USHL WEEKEND BREAKOUT 11/30-12/2 Junior Hockey News

Friday, Nov. 30^th

WATERLOO BLACK HAWKS [5], TEAM USA (U17) [3]

The Waterloo Black Hawks got out to an early lead and hung on to keep a 5-3 victory over Team USA (U17’s).  Griffin Ness, Joe Cassetti and Matt Koopman got the Hawks up by three goals before Chase Yoder found the net for Team USA. Koopman would go on to snag another goal before the U17’s Landon Slaggert scored. Waterloo’s Matej Blümel and Team USA’s Jacob Truscott would trade goals to finish out the game’s scoring.

Jared Moe knocked away 27 of the 29 shots he faced.

CEDAR RAPIDS ROUGHRIDERS [4], DES MOINES BUCCANEERS [2]

RoughRiders begin a new streak with their defeat of the Buccaneers 4-2 on Friday. Cedar Rapids owned the first thanks to goals from Andrei Bakanov and Aidan McDonough. Des moines answered back with a pair from Kaden Bohlsen and Matt Brown. The RoughRiders would finish out the game with goals from Jack O'Leary and Jason Polin (empty-net goal).

Blake Pietila stopped 28 of 30 shots.

TRI-CITY STORM [7], SIOUX FALLS STAMPEDE [3]

Tri-City wins big over Sioux Falls, Friday night. Filip Forsmark and Jake Crespi scored for the Storm and Brian Chambers and Jami Krannila scored for the Stampede in the first. Crespi scored another goal and Keaton Pehrson joined him for Tri-City in the second. The third began with the Storm’s grip tightening courtesy of goals from Colton Kalezic and Chase McLane. Only Sioux Falls' Artem Ivanyuzhenkov managed to score with a PPG. Ronnie Attard’s empty-net goal was the final Storm nail in the Stampede coffin.

Isaiah Saville made 28 on 31 shots in the win.

MUSKEGON LUMBERJACKS [4], GREEN BAY GAMBLERS [2]

The Gamblers fall in yet another Lumberjacks’ victory. Muskegon went up by three goals by way of Andrei Golikov and two from Nolan Sullivan. Green Bay finally got in the game in the third with a pair of consecutive goals from Nick Leitner and Noah Ganske. Alex Yakovenko provided an empty-net goal to secure the win.

Brandon Bussi blocked 22 to earn his 16^th win.

LINCOLN STARS [4], OMAHA LANCERS [2]

Rivals Lincoln and Omaha face off in another Nebraskan tilt. Shane Pinto (Stars) and Christian DiCesare (Lancers) matched each other with a goal apiece in the first. Lincoln then took control with two goals in the second thanks to Rule and Devlin McCabe. Omaha answered with an Austen Long goal to close out the second.  Matthew Barbolini got the final goal of the night for the Stars with only 49 seconds left to play.

Tyler Johnson blocked 40 of the 42 shots thrown his way.

YOUNGSTOWN PHANTOMS [3], FARGO FORCE [2] (OT)

A neck and neck battle ensued Friday between the Phantoms and the Force. Fargo opened the game thanks to a Hank Crone tally. Youngstown would answer back with Brett Murray and Craig Needham goals. Michael Mancinelli would even things up for the Force in the second period. After a scoreless third the teams went into overtime where for the second time on the night Murray found the net. This time the goal would win the game for Youngstown.

Goaltender Vinnie Purpura stopped 19 of 21 Fargo shots for the Phantom win.

CHICAGO STEEL [5], CENTRAL ILLINOIS FLYING ACES [4]

And suddenly it was a dogfight. For the second time in the week (Saturday 11/24; CHI 4:2 CIL) Illinois two USHL went toe-to-toe. Stephen Halliday struck first for the Aces nearly five minutes into the first. Not to be outdone in front of a boisterous home crowd the Steel’s Nick Abruzzese and Adam Robbins shelfed the next two goals to put Chicago up 2-1 at the end of the first. Uula Ruikka continued Chicago’s scoring to open the second. Central Illinois responded with goals from Chad Hillebrand and Philippe Lapointe. The third found Ryan Doolin tapping in a rebound to earn the Steel the go-ahead-goal. Four minutes later Matteo Pietroniro added another to increase the Chicago lead. With just a mere 27 seconds left on the board Cal Kiefiuk found the back of the net for the Flying Aces. Clock ticking and the goalie pulled the Aces final effort would fall short and the Steel would win 5-4.

Justin Robbins stopped 16 of the 20 Flying Aces shots he faced.

Saturday, Dec 1^st

TRI-CITY STORM [3], CEDAR RAPIDS ROUGHRIDERS [2]

Storm and RoughRiders fought it out in a close one that would leave the Storm on top. Ccedar Rapids scored first thanks to Ethan Wolthers. The next three goals would come from Tri-City’s Colby Ambrosio and two from Ronnie Attard. An Andrei Bakanov contribution with less than two minutes on the clock would not be enough for RoughRiders.

