Sports stats



NAHL Amarillo Wranglers

IceRays Outlast Wranglers 3-2 in Valentine's Day Thriller

February 14, 2025 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Amarillo Wranglers News Release


Amarillo, TX - The Corpus Christi IceRays defeated the Amarillo Wranglers 3-2 on Friday Night at the Budweiser Bull Pen. Time ran out on a Wranglers comeback, as three unanswered Corpus Christi goals spanning the second and third periods were enough to survive a late Amarillo Push.

The IceRays and the Wranglers met for the first time at the Budweiser Bull Pen this season to kick off a two-game set to round out the four game season series. It was the first meeting since 1/4 in Corpus Christi and both squads had new netminders, as Amarillo started Matt Schoephoerster for the fourth straight game, and the IceRays were led between the pipes by goaltender Benji Motew.

Amarillo fired a barrage of shots on Motew in the first period, outshooting the IceRays 15-8 in the opening frame. The Wranglers efforts paid off as Will Welburn fired in his 4th goal of the season from JS Pack and Maxim Mamonov, who both earned their first points as Wranglers on the goal that gave them a 1-0 lead with three minutes left in the opening frame. Amarillo took that lead into the first intermission.

The IceRays responded with a monster second period, in which they outshot the Wranglers 17-10 and scored twice to take a 2-1 lead. First it was Cody Kempf tying the game at 1-1 from Nikita Konevych and Caden Morgan 6:38 into the period, followed by a score from Carter Krenke after an expired Corpus Christi power play with 2:11 left in the middle period to take a 2-1 lead. The IceRays took that 2-1 lead into the intermission as the Wranglers looked to regroup and rally back in the third period.

The Wranglers did their best to try and put another past Motew, but it seemed live every time they tried to fire a shot on goal it was either blocked, or snatched up by the IceRay netminder. With 9:04 left in the third, Troy Pelton scored on a long shot with a screen in front of Schoephoerster to extend the IceRays' lead to 3-1. This goal proved to be critical, as it ended up being the game winner. A late Wranglers push produced a goal from Kirill Evstigneev with 10 second to go to make it a 3-2 game, but time expired on the Wranglers before they could complete the comeback. Schoephoerster stopped 34/37 in the loss, while Motew stopped 31/33 for the IceRays. Amarillo went 0/3 on the power play and 3/3 on the penalty kill.

The Wranglers will host the IceRays again on Saturday night in the regular season series finale between the two clubs. Saturday night is First Responders Night, presented by Smoke Wagon Beard Balm, where all first responders get in free. Watch the Wranglers live on nahltv.com or listen on our YouTube channel.

Check out the Amarillo Wranglers Statistics

• Discuss this story on the North American Hockey League message board...

North American Hockey League Stories from February 14, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central