Wilderness Drop Game One

NSO – News Release

Alex Mella missed out on a chance to score a big-time playoff goal, he didn’t sulk; he kept hustling and it paid off. Just three-minutes after Mella missed on a wide open look, he came through with a put-back goal to put the Austin Bruins up 2-0 in what eventually became a 2-1 win for the Bruins over the Minnesota Wilderness in the first round of the NAHL Central Division semifinals.

Mella, a native of Stamford, Connecticut who has committed to Northeastern University, found the net with 14:26 left in the second period.

Austin’s Dan Petrick takes the puck out of the Austin zone during the first period against the Minnesota Wilderness in game one of their playoff series Friday night in Riverside Arena.

Austin peppered out 36 shots in the win, but the Wilderness made a late charge in the third period. Ondrej Trejbal connected on a slap shot from a couple of feet in front of the blue line to cut Austin’s lead to 2-1, but the Bruins were able to stave off the late Wilderness push.

Austin’s Alex Mella approaches the net during the second period against the MN Wilderness in game one of the team’s playoff series Friday night in Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Alex Schilling stopped 20 of the 21 shots he saw for Austin and he made a big save on a one-on-one breakaway in the second period.

Austin took an early 1-0 lead when Valdemar Ahlberg scored with 5:26 left in the first period.

Austin now has a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series and it will host the Wilderness again in Riverside Arena 7:05 p.m. Saturday. Games three and four are scheduled to be played in Cloquet April 20 and April 21.

Austin’s Alex Mella approaches the net during the second period against the MN Wilderness in game one of the team’s playoff series Friday night in Riverside Arena. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

SCORING SUMMARY

Wilderness 0 0 1  —  1

Austin 1 1 0  —  2

First period

(A) Valdemar Ahlberg (Lane Krenzen) 14:34

Second period

(A) Alex Mella (Josef Mysak, Dante Zapata) 5:35

Third period

(M) Ondrej Trejbal (Eric Gotz, Edward Lindelow) 12:51

Shots: Austin — 36; Wilderness — 21

Power plays: Austin — 0-for-1; Wilderness — 0-for-1