Catching up on the NA3HL

This is the first of three items bringing the three Tier 3 Junior Hockey Leagues from the Midwest up to the same date as the others before providing weekly updates and hopefully previews.

Maybe even more than the other junior leagues, the NA3HL seems to be going through major facelifts every off season.  The biggest change in recent seasons was the addition of a South Division last year and now, a division called the Frontier Division.

The Frontier Division is made up of Western based teams, but the name ‘West’ was already taken for the primarily Minnesota-based teams division.

There are two divisions that are entirely based inside of the Midwest — the Central with six teams based in Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan and the West which includes five Minnesota teams and one from Iowa.

Apart from that is the East Division that has three Ohio based teams and one from Michigan along others from Pennsylvania and New York — outside of the Midwest boundaries.

The South Division, like its NAHL parent league, has one out of Topeka along with others in Texas, Tennessee and Alabama. Topeka is the lone Midwest entry there.

Following is a brief summary of games beginning on Sept. 6 through the season’s first weeks that involved at least one Midwest based team.

Sept. 6

Toledo 2 Cincinnati 0

Aaron Callan started the season in style, stopping 18 of 18 for the Cherokee for the shutout while Dominic Pisanti and Austin Turner both scored once and earned a set up on the other.

James Schroeder stopped 30 of 32 in a losing effort for the Swords.

Chicago 3 Peoria 2

The Jr. Bulldogs grabbed a 2-0 first period lead and both teams added one in the second. The Mustangs pulled one more back in the third but that was as close as they would get.

Niko Moulakelis paced the Bulldogs with a goal and assist and other goals came from Max Piper and Tyler Selteriech. Michael Paku (40:00 8/9) and Sam Harden (20:00 10/11) shared the work in goal for the Bulldogs.

Chance Homerin scored one and assisted on the other Mustangs goal, scored by Austin Wisely. Marc Hayton stopped 27 of 30 in goal for the Mustangs.

Cleveland 0 Metro 5

The Metro Jets started the season with a big shutout win led by Alex Holm who scored two and assisted on another.

Cooper McLean and Cody Jones both assisted on two while David Chavis picked up a goal and assist. Other goals came from Ellis Freatman and Zachary Koonce and Jake Stephan collected the shutout with 20 saves.

Alec Rounds stopped 30 of 35 in goal for the Jr. Lumberjacks.

Sept. 7

West Michigan 2 Metro 7

The Jets collected another big win in this one bouncing back from a 1-0 first period deficit with five unanswered second period goals and never looking back.

Devin Kelly scored a pair in the win while Andrew Sawyer, Jason Newel and Zachary Koonce each assisted on two. David Chavis, Peter Vance and Matt Dempsey had a goal and assist apiece with other goals for Chris Williams and Graham Day. Jack Stephan secured the win in goal with 25 stops on 27 shots.

Sean Smalley scored both of the Wolves goals.

Toledo 5 Cincinnati 3

The Swords charged back from an early 2-0 deficit and carried a 3-2 lead out of the first period, but the rest of the night belonged to the Cherokee. Two unanswered second period markers put Toledo in front and one more in the third put it away.

David Bogart led the Cherokee with three assists while Cody Estrel scored a pair. Tyler Zalecki, Kyler Omey and Jimmy Howell had two assists apiece with the other goals scored by Dominic Pisanti, Brody Duncan and Cane Maison. Aaron Callan (40:00 16/16) and Glen Bates (20:00 10/13) each took a turn in goal.

For the Swords, Andrew Band had two assists, Hunter Schneider a goal and a helper and single goals went to Ramsey Mayne and Marc Anderson.

Chicago 2 Peoria 3 (so)

Nathan Viberg’s fifth round goal lifted the host Mustangs to a 2-1 edge in the shootout to complete a comeback for the home team which trailed 2-0 entering the final period.

Bulldogs scored both of their goals in the first period, Dane Kalas and Niko Moulakelis pulling the trigger before third period markers by Marshall Gevers and Chance Homerin of the Mustangs forced overtime and ultimately, the shootout.

Max Piper  of the Bulldogs and Tyler Shures of the Mustangs both scored with their team’s respective first shots, then the goaltenders took over before Viberg finally ended it.

Nicholas Piech stopped 36 of38 to nail the win for the Mustangs while the Bulldogs split the work between Troy Pierce (45:00 20./22) and Sam Harden (20:00 14/14).

