NORAD Draft Hockey League

Week 12 was all about the finish. A game was tied with 10 seconds left, another was flipped on two goals in 51 seconds, and a third was all but over after one period. After last week's 47-goal explosion, the scoring dropped to 30, but the drama did not. Here's the full Week 12 breakdown.

J&J Automotive 2, World Orphans 2

J&J Automotive thought it had this one, and Chad Ferguson had other ideas. With 10 seconds left in the third period, Ferguson, set up by Aaron Thoman and Kory Reimann, scored his second goal of the night to pull World Orphans even at 2 and send both teams home with a point.

Jonathan Valtin, assisted by Sam Downs, put J&J Automotive in front late in the first period, and that 1-0 lead held until early in the third, when Ferguson tied it. Travis Hinton pushed J&J back in front with 1:38 left, with Valtin and Ken Huisman collecting the assists. It stood up for just 88 seconds.

Ferguson finished with both World Orphans goals, Valtin had a goal and an assist, and Hinton added the go-ahead goal. Goaltenders Francis Forte and Ian Ward each allowed two goals in a tight, low-scoring game.

ACE 4, Platinum 2

ACE trailed with less than three minutes left and won going away. Down 2-1, ACE scored twice in 51 seconds in the third period, then added an empty-net goal with eight seconds left to beat Platinum 4-2.

Sam Boudreault, set up by Nathan Watts, gave ACE the early lead in the first period. Platinum took over in the second, when Austin Storm tied it on an Alex Considine assist and Considine, set up by Jason O'Leary, put Platinum up 2-1. That lead held until the third, when John Liersemann tied it with 2:28 left. Simon Kurtz, assisted by Watts, scored the game-winner with 1:37 remaining, and Justin Ross sealed it into the empty net.

Watts finished with two assists, Considine had a goal and an assist for Platinum, and Ian Gustafson earned the win in net. Matthew Huyge took the loss. ACE bounced back from last week's 7-1 loss to J&J Automotive, and the game changed hands twice.

OUTCAN Outlaws 4, Velodrome 1

Samson Leifer scored twice, including the game-winner, as the OUTCAN Outlaws won their fourth in a row. Colby Rasplicka gave OUTCAN the lead in the first period, and Kevin White, set up by Brandon Colston and Josh Simonds, answered for Velodrome with 2:55 left in the period.

That was the last time Velodrome found the net. Leifer, assisted by Trevor Chavez, put OUTCAN in front for good with 12:00 left in the second, Hunter Winegarner, set up by Taylor Rogalsky, made it 3-1 in the same period, and Leifer, assisted by Cesar Shinall, added another early in the third.

Jeremy Chubbs allowed only White's goal in net for OUTCAN, and John Rhode took the loss for Velodrome, which scored six a week ago but could only manage one here.

Parker Winnelson 5, Triple J 1

Nicholas Lang did a bit of everything as Parker Winnelson bounced back from last week's 7-2 loss to Platinum. Lang scored twice, including the game-winner, and added an assist for a three-point night as Parker Winnelson beat Triple J 5-1.

Brock Lofgren, assisted by Mitch Mayfield, opened the scoring in the first period. John-Michael Sebben, set up by Justus Neumann, tied it for Triple J in the second, but Lang, assisted by Wylie Burnett, answered with 1:46 left in the period to restore the lead for good.

The third period belonged to Parker Winnelson. Josh Cronk, set up by Lang, made it 3-1, Burnett added a goal with assists from Lofgren and Casey Kosley, and Lang closed the scoring with his second of the night. Lofgren and Burnett each finished with a goal and an assist. Casey Lang earned the win in net, allowing only Sebben's goal, while Sebastian Rivera took the loss.

Nelson & Company 6, OS Offices 3

Nelson & Company did its damage in a hurry. Three goals in the first period put OS Offices in a 3-0 hole, and the game never really got closer than two.

Kimberly Liebl scored first, with assists from Eric Elliott and TJ Liebl, and TJ Liebl followed 57 seconds later, again on an Elliott assist. TJ Liebl scored again with 43 seconds left in the first, set up by Elliott and Gary Buck, to make it 3-0. Elliott picked up an assist on all three goals.

OS Offices got back into it in the second. Tyler Kettner, set up by Jeremy Lindemann, made it 3-1, but Nicholas Dillon, assisted by Josh Twitchell, scored the game-winner, and Philip Kerchner, assisted by Jesse Theken and Josh Theken, cut it to 4-2 with 11 seconds left in the period.

Gary Buck put it away in the third with two goals, the first assisted by Erika Tunning and Chris Tunning, and Kettner added a late goal with 23 seconds left for OS Offices. Buck finished with two goals and an assist, TJ Liebl had two goals and an assist, and Elliott had three assists. Scott Purdy earned the win in net, and Justin Bell took the loss.

The Big Picture

Week 12 was lower scoring than last week's 47-goal outburst, with 30 goals across five games, but it was no less dramatic. A tie with 10 seconds left, two goals in 51 seconds to flip a game, and a first-period barrage that decided another. Twelve weeks in, the finishes keep coming.