Sports – Page 273 – North Platte Post Archive

Fontaine, Dubnyk Help Wild to 3-1 Win over Avalanche

Posted on March 1, 2015

DENVER (AP) — Justin Fontaine broke a second-period tie, and Devan Dubnyk stopped 33 shots, leading the Minnesota Wild to a 3-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night.

Erik Haula and Jason Pominville also scored for the Wild, who improved to 4-0 against Colorado this season. They have outscored the Avalanche 12-1.

Dubnyk started his 20th straight game since joining the Wild in a trade with Arizona on Jan. 15 and improved to 15-3-1. The consecutive starts match the Wild goalie record set by Niklas Backstrom in 2009.

Maxime Talbot had a goal in a game that had big playoff ramifications for the Avalanche.

Semyon Varlamov started his 19th straight game and fell to 9-8-2 during the stretch.

Storm Sweep Sioux City With 5-1 Victory

Posted on March 1, 2015

KEARNEY, Neb. – Cody Milan scored twice and the Tri-City Storm (29-12-6) defeated the Sioux City Musketeers (31-13-5) 5-1 at the Viaero Event Center on Saturday night to earn a sweep of the weekend and take the six-game regular season series between the top teams in the Western Conference, four games to two.

Also scoring in the victory for Tri-City was Matthew Freytag, Nick Master and Conner Valesano, while goaltender Jared Rutledge earned his third win of the season over Sioux City, making 29 saves.

After a scoreless first period, the Storm took the lead at 11:54 of the second on Freytag’s 14th goal of the season. Tri-City captain Garrett Gamez found the Wisconsin commit in front of the Sioux City net and the forward was able to control a bouncing puck and bat it into the far side of the net to make it 1-0.

Less than three minutes later, Milan made it 2-0 with his first strike of the night. Defenseman Mattias Goransson got the puck to the front of the Musketeer net where it hit Dan Labosky’s stick and went right to Milan, who backhanded it home for the 2-0 lead.

Goransson was credited with the second assist on both of the Storm’s second period goals and Tri-City went into the second intermission ahead by two.

A penalty to Sioux City’s Sebastian Repo that came five seconds into the final period put the Storm on the power play and Nick Master capitalized, scoring his 20th goal of the season.

Master has now scored in five consecutive Tri-City home games, and has goals in seven of the last eight played at the Viaero Event Center. Assists on the tally were credited to both Christopher Brown and Bobby Nardella.

The Storm held their 3-0 lead until the final minutes, when Musketeer forward Sam Kurker scored with an extra attacker to get Sioux City on the board.

Rutledge’s shutout bid ended with less than a minute and a half to go in the contest before empty net goals by both Milan and Valesano for Tri-City.

The Storm outshot Sioux City 38-30 in the contest, as Musketeers’ netminder Collin Olson made 33 saves while suffering the loss.

Tri-City is still in second place in the USHL’s Western Conference with 64 points, but the Storm gained three points on Sioux City in the weekend series and is three points back of the top spot in the west.

The Storm will now travel to Fargo for their first meetings with the Force this season. The first meeting is Thursday night, with the series concluding on Friday. Both games will start at 7:05.

Notes: The Storm scratched forwards Nolan Aibel and Kyle Eastman, along with defenseman Jason Krych…

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Period
(no scoring)

2nd Period

Tri-City – Matthew Freytag (Garrett Gamez, Mattias Goransson) 11:54
Tri-City – Cody Milan (Dan Labosky, Mattias Goransson) 14:31

3rd Period
Tri-City – Nick Master (power play) (Christopher Brown, Bobby Nardella) 1:00
Sioux City – Sam Kurker (power play) (extra attacker) (Anthony Walsh, Ryan Zuhlsdorf) 18:35
Tri-City – Cody Milan (empty net) (unassisted) 18:51
Tri-City – Conner Valesano (empty net) (Wade Allison, Jalen Schulz) 19:33

