Brahmas - Roadrunners South Division Finals Preview
April 23, 2015 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Lone Star Brahmas News Release
Lone Star Brahmas vs. Topeka RoadRunners
(Lone Star Brahmas)
With a first round sweep of the Wenatchee Wild, the Lone Star Brahmas have advanced to the NAHL South Division Finals against the Topeka Roadrunners. It is only fitting that these two teams are still standing as ended the regular season as the two top teams in the South Division. The Brahmas and Roadrunners met eight times during the 14/15 season with each team managing a 4 - 4 - 0 record. Lone Star outscored Topeka 23 - 16 in the eight contests.
NAHL South Division Finals Schedule
April 24 - Roadrunners at Brahmas - NYTEX Sports Centre
April 25 - Roadrunners at Brahmas - NYTEX Sports Centre
May 1 - Brahmas at Roadrunners - Kansas Expo Center
May 2 - Brahmas at Roadrunners - Kansas Expo Center (If Necessary)
May 4 - Roadrunners at Brahmas - NYTEX Sports Centre (If Necessary)
Regular Season Head-to-Head Results
11/07/14 Roadrunners 1 at Brahmas 5
11/08/14 Roadrunners 1 at Brahmas 3
11/28/14 Brahmas 2 at Roadrunners 4
11/29/14 Brahmas 1 at Roadrunners 2
01/16/15 Brahmas 2 at Roadrunners 3
01/17/15 Brahmas 3 at Roadrunners 1
02/20/15 Roadrunners 2 at Brahmas 1
02/21/15 Roadrunners 2 at Brahmas 6
Lone Star had their hands full against the Wenatchee Wild in round one, but the character built over the long season bubbled to the top. The script for the series was set in game one at NYTEX Sports Centre with the Wild's team speed setting the tempo. As a result the Brahmas found themselves down a goal going into the second period. Ludvig Larsson pulled Lone Star even at the 14:29 mark and then the defense and goaltending took over. The game went nearly a full hour before Roman Uchyn sent the Brahmas' faithful into an uproar putting a rebound into the back of the net at 6:05 of the second overtime. In game two, Anton Santesson scored a power play goal in the first followed by a Sebastian Vidmar tally late in the second for a two goal lead heading into the second intermission. Wenatchee scored a power play goal of their own early in the third for the final 2 - 1 score. Lone Star traveled to Wenatchee Washington for game three. Again, the Brahmas jumped out to a two goal lead on the strength of a Peter Kessel goal in the first and a Cody Wickline goal in the second. Wenatchee cut the deficit to a single goal at 7:20 of the period. AJ Vanderbeck potted an empty netter with 36 seconds to go for an insurance goal and a 3 - 1 win. Jake Kupsky was in net for all three games and turned aside 100 of the 103 shots he faced.
Topeka advanced to the Division Finals with a three games to one win in their best of five series against the Wichita Falls Wildcats. The Roadrunners took game one 6 - 2 with Sly Sutter scoring in the first and third periods.Dominic Lutz added a second period score while Yu Hikosaka, Daniel Rzavsky and Cam Strong all scored in the final 20 minutes. The Wildcats got a measure of revenge in game two spanking the Roadrunners by a score of 7 - 0. The series then moved to Wichita Falls for games three and four. Wichita Falls started game three where they left off game two, getting out to a 2 - 0 lead through the early portion of period two. Sutter scored at 7:31 to pull within one and then JB Baker knotted it up at 10:28. Daniel Brickleyparlayed the momentum into an early third period power play goal that was the margin of victory. In the fourth and deciding game Topeka found themselves down three goals at 5:41 of the second. Sutter once again got the offense going scoring just past the mid-point of the second followed by a Carlos Fornaris score. Hikosaka, Brickley andTyler Irvine scored in the third to complete the comeback and close out the series.Matej Tomek got the start in all four games and finished 3 - 1. Drew Vogler played just 13:49 of game two in relief of Tomek giving up two goals in the process.
Team Records In Post Season
W L OTL
Brahmas 3 0 0
Roadrunners 3 1 0
Special Teams
Overall the Brahmas finished the regular season with the leagues' 7th best power play unit at 19.6% and the 2nd best penalty kill at 88.0%. Topeka was 4th on the power play at 22.4% and 6th in the NAHL at 86.1% on the penalty kill.
When the two teams faced off against each other this season, Lone Star was only 5 - 43 on the power play or 11.6% with one shorthanded goal while Topeka's power play was at 15.9% on 7 goals in 44 opportunities.
Head-to-Head Goaltending Comparison
W L OTL SO GA GAA SV SV%
Brahmas 4 4 0 0 16 2.03 196 .925
Roadrunners 4 4 0 0 23 2.88 171 .881
Images from this story
 Lone Star Brahmas vs. Topeka RoadRunners |
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