ALLEN, Texas - The Allen Americans earned two more points tonight as they defeated the Arizona Sundogs 4-2 at the Allen Event Center. Last-minute roster addition Mike Willemsen scored his first professional goal and recorded a hat trick to go down in history as the first American to net three goals in a single night. Allen's record now stands at 8-3-1 (17 points).Willemsen, who joined the team today, notched the first two goals of the game. Just over a minute into the first, the forward got off a quick shot from the right circle that surprised Arizona goalie Kyle McNulty for his first pro goal. To grab his second, the 23-year-old skated in unopposed and went top shelf, glove side at the 13:42 mark. The breakaway goal gave the Americans a 2-0 lead, but Linus Fagemo would score on the power play for Arizona to cut the difference to one at 15:33.
The Americans would find the back of the net twice in the second. Not four minutes into the period, Americans' forward Nathan O'Nabigon dove at a rebound and poked the puck into the net to give Allen a two-goal lead again. At 9:02 of the second, Willemsen knocked the puck out of the air and into the net to grab his third and final goal of the night. His goal put the score at 4-1. Fans threw hats on the ice in celebration of the rookie's accomplishment.
The third was relatively quiet except for a goal from Fagemo, who scored at 12:05 of the period. He was the lone goal scorer for the Sundogs tonight.
Goaltender Chris Whitley made 43 saves and earned second star of the game honors, while Willemsen was named first star of the game for his first pro goal and hat trick.
The Americans travel to Corpus Christi tomorrow to play the IceRays at 7:05 p.m. and then turn around to host Corpus Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Allen Event Center. Tickets are still available for Saturday's contest and can be purchased by calling 1-866-4-GET-TIX (1-866-443-8849) or go to gettix.net. For more ticket information, go to allenamericans.com. The first 5,000 fans will receive jerseys as part of a red out effort courtesy of Choctaw Casino/Resort.
The boxscore can be found here:http://www.pointstreak.com/prostats/boxscore.html?gameid1067514&refresh1
The Americans, the Dallas Stars' CHL affiliate, begin play this fall in the newly built Allen Event Center in The Village at Allen. Season tickets, partial plans and group tickets are on sale now, and corporate partnerships are also available. Ticket plans start as low as $77 per seat. For information, call 972.912.1000 or visit allenamericans.com. Office hours are 8:30 a.m. - 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Saturday.
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