Wildcats Defeat RoadRunners in Topeka
January 29, 2016 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wichita Falls Wildcats News Release
After making the six and half hour bus ride north to Kansas' capital, the Wildcats outplayed the RoadRunners en route to a 6-2 win.
The Cats fell behind early after former Minot Minotauros captain and newest RoadRunner Johnny Walker tipped a shot past Julian Sime. The Wildcats responded by earning their first power play of the night, which Adam Goodsir used to score his 25th goal of the season off a juicy rebound.
Six minutes later, Jeff Baum hammered a one-timer from the left point which ricocheted between the wickets of Tyler Johnson. Baum has made a habit of racking up points from the blue line at the Landon Arena this season; he had two goals from there in the second game of the season nearly five months ago. With the Runners on their heels, Adam Goodsir rushed the puck into the attacking zone before feeding Ryan Burnett in the slot. Burnett cleverly dropped it off in Beaulieu's wheelhouse before he wristed a shot past Johnson to give the Cats an insurance goal.
With less than a dozen seconds remaining in the first period, Topeka's top defenseman Tyler Hayes found himself on a breakaway before being tripped up. The ensuing penalty shot gave him the chance to send his team into the locker room with some momentum, but Sime poked the puck away from him before he could get a shot away. The following period, the Runners failed to chip away at the Cats' 3-1 lead.
The Wildcats put the game away in the third period. Holden Cronin rifled a shot from the left point on a one-timer which deflected past Johnson to put the Wildcats up 4-1. The very next shift, Ben Lown skated the puck down the right wing before laying a crisp pass on the tape for Aleksi Poikola, who buried it past Johnson.
After Hayes was given a five minute major penalty and game ejection for head contact, the Wildcats struggled to stay out of the box. They took two straight penalties, one of which resulted in a 4-on-3 goal for Topeka. The Cats were not the only team who found themselves in penalty trouble in the third period. Topeka's leading scorer, Dominic Lutz, was given a 10 minute misconduct for hitting from behind. Lown tallied another insurance goal at the end of the period.
Julian Sime made 26 saves on 28 shots for his 9th win of the season, while Tyler Johnson stopped 26 of 32 for his 9th regulation defeat. The Cats and Runners meet again at the Landon Arena for the final time of the season on Saturday, January 30th for the second game of a two-game series.
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