Friday: Austin Ice Bats 0 @ El Paso Rhinos 12 – The Austin Ice Bats pay a visit to Rhino Country this week as the Rhinos play host to the first game of a three game series. Nick Jones starts us off tonight with a goal at the 2:04 mark, putting the Rhinos square in the lead for the early game. Kyle Arias follows up a few minutes later and Nick Jones also bags himself another goal, giving the Rhinos a 3-0 lead at the halfway mark in the first. As the first period comes to a close Cameron Kim and Joseph Gutierrez push the score to 5-0 as we move into the second. Arias and Gutierrez both score and Nick Jones rounds out the second period with a Hat trick. With the score now 8-0 the Ice Bats are hard pressed to keep their front line together. Jake Sherry gives us one more goal and at just a little over seven minutes Kyle Arias earns his own Hat trick. To top it all off, Joseph Gutierrez would tally up three Hat Tricks for the Rhinos tonight as he scores his own third goal in the closing minutes of the period. With one final goal by Garrett Reagan, the Rhinos would take a whopping 12-0 victory over the Ice Bats.
Saturday: Austin Ice Bats 0 @ El Paso Rhinos 6 – Back at it again for the second game of the series the Rhinos & Ice Bats duke it out once more. Regnars Jasons takes the first point of the night to start off the Rhino’s momentum for the game to come. After two more goals from Jake Sherry and Eddie Soriano-Trejo the Rhinos head into the second period up 3-0. Kyle Arias and Bryan wood keep tallying up points for El Paso in the second and we start the third period with a 5-0 lead. With Nick Jones rounding off one final point the Rhinos achieve another shutout win and take the second game 6-0.
Sunday: Austin Ice Bats 2 @ El Paso Rhinos 6 – One final game on the line as the Rhinos & Ice Bats battle it out in the ring again. Joseph Gutierrez puts the Rhinos on the board tonight at 11:04 into the first period and Tyler Kowalchuk in the final minute takes a second goal. Tonight looks to be a repeat of previous nights as Rhinos deny the Ice Bats any scoring by the end of the first period. Gutierrez shows up again in the second to send the Rhinos to a 3-0 lead, but the Ice Bats shutout was not to happen. Ashton Morin breaks the scoreless streak for the Ice Bats at just under the 16 minute mark in the second period and we’d see a 3-1 game at the start of the third. Rex Kronick is awarded one more goal for the Ice Bats, but they’d still be at a one-point defecit. Rhinos saw back-to-back goals by Jacck Wilson and Kyle Arias to take a 5-2 lead for the Rhinos, followed up just two minutes later by Robert Provost for one last Rhino goal for a final score of 6-2.
