Northern Cyclones 4, Worcester Railers JHC 0
Ethan Jourden made 24 saves for the shutout, and Taylor Casey and Justin Scarbrough each had a goal and an assist. Julius Andrekus stood tall as well in the Worcester net with 49 saves on 51 shots.
Columbus Mavericks 7, Battle Creek Kernels 1
Giovanni Valentine scored twice and added an assist, and Caden Cavalieri scored a goal and three assists to help the Mavericks advance. Brady Gedman, Kobe Rickabaugh and Graham Wood all had multiple point games. Jonah Little made 21 saves on 22 shots for the win. Columbus will face Toledo in the second round.
Minnesota Mullets 2, Dells Ducks 1
The Mullets started their playoff series off with a close 2-1 win against the visiting Dells Ducks in the 4v5 series. Mitchell Nelson scored the third period GWG, and in net, Kody Niederkorn stopped 32 of 33 shots.
Red Bank Generals 4, Mercer Chiefs 3
Red Bank was powered by Braxton Singleton’s 60-save performance on 63 shots by Mercer, as well as Kevin Pico with a goal and three assists and Maddox Sheehan with a goal and two assists.
West Chester Wolves 3, Rockets Hockey Club 1
In Saturday night’s game, Philip Gamper scored twice for the Wolves and Danil Nikiforov assisted on both goals. Both goaltenders were impressive, with Elijah Wiltshire stopping 35 of 36 shots, while the Rockets’ Timothy Miller made 32 saves on 35 shots.
Springfield Pics 4, Boston Junior Bruins 0
Troy Huber registered the Pics’ series-clinching shutout in net with 27 saves, and on the offensive side, Adam Botlo, Ryan Zabchuk, Justin Hooper and Maxwell Christiansen all had multiple points. Alexandre Perrin was impressive as the Junior Bruins goalie with 39 saves on 43 shots.
Charlotte Rush 4, Carolina Jr. Hurricanes 1
Levente Pakozdi scored a goal and two assists for Charlotte, Beau Depencier had a goal and an assist and Marshall Beaker registered two helpers. Rocco Stolz stopped 42 of 43 shots in net for Charlotte, and Ryan Kalina stopped 38 of 42 for Carolina. Charlotte moves on to the Winners Bracket of the Southeast’s double elimination tourmanent.
Universel Sherbrooke 3, Kingston Wranglers 1
Sherbrooke closed out its series Saturday against the Kingston Wranglers, winning the game 3-1 and the series 2-0. Sherbrooke, as the No. 3 seed advancing will face the Hawkesbury Knights in the next round.
Marc-Olivier Michaud scored the game-winning goal for Universel, while Simon Thibault made 31 saves on 32 shots for the win. Kingston’s Aristidis Panoskaltsis was impressive in making 47 saves on 50 shots.
Islanders Hockey Club 4, Boston Jr. Rangers 3 (OT)
The Islanders swept their 1v8 series by winning 4-3 in overtime on Saturday night against the Boston Jr. Rangers. Adam Hadi scored the #OTGWG and series-winner. Dylan Reynolds had a goal and an assist, and Jack Roberts registered two assists. Jake Henry stopped 26 shots in net out of 29 total. The Jr. Rangers’ Angel Spinneli stopped 51 of 55 in a strong performance. The Islanders will face the No. 4 South Shore Kings in the second round. The No. 2 Springfield Pics will play the No. 3 Northern Cyclones.
Potomac Patriots 4, Hampton Roads Whalers 0
The Patriots pulled out a 4-0 shutout win over the Hampton Roads Whalers on Saturday night. Both goalies were powerful in their performance. Viggo Boston made 43 saves for his shutout, and Timo Johner made 47 saves on 51 shots. Oskar Jungarve scored twice and Yovanni Flores earned three assists. Potomac will face Charlotte in the Winners Bracket game Sunday.
Minnesota Squatch 12, Isanti Outlaws 0
Grant O’Connor had a 2-2-4 line, Jay Ellingson put up a 1-3-4 line and Matthias Mader had four assists to give the Squatch three players with four points. Many other players for Minnesota also had multiple point games and Andrew Finneman stopped all 27 shots he faced for a shutout to push the top-seeded Squatch onward in the North Division playoffs.
Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings 6, Steele County Blades 2
The Riverkings will face the Northwest Express in the next round after earning a sweep against Steele County. Felix Ahlstrand scored a goal and two assists, and four players had multiple points – Bryce Cooper, Emil Obstfelder, Marcus Andersson and Olivier Bolduc. Guillaume Turcot stopped 19 of 21 shots for the win. For Steele County, Noah Hacker made 49 saves on 54 shots for Steele County.
Elmira Impact 4, P.A.L. Jr. Islanders 3 (OT)
Alexander Belcher scored the OT winner, Bates Ling had three assists, and each of Michael Bottrell, Tyler Corbett and Karson Grainey had a goal and an assist. In net, Riley Gorman made 34 saves on 37 shots. For the Jr. Islanders, Avery Hite stopped 55 of 59 shots.
Northwest Express 3, Minnesota Blue Ox 2
Otis Berge started the Express’ comeback from a 1-0 deficit to an eventual win, and Brenden Wolff put up two assists. Rylan Freshwater posted 32 saves on 34 shots for Northwest, and the Blue Ox’s Jackson Clough made 33 saves on 35 shots.
Chicago Cougars 6, Decatur Blaze 2
Aiden Middendorf scored two goals and added two assists for Chicago in their playoff opener, while Alexander Musyakevych had three assists and Nikolay Ouriashev scored a goal and two assists. Cameron Boville stopped 20 of 22 shots in net.
Seattle Totems 5, Bellingham Blazers 2
For Seattle, the USPHL Premier’s All-Time Leading Scorer Roman Wolynec scored two goals, and he added one assist. Daniel Radkevich had two assists and Kori Belanger had a goal and an assist. Cole Fennema made 16 saves for Seattle and Emmett Dixon made 52 saves for Bellingham. The Totems advance to face the league regular season champion Vernal Oilers in the Northwest Championship Series.
Vernal OIlers 11, Iron County Yeti 0
Roni Alanko led the way for the Oilers as they defeated the Iron County Yeti by a decisive score to advance to the Northwest Division Championship series against the Seattle Totems.
