The Amarillo Wranglers found new life getting rid of recent struggles thanks to a home sweep of the Oklahoma Warriors with a 5-3 victory Friday followed by a 4-2 win on Saturday.
Amarillo was able to garner four important points moving to 16-22-1-3 with 36 points sitting five points out of the final playoff spot of the North American League South Division with 17 games to play.
The Wranglers will hope to keep their winning ways going as Amarillo continues its current homestand against Corpus Christi this weekend.
Friday’s game
The new and improved Amarillo Wranglers stampeded onto the ice, looking to build on its most recent victory against the El Paso Rhinos at the El Paso County Coliseum last weekend.
Looking to end its five-game losing streak, the Oklahoma Warriors had plans of ending any enthusiasm the Wranglers might have had coming into this game.
In two power play opportunities, the Warriors scored two unanswered goals relatively quickly in the first period. Not to be outdone, at the 18:52 mark of the first period and on the power play, former Chippewa Steel and newly acquired Wrangler Marc LaFrance took a beautiful pass from linemate Noah Ribeiro to find the back of the net and cut the Warriors’ lead in half going into the first intermission. This was LaFrance’s first goal as a Wrangler.
Former Fairbanks Ice Dog Noah Wood was on fire this weekend, scoring his second goal of the season to tie this game up. Shortly thereafter, team captain Morley Phillips, in what can only be described as a slow motion, perfectly executed stick handling goal at the 14:02 mark, gave Amarillo a 3-2 lead.
Wranglers’ Daniel Ressaga scored a magnificent unassisted goal as Amarillo added to their lead 4-2. Ressaga’s strong weekend contributed to his being named the third Star of the Week for the NAHL South Division. The Warriors tried to make it interesting by scoring another goal in the second period, but to no avail. Noah Wood’s hot stick added to the Wranglers fire by scoring his second goal of the night as Amarillo went on to win 5-3.
Newly acquired goalie Matt Schoephoerster continued his strong goaltending stopping 25-of-28 shots earning him his second win in as many tries with Amarillo.
Saturday’s game
With a newfound confidence and swagger, the Wranglers hit the ice looking to extend their two game winning streak.
With the Warriors losing streak climbing to six, they absolutely thought otherwise. The start of this game for the Oklahoma Warriors was somewhat cumbersome when a random player crossed the red line in pregame warm-ups after being warned not to and began jawing both players and coaches and was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty prior to the start of the game.
The Warriors began this game in a penalty kill. This writer has heard of this in the past but never witnessed it. At the 2:31 mark of the first period, yet another newly acquired player and former Aberdeen Wings Cole Saterdalen took a beautiful pass from Phillips, scoring his first goal as an Amarillo Wrangler. Amarillo went into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead.
Amarillo Wrangler Noah Wood continued with his hot stick, scoring his third goal of the weekend as he took a nice pass from linemate Daniel Rassega, giving Amarillo a 2-0 lead. Amarillo Wrangler Alexander Aleslov and Daniel Rassega scored as Amarillo went on to win this game 4-2 in front of a win-hungry fanbase.
Netminder Matt Schoephoerster continued his hot goaltending as he remains undefeated as an Amarillo Wrangler, capturing his third victory in as many tries. Schoephoerster stopped 24-of-26 shots and is one of the hottest goaltenders in all of the North American Hockey League.
Attendance
Amarillo has always had a consistent and loyal hockey fan base. One might think with a 10-game winless streak that there might be a hiccup in that loyal hockey fan base.
This couldn’t be further from the truth. During the winless streak, the Amarillo fanbase came out and supported these young student athletes in only the way this community can. The Wranglers are well on their way to achieve yet another season at the top of the attendance charts in the NAHL.
This past weekend at the Budweiser Bullpen was no exception. Now that the Amarillo Wranglers are on a three-game winning streak, the casual hockey fans are now attending and treated not just to exciting hockey but the entertaining intermission activities as well as the excitement of the Budweiser Bullpen at the Amarillo Civic Center. I have spoken to numerous hockey players that come to Amarillo and without exception all say how much they love and enjoy the fans of Amarillo.
The Wrangler organization starting from the Mite to the NAHL level are producing a great product on the ice and great citizens in the community.
Editor’s Note
Please listen for a special edition of Tommy Tee‘s weekly recap of the Amarillo Wranglers hockey on the “Drive at Five” with Lance Lahnert every Thursday afternoon at 5 p.m. exclusively on 102.9 FM the Panhandle Sports Star.