October 4, 2026
Soldotna, AK
For immediate release
The Minnesota Wilderness put up 12 goals and never trailed en route to a pair of wins this weekend over the Kenai
River Brown Bears at the Soldotna Regional Sports Center in Soldotna, AK.
The Wilderness kicked off a 5-game trip to Alaska Friday with a 7-4 victory, and completed the series sweep with a
5-1 triumph Saturday.
Friday, Adel Arlan and Kash Crawford led Minnesota’s offensive effort, with each registering two goals, while Ryan
Gerlich was relied upon to secure the win in net.
On Saturday, Oliver Kanat gained his first win as a Wilderness goaltender while five different players lit the lamp to
seal a 4-point weekend.
Minnesota (5-2-0) next heads to Anchorage for a 3-game series against the Anchorage Wolverines, with the
opener set for Friday night.
Friday: Wilderness 7, Kenai River 4
The two squads opened Friday night’s contest with four goals combined over the contest’s first half of the first
period.
Just 3:01 into the contest, newly crowned team captain River Freeman opened the scoring with his third goal of
the season off feeds from Robinson Djian and Davis Damrow.
Kenai responded with a tally from Roy Messick at the 7:22 mark, which was followed by Vladislav Tsapko lifting
Minnesota back into the lead just 1:04 later. Landon Cottingham and Max Edwards gained apples on Tsapko’s
second of the campaign.
The Brown Bears tied it one more time thanks to Zachary Fleming scoring with 9:58 left.
After that, the night belonged to the Wilderness, as they went on to outscore Kenai River 5-2 for the rest of the
evening.
Adel Arlan broke the deadlock for good — finishing a scoring play from Max Edwards and Jackson Knight to put
Minnesota up 3-2 with his first of the contest. Kash Crawford followed with his first of the night thanks to helpers
from Carson McGinley and Owen Smith with 1:37 on the clock.
Drew Travers moved Kenai back within one with a 2 nd period marker at 2:20 of the frame. Yet, the Wilderness
would expand its lead to three before the frame was over.
Frantisek Netusil made it 5-3 with his third of 2025-26, with assists going to Owen Smith and Crawford with 6:06
remaining in the middle stanza.
Moments later, Crawford would follow with his second goal and third point of the game. Crawford deposited his
third of the season with 4:10 left in the second period on a tally helped by Jackson Lackas and Djian.
Arlan then put his team up 7-3 when he scored early in the third period. HIs third of the season came on assists
from Jackson Knight and Tsapko.
Kenai’s Oliver Pietras closed out the scoring with a goal coming with 4:10 remaining in regulation.
It was a quiet night for special teams units as the both squads combined for a total of three power plays.
Minnesota had only one chance on the man-advantage and was held scoreless, while Kenai River went 0-for-2.
The Wilderness outshot the Brown Bears 53-40, sending over 15 shots on goal in each period. Gerlich turned aside
36 shots for his second victory of the season. Devin Rustlie suffered the loss for Kenai making 46 saves.
Saturday: Wilderness 5, Kenai River 1
Minnesota picked up from where they left off from Friday night with three goals in the opening stanza Saturday.
Netusil opened the Wilderness scoring on the power play 4:29 into the contest. The veteran from Czechia
completed an end-to-end rush with his fourth marker of the season. Oliver Kanat earned the assist, gaining a point
in just his second start ever for Minnesota. Jakeb Lynch stretched the Wilderness lead to two goals when he fired in his team-leading fifth of the campaign
with 5:21 left in the first period. Hermantown native Alexander Nicklin helped with his first assist of his junior
career, while Netusil also earned an apple.
Minnesota made it 3-0 when Jackson Knight posted his first of the season after completing a 3-on-1 rush with 15.8
seconds left in the opening frame. Arlan and Edwards were credited with assists.
The Wilderness managed to maintain a 3-goal advantage after the second period, despite being outshot 12-11 and
being short-handed four separate times.
Minnesota also managed a short-handed goal while being down by two players. As Kenai was executing a 5-on-3
power play, a Wilderness clearing attempt forced Black Bear netminder Devin Rustlie out of his goal mouth. Rustlie
attempted to clear the puck out of Kenai’s defensive zone from the face-off circle to his right but instead sent it
right to Djian who shot it into a wide-open net for his first goal of the season. That unassisted red-lighter came at
the 3:36 mark of the middle session.
Benjamin Tauscher notched Kenai’s only tally of the night with 1:04 left in the second period on the power play to
cut Minnesota’s lead to 4-1.
Edwards completed the scoring in the weekend series. The veteran from Scottsdale, AZ, fired in a one-timer from
the slot with 3:44 on the third period clock, with assists going to Arlan and Vilmer Hagelin, who recorded his first-
ever NAHL point.
Kanat finished his victorious goaltending performance making 23 saves. For the Brown Bears (2-6-1), in a losing
effort, Rustlie stopped 27 Minnesota shots.
The Wilderness outshot Kenai River, 32-24.
On the power play, the Wilderness finished 1-for-4, while the Brown Bears went 1-for-8.