Pool B, Round-Robin: Granite City 5 vs. El Paso 0 – A four-goal 2nd period and 64-13 shots advantage led the Granite City Lumberjacks to a 5-0 win over the El Paso Rhinos on Day 2 of the Fraser Cup. After a scoreless 1st period in which Granite City continued to struggle to find the back of the net thanks to the hot goaltending of Rhinos goalie Camden Pendleton, the Lumberjacks would erupt for four goals in the 2nd period to put the game out of reach. First, Cody Dias converted on a 2-on-1 to give the Lumberjacks a 1-0 lead. Six minutes later, defenseman Tal Halliday walked through the defense in the high slot and wristed a shot home for a 2-0 lead. Three minutes after that, the Granite City pressure continued, this time with Nicholas Richert smashing home a one-timer from the side of the cage for a 3-0 lead. With just over a minute remaining in the period, the Lumberjacks made it 4-0 as Coby Weber was the beneficiary of a nice pass from behind the net by Andrew Butler. The Lumberjacks would add one more goal in the 3rd period as Luke Delzer put home a nice shorthanded goal to make the final 5-0. Lumberjacks goalie Quentin Sigurdson made 13 saves in the shutout win. Pendleton played admirably in the loss, making 59 saves. Granite City is now done with round-robin play with a 1-1 record and +3 goal differential. They will have to await the result of the Helena vs. El Paso game on Friday so see how Pool B shakes out.
Pool B, Round-Robin: Helena 4 vs. El Paso 0 – For the second straight game in the Fraser Cup Championship, Helena goaltender Eric Buchholz shutout his opponent, this time making 19 saves in the Bighorns 4-0 win over El Paso on Day 2 of the Fraser Cup. The win secured first place in Pool B for the Bighorns, who have advanced to take on the Rochester Grizzlies in the second of two Semi-Finals on Saturday. The Bighorns took a 1-0 lead in the 1st period as Gavyn Galloway pounced on a loose rebound in front for this first goal of the event. A power play goal from Samuel Feamster in the 2nd period made it 2-0 as he tapped home a centering pass at the top of the crease. In the 3rd period, the Bighorns pulled away thanks to a pair of goals from Liam Bland, who scored his second and thir goals of the event to secure the 4-0 win and spot in the Semi-Finals. The Rhinos saw their season end with the loss and again got strong goaltending from Camden Pendleton, who made 34 saves in the loss.
