Wilderness topple Brown Bears

Published 10:30 pm Wednesday, March 16, 2022

The Minnesota Wilderness defeated the Kenai River Brown Bears 3-1 on Thursday at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in North American Hockey League action.

The Wilderness, at 28-21-1-0, move into a tie with the Janesville (Wisconsin) Jets at third place in the Midwest Division with 57 points. The Bears remain in last place in the division, dropping to 13-34-3-2.

The same two teams play today and Saturday at the sports complex at 7:30 p.m.

After a scoreless first period, Sean Henry put the Bears up 1-0 with 9:47 left in the second period. Assists went to Hunter Newhouse and Noah Holt.

The Wilderness then led 2-1 headed to the third period on goals by Nicholas Rexine on the power play and Sam Antenucci.

The Wilderness were 1 of 6 on the power play, while the Bears were 0 for 2.

With 12 seconds left, Rexine clinched the victory with an empty-net goal.

Bryant Marks made 46 saves in the loss for Kenai River, while Matthew Smith stopped 30 for the Wilderness.