Loris Uberti played well enough to win, Saturday night, but one shot in overtime kept the Minnesota Wilderness goaltender from leading his team to victory in its final 2023-24 preseason contest.
The 19-year-old from Martigney, Switzerland, made 38 saves on 41 shots through regulation time, and gave his team a chance to win when the game went to a 3-on-3 overtime to break a 3-3 tie. The Austin Bruins would break that tie, thanks to Ashton Bynum’s goal 22 seconds into the 5-minute extra frame. That goal gave Austin a 4-3 victory and a sweep in the 2-game series (following Friday’s 4-0 Bruin win in Austin, MN).
Uberti was sharp throughout the game, keeping the Bruins off the board through the first period, and stopping 16 of 18 shots in the 2nd period. For the game, Austin outshot Minnesota 42-20.
After a 0-0 first period, Austin took the game’s first lead 1:07 into the 2nd when Adler Johnston scored after pouncing on a turnover directly in front of the Wilderness net.
Minnesota bounced back and took the lead after notching its first two pre-season tallies. Forward Luca Ricciardi tied the game 4:25 into the 2nd after catching a pass from Alexios Georgaklis along the left wing boards and sniping the puck between Austin starting goaltender Matthew McCarthy and the right post, on the netminder’s stick side. Cade Kozak also assisted on the goal.
Logan Nagle would then post the go-ahead goal just under 5 minutes later after a crisp passing play fed him the puck directly in front of the Bruin net. That marker was also Minnesota’s first and only to come on the power play in the pre-season and was assisted by Evan Pahos and Sam Blanton.
That lead did not last long.
Less than three minutes later, Damon Furuseth evened the score at 2 when his shot from the high slot found its way through a maze of players and eventually Uberti. The game would remain 2-2 through the end of the middle frame.
The only third period scoring came on goals just seven seconds apart. Anthony Alvarado put the Bruins back in front when his wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle slipped under the Uberti’s to make it 3-2. The Wilderness bounced back right off the ensuing face off when Nagle scored his second of the game on a shot from the top of the left circle, thanks to assists from Nick Troutwine and Alex Senf, and a key face off win by Georgaklis.
Nagle’s shot to tie the game at 3 went in after deflecting off MacArthur’s shoulder and forced the rookie goaltender to leave the game. Trent Wiemken played the remainder of the contest and earned the win for the Bruins.
The Wilderness fought off a number of chances the Bruins had to take the lead before time expired, including Uberti’s save on a penalty shot opportunity for Johnston.
With the pre-season concluded, Minnesota will now focus on its regular season opener. The Wilderness will begin the 2023-24 campaign September 9 when it hosts the Anchorage Wolverines. Puck drop in Proctor is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.