Friday Finals: Sea Captains Sting the Buzz
by Brian Gornick & Drew Langevin
Aldiyar Irik scored twice as the Atlanta Capitals picked up their first win of the season
Long Beach 2 @ Northeast 9 - This game would be full of scoring, as Michael McLaughlin would score the opening goal that would lead to his teammate, Nicholas Brophy, adding to the lead. In the second, seven goals would be scored, Kyle Jones, Dylan Rakes, and Liam Schaentzler, would have quick strikes to give the Generals a three-goal cushion. Ryan Solari added a shorthand goal for the Generals, with Kien Stafford notching yet another goal just minutes later. Devon Fay would put the Sharks on the board, with a power play goal. Jackson Hampton continued the momentum, as the Sharks would begin to cut the lead down. Schaentzler and Aidan Anderson would have other plans, as their goals would finish the route on the Sharks.
Binghamton 2 @ Norwich 4 - Two great teams in the league would face off on Friday at RoseGarden Ice Arena. In the waning seconds of the first, Ethan Miller would notch a power play goal to take the lead heading into the intermission. Jason DiMatteo continued the power play excellence for the Buzz, as his shot would get to the back of the net. Ryan Bernard would convert on the penalty shot and later Jake Wilkerson tied this one up on the powerplay. Wilkerson would grab another goal later in the second, giving the Sea Captains their first lead. Glen Farmer and the Sea Captains would dominate the special teams matchup, as he would notch a shorthanded goal late in this one. Presley Patrin would secure the win in relief, while Dalton Elliott made 25 saves in the loss.
St. Louis 9 @ Peoria 3 - Eric Denny came out of the gates flying as he would light the lamp early, only to add another goal just minutes later on the powerplay. Still, on the major powerplay, Tyler Smith would grab a goal and Joseph LoPiccolo would join the party minutes after, giving the Jr. Blues a four-goal lead heading into the locker room. Colten Cox would put the Mustangs on the board before Jack Plager would respond. Zachary Rupich and Nathan Pleva added goals to slowly start mounting a comeback. However, this would be short-lived, as the Mustangs would have penalty trouble, leading to consecutive power play markers by Jack Reuss and Jaxson Karandjeff. Plager would notch his second of the night and Lucas Lange would get the fourth power-play goal in the final seconds. Albert Ancinec made 17 saves in relief for the Mustangs and Brooks Barofsky took the win with 17 saves as well.
Atlanta 3 @ Tulsa 1 - On Friday, both teams would look to break their losing streak and get in the win column. Atlanta would come out of the gates firing, as Aldiyar Irik would find the twine off a feed from Daniel Ripstein to give the Capitals the lead 12 seconds into the game. Irik and Ripstein would combine on another goal later in the second, to double the Atlanta lead. Caden Vos and the Oilers would cut the lead to one late in the third. Garrett Reagan would put this game on ice and cap off Atlanta’s first win of the season. Robert Pogosian would be stellar in the win with 27 saves, and on the other side, Jack Salverson would make 24 saves in the loss.
Granite City 4 @ Minnesota M 2 - The Lumberjacks would enter this matchup as winners of their last eight games, looking to extend their win streak. Coltin Wassengeso would get the party started, as his tally late in the first would give Granite City the lead. Ben Petroske would join in on the fun, scoring minutes later to double the lead. Patty Dunaiski would score yet another goal for the Lumberjacks in the first, giving them the 3-0 lead after 20 minutes. Charlie Marchand would score for the Moose in the second, and Reid Watson would put the game in reach in the third. A very late empty net goal by Easton Portner would end the comeback and secure the win for Granite City. Despite the loss, Dylan Posch would have an astonishing 45 saves.
Texas R 2 @ Texas B 5 - A Texas showdown would feature two of the best teams in the NA3HL. Jayani Benson would strike first in this contest, only for Cameron Deitsch to add another goal minutes later. Skylar Bawcom and the RoadRunners would find some life, to which Joseph Crowley would respond with a power-play goal of his own. Ryan Spreyne added another goal to the Brahmas’ lead. Kyle Mackintosh would get yet another power-play goal and once again Carter Kotrba and the Brahmas would respond. Jimmy Packee would have 43 saves in the loss, Luke Romney would cruise to a win with 21 saves.
Minnesota W 0 @ Alexandria 3 - Caleb Waller would draw first blood with his fifth goal of the season, giving the Blizzard the lead. John Dube added an insurance goal later in the first, doubling the lead. The Wilderness would have plenty of chances to get on the scoresheet in this one, as they had 10 power play opportunities. Alexandria’s Ashton Collings would score the only power-play goal of this contest, ensuring their win. Kyle Abrahamson would grab the 20-save shutout, while Jay Svaren would make 25 saves in the loss.