Sept. 12

Wisconsin 5 West Michigan 3

The Whalers opened its season on the road and rallied back from a 3-2 first period deficit with two unanswered middle period goals and another in the third to clinch the win,’

Adam Alcott and Adam Schoenfeld picked up two assists apiece for the Whalers while Joe Perrelle, Peter Henderson and Alex Anderson each added a goal and assist. Dan Addie and Kaleb Morley scored the other goals and David Volkman stopped 27 of 30 shots to pick up the win in goal.

For the Wolves it was Mike Difranco with a goal and assist with other goals coming from Josh Somers and Devin Farkas. Chase Stanford was kept busy in goal, stopping 44 of 49 shots.

Toledo 4 Metro 1

The Cherokee made the trip to Lakeland Rink in Waterford, MI and built a 3-0 cushion before the host Jets finally put one by Aaron Callan in the middle period. Another third period goal put this one away and Callan ultimately stopped 24 of 25 shots as the Cherokee improved to 3-0 on the season.

Jimmy Howell collected two assists in the game while Cam Schwartz added a goal and assist and other goals came from Michael Pisanti, Dominic Pisanti and Aaron Roschinsky.

Jason Newel notched the lone Jets goal and Stephen Wroe stopped 27 of 31 shots in goal as the host Jets fell to 2-1.

Sept. 13

Wisconsin 1 West Michigan 2

Alex Olson’s shorthanded marker just 1:38 from the final buzzer lifted the Wolves to the narrow win and a split in its weekend set with the Whalers.

Michael Tratar had the other Wolves goal and Hunter Vorva turned in a great effort, stopping 37 of 38 in goal for the Wolves.

Thomas Hanson scored the lone Whalers goal and Evan Moyse stopped 29 of 31 shots in goal.

Cincinnati 2 Southern Tier 5 

After two losses the previous weekend on home ice, the Swords hit the road to Jamestown but the job was no easier and the Xpress, playing in front of nearly 1,300 fans, collected the 5-2 win.

Teams were even at 1-1 after a period and the Xpress notched the lone middle period marker before putting the game away with a 3-1 edge down the stretch.

Jake Wasem triggered a hat trick while Justin Andriaccio scored once and added three assists for the Xpress. Elijah Williams also set up a pair and Chris Hubbard scored the other goal. Tyler Geloneck picked up the win in goal with 15 saves.

Andrew Bond scored both Swords goals and Hunter Schneider assisted on both as well. James Schroeder stopped 36 of 41 in goal for Cincinnati.

Alexandria 8 Breezy Point 5

The West Division kicked off play with a couple of games, including this one that saw the host Blizzard outlasting the North Stars at Breezy Point Ice Arena.

The hosts dominated the first period, opening up a 3-1 lead but the Blizzard grabbed the lead with three unanswered middle period goals and added three more in the first eight minutes of the third to open up an insurmountable 7-3 lead.

Jody Randall scored three of the Blizzard goals and Tom Schmidt picked up three assists while Nathan Scofield collected a goal and two assists. Nate Metenburg had two goals, Kyle Jones setting up a pair and other goals went to Eric Hewitt and Tyler Sworsky. Evan Bisek picked up the win in goal with 31 saves on 36 chances.

Jordan Carey collected a goal and two assists for the North Stars, Sean Viti scoring a pair and Joe Costello adding a goal and assist. Seyia Hayata had the other goal and Joe Licata stopped 34 of 42 in goal for the Stars.

Peoria 4 La Crosse 3

The visiting Mustangs spoiled the home debut for the Freeze at Green Island Ice Arena in La Crosse building a 3-0 lead through the first two periods before the Freeze charged back and made things interesting in the third. The Freeze pulled two back in the first 8:07 then traded late goals with the Mustangs, but could get no closer.

Chance Homerin and Thomas Kolaz led the Mustangs with a goal and assist apiece, Austin Wisely and Kai Barber also adding a goal while Marc Hayton held on to the win with 35 saves on 38 shots.

Jared Bromberg, Jacob Drinkard and Chris Skordilis had the Freeze goals with Brit Brothen assisting on a pair.

Cleveland 0 Pittsburgh 5

The Jr. Lumberjacks crossed into Pennsylvania and got a rough welcome from the Vengeance at Blade Runners USA as the hosts outshot them 31-20 and didn’t let any of the 20 break the plane thanks to shutout goaltending from Kevin O’Shea.

