Farmer's Heroics Lift Wildcats Past Bulls
November 11, 2014 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wichita Falls Wildcats News Release
WICHITA FALLS, Texas - Behind a pair of late goals from Nick Farmer, the Wichita Falls Wildcats bested the Amarillo Bulls, 4-2, to finish a three-game sweep of the Bulls at the Kay Yeager Coliseum on Tuesday night.
Tommy Apap scored his second goal of the season in the win, and Austin Albrecht tacked on a goal and an assist. Erich Jaeger, Johnny Lazarus, Jake Townsend, Austin Beaulieu and Colin Staub each chipped in on the attack with an assist, and Austin Shaw made 30 saves to earn the victory in the Wildcats' fourth-straight win.
The first period played out scoreless thanks in large part to the play of Shaw in the Wildcats net. The first-year netminder faced a barrage in the opening period, including a late-period flurry of power-play efforts from the Bulls, but proved equal to the task on all 15 shots faced.
Wichita Falls began the second by killing of 1:14 of carry-over penalty time, and used that kill to build some momentum in the frame, before finally breaking the deadlock thanks to a fortuitous bounce in front.
With JJ Huerena in the box for boarding for Amarillo, the 'Cats power play went to work. After swooping through the neutral zone to collect the disc, Staub raced into the zone along the left side. He fought through a pair of checks, before managing to force the puck along to Apap behind the net. Apap skated out front to center for Austin Beaulieu but the pass never reached him, as it deflected in off a Bulls skater in front to make it 1-0 at 16:09 of the frame.
Wichita Falls stumbled out of the blocks to start the third, as Luke Novack and Addison Runey scored within seconds of each other to give Amarillo a 2-1 lead within two minutes played, but the 'Cats fought back to tie the contest with nine minutes left.
With the puck in the offensive corner, Lazarus held the puck and waited for support, which Jaeger dutifully provided. Jaeger took the disc from Lazarus and fed a perfect pass to Albrecht crashing the net in front, who stuffed it home to tie it, 2-2, on his third tally of the season.
From there, the 'Cats controlled the remainder of the third and eventually took the lead for good thanks to Farmer's efforts.
With less than five minutes left, Farmer picked up a feed from Albrecht in the neutral ice and raced to the left-wing wall as he gained the offensive zone. After getting around the Amarillo defense, Farmer cut towards the net and roofed a beautiful backhander under the crossbar to give the Wildcats a 3-2 lead on his third goal of the campaign.
Then, with time winding down, Farmer iced the affair with an empty-net goal to make it 4-2 and give Wichita Falls the two points.
The Wildcats are next in action when they travel to Odessa to take on the Jackalopes on Tuesday, Nov. 18. Puck drop is scheduled for 11:05 a.m. at the Ector County Coliseum, with video coverage provided via FASTHockey.com and an audio-only broadcast available on YouTube.com.
Single-game tickets for the 2014-15 Wildcats season are on sale now at the Kay Yeager Coliseum box office. Stay updated on the latest team news and notes by connecting with the Wildcats on Facebook (WFWildcats), Twitter (@WFWildcats), Instagram (WFWildcats) and on YouTube (Wichita Falls Wildcats).
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