Topeka 1 @ Amarillo 6 – A goal :52 seconds into the opening period lifted the Bulls past their arch rival Topeka RoadRunners 6-1, as Amarillo claimed the South Division regular season title. Tyler Deresky netted two goals for the Bulls, while Geoff Fortman, Gage Christianson, Omar Mullan, and Matt Sieckhaus added singles. Paul Berrafato had another good game in goal to post the victory. Eleven players in the Bulls line-up contributed at least one point. Defenseman Geoff Fortman fired a puck into the net to give his team an early 1-0 advantage in the 1st period. The second period was all Amarillo as it started with the great work of the line of Matt Sieckhaus, Mike Davis and Gage Christianson that combined to give the Bulls a 2-0 advantage. The trio was also instrumental in scoring later in the sequence. Forty-seconds later, it was Omar Mullan’s turn to get rolling as he wired a shot on the top shelf to make it 3-0. Geoff Fortman and Dan McNamara notched assists on the play. Gage Christianson added the third goal of that sequence when he scored in front of the net on the power play from Sieckhaus and Davis. The Road Runners came out flying in the third period and pressured the Bulls. Topeka broke the shut-out string of Paul Berrafato with a power play goal by Trace Strahle just prior to the three minute mark. After that it was Tyler Deresky’s turn to restore the Bulls dominance as he fired back to back goals 19 seconds apart. Brady Ferguson, John Rey, Joe Grabowski and Geoff Fortman added helpers. Boxscore
Wichita Falls 4 @ Corpus Christi 5 (SO) – In front of a crowd of over 4,400 fans, the Corpus Christi IceRays got a much needed two points as they salvaged a weekend series with the Wildcats. The Wildcats led 3-1 at one point early in the 3rd period on goals from Conor O’Neil, Chris Knudson and Sami Salminen. After their first goal from Rudy Sulmonte, the IceRays mounted a 3rd period comeback on goals from Brandon Smith, Eric Purcell and Joe Ginley. Ben Kucera’s goal with less than a minute remaining sent the game to extra time, where Corpus Christi had three goals in the shootout. Boxscore
Texas 8 @ Odessa 2 – Defenseman Nick Neville had four points (2 goals, 2 assists) as Texas picked up a weekend sweep in Odessa. Texas jumped out to a 5-0 lead midway through the game on goals from Mitchell McPherson, Brandon Hawkins, Jackson Leef, Justin Greenberg and Neville. Odessa responded with a couple of goals from Chris Taff and Josh Racek, but Texas would answer with three more goals from Louie Rowe, Neville and Hawkins second of the game. Aaron Davis made 28 saves in the win. Boxscore
Brookings 1 @ Aberdeen 2 – The Wings stayed hot with a 2-1 win over the Brookings Blizzard. Both Aberdeen goals came courtesy of Jordan Heller, who scored both goals on the power play in the 1st period almost 10 minutes apart from one another. Eetu Karvinen scored for the Blizzard in the 3rd period with about 11 minutes to go, but Brookings could not find the equalizer against Aberdeen goaltender Zach Nagelvoort, who made 35 saves in the win. Boxscore
Minot 1 @ Bismarck 5 – Bryan Nies made 21 saves and five different players scored for the Bobcats in their 5-1 win over the Minotauros. Levi Blom and Matt Anders scored to put Bismarck ahead 2-0, before Minot responded with a goal from Jacob Benson. However, it was all Bobcats the rest of the way out as Patrick Moore and Mike Dockry added goals in the 2nd period and Nate Repensky scored in the 3rd period to put the game on ice for Bismarck. Ryan Ruck made 43 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Austin 2 @ Coulee Region 3 – Hunter Anderson scored twice to help the Chill salvage a weekend split with the Bruins with a 3-2 win on Saturday night. It was the Bruins who scored first and early as 1:25 into the opening period CJ Smith lit the lamp. The Chill responded with two goals just :13 seconds apart as Anderson and Brady Riesgraf scored. Anderson added a power play goal in the 2nd period to make it 3-1. AJ Reid scored a power play goal in the 3rd period for the Bruins, who could not the equalizer past Tim Shaughnessy, who made 40 saves in the win. Boxscore
Wenatchee 3 @ Fairbanks 4 – The Ice Dogs pulled to within three points of 1st place Wenatchee thanks to a 4-3 win on Saturday, which completed a three-game sweep of the Wild. Fairbanks jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Jacob Hetz and Garret Clemment. Wenatchee responded with two goals in the 2nd period from Jacob Barber and Noah Nelson, but Fairbanks would also score twice more in the period on goals from Lonnie Clary and Kyle Lee. Trevor Stewart added a 3rd period goal for the Wild, but that would be all Wenatchee could get. Boxscore
Fresno 5 @ Kenai River 2 – The Monsters scored four, 3rd period goals on their way to a 5-2 win in Kenai River, which salvaged one game of their three game series. The Brown Bears opened up a 1-0 lead in the 1st period on a goal from Bryan Hodges. Fresno responded with four straight goals from Trevor Husch, Karl Andersen, Mitchell Snyder and Justin Plate. Brad LeLievre scored to make it 4-2, but Matt Salituro added an empty net goal to give the Monsters the win. Boxscore
Janesville 0 @ Soo 2 – Tyler Marble stopped all 26 shots that came his way for his 5th shutout of the season as the Soo picked up a weekend home sweep of the Jets with a 2-0 win. It took the Eagles until early in the 3rd period to grab the lead as Mike Sabatini scored, which was followed by a goal from Jared VanWormer. Matt Menta, Alex Robert, Eric Rivard and Sean Murphy picked up assists. Janesville goalie Brock Kautz played well in the loss making 43 saves. Boxscore
Springfield 1 @ Michigan 0 – It was a goaltending duel in Flint on Saturday between Springfield’s Matt Leon and Michigan’s Trevor Gorsuch as it took over 58 minutes for a goal to occur. However, when the dust settled it was a goal from Springfield’s Brett Skibba with less than two minutes remaining which would be the game winner as the Jr. Blues split their series with Michigan. Leon stopped all 31 shots in the win, while Gorsuch made 26 saves in the loss. Boxscore
Jamestown 3 @ Johnstown 2 – In front of a crowd of over 3,800 fans, the Jamestown Ironmen jumped out to a 3-0 lead before holding off a late Tomahawks rally to earn a weekend split with a 3-2 win. The Ironmen scored twice in the 1st period on goals from Luc Gerdes and Ross Pavek. Ryan Doucet added a 2nd period goal to make it 3-0. Andrew McDonald and JB Baker both scored in the 3rd period in the Johnstown comeback attempt, which fell just short. Boxscore
Port Huron 4 @ Kalamazoo 3 – Port Huron helped its playoff hopes with a 4-3 win in Kalamazoo on Saturday. The teams traded goals in the 1st period as Brett D’Andrea scored for the Falcons and Mike Fazio for the K-Wings. Port Huron then jumped out to a 3-1 lead on power play goals from Mick Bruce and Easton Powers. Mac McDonnell cut the lead to 3-2, but an empty net goal from Rick DeRosa proved to be the game winner as Brett Beauvais scored late for Kalamazoo. Boxscore
