Second Period Outburst Pushes Wilderness to Saturday Victory and Weekend Sweep

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NAHL Minnesota Wilderness

Second Period Outburst Pushes Wilderness to Saturday Victory and Weekend Sweep

September 16, 2024 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Minnesota Wilderness News Release


A pair of goals 25 seconds apart late in the second period Saturday gave the Minnesota Wilderness the edge needed to get past the Fairbanks Ice Dogs in a 4-2 triumph.

Ben Roulette first scored with 3:11 remaining to break a 1-1 tie. That was followed by a Zach Homer tally with 2:46 left to give the Wilderness its first two-goal lead of the season at 3-1.

Fairbanks and Minnesota then traded goals in the final period leading to the final of 4-2.

Simon Zille earned the win in net. The native of Slovakia stopped 29 of 31 shots in his first start playing in North America.

The Wilderness opened the scoring and gained its first regulation lead of the season when Frantisek Netusil cashed in with 7:09 on the clock in period 1. The rookie forward posted his second of the season when he received a centering pass from Noah Dziver as he was positioned directly in front of the Fairbanks net. Jakeb Lynch also assisted on the goal to earn his first point as a junior A player.

A power play marker from Arsenii Vorobev with 17 seconds left in the opening frame allowed Fairbanks to even the score at 1.

That score remained until the Wilderness converted on its back-to-back red lighters toward the end of the middle frame.

Both goals came on odd-man breaks and were the first of the campaign for both players. Roulette's goal came on a 2-on-1 where he was able to pounce on his own rebound. Joey Sylvester and Avery Anderson recorded assists on the goal.

Homer converted on a 3-on-1 when he fired a shot from the right circle that zipped into the net's top right corner just below the crossbar. Earning helpers for Homer's goal was Brandt Dubey and Drew Beasley.

In the third, Ben Doll gave the home team some additional insurance when he batted in the puck from mid-air amid a scramble in front of the Ice Dogs net to make it 4-1. Anderson and Patrick Dunaiski assisted on Doll's first ever tally as a junior hockey player that came 7:12 into the final stanza.

Brent Gulenchyn gave Fairbanks some hope of a comeback when he scored with 8:58 left to play to cut the Wilderness lead back to two goals. That would be the final goal of the game.

Charlie Menard took the loss in net for Fairbanks. The rookie goaltender turned aside 25 Wilderness shots in his first junior hockey start.

On the power play, Fairbanks (0-1-1) finished 1-for-6, while the Wilderness (2-0) was denied on three chances.

The win means Minnesota can now boast of its first 2-0 start since 2014. It will meet another undefeated team in its next game. The 2-0 Wisconsin Windigo will visit Cloquet for a Friday night contest that is scheduled to start at 7:15.

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