Friday Finals: Drillers, Generals, Ice Wolves and Wild Advance to Division Finals
Northeast 4 @ New Hampshire 2 (Northeast wins series 2-0): Matthew Muzzolilo scored twice as the Northeast Generals eliminated the New Hampshire Jr. Mountain Kings with a 4-2 win in Game 2 of the East Division Semifinals. Reese Tamburo and Connor McLachlan also found the back of the net for the Generals. Kam Young and Aiden Palmeter scored for New Hampshire. Daniel Antal was the winner in goal stopping 35 of 37 shots. Manny Pantow took the loss for the Jr. Mountain Kings as he finished with 41 saves.
Louisiana 3 @ El Paso 2 (Louisiana wins series 2-0): Colton Sebastian’s third period goal was the difference as it lifted the Drillers to a 3-2 win and helped them advance to the South Division Finals. Jackson Lord and Dominic Toews also scored in the win for Louisiana. Tyler Kowalchuk and Joseph Gutierrez netted goals for the Rhinos. Sebastian Thome needed 27 saves to help the Drillers advance while Matt Loney stopped 21 opportunities.
Norwich 2 @ New Jersey 5 (Series Tied 1-1): Cooper Willson registered a hat trick as the New Jersey Titans evened their series with the Norwich Sea Captains, winning on Friday 5-2. George Hinds and Payton Fobes also logged goals for the Titans. Sava Makarenko and Chase Leivian got on the scoresheet for Norwich. Aidan Patterson was the winning netminder as he made 45 saves. Riley Gorman was give the loss as he notched 25 saves.
Texas B 1 @ New Mexico 3 (New Mexico wins series 2-0): Three goals in the third period lifted the New Mexico Ice Wolves to a 3-1 win over the Texas Brahmas in Game 2 of the South Division Semifinals. The Ice Wolves will advance to the Division Finals where they will meet the Louisiana Drillers. Jack Arnold, Ian Mohr and Braeden Whitesell all netted goals in the final frame to help give New Mexico the series win. Sam Bailey netted the only goal for Texas. Owen Zenone was nearly perfect as he made 16 saves on 17 shots. Brendan Forden took the tough loss as he stopped 33 shots for Texas.
Alexandria 3 @ Rochester 6 (Rochester leads series 1-0): Noah Joyce registered a hat trick as the Rochester Grizzlies doubled up the Alexandria Blizzard 6-3. Spencer Klotz notched a pair of goals and an assist for Rochester while Lennard Habeck had a goal and an assist of his own. Joe Gronholz potted a pair of goals for Alexandria while Matt McIntyre also got on the scoresheet. Nick Kurtiak stopped 22 shots for the Grizzlies while Nolan LaCosse turned aside 32 shots.
Wisconsin 2 @ Wausau 3 (Wausau leads series 1-0): The Wausau Cyclones added two third period goals to take a 3-2 win over the Wisconsin Woodsmen. After a silent first period, the game’s first goal came from Anderson Brien of the Cyclones. Later on in the period, Daniel Ratkevics evened the game 1-1. In the third, Dylan Chapman got Wausau ahead 2-1. Minutes later, Isaac Baker extended the Cyclones lead to 3-1. Just over the halfway mark of the third, Hunter Nelson netted the final goal of the game for Wisconsin. Wausau netminder Collin Lemanski stopped 39 shots in the contest.
Mason City 2 @ Granite City 0 (Mason City leads series 1-0): The Mason City Toros shutout the Granite City Lumberjacks in a 2-0 final. In the second period, Dominic Thomas netted a goal to get Mason City on the board. In the third period, Jax Schauer scored to end the game with a 2-0 final. The star of the game was Mason City goalie Devin Peck. Peck was phenomenal in net posting a 31 shot shutout victory.
Oregon 2 @ West Bend 3 (West Bend leads series 1-0): The West Bend Power scored a third period goal to edge past the Oregon Tradesmen, 3-2. Oregon got ahead 2-0 in the opening frame with goals from Cam Schneider and Reid Watson. Later in the first, Riley Planey scored getting West Bend on the scoresheet, 2-1. The second period saw a game tying goal from Jace Fitzegerald. In the third, Connor O’Neal scored the game winning goal for West Bend and a 3-2 final. Power netminder Ian Kangas was great in between the pipes where he stopped 31 tries on net.
Bozeman 4 @ Gillette 7 (Gillette wins series 2-0): The Gillette Wild were dominant once again over the Bozeman Icedogs in a 7-4 final. In the first it was all Bozeman with Dominik Hauer scoring twice. The Icedogs kept on the attack to open the second with a goal from Bodie Shepardson and a 3-0 lead. Gillette answered back with Elliot Testa and Issac Young to make the score 3-2 to close out the middle frame. In the third period, Gillette went on the offensive side of the puck adding three unanswered with Cade Vogel, Jace Johnson and Isaac Young to take a 5-3 lead. Bozeman added a goal with Bryce Sturm, making the score 5-4. The Wild went back on full attack mode with Isaac Young scoring two more, for four on the night, and a final score of 7-4. Gillette goalie Cole Wheaton stopped 33 shots in the contest.
Great Falls 1 @ Helena 6 (Helena leads series 1-0): The Helena Bighorns took care of business in a 6-1 win over the Great Falls Americans. Helena came out of the gates hot in the first period with Finn Theriault, Ty Moore and Garrett Bogan all scoring for a 3-0 lead. In the second period Helena added to their lead with three unanswered goals from Braden Cunningham, Ty Moore, and Tim Mattingly, making the score 6-0. Late in the game Sebe Perez netted the lone Great Falls goal for a 6-1 final. Helena goalie Jessee Schindel was near perfect in net stopping 21 of the 22 shots he faced.
