Friday: El Paso Rhinos 3 @ Austin Ice Bats 4 – Rhinos hit the road this weekend to beautiful Austin, Texas to face off against the Ice Bats on their home ice! Austin takes the advantage early in the period and snags the first goal of the night at the 11:31 mark to secure the lead. El Paso responds just three minutes later with Carter Tulpin bringing the game back to a 1-1 tie. With both teams defenses holding strong we’d head in to the second period with no further scoring. Rhinos catch a break with a power play converting in to a goal with 14:31 to go in the period as Huero Rivera steals the lead. Luck would befall the Ice Bats too as Rhinos are also hit with a penalty, giving the ice bats their own opportunity for a power play. The moment is seized when Jake Bamback and Guhnar Hillman take back-to-back goals and set the score at 3-2 within 30 seconds. This score would be maintained throughout the rest of the period and we’d head in to the third with the Ice Bats leading. Austin takes yet another goal off a power play to double their lead over the Rhinos as we hit the 13:54 mark, but the Rhinos tenacious spirit is awakened and start fighting back in earnest. Nick Nunez breaks through Ice Bats defense and cuts the lead back down to one point and the Referees head in to a scramble to determine if extra time is to be awarded just a few minutes later. With mere seconds left on the clock the Rhinos attempt to snipe one last goal to send the game in to overtime, but the Ice Bats’ defense holds firm. Unfortunately for the Rhinos, Ice Bats would take this game with a 4-3 victory.
Saturday: El Paso Rhinos 2 @ Austin Ice Bats 4 – Game 2 is upon us as the Rhinos take to Ice Bats’ rink once more this weekend for puck drop! Strategy has changed since last night and both teams opt in for more defense heavy playstyles, maintaining possession when the puck falls into their grasp. Sean Biebrich holds back the onslaught of attacks from the Ice Bats and we’d see a scoreless first period with steadfast defense. The players fresh off of first intermission hit the rink and get in to a scuffle which gives the Rhinos a powerplay opportunity that’s quickly seized by Kenneth Cadwallader who scored the first goal of the night. Rhinos are up 1-0 headed in to the second period. Ice bats bring it back and take two goals this period as Dylan Jimenez scores early and former Rhino player, Jake Bamback takes another. Carter Lehmann ties it back up and we’d see the scoreboard at 2-2. Unfortunately for the Rhinos this would be the last goal they’d see as Bamback takes another followed just a minute and a half later by Georgii Tokarskii take two for the Ice Bats, doubling their lead. Austin finishes off Game #2 with a 4-2 victory over the Rhinos.
Sunday: El Paso Rhinos 3 @ Austin Ice Bats 4 – One last game this weekend and one final chance for these teams to make their mark here on Austin Ice. Puck Drop today was during the middle of the day, a bit of a change of pace from the usual evening games, but Matthieu LeBlanc starts off the Ice Bats today by taking snagging the first goal of the day. Ice Bats hold on to this 1-0 lead and we’d head in to the second period with no further scoring. Ice Bats do manage to take a second goal here early on in the period but their dreams of a complete shutout are dashed as we pass the halfway point of the game. Benjamin Green puts the Rhinos on the board, cutting the lead in half and setting the score at 2-1. Austin answers again with yet another goal of their own to make it 3-1. Andre Valenzuela keeps the game within one point and cuts the lead with one more goal for the Rhinos by the end of the period and we’d be 3-2, Ice Bats leading as we head in to the second intermission. We got one more goal in for regulation time as Kenneth Cadwallader ties it up at 3-3 and with neither team willing to budge we’d head in to extra time where Austin ultimately takes the win with one final goal. Guhnar Hillman puts the period on the match and Austin takes game #3 with a 4-3 victory, sweeping the Rhinos.
