Thursday: West Texas Wranglers 2 @ El Paso Rhinos 6 – Wranglers are in town this weekend hoping to round up some Rhinos on our home turf in the first of a three-game series this weekend!
First period is relatively uneventful with barely any penalties thrown around, but our very own Evan White finds himself on the winning end of the stick, scoring the first goal of the night with just 8:01 on the clock. The period did wind down though and Rhinos would maintain this lead headed in to the second period.
The puck drops on the second period and with it came two early goals from Carter Lehman and Kenneth Cadwallader who through their combined efforts put us up 3-0 with 13:50 left in the second. Wranglers find themselves in a pickle as they cede the man advantage with a penalty thrown their way, giving a powerplay opportunity to the Rhinos which Boston Cornic Immediately takes advantage of for our fourth goal of the night. As the period winds down Tucker Sarkisian takes one last goal for us, putting us up 5-0 before the Wranglers can even mount a counterattack. Don’t let that fool you though, as with just a minute left on the clock the Wranglers’ William Andegren breaks their scoreless streak and puts them on the board.
After one last intermission we return to the ice where the Rhinos lead 5-1 over the Wranglers. 4:36 left on the clock and Nick Nunez rounds out our score at 6-1. With one final goal from the Wranglers’ Andegren the final score is Rhinos 6 to Wranglers 2.
Friday: West Texas Wranglers 1 @ El Paso Rhinos 9 – Wranglers & Rhinos return to the ice ready to begin our second game of the weekend!
We start off tonight with back-to-back goals from Carter Lehmann and Parker Brinner set the scoreboard to 2-0, Rhinos leading with 8:03 left in the first. Marek Gallenberger follows close behind to put us up 3-0 off a powerplay with 5:39 remaining in the period. Goaltender Brayden Macko holds down the fort and keeps the Wranglers at bay for the remainder of the period and we’d move on to the second period with the Rhinos still up 3-0.
The second period looks to be more a repeat of the first as Cadwallader and Mikhail Levaniuk take two early goals followed by Brinner a few minutes later for a third to double our score to 6-0. The Wranglers’ Andegren is once again out in the spotlight tonight to break their silence and give them their first goal of the night with 10:49 left to go in the second. The score is now 6-1 with Rhinos still out in front but Levaniuk takes it upon himself to make it 7-1. scoring the last goal of the period with 8:50 left on the clock.
Returning to the ice after the third intermission the Rhinos manage to take two more goals over the course of the period as Evan White and Carter Lehman finalize the game with a 9-1 Rhino victory.
Saturday: West Texas Wranglers 2 @ El Paso Rhinos 6 – After two losses the Wranglers take back to the ice looking for revenge against the Rhinos. Wranglers take quick action in the early game, blitzing the Rhinos and taking the first goal of the night at the 13:02 mark with Justin Fielden taking a point. Now up 1-0 the Wranglers just needed a little momentum to try and make a comeback in the last game of the series and Caelen Cross follows suit, scoring just a couple minutes later to put the Wranglers up 2-0 over the Rhinos. Rhinos try and break through the Wranglers’ defense but try as they might the defenses hold firm as goaltender Garret Lant keeps us at bay.
Wranglers lead 2-0 at the start of the second period, but the Rhinos are ready to flip this game on its head. Lehman gives the Wranglers a taste of their own medicine and rushes the net, taking a goal just 15 seconds in to the second period. 2-1 now with Wranglers still ahead the next few minutes are fraught with penalties tossed around back and forth as both teams battle for control of the puck. After the dust settles Nick Nunez ties up the game at 2-2 with a masterful shot in to the Wranglers’ net. Now that the game is back on even footing the Rhinos begin the counteroffensive. Kenneth Cadwallader takes two consecutive goals to put us up 4-2, snatching back the lead, but this wouldn’t be the end. Parker Brinner makes it 5-2, and with one final goal from Boston Cornic off a powerplay we round out our score to 6-2 at the end of the second.
With the last period underway after second intermission the focus now switches to defense where goaltender Nathan Graybill becomes a wall and prevents any further scoring for the remainder of the period to solidify a Rhino victory.
