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NAHL Amarillo Wranglers

Day Scores Twice as Wranglers Fall 5-3 in El Paso

December 15, 2024 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Amarillo Wranglers News Release


El Paso, TX - The El Paso Rhinos defeated the Amarillo Wranglers 5-3 on Saturday night at El Paso County Events Center. Wranglers forward Trace Day recorded his first multi-goal game of the season in the loss.

The Wranglers and the Rhinos met for the second straight night with El Paso winning 5-2 on Friday. Michael Manzi made his second consecutive start for the Rhinos, while Amarillo turned to Charles-Antoine Girard in net.

El Paso opened the scoring for the second straight game as 10:08 into the first period. Moments after killing a penalty, the Rhinos' Jakub Jerman scored off a rush to put El Paso up 1-0. The Wranglers answered to tie the game with 4:07 remaining in the first frame when Noah Ribeiro slipped the puck to Cru Hanas who separated from the defense and beat Manzi one-on-one for his second goal of the season. Through 20 minutes of play, the Wranglers and the Rhinos were tied at 1-1, and tied in shots at 7 each.

The Rhinos found their groove with a flurry of goals in the second period to leap out to a big lead. First it was Duke Gentzler ping ponging a shot off of two Wranglers into the back of the net to make it 2-1 El Paso exactly four minutes into the period. Gentzler's goal would be the start of four consecutive goals from the Rhinos. Next came a power play goal from Ryder Many Grey Horses 7:23 into the middle frame on an abbreviated man advantage to put El Paso up 3-1. Just 46 seconds afterwards, the Rhinos added another goal from Tyler Kedzo to extend their lead to 4-1. Kedzo stole the puck at his own blue line and went the other way for the score. Following this goal, Girard was replaced by Charlie Zolin in net. With 3:26 left in the period, Ben Norris punched in a rebound for El Paso's 5th goal of the night and 4th of the period to go up 5-1. Looking to get something positive going heading into the third period, Trace Day fired a shot into a screen and scored, notching his 9th goal of the season with 1:58 left in the second period to make it a 5-2 game. The Rhinos outshot the Wranglers 16-14 in the second frame.

Amarillo continued to push back in the third period, getting chances in on Manzi. On a power play chance midway through the period, the Wranglers were able to convert to make it a 5-3 game. Day hit the back of the net for the second time, marking his first multi-goal game of the season. Day joins Alexander Aleslov and Sal Cerrato (2) as the only Wranglers to achieve that feat this season. The Wranglers continued to try to claw back and tie the game, but ultimately time ran out and the Rhinos claimed the contest 5-3. Amarillo outshot El Paso 14-8 in the third period and 35-31 in an effort to come back, but it was just too late.

The Wranglers will make a stop in Odessa on Sunday afternoon for the final game of the five game road trip. Amarillo will make it's first visit to the Permian Basin with puck drop set for 4:15 CST. Fans can watch the game on nahltv.com or listen to audio on the Wranglers YouTube channel.

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North American Hockey League Stories from December 15, 2024


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