Cats Hang on to Defeat Topeka
November 13, 2015 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wichita Falls Wildcats News Release
The Wildcats pleased a supportive crowd at the Kay Yeager Coliseum on Freaky Friday Night, holding on to defeat the Topeka RoadRunners 5-3.
Austin Albrecht opened the scoring after being set up in the slot by fellow veteran Jonny Lazarus from behind the Topeka net. Albrecht picked the corner perfectly and buried the puck past RoadRunner goaltender Juho Niku, who was playing his first game as a RoadRunner.
Not long afterward, the Wildcats found themselves on a delayed penalty after a Rourke Russell charge. Fittingly, the most bizarre goal of the Wildcats' season occurred on Freaky Friday Night. With the RoadRunners' goaltender pulled for a sixth attacker on the delayed penalty, a Runner accidentally shot the puck off of Ryan Burnett's skate and into the open net.
Jonny Lazarus, Max Reisinger, and Nikita Litviak would each score second period goals. Two of them came on the man-advantage to continue the red-hot power play streak. Lazarus and Reisinger each sniped shots from the right circle, while Litviak tapped in a goal off a perfectly placed pass from Albrecht. With a 5-0 lead heading into the third period, the game appeared out of reach.
With the Wildcats sitting back a bit on their five-goal lead, the RoadRunners took advantage. Dominic Lutz scored two unanswered goals, and JB Baker split the defense and slid a backhand shot between Justin Kapelmaster's pads to give the Runners tons of life.
With over four minutes remaining and all the momentum on their side, the Runners gave everything they had in an attempt to rally from down 5-0. However, the Wildcats weathered the storm and held on for a 5-3 victory. They improved to 6-0-0 at the KYC this season and 14-2-2 on the year overall.
Niku made 20 saves in the defeat, while Kapelmaster made 18 saves in his ninth win. The Wildcats and RoadRunners meet at 7:05 pm CT on Saturday night for the final game of the series.
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