PENALTIES

1st Period
Tri-City – Vince Pedrie – (High Sticking), 2 min, 4:06

2nd Period
Sioux City – Jake Durflinger – (Fighting), 5 min, 3:21
Sioux City – Jake Durflinger – (Fighting) (Misconduct), 10 min, 3:21
Tri-City – Jalen Schulz – (Fighting), 5 min, 3:21
Tri-City – Jalen Schulz – (Fighting) (Misconduct), 3:21
Sioux City – Anthony Walsh – (Holding), 2 min, 3:21

3rd Period
Sioux City – Sebastian Repo – (Cross Checking), 2 min, 0:05
Sioux City – Sebastian Repo – (Roughing), 2 min, 11:48
Tri-City – Mason Appleton – (Roughing), 2 min, 11:48
Sioux City – Adam Johnson – (Interference), 2 min, 13:15
Tri-City – Tory Dello – (Cross Checking), 2 min, 17:12
Sioux City – Alex Rodriguez – (Spearing), 5 min, 20:00
Sioux City – Alex Rodriguez – (Spearing) (Game Misconduct), 10 min, 20:00

Power Play

Sioux City – 1/2

Tri-City – 1/3

Shots

Sioux City: 11, 5, 14 = Total: 30
Tri-City: 13, 16, 9 = Total: 38

Saves
Sioux City – Collin Olson – 33/36
Tri-City – Jared Rutledge – 29/30

NPCC Knights Advance in Region IX Tournament with Win over Otero

Posted on February 28, 2015

The North Platte Community College Knights basketball team defeated the Otero Junior College Rattlers 79 – 72 at McDonald – Belton Gymnasium Saturday in the first round of the National Junior College Athletic Association Region IX Tournament.

The game was tied at nine with 12:35 minutes to play in the first half when the Knights went on a 12 – 2 run to take the lead with 8:08 to play. The Knights maintained the lead throughout the first half to lead 39 – 28 at halftime.

In the second half the Knights increased their lead to 64-49. The Rattlers weren’t finished as they went on a 24 – 11 run to cut the Knights lead to two 75 – 73 with 11 seconds to play. The Rattlers fouled CJ Polk who hit both of his free throws to put the lead up to four. On the ensuing play, the Knights Shyquinn Dix stole the ball and went to put up a shot. He missed the shot but Cameron Williams was right there to seal the victory with a slam dunk.

The Knights improve to 23-8 on the season. They were led in scoring by Williams, who finished the game with 19 points. Polk added 17 points and Dix added 14 points. Tyree Peter also scored in double figures with 11 points.

The Rattlers, who ended their season at 16 – 14 were led in scoring by Josh Blaylock with 18 points. Shun Williams had 17 points and Brandon Wilson added 11 points. Wilson recorded a double – double as he also grabbed 10 rebounds.

With the win the Knights advance to the quarterfinals of the Region IX tournament in Powell, Wyoming. Northwest College, who came into the tournament as the No. 1 seed in the North Sub –Region defeated Little Big Horn College 104 – 74 to retain the top seed and host the remainder of the tournament which will be held March 5 – 7.

The Knights next opponent is unknown. Region IX will re-seed the eight remaining teams for the matchups.

The tournament games for the Knights will be covered by Robert Lovell on ESPN Radio 1410 and www.northplattepost.com. For more information about the tournament go to www.npccknights.com for the updates and possible live stream broadcasts.

Kubat Delivers in 8-1 Win

Posted on February 28, 2015

Los Angeles, Calif. – Behind the arm of senior Kyle Kubat and a season-high 15-hit effort from the Husker offense, the Nebraska baseball team (5-4, 0-0 Big Ten) evened its three-game series with the Loyola Marymount Lions (7-3, 0-0 WCC) with an 8-1 win on Saturday afternoon at Page Stadium.

Following a pair of no decisions to start the season, senior Kyle Kubat picked up his first win of the year and the 16^th of his career on Saturday. The 6-1 lefty went 7.0 innings and allowed just five base runners on the afternoon, including three hits, a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Kubat retired the Lions in order four times on the day, and from the first through the sixth innings he sat down 16 straight Lions.

After producing only seven hits in last night’s series opener the Husker offense found its rhythm early on Saturday, with eight hits through the first four innings. Six Huskers produced multiple hits on the afternoon, including three hits from Blake Headley. Headley notched two doubles for the third time in his career, while he and Tanner Lubach each recorded two RBIs.

