Gimme Five: Texas knocks off Wildcats, moves to 5-0-0
September 29, 2012 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Texas Tornado News Release
After a two-week layoff, the Texas Tornado picked up where they left off at the NAHL Showcase with a 4-1 victory over the Wichita Falls Wildcats on Saturday. The Tornado got goals from Leo Lumm, C.J. Reuschlein, Scott Conway, and Brandon Hawkins in what was the team's 2012-2013 regular season home opener. Hunter Leisner started in net for the Tornado, making 16 out of 17 stops en route to his fourth victory of the season. With the win, Texas moves to 5-0-0 on the season.
The game started with a little bit of fanfare as the Tornado unveiled their 2011-2012 Robertson Cup championship banner in front of a crowd of 2,706 people. Their excitement was forced to be slightly tempered, however, after the Wildcats got on the board to open the scoring. With less than four minutes gone by in the first, Rudy Junda took a shot from the top of the circles that rang off the post. The puck ricocheted back out front while Leisner was still looking for it, and Will Vosjepka jumped on it for the goal.
Just over three minutes later, the NAHL's best power-play went to work and evened the score on Lumm's second goal of the season. Jackson Leef had control of the puck in the corner before finding Mitch McPherson with a centering pass. McPherson's shot was stopped by Wildcats goaltender Brody Sharp, but Lumm was waiting at the edge of the crease for the rebound and powered it home to tie the game.
The first period ended with the score still 1-1, but three second period goals broke the game open for Texas. At 7:57, Conway gave the Tornado a lead they would not relinquish. Fellow rookie Cameron Brown took a wrist shot from the circles that Sharp was able to get a glove on. He didn't hang on to the puck, though, and Conway was able to pounce on the rebound and poke it in for the goal, making it a 2-1 lead. Just about three minutes later, Reuschlein stripped a Wildcats defenseman in the Wichita Falls zone, made a nifty stickhandling move to get some space, and sniped a wrist shot to the top corner to beat Sharp glove-side.
Still leading 3-1, the Tornado weren't done in the second, with Hawkins's goal coming at 17:47 of the period. After the Tornado dumped the puck in behind the Wichita Falls net, Sharp stopped it there and tried to move it to the right-wing side. Hawkins, however, was waiting at the half-wall and just fired the puck into the empty net to give the Tornado a 4-1 lead.
The Tornado really controlled the flow of play and locked things down defensively in the third, as there were a combined nine shots on goal between the two teams. Neither one scored, however, and the Tornado skated to victory on home ice for the first time in 2012-2013. The Tornado return to the ice Thursday night from American Bank Center when they take on the Corpus Christi IceRays. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
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North American Hockey League Stories from September 29, 2012
- Gimme Five: Texas knocks off Wildcats, moves to 5-0-0 - Texas Tornado
- Jacks Tumble in Amarillo, 5-1 - Odessa Jackalopes
- Wild Claw Back to Win, 3-2 - Wenatchee Wild
- Corpus Christi Edged by Topeka 3-1 - Corpus Christi IceRays
- Bruins Win Home Opener - Austin Bruins
- Kalamzoo loses first end of home and home - Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings
- Bulls 2012-2013 Home Opener Faces off Tonight vs Odessa - Amarillo Bulls
- Bobcats Foiled by Wenatchee Charge - Bismarck Bobcats
- Special teams pivotal in Wenatchee's 7th straight win - Wenatchee Wild
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