Leo Biore led the Vengeance with two goals while Nils Markgren and Gavin Cumings both set up a pair. Michael Straub picked up a goal and assist while Ely Lynn and Robert Ferrari notched the other goals.

Alec Rounds stopped 26 of 31 in goal for the Lumberjacks.

Minnesota 1 Granite City 6

The Lumberjacks shot down the Flying Aces in its debut at the Rhino Deck Arena East putting away a close one with four unanswered third period goals.

Tobias Gabrielson collected a goal and two assists in the win with Brady Bernhardson and Dallas Marvin collecting a goal and assist apiece. Zach Voss, David Kenney and David Horsmann each added a goal and Jesse Garcia collected the win stopping 13 of 14.

Victor Lombardi responded with the lone Flying Aces tally and Jaxson Gosnell handled 29 of 35 shots in goal.

Metro 1 Toledo 4

The host Cherokee mirrored the effort of 24 hours prior with another 4-1 edge against the Jets at Team Toledo Ice House.

David Bogart assisted on a pair while Cam Schwartz and Aaron Roschinsky both picked up a goal and assist. Tyler Zalecki and Austin Turner scored the others with Aaron Callan stopping 38 of 39 in goal for the Cherokee.

Jets lone goal came from Jacob Rutkoske and Jake Stephan stopped 40 of 43 in goal for the guests.

Chicago 1 St. Louis 3

The Jr. Blues earned a 3-1 edge against the visiting Bulldogs at the Affton Ice Rink, scoring once in each frame while Even Mitchell of the Bulldogs spoiled the shutout bid of William Hindle with his goal 4:19 into the final frame.

Other than that, Hindle stopped 42 Bulldogs shots with Tommy Heinsman and Alex Klaesner both contributing a goal and assist and the other goal going to Daniel Dunaway.

Troy Pierce stopped 29 of 32 in goal for the Bulldogs.

Sept. 13

Peoria 6 La Crosse 1

Mustangs picked up the weekend sweep at Green Island Ice Arena, three second period goals in just under seven minutes turning a close 2-1 game into a much more comfortable 5-1 edge heading to the third.

Marshall Gavers and Andrew Scofield both scored a pair, Gavers also adding two assists. Nathan Viberg scored a goal and added an assist with the other goal scored by Marc Peters, Ross Lipic stopped 40 of 41 La Crosse chances in goal for the Mustangs.

Hunter Dragosh scored the lone Freeze goal.

Chicago 4 St. Louis 6

The Jr. Blues charged back from a 3-2 deficit heading to the third with three consecutive goals. Max Piper’s goal with just under three minutes to go gave the Bulldogs a chance, but Alex Klaesner sent the Affton Ice Arena crowd home happy with his clincher on a powerplay just 61 seconds from the final buzzer.

Klaesner ended up with two goals and a helper for the Blues with Trevor Thornton, Tommy Heinzman, Daniel Dunaway and Chris Brown each adding a goal and assist. Cooper Cothran secured the win in goal with 33 saves on 37 shots.

Piper and Michael Howard both collected a goal and assist for the Bulldogs, Niko Moulakelis and Michael Ellis scoring the others.

Sept. 18

Nashville 3 Topeka 2

The Capitals opened play in the south division giving the weekend an early Thursday night start, but the visiting Nashville dampened the night with a 3-2 win in shootout.

Capitals scored the lone first period goal and Nashville responded with the lone goal in the second before both teams added one more in the third.

Igor Valko and Dylan Wattles scored the Capitals goals, both on feeds from Trey Opack. Rudolfs Kalvitis and Trent Kulczyk responded with goals for Nashville. Brett Malkmus stopped 20 of 22 in goal for Topeka and Nathan Kiebe stopped 22 of 24 in the Nashville goal.

In the shootout, a third round goal by Lainesse and another by Alex Durand in the fifth round ended things as Kiebe stopped all four of the shots he faced.

Sept. 19  

Nashville 4 Topeka 3

The Capitals had its heart ripped out in shootout once again the following night despite a great comeback that saw them pull two goals back in the final eight minutes to force the overtime and ultimately, another shootout.

Trent Kulczyk scored two and Kyle Van Wyk the other for Nashville, two of them assisted by Jacob Lainesse. Justin Ball stopped 34 of 37 in goal for the Nashville side.

Colton Sprenger, Alex Sauer and Hank Roers had the Capitals markers, Bailey Aust stopping 27 of 30 in goal.

The first round of the shootout saw goals from Kyle Van Wyk of Nashville and Dylan Wattles of Topeka and the only other goal was Jacob Lainesse’s second in two nights for Nashville in the third round.