Nebraska started an inning with a hit six times on the day, including a solo home run by Lubach in the seventh that cleared a 37-foot tall wall in left field.

LMU starter Trevor Megill lasted just 3.1 innings for the Lions, as the junior was touched for three runs on eight hits. It was a Megill’s shortest start since April 6, 2013 when he went 3.0 innings against San Diego.

LMU may have not scored in the game if it hadn’t been for a miscue by Kubat in the bottom of the first. After retiring the leadoff hitter, Kubat plunked Billy Wilson a 3-2 pitch and the Lions made it hurt, as David Fletcher followed with a RBI double. Kubat then went on to retire 16 straight Lions.

Jake Schleppenbach and Ryan Boldt each picked up their second hits of game in the third and unlike the first inning when both were stranded, the Huskers were able to cash in on the opportunity. Headley came up with one out and battled Megill in an extended at-bat, and on the 10^th pitch Headley delivered a two-RBI double off the right-center field wall that put the Huskers ahead 2-1. It was Headley’s third double of the year, as well as his ninth and 10^th RBIs of the season.

With Kubat cruising, the Huskers tacked on a run in both the fourth and fifth innings to give their senior starter a 4-1 lead. Steven Reveles drove in Austin Darby in the fourth with a double and Headley scored in the fifth on a sac fly from Lubach after Headley opened the inning with his second double of the game.

Nebraska pushed its lead to six runs in the sixth, with two runs coming on a LMU error. Luis Alvarado and Reveles opened the inning with back-to-back singles, and Schleppenbach executed a sacrifice bunt, but on the play reliever Tyler Cohen made an errant throw to first base that allowed two runs to score and Schleppenbach to coast into third base. Freshman Scott Schreiber followed with an infield RBI single, the first of his NU career, to put the Huskers on top 7-1.

The Huskers notched at least a run for the fifth straight inning in the seventh with Lubach’s home run. The solo shot was a no doubter, as it not only cleared the 362-foot sign in left-center field, but also the 37-foot tall blue monster.

Freshman Jake Meyers finished off the game for the Huskers, tossing a pair of shutout innings to cap the 8-1 win.

Tomorrow’s rubber match is scheduled for 1 p.m. (CT). Lane Grindle and Ben McLaughlin will have the call on the Husker Sports Network, while LMULions.com will have a free video stream.

Delgado Late Basket helps Seton Hall Snap 6-Game Skid with Win over Jays

Posted on February 28, 2015

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Angel Delgado grabbed a rebound and scored with 16 seconds to play and Seton Hall rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to defeat Creighton 67-66 on Saturday, snapping a six-game losing streak.

Delgado finished with 13 points — all in the second half — and 11 rebounds. Khadeen Carrrington added 13 points, including six in the closing 2:40 as the Pirates (16-12, 6-10 Big East) rallied from five points down to take a 65-64 edge with 1:22 left, their first lead of the game.

Austin Chatman, who had a game-high 23 points, put Creighton ahead with a jumper with 30 seconds to go but Delgado got the rebound of an Isaiah Whitehead miss and scored.

The Bluejays (13-16, 4-12) had at least three chances underneath in the closing seconds but James Milliken and Geoffrey Groselle each missed one.

Turkey Hunting Workshops Scheduled Across Nebraska

Posted on February 28, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has scheduled six spring turkey hunting workshops to help prepare hunters for the upcoming seasons.

The free, two-hour workshops are open to all turkey hunters. The Game and Parks specialists will discuss strategies, equipment and biology and provide tips on becoming successful turkey hunters.

The workshops will take place March 7 near Gretna, March 17 in Lincoln, March 18 in Grand Island and Chadron, March 19 in North Platte and March 28 in Norfolk.

Go online at HuntSafeNebraska.org for details and to register. Registration is required.

Master’s Overtime Winner Downs Sioux City

Posted on February 28, 2015

KEARNEY, Neb. – Nick Master scored both the tying goal with under three minutes to go in the third period and the game-winner in overtime as the Tri-City Storm (28-12-6) defeated the Sioux City Musketeers (31-12-5) 4-3 on Friday night at the Viaero Event Center.

