FALL League Recap: Day One Brought the Action and High Intensity

Day one of the North American Prospects Hockey League (NAPHL) FALL League is underway and the competition is in full swing. Teams at both the 16U and 18U levels kept the energy high for the first day of comeptition, click here to see all the scores!

18U:

Minot 6 @ Amarillo 8 - Behind Brady Robinson’s hat trick, the Amarillo Wranglers defeated the Minot Minotauros, 8-6, on Friday night  in Blaine, Minnesota. In addition to Robinson’s three goals, teammate Cole Pettengill and Minot’s Theo Liddicoat found the back of the net twice.  Pettengill also notched two assists.  The Wranglers Logan Doten and Easton Borsheim each added a goal and two assists in the win.  Amarillo took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission before the Minotauros tied the contest on goals from Liam Krengel and Noah Kurth in the second period.  Amarillo re-took the lead with three goals in the final 4:47 of the second period, taking a 5-2 lead into the second intermission.  Robinson broke a 6-6 tie with 10:12 remaining in the third period with the eventual game winning goal and he rounded out the scoring, finishing his hat trick with an insurance goal with 0:43 remaining.  Both teams had 24 shots on goal, with Amarillo’s Owen Swendra making 16 saves and TJ Neill making 18 saves for Minot. Amarillo would finish the day with a 2-0 record while Minot would drop both games and go 0-2 on the day.

Wisconsin 7 @ Oklahoma 5 -  Six Windigo players finish with a goal as the Wisconsin Windigo took down the Oklahoma Warriors 7-5 on Friday night in Blaine, Minnesota. Along with Devin Newland’s two goals and one assist, teammates Trent Peterson, Rowan Cline, Niklas Kohlhepp, and Kael Hanaman also found the net and contributed at least one assist. Ryker Hovland and Ryan Holland also each added one assist. The Oklahoma Warriors saw Jacob Thomas net two goals, and Ryan Cudo found three teammates, leading him to finish the game with three assists. Five other players also registered an assist. The Wisconsin Windigo took a commanding 4-1 lead into the first intermission. Each team would net another in the second period as the Windigo took a 5-2 lead back to the locker room. The Warriors came out hot as they would score the first two goals of the period, one by Brock Burba and the other by Roman Knight, cutting the lead to one with 13:48 left in the game. Devin Newland would get Wisconsin on the board, netting one with 12:38 left in the game. This would ultimately become the game winner. In the final ten minutes, each team would score one. Kael Hanaman would drop one in for the Windigo, while Jacob Thomas would find the back of the net for Oklahoma. Ryan Cudo would assist on the play, giving him his third of the game. Weston Borstad would stop 16 shots for the Warriors. The Windigo saw two goalies get on the ice. Collin Gamble would stop 10 shots, and Samuel Hass stopped 8 of the shots he saw. Wisconsin would finish the day going 2-0, while Oklahoma would go 1-1 on the day.

16U: 

Odessa 5 @ Minnesota W 4 (OT) - In a high-scoring opening period, the Odessa Jackalopes were able to battle back to an overtime victory during day one of the FALL Opener. The contest opened with Jack Blair opening the scoring for the Jackalopes with a tally in the first four minutes of the contest. The lamp would continue to be lit by Odessa with back-to-back goals by the Jacks in the span of 20 seconds midway through the frame. First, Jameson Muench would score his first of the weekend, with Mason McDonald notching his first goal of the contest. The Wilderness would cut away at the deficit with back-to-back goals in the second-half of the opening period. First, Vincent Panichi would find twine for the Wilderness, and then Mikko Karjala would score with 76 seconds left in the opening frame. In the middle frame, the Jackalopes would add to their lead with a goal by Hendrix Vitense. Seven minutes later in the contest, Minnesota would cut the deficit once again, this time with a goal by Cade Nelson. In the final period of regulation, the Wilderness would even the score thanks to a power-play tally by Jax Colter midway through the period. As the contest was forced into overtime, the Jackalopes would deliver the victory thanks to Charles MacDonald scoring in game-winning fashion for Odessa.

Fairbanks 2 @ St. Cloud 3 (OT) - In a tight back-and-forth battle, the St. Cloud Norsemen skate to an overtime victory on day one of the FALL Opener. The contest opened with St. Cloud lighting the lamp first with a goal in the opening frame by Samuel Hansen. Moving into the middle period, the Ice Dogs took the lead with back-to-back goals in the final five minutes of the second frame. Scoring his first tally of the weekend was Cullen Alt, followed by Oliver Ellering notching his first goal as well. With eight seconds left in the middle frame, the Norsemen would even the score thanks to Gavin Yurczyk finding the back of the net. As the contest moved into the middle period, the game would go scoreless, forcing the contest into overtime. In the extra period of hockey, the Norsemen would seal the win when Beau Uecker lit the lamp with 57 seconds left.