Friday: El Paso 7 @ Mid Cities 5: After trailing 3-1 in the 2nd period, the El Paso offense powered past Mid Cities to score 6 goals in the last half of the contest and take the victory on the road. Jr. Stars skaters Colton Sebastian, Kyle Russell, and Diego Pitzer each buried a goal to help them take the early lead. Jaxon Penner, Riley Hunt-Bahn, Caden Butler, and Colin Clough each scored in the 2nd period for the Rhinos to give them a one goal lead heading into the final period. Johnny Gunn, Dylan Thompson, and Jack Olson all tickled the twine in the 3rd and helped put the seal on El Paso’s victory. Camden Pendleton made 27 saves to take the win in net while Mid Cities’ Aaron Palos kept out 45.
Saturday: El Paso 6 – Mid Cities 4 – The El Paso Rhinos topped the Mid Cities Jr. Stars by a final score of 6-4. In the first period, Jaxon Penner scored to get the Rhinos ahead 1-0. Soon after, Mid Cities Diego Pitzer scored to even the game 1-1. El Paso took the lead back after scoring back to back goals as the first came from Zachary Ware and Matthew Barnes. Nearing the end of the period, Blake Lind scored to get the score 3-2. Rhinos netted a goal early in the 2nd from Matthew Barnes to make the score 4-2. After that, Blake Lind scored for a 4-3 score. In the final frame, Mid Cities Michael Kennedy scored a minute in for a 5-3 score. After that, Matthew Gross scored to make the game 5-4. The Rhinos would get a late goal to seal the win, 6-4 with Riley Hunt-Bahn.
Sunday: El Paso 10 @ Mid Cities 3 – The Rhinos won their 8th straight game in convincing fashion as they completed a weekend road sweep of the Stars with a 10-3 win. Caden Butler had a hat-trick and an assist in the win. Jaxon Penner and Riley Hunt-Bahn scored in the 1st period to give the Rhinos a 2-0 lead. Noah Easterson, Dylan Thompson, Kaiden Hafele, and Matthew Gross scored in the 2nd period. Butler scored all three goals in the 3rd period to go along with a goal from Dani Cuellar. The Stars got goals from Easton Walters, Ilnur Madiarov, and Dante Petrini in the loss. Camden Pendleton made 30 saves in the win, while Adler Hoagland took the loss with 24 saves.
