defender at the blue line before beating the goaltender on a breakaway to extend Sheridan's lead to three. Max Kruger added another goal late in the period, finding a pass in the slot to give the Hawks a 5-1 advantage. Great Falls responded late in the third as Wyatt Rust blasted a shot from the right hash marks past Sheridan goaltender Otto Reinhart. The Hawks protected their lead for the remainder of the game to secure the 5-2 victory. Reinhart turned in a strong performance in net, making 63 saves to help Sheridan earn the win.