In addition to Master’s two tallies, Tri-City got goals from both Mason Appleton and Chris Wilkie, while Bobby Nardella registered three assists.

Robert Carpenter scored just 3:40 into the game for Sioux City to give the Musketeers a 1-0 lead early on in the opening period.

But Tri-City evened the game at 1-1 late in the frame when Appleton scored his 10th of the season, with assists from Alec Dillon and Nardella. For Dillon, the helper was his first of the season.

Sioux City re-took the lead in the middle frame on Adam Johnson’s 27th goal of the season, and had a 2-1 advantage with the game headed to the third period.

Just 1:04 into the final stanza, Wilkie scored his 27th of the year, to tie the game and bring new life to Tri-City. The Omaha native’s tally tied him with both Carpenter, Johnson and Waterloo’s Brock Boeser for the USHL goal scoring lead.

Assists on the tally went to Jake Wahlin and Christopher Brown. For Brown, it was his first Storm point in his first game after being acquired from Green Bay in a trade Monday.

Once again, the Musketeers went ahead on a goal by defenseman Ryan Zuhlsdorf, and had another one-goal edge at 3-2 less than halfway through the third.

As the minutes ticked down, the Storm continued to get chances. For the third time, Tri-City tied the game on Master’s 18th goal of the season at 17:12of the third. Assists on the goal were credited to Nardella and forward Matthew Freytag.

The late equalizer sent the game into overtime. In the extra session, Storm captain Garrett Gamez earned a shot on net off a rush that created a rebound in front. The loose puck hit Master and bounced in, winning the game for Tri-City. Nardella had the second assist on the goal, springing Gamez free for the rush.

The Storm outshot Sioux City 46-25 in the contest, including a 19-10 edge in the opening period and 14-6 in the middle frame.

Netminder Alec Dillon picked up the win, making 22 saves. Collin Olson suffered the loss in between the pipes for Sioux City, stopping 42 shots.

Tri-City is still in second place in the USHL’s Western Conference with 62 points, however they are now five points behind the Musketeers.

The teams will complete their six-game season series tomorrow night at the Viaero Event Center at 7:05 p.m.

Notes: The Storm scratched forwards Wade Allison and Kyle Eastman, along with defenseman Jason Krych…

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Period
Sioux City – Robert Carpenter (Neal Pionk) 3:40
Tri-City – Mason Appleton (Alec Dillon, Bobby Nardella) 17:05

2nd Period

Sioux City – Adam Johnson (Alex Rodriguez, Neal Pionk) 3:11

3rd Period
Tri-City – Chris Wilkie (Jake Wahlin, Christopher Brown) 1:04
Sioux City – Ryan Zuhlsdorf (Ryan Walker, Adam Johnson) 9:11
Tri-City – Nick Master (Bobby Nardella, Matthew Freytag) 17:12

Overtime
Tri-City – Nick Master (Garrett Gamez, Bobby Nardella) 0:52

PENALTIES

1st Period
Sioux City – Anthony Walsh – (Unsportsmanlike Conduct) 3:24
Tri-City – Conner Valesano – (Elbowing), 2 min, 3:24
Tri-City – Jalen Schulz – (Cross Checking), 2 min, 4:50
Sioux City – Alexandre Payusov – (Holding), 2 min, 7:50
Tri-City – Chris Wilkie – (Cross Checking), 2 min, 18:57
Sioux City – Jake Durflinger – (Roughing), 2 min, 18:57

2nd Period
Tri-City – Kevin Kerr – (Cross Checking), 2 min, 10:19

3rd Period
Sioux City – Anthony Walsh – (Cross Checking), 2 min, 6:20

Overtime
(no penalties)

Power Play

Sioux City – 0/2

Tri-City – 0/2

Shots

Sioux City: 10, 6, 9, 0 = Total: 25
Tri-City: City: 19, 14, 11, 2 = Total: 46

Saves
Sioux City – Collin Olson – 42/46
Tri-City – Alec Dillon – 22/25

Huskers Drop Series Opener at LMU

Posted on February 28, 2015

Los Angeles – The Nebraska baseball team (4-4, 0-0 Big Ten) took a 1-0 lead in its series opener against the Loyola Marymount Lions (6-2, 0-0 WCC) on Friday night, but the Lions scored the final four runs of the game to take the opener, 4-1 on Friday night at Page Stadium.