Jake Barczewski made 16 saves on 18 shots.

TEAM USA (U18) [3], WATERLOO BLACK HAWKS [1]

Having defeated the U17’s the night before the Black Hawks would not fare so well against the U18’s. After a scoreless first period, the U18’s dominated the second with goals from Case McCarthy, Cole Caufield and Michael Gildon. It wasn’t until the third when Joe Cassetti would get Waterloo on the board.

Spencer Knight (split time Cameron Rowe) earned the victory blocking 13 of 14-shots.

FARGO FORCE [4], YOUNGSTOWN PHANTOMS [3] (SO)

Redemption for the Force (who lost in OT the night previously) would necessitate a shootout. Fargo scored the first two goals via: Ben Meyers and Ryan O'Reilly. Carter Randklev added to the Force’s total. Brett Murray and Trevor Kuntar got the Phantoms on the board with a pair of goals before closing out the first period. The only other goal of the game would come from Youngstown’s Craig Needham in the third. Overtime would come up empty and Fargo’s O'Reilly scored the only goal of the shootout.

Ryan Bischel stopped 21 of 24 shots and was flawless in the shootout.

SIOUX FALLS STAMPEDE [5], DES MOINES BUCCANEERS [3]

A back and forth tilt would see the Stampede victorious over the Buccaneers. Tj Walsh, Mac Welsher and Matt Brown found the net for Des Moines.  Their efforts would not be enough to outdo the goals contributed by Jared Westcott Anthony, Romano, Andre Lee, Max Crozier and Austen Swankler in the Sioux Falls victory.

Jaxson Stauber denied 20 shots in the win.

DUBUQUE FIGHTING SAINTS [7], GREEN BAY GAMBLERS [1]

Dubuque comes up big at home against Green Bay. Where to begin? Dubuque obviously as they put up all seven goals before Noah Ganske responded with Green Bay’s only tally.  The Fighting Saints domination worked like this: First Period: Riese Gaber;  Second Period: Logan Pietila, Derek Contessa, James Sanchez and Gaber (his second);  Third Period: Bram Scheerer and Pietila (his second).

Matthew Thiessen stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced.

MUSKEGON LUMBERJACKS [7], MADISON CAPITOLS [1]

Another lopsided affair took place only this time it was the Muskegon Lumberjacks owning the Capitols on Madison Ice. Muskegon grabbed a big lead in the first thanks to goals from Danil Guschin, Alex Gaffney, Colby Bukes and Oliver MacDonald. The second period featured an Alex Mella goal preventing Madison from being shutout.  Jagger Joshua made certain that goal did not go unanswered with a goal of his own for the ‘Jacks. Andrei Golikov and Bobby Lynch put two more on the board in the third in the decisive Muskegon win.

Ever solid, Brandon Bussi made 27 saves on 28 shots.

CHICAGO STEEL [5], CENTRAL ILLINOIS FLYING ACES [1]

The third matchup of the week for these Illinois rivals would give the Steel the sweep. Defending their home ice the Aces only managed to see a goal from Jeremy Davidson.  Prior to that it was all Steel with goals from Jake Schmaltz, John Spetz and Nick Abruzzese. After Central Illinois got their lone mark on the game, Chicago netted two more thanks to Mathieu De St. Phalle and Christian Sarlo.

Reilly Herbst manned the pipes for the Steel in this one stopping 20 of the 21 shots he faced.

Sunday, Dec. 2^nd

MUSKEGON LUMBERJACKS [5], DUBUQUE FIGHTING SAINTS [4]

Well this only makes sense. The two teams, responsible for the week’s two biggest lopsided victories face each other in a showdown. Dubuque found the net first with a Simon Kjellberg goal. Muskegon answered with a goal from Nolan Sullivan before Dylan Jackson responded in-kind for the Saints. The Lumberjacks rallied with four straight goals from Bobby Lynch (with two), Igor Larionov and Nash Nienhuis. Dubuque would fight to stay in it with two more tallies from Dallas Tulik, and Matias Maccelli. The effort would fall short and Muskegon would leave Dubuque ice with the victory.

Brandon Bussi stopped 21of the Saints’ 25 shots.

MADISON CAPITOLS [3], CENTRAL ILLINOIS FLYING ACES [1]

Stunned from their 7-1 defeat the night prior, the Capitols save a bit of face in their sound defeat of the Flying Aces. Noah Weber opened the scoring for the Mad Caps in the first. The Aces managed to respond with a Cal Kiefiuk goal in the second. Madison finished the affair with a pair of goals courtesy of Alex Mella and Chaz Smedsrud (empty-net goal)

Joseph Lamoreaux kept 36 of the 37 shots from reaching his net.
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