Mason City 8 @ Willmar 1 - The Mason City Toros ended a three game losing streak against the Willmar WarHawks, nearly shutting them out in the victory. Carter Bollinger opened the scoring halfway into the first period for his first goal, followed soon after by leading scorer Marcus Fritel for his fifth. The second period was unrelenting on the WarHawks, with three goals in the first ten minutes from Josh Giguere, Kellen Kantaris, and Stone Resch. Kantaris would find the net twice in the period, scoring his second goal 12:07 in the second, giving the Toros a 6-0 lead into the final 20 minutes of regulation. Mason Wanka on an unassisted goal in the beginning of the third period ended any chance of a Toros shutout, but the Toros struck back with two more goals less than three minutes apart from Fritel and Jameson Clark. Toros goaltender Brooks Currie was great between the pipes, stopping 27 of 28 shots faced in the victory.
Rochester 3 @ Wisconsin 5 - The Wisconsin Woodsmen defeated the Rochester Grizzlies in a battle of heavyweights. The Grizzlies drew blood first, scoring two goals a minute apart off first-timers Mason Decker and Tommy Woods. Their 2-0 lead was short lived, with Nolan Mix and Hugh Deinema each notching goals 44 seconds apart two minutes later, tying the game 2-2. It was the Woodsmen's turn to get a two goal lead in the second period, going up 4-2 with goals from Daniel Svozil and Tristen May-Robinson. The third period saw the Grizzlies working hard to cut the lead down, but only saw it extended with Mix earning his second goal of the game 1:31 into the period. Decker gave the Grizzlies some light in the final three minutes of play with his second goal, but it wasn’t enough as the Grizzlies failed to score the rest of the way. Deinema and Mix have been electric lately for the Woodsmen, as they are 10th and 22nd on the NA3HL scoring leaderboard respectively.
Wausau 6 @ West Bend 5 (OT) - A hat trick from John Kriz helped secure the overtime victory for the Wausau Cyclones over the West Bend Power. Jackson Hoem scored the first goal of the game seven minutes in, followed closely by Michael Maillette to give the Power an early 2-0 lead. Kriz 22 seconds after Maillette’s goal got his first of the game, but Hayden Vonk in the final two minutes scored the Power’s third goal, keeping their lead at two goals going into the second period. The Cyclones and Power traded goals in the period, with Kriz cutting the lead down to one 6:43 into the period, and Maillette getting his second goal less than two minutes after. Brady Knutsen took the final goal of the period for the Cyclones to make it 4-3. Just like the past two periods, Kriz scored the first goal for the Cyclones after a defensive showdown through the first thirteen minutes of the third period. Connor Dvorak followed shortly after to give the Cyclones their first lead of the game. However, with one second left in regulation, Maillette hit the back of the net to send the game into overtime and earn himself a hat trick. The overtime period didn’t last long, as Dvorak scored his second goal of the night 30 seconds into overtime.
Butte 2 @ Great Falls 4 - Three goals in the third period helped the Great Falls Americans achieve the comeback victory against the Butte Irish. The only goal of the first came from Dylin Harildstad in a back-and-forth matchup. Gavin Denis picked up his second goal of the season in the first two minutes of the second period, but Loghan Weber earned his ninth of the season late to give the Irish a 2-1 lead going into the third. Halfway into the third period, Ty O’Bey scored his 11th goal of the season to tie the match. The last five minutes of regulation were dominated by the Americans, as subsequent goals from Matt Beazley and O’Bey again gave the Americans a two goal lead with no chance of a comeback. O’Bey and Aiden Kennedy each had two points a piece, the former now with 22 points and 12 goals on the season. Kaden Rhyder in the win stopped 24 of 26 shots for the Americans. Manny Pantow, despite the loss, held strong with 45 saves against 49 shots.
Yellowstone 1 @ Gillette 9 - The Gillette Wild got a much needed victory over the Yellowstone Quake. After a rough stretch of games, going 1-2, the Wild needed to get back into the victory column with a decisive victory. The Quake scored the first goal of the game, and their only goal from an unassisted Logan Nichols. It was all Wild after that. Chase Hapka, Tai Kontrac, and Caden Graham each found the back of the net in a six minute span to give the Wild a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes. With Yellowstone tightening their defense in the second period, the Wild fought hard to extend their lead. Beau Delich and Caleb Johannes each picked up goals in the period, raising the lead to 5-1. In the final 20 minutes of play, the Wild only got ten shots on goal, but four of them hit their mark. Kontrac, Hapka, Rocco Corl, and Zach Lebens all scored in an onslaught on the Quake in the final period of regulation. Kontrac led the game in scoring with a seven point night, picking up two goals and five assists.
Badlands 0 @ Sheridan 5 - Star-powered scoring and a hat trick boosted the Sheridan Hawks to a shutout victory over the Badlands Sabres. The first period was a tightly contested matchup, with the stalemate broken by Elijah Farris scoring his sixth goal of the season, assisted by Logan Hume. Josh Serino scored his 13th and 14th goals of the season in a two minute span in the second period, with Vincent Leaf picking up his ninth a few minutes later. Serino finished the hat trick 14:52 into the period, scoring the final goal of the game late in the second period. The Hawks had three point nights from Serino, Leaf, and Elijah White, with Serino and Leaf further cementing themselves as top-5 scorers in the league. John Simon was credited with the shutout, stopping all 28 shots faced.
