Cats Win Five Straight against Amarillo
January 15, 2016 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wichita Falls Wildcats News Release
In their final trip to Amarillo this season, the Wildcats won their fifth straight game and defeated the Bulls 4-1 on Friday night.
The Bulls scored a goal on their first shot of the game, in which George Mika set up their leading scorer Joey Molinaro right in front of the Wildcats net for a tap-in goal. Julian Sime, who had been given his first start in over a month, had no chance on the shot.
The young goaltender did not let the quick start for Amarillo faze him. He and the Wildcats clawed their way back into the game and dominated the first period, outshooting the Bulls 20-8. Eventually, Holden Cronin - playing in his first game at forward all season - picked up a loose puck after Nick Rosa's shot was stopped by Anton Martinsson. Cronin slipped it through Martinsson's five-hole to open the scoring for the Wildcats for his first goal of the season. Every Wildcat now has at least one goal this season.
The Bulls had the chance to level the play in the second frame thanks in large part to a plethora of penalties taken by the Wildcats. Amarillo had three chances on the power play in the middle period, but failed to convert. Strong defensive play and stable goaltending kept the Bulls' man-advantage at bay. Then, just seconds after a Ryan Burnett tripping penalty and a Jacob Nitsche roughing penalty offset one another, Garrett Van Wyhe pounced on a rebound and fired the puck high on Martinsson's stick side to give the Wildcats their first lead of the night.
The Wildcats would not allow the Bulls to fight their way back into the game. Less than a minute into the third period, Adam Goodsir stole the puck in the Amarillo slot, found some open ice, put the puck on his backhand and roofed it over the glove of Martinsson to give the Wildcats a 3-1 edge. His team-leading 22nd goal tied him with Fairbanks' Tyler Gorowski for the NAHL's leading goal-scorer.
Having just fallen behind by two, the wind was taken out of the Bulls' sails. Their goaltender Martinsson made a rare mistake and turned the puck over after stepping out of his net to make a pass. After rattling off a skate, the puck bounced right to Cronin, who had nothing but an open four-by-six foot net to shoot at. He made no mistake, and tallied his second goal of the night, which was also his second goal of the season. It will be interesting to see whether the Wildcats' coaches decide to experiment more with Cronin at forward after tonight's two-goal performance.
Sime stopped 34 shots on 35 attempts for his 8th win of the season, while Martinsson turned aside 49 of the 53 he faced in his 19th regulation defeat. The Wildcats and Bulls meet at the Amarillo Civic Center for the last time of the season on Saturday, January 16th before the Cats head home to prepare for Children's Miracle Network weekend.
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