Blaine, Minnesota | 9/16/23 | Isaac Smoldon
The Anchorage Wolverines beat the North Iowa Bulls 5-0 Saturday night, in their last game of the NAHL showcase. Liam Beerman made 29 saves in his first start of the season, including 18 saves alone in the 3rd period.
The Wolverines would strike first halfway through the 1st, with Danny Bagnole scoring his first junior goal with a laser beam that beat Bulls’ goaltender Connor Graham clean over his shoulder. Bagnole’s goal would be the only scored in the first two periods, as neither team managed more than 12 shots through the first two frames.
Anchorage would storm out in the 3rd however, with Oliver Salo scoring just 23 seconds into the period to give Anchorage a two-goal lead. Halfway through the frame, Fyodor Nikolayenya potted his sixth of the season to extend the lead to three, pushing North Iowa to their breaking point. An early goalie pull from the Bulls would fail to yield a goal, and with just under three minutes left, Colton Gerken scored his first junior goal on an empty net shot from deep in the Wolverines zone. Kade Shea added one more tally for Anchorage in garbage time, and North Iowa failed to solve Beerman, who made several incredible stops through the later half of the 3rd, securing his first junior shutout.
The Wolverines end the NAHL showcase with a record of 2-1-1 in their four games played. Next week Anchorage heads to Janesville for a pair of games against the Jets. Last season Janesville finished dead last in the Midwest division, with the Wolverines winning four out of the seven match-ups between the two teams. Friday and Saturday’s games both begin at 4:05 p.m. AKDT, and can be streamed live or on-demand exclusively at nahltv.com
