Friday: Tulsa Jr Oilers 1 @ El Paso Rhinos 5 – With this season winding down the Jr Oilers pay a visit to the Sun City to face off against your El Paso Rhinos! The first period saw two goals for the Rhinos, courtesy of Francesco Sabato and Joseph Gutierrez, giving the Rhinos a 2-0 before the first 20 minutes is up. Oilers don’t take this sitting down, though, as Cooper Smolin takes one for Tulsa early in the second to put them on the board. WIth the score now at 2-1 the Rhinos clap back with yet another two goals as Jake Bamback and Gutierrez make it 4-1 at the end of the second. Bamback ends up scoring once more in the third before regulation time is up and Rhinos take a 5-1 victory in Game #1.
Saturday: Tulsa Jr Oilers 0 @ El Paso Rhinos 6 – Rhinos & Oilers take to the ice for a second time this weekend as the puck drops on home ice! Carrying momentum from yesterday the Rhinos’ Ethan McKnight takes the first, and only goal of the first period. After intermission the Rhinos take their 1-0 lead and turn it into 4-0 as Jacob Mish gives us two more points followed by Bamback to round out the score at the end of the second. Even after intermission the Rhinos keep it coming as Liam McCall and Bamback push even further ahead and hand the Rhinos a whopping 6-0 shutout victory.
Sunday: Tulsa Jr Oilers 4 @ El Paso Rhinos 3 – Rhinos aim for a sweep tonight as the puck drops on Game #3 against the Jr. Oilers! Ethan McKnight starts us off tonight with a goal at 7:23 into the game, but the Oilers are finally on to the Rhinos’ pace with a goal from Dylan Pepper; tying it up at 1-1 at the end of the first period. With the experience of the previous two rounds Henry Pinkerman puts the Oilers in the lead for the first time this weekend and ends the second period with a 2-1 lead. Donovan Bradford sees the opportunity early in the third and ties the game back at 2-2 for the Rhinos, followed by Jake Bamback to reclaim the lead. The Oilers won’t give up the lead so easily though and with just seven seconds left in the period Colin Sharp once more ties it up for the Oilers at 3-3. With one last period to go the Oilers know its crunch time, and with one swift play Caden Vos puts the final touches on an Oiler Victory, claiming game #2 with 4-3 lead.