Cleveland 3 Toledo 0

The Lumberjack scored once in each period and that was more than enough for a shutout win at Team Toledo Ice House behind the shutout goaltending of Alec Rounds who turned aside each of the 48 shots he faced.

Tyler Dalton picked up a goal and two assists in the game while John Barlow scored a pair. Aaron Callan stopped 24 of 27 in goal for the Cherokee.

Minnesota 6 Twin City 7

The Steel nearly doubled the shot total of the Flying Aces, but needed to go to a shootout to put this wild one away.

The Steel opened up a 4-1 lead in the opening period but found themselves even at 5-5 heading to the third and needing a goal in the second half of the third to force overtime and ultimately, the shootout.

After two scoreless rounds, Mikko Aho scored his third of the game for the Steel in the third round and Aharon Lara brought the shootout to a quick close with his fourth round goal.

David Becker also had two regulation goals while Jon Plaszcz set up a goal and other goals came from Jordan Pitlick and Russel Barone.

For the Aces, Bradee Thompson set up three and AJ Gullickson scored a pair. Tyler Leverty, Victor Lombardi and Jake Mullendore each added a goal and assist with Isak Larson scoring the other one.

Breezy Point 0 Granite City 6

The Lumberjacks scored three in the second and added three more in the final frame and Sam Goetsch needed just 12 saves to earn the shutout in goal at the Rhino Deck Arena East in Sauk Rapids.

David Kenney scored one and assisted on two and Dallas Marvin also set up a pair. Luke Richardson and Jared Spink added a goal and assist apiece and the other goal scorers were: Blake Phenow; Alex Groth and Blake Babineau.

Dakota McDonald handled 27 of 33 in goal for the North Stars.

Sept. 20

Cleveland 2 Toledo 3 (so)

This game was about as even as it could get as teams scored minutes apart in both the first and final periods, then played through a scoreless extra session, finally settling it in the seventh round of the shootout on a goal by Cam Schwartz for the Cherokee a the Team Toledo Ice House.

Tyler Zalecki had both regulation goals for the Cherokee and added another in the shootout while Glen Bates stopped 27 of 29 in the first four periods, then six of seven in the shootout.

Avery Huibregtse and Mitch Renstrom had the Jr. Lumberjack goals in regulation while Sam Pikus turned aside 43 of 45 in goal. The lone shootout goal for the Lumberjacks was scored by Ryker Barber.

Peoria 5 West Michigan 6 (so)

The Wolves needed a shootout to take this nail biter at The Rink in Battle Creek. It was close all of the way but in the shootout it was no contest.

Dakota Ulmer, Michael Tratar and Josh Somers all scored for the Wolves while Kyler Patenaude stopped three Mustangs shooters in a row, ending this one quick.

For Tratar the shootout tally wrapped up a big night that included another goal and three assists while Ulmer had two earlier goals. Other regulation time scores went to Taylor Burdorf and Sean Smalley.

For the Mustangs, Andrew Scofield scored a pair with Austin Wisely adding a goal and assist. Kai Barber and Chance Homerin scored the others, Marc Hayton handling 31 of 36 shots through the first 65 minutes.

North Iowa 1 Twin Cities 3

The Steel picked up a big 3-1 win over defending league champion and National runners up, North Iowa Bulls at White Bear, responding to an unanswered first period goal by the Bulls with three of its own in the middle frame.

John Plaszcz, Jared Erickson and Jay Paul scored for the Steel, David Becker assisting on two and Robbie Goor stopping 30 of 31 in goal for the win.

Ryan Durant notched the lone Bulls goal and Jordan Moran was in goal, stopping 26 of 29.

Minnesota 2 Breezy Point 5

The North Stars carried a 3-2 edge out of the first period at Breezy Point Ice Arena and it was still in place entering the third, when two more goals for the home side put this game away.

Blake Neumann picked up a goal and assist in the win with other North Stars goals for Alex Mimmack, Tyler Larwood, Felix Conrads and Nolan Magsemen. Dakota McDonald picked up the win in goal stopping 26 of 28 shots.

Jack Anderholm scored one and assisted on AJ Gullickson’s goal as well while Jaxson Gosnell stopped 27 of 32 in goal for the Flying Aces.

Metro 3 Pittsburgh 5

Cody Jones’ goal with 92 seconds left to play had the Jets within one at Blade Runners USA, but Nils Markgren’s second of the contest, with 31 seconds to play in to an empty Jets’ goal finally allowed the home team to celebrate this one.

