October 25, 2026
Cloquet, MN
For immediate release
Ryan Gerlich made 24 saves Saturday night to lead the Minnesota Wilderness to a 4-0 victory over the
Springfield Jr. Blues.
The win snapped a 3-game losing streak for the veteran netminder and marked his first shutout of the 2026-
27 season.
It followed a 3-1 Friday night Wilderness victory, giving them a sweep of the 2-game home weekend series.
Four different goal scorers helped in the effort. Jackson Knight opened the scoring with a late first period
goal, Jackson Reeves made it 2-0 in the second and Frantisek Netusil and Robinson Djian added third period
tallies.
Netusil and Reeves added single assists to finish with two points.
Knight’s goal came as a result of a goalmouth scramble. After an attempt from Netusil was denied by
Springfield goaltender Layton Rinehart, Knight tossed in a rebound for his fourth of the season. Cayden Neice
also assisted on the marker which came with 2:29 left in the opening frame.
Reeves’ tally also came off a rebound. While on the power play, Reeves stuffed in the puck after Rinehart
held off a shot from Jackson Lackas at the 8:09 mark of the second period. For Reeves, that was his third goal
in just four games played this season. Kash Crawford earned a secondary assist on the goal.
Netusil made it 3-0 with another power play goal. After receiving a pass from Jakeb Lynch along the left wing
boards, Netusil skated into the left circle and fired in a wrist shot for his 13 th of the campaign. That marker
was also assisted by Reeves and came with 5:06 left in regulation.
Djian closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal with 12 seconds left.
Minnesota (8-5-0) finished 2-for-5 on the power play, while its penalty-kill kept Springfield (0-14-1) scoreless
on six opportunities.
The Wilderness outshot the Jr. Blues, 32-24. Rinehart suffered his second loss on the weekend, making 28
saves on 31 Minnesota shots.
Next weekend, Minnesota heads to Janesville for the second time this month. The Wilderness and Jets will
meet for a 2-game series Friday and Saturday nights at Mercyhealth Arena.