Wilderness Stomp Steel in Series-Opener
Published on December 13, 2025 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Minnesota Wilderness News Release
Zach Homer scored twice and Max Edwards recorded three assists to lead the Minnesota Wilderness to an 8-2 romp over the Chippewa Steel Friday night.
It was the fourth straight win for Minnesota and fifth consecutive loss for Chippewa.
Avery Anderson, Kevin Lysohir, and River Freeman each added one goal and one assist, while Noah Dziver posted two helpers.
Minnesota (17-6-2) opened the scoring with Anderson and Edwards factoring on the first two tallies.
Anderson broke a 0-0 tie when he re-directed a shot from Ryan DeAngelis, who had just received the puck from Edwards, past Steel goaltender Zach Stahl with 6:03 left in Period 1.
Anderson and Edwards then helped Olle Karlsson notch his third of the season. Karlsson lit the lamp on a drive from the slot with 1:21 remaining in the opening frame.
Some nifty passing from Dziver and Lysohir then led to Zach Homer's first goal of the night. Homer made it 3-0 with a shot from the bottom of the right circle just 52 seconds into the 2nd period.
At 11:34 of the second, Lysohir registered a second point when he struck on the power play. Freeman set up the tally that Lysohir posted with a wrister from between the circles for his 9th of the season.
Minnesota made it 5-0 thanks to a 2-man break with Homer and Dziver. Homer finished off the scoring play with his 17th in 2025-26 with 4:07 left in the 2nd period.
After Matthew Tarlton scored to put Chippewa (4-18-2) on the board late in the 2nd, the Wilderness regained a 5-goal advantage early in the third. Lucas Ryen's marker 3:15 into the final period was his 5th of the season and came on an assist from Jackson Reeves.
River Freeman earned his second point of the night when he scored on a shot from the middle of the left face-off circle just over two minutes later. His 7th of the season was assisted by Edwards and Anderson.
Talan Blanck then finished the Wilderness barrage on a goal that resulted from a Chippewa turnover. Andrei Gudin intercepted a clearing attempt and caught Blanck on a pass from the right boards to the left circle where Blanck converted to make the score 8-1 with seven minutes left.
Chippewa added one more when Austin Boyce scored a short-handed goal with 54 seconds left in the game.
Minnesota outshot the Steel 36-25.
Valdemar Andersen stopped 23 in the Wilderness net to earn his third straight win and 12th of the campaign.
The Steel used two goaltenders. Stahl played 20:54 and took the loss allowing three goals on 15 shots. Max Kogler spent 39:06 in net, allowing five goals on 21 shots.
Only two penalties were called in the contest - both on Chippewa. The Wilderness finished 1-for-2 on the power play.
The two squads finish the weekend series Saturday night at the Chippewa Area Ice Arena at 7:30 p.m. CST.
North American Hockey League Stories from December 13, 2025
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- IceRays Force Series Split with Amarillo Taking Finale, 4-1 - Corpus Christi IceRays
- Warriors Win! Warriors Win! Oklahoma Outlasts Odessa, 2-1, in a Shootout - Oklahoma Warriors
- Wilderness Stomp Steel in Series-Opener - Minnesota Wilderness
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