Eli Lynn and Tyler Speis had a goal and two assists apiece for the Vengeance and Leo Biore picked up a goal and a helper while Jacob Stack picked up the win in goal with 20 saves.

Devin Kelly and Matt Dempsey scored the other Jets goals, Andrew Sawyer collecting two assists and Kameron Limburg stopping 22 of 26 in goal.

Alexandria 1 Granite City 4 

Back to back goals by Jared Spink in the opening six minutes of the final period gave the host Lumberjacks some breathing room after opening up a 2-1 margin through the first 40 minutes at Rhino Deck Arena East.

Zach Voss had the other two Lumberjacks goals and Jesse Garcia picked up the win in goal stopping 18 of 19.

Kolton Aubol notched the lone Blizzard goal and Tanner Elmore handled stopped 27 of 31 in goal for Alexandria.

Wisconsin 5 St. Louis 2

The Whalers made the trip south to Affton Ice Arena and carried leads of 2-1 and 3-2 out of the first two periods before adding some insurance near the halfway mark of the third and pounding the final nails in with an empty netter just 14 seconds from the end.

Alex Anderson led the visitors with two goals and Kaleb Morley added a goal and assist. Michael Tish and Peter Henderson also collected goals with Chris Johnson stopping 19 of 21 in goal for the Whalers.

The home team got goals from Zane O’Bryan and Chris Brown and William Hindle did all he could in goal, stopping 45 of 49.

Sept. 21

Metro 2 Pittsburgh 3

Eli Lynn’s goal with 8:34 to go stood up as the game winner at Blade Runners USA and was also the lone third period tally in the game.

Jake Stephan stopped 19 of 22 for the Jets and ultimately took the loss, but kept his team close, stopping Robert Ferrari on a penalty shot just 45 seconds after Stephan’s go ahead marker.

Nils Markgren had a goal and assist for the Vengeance and the other goal came from Michael Straub while Brian Baker picked up the win with 26 saves.

Devin Kelly and Zachary Koonce collected the Jets goals.

Peoria 2 West Michigan 3

The day after a shootout win at The Rink in Battle Creek, West Michigan earned another narrow win over the Mustangs and Michael Tratar’s second of the game with 7:03 to go stood up as the game winner. The Wolves scored one each period and Mustangs had two in the middle period to wrap up the scoring.

Brandon Benaglio had the other Wolves goal and Hunter Vorva stopped 34 of 36 shots to pick up the win in goal.

Levi Armstrong and Kai Barber scored for the Mustangs while Nicholas Piech stopped 22 of 25 in goal.

Wisconsin 4 St. Louis 5 (so)

The host Jr. Blues gained some consolation out of the weekend with a shootout win against the visiting Whalers who won the previous day at the Affton Ice Rink.

Down 3-0 early in the second, the Whalers grabbed control with its first of the game, just over a minute from the end of the second and the next three as well — taking its first lead with just 2:10 to go.

Franky Melton tied it up with starting goaltender Cooper Cothran on the bench 46 seconds later and teams were scoreless through the remainder of regulation and the overtime segment.

Cothran stopped all four shots he faced in the shootout while Trevor Thornton’s third round goal allowed Melton to have possession of both the tying goal and clinching goals with his fourth round marker.

Tommy Heinzman assisted on three for the Blues and Zane O’Bryan picked up a goal and assist. Melton also had an assist in the game and other goals came from Thornton and Alex Klaesner. Cothran turned aside 40 of 44 through regulation and overtime.

For the Whalers, Joe Perelle picked up two assists, Will Holton and Adam Schoenfeld both scoring one and setting up another. Peter Henderson and Nathan Viberg had the other goals and Chris Johansen stopped 20 of 24 shots in goal.

Twin City 5 Breezy Point 2 

Down 3-1 entering the final period, Ryan Mezera pulled one back for the North Stars with 5:01 to go, but Jared Erickson restored the two goal margin with 2:34 to go and a shorthanded empty netter by Jake McAfee 28 seconds shy of the buzzer clinched it for the Steel at the Breezy Point Ice Arena.

Kyle Wagner had two goals earlier for the Steel and Mikko Aho scored the other while also adding an assist. Aharon Lara and Jon Plaszcz both had two assists and the win went to Darien Jones in goal with 28 saves.

Blake Newmann had the other North Stars goal.