The Husker were unable to get their offense going on the night, as they notched seven hits, while striking out 11 times. Nebraska’s pitching staff limited the Lions to eight hits, but seven of the eight came with two outs. Two-out hitting was key for the Lions, as all four of their runs scored cross the plate with two outs.

Nebraska started Chance Sinclair dropped his second straight start to fall to 1-2 on the year after posting a 10-1 record last season. LMU starter Colin Welmon went 7.2 innings in the win and struck out nine Huskers.

After Sinclair got out of a jam in the third, the Huskers broke the scoreless game with a run in the top of fourth. Reigning Big Ten Player of the Week Ryan Boldt led off with a double off the blue monster in left field and was quickly 90 feet from home after Blake Headley executed a sacrifice bunt. Sophomore Ben Miller then stepped in picked up his eight RBI of the season with a sacrifice fly to left field.

Sinclair was cruising in the fifth and had just retired his sixth straight Lion when No. 9 hitter Joe Murray started a two-out rally with a base hit. Murray moved to second on a wild pitch and then scored on a single by Austin Miller that tied the game, 1-1. Sinclair was unable to end the bleeding, as he walked Billy Wilson and then David Fletcher delivered a two-RBI double that put the Lions ahead 3-1.

With momentum on the Lions side, the Huskers had a chance to respond in the sixth with the heart of their order up, but Welmon retired NU in order. LMU chased Sinclair from the game in the sixth and added another two-out run on a double that pushed its lead to 4-1.

The Huskers had life in the seventh when Tanner Lubach led off the with a single, his second of the game, but Welmon quickly ended the threat with a pair of strikeouts and a groundout. The Huskers then started a two-out rally in the eighth on back-to-back singles by Boldt and Headley, but Michael Silva came in from the bullpen and struck out Ben Miller to keep the Lions on top, 3-1.

Austin Christensen picked up a one-out single in the ninth, but the Husker couldn’t put anything else together on closer J.D. Busfield.

The Huskers and Lions continue their series tomorrow at 4 p.m. (CT). The game was originally scheduled for 8 p.m. (CT), but was moved due to rain forecasts.

Avalanche Rally, beat Stars in shootout 5-4

Posted on February 28, 2015

DALLAS (AP) — Ryan O’Reilly scored on the first shot of a shootout, and it was enough for the Colorado Avalanche to beat the Dallas Stars 5-4 on Friday night.

Colorado’s Semyon Varlamov stopped all three Stars shots in the shootout after O’Reilly lifted the puck over Dallas’ Kari Lehtonen and in off the crossbar.

Nate Guenin had a career-high three points with a goal and two assists for the Avalanche. They rallied from deficits of 3-1 and 4-3 in the third period.

Cody Eakin had two goals and an assist, but the Stars lost their fifth straight game (0-3-2) They also were 0-3-2 against Colorado this season.

For Colorado, Tyson Barrie also had a goal and two assists. Gabriel Landeskog had one of each, Matt Duchene assisted twice and Jarome Iginla scored a goal.

Jason Spezza and Antoine Roussel also scored for Dallas.

Favors has 21 Points, 10 Rebounds for Jazz in Win over Nuggets

Posted on February 27, 2015

DENVER (AP) — Derrick Favors had 21 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, Trey Burke came off the bench to score 19 points and the Utah Jazz beat the struggling Denver Nuggets 104-82 on Friday night.

Gordon Hayward added 15 points and Rudy Gobert had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Jazz. Utah has won five of its last seven.

Will Barton had 22 points for the Nuggets. They have lost nine straight at home and 18 of 20 overall. Denver was in the playoff conversation after a five-game winning streak in mid-January, but has fallen into 13th place in the Western Conference.