Saturday: Austin Ice Bats 1 @ El Paso Rhinos 4 – Halloween has come and gone and with the weekend in full swing we offer a very warm welcome to the Austin Ice Bats to the Sun City for the first of two games! Rhinos & Ice Bats square up for puck drop and get right to business. Andre Valenzuela starts us off tonight with 11:50 left in the period for his first goal of the game. El Paso maintained a 1-0 lead over the Ice Bats for a couple minutes but Mason Manderfield ties it up at 1-1 at the 8:21 mark. Both teams adjust their pace but unfortunately Rhinos are hit with a penalty with just a little under two minutes to go in the first, giving Austin the man advantage. Britton Oldham defies the odds and takes a shorthanded goal at the end of the first period to take back the lead with 51 seconds to go. At the end of the first your El Paso Rhinos lead 2-1 over the Austin Ice Bats.
Mikhail Levaniuk and Carter Lehmann both take a goal each at the start of the second period to make it 4-1; a lead which would be maintained until the end of the game. With no more scoring Rhinos take Game #1 with a 4-1 lead.
Sunday: Austin Ice Bats 6 @ El Paso Rhinos 1 – Ice Bats bring a brand new strategy to the Ice after last night’s defeat at the hands of the Rhinos and aim to split the series here in Game #2. Ice Bats waste no time and score within the first minute as Arys Perardi takes the first goal of the night. Austin keeps them at bay for the majority of the period allowing them the opportunity for a second goal with Garrett Morris making it 2-0. Headed in to the second period the Ice Bats show no signs of holding back as they take two more with Luke Kirkpatrick and Mason Manderfield doubling the score to 4-0. Its a rough one for the Rhinos tonight as we move in to the third period with no points on the board and Austin keeps the onslaught going. Sol Levy gives the Ice Bats their fifth goal of the night with 13:41 to go in the period followed even further by Jake Bamback making it 6-0 in their favor. Rhinos do manage to sneak in one goal with just one second to go in the game as Akira Shimamoto takes the final shot of the night. Ice Bats take Game #2 with a 6-1 victory over the Rhinos, splitting the series.
