Last Second Goal Sends Wild Past Michigan
November 9, 2013 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release
Wenatchee, WA. - The Wenatchee Wild hosted the Michigan Warriors tonight in the first of a two-game set and by the slimmest of margins; the Wild would win it in overtime 3-2, in front of 2,423 at the Town Toyota Center.
Wenatchee showed plenty of offense in the first period, outshooting the Warriors 15-3, but was unable to find the back of the net, as the game stayed scoreless through the opening 20 minutes.
Michigan finally scored the game's first goal deep into the second period, as Nick Govig scored on a turn-around rebound shot. Connor Lyons assisted at 13:04, giving the Warriors the 1-0 lead. The Wild tied the game two minutes later, as Nick Rivera (Pacific Palisades, California) deflected a shot in front of the goal and into the net. River Rymsha (Huntington Woods, Michigan) and David Powlowski (Rochester, New York) assisted at 15:53, tying the game 1-1.
Jake Hopfer found the goal from the deep right wing wall at 5:22 of the third, with the unassisted goal putting Michigan up 2-1. Andre Pison (Herlev, Denmark) zigged and zagged through the Warrior zone to score on a backhander from the bottom of the right wing circle, tying the game for Wenatchee. The unassisted goal, coming at 10:53, knotted the game at 2-2. Both teams continued to press the attack through the rest of the period but without success and the game proceeded to overtime.
In the extra session, both teams went back and forth at each other and just when it appeared the game was heading to a shootout, Chris Koukis (Brentwood, California) wristed one home from the right side with less than a second left on the clock to end the contest in dramatic fashion. The unassisted goal, coming officially at the 4:59 mark, won the game for the Wild, 3-2, stretching their win streak to three games. "I thought we played very well in the first" said Wenatchee Wild Head Coach Bliss Littler. "We got into some penalty problems in the second, but I thought our effort was pretty good. We need to put a little more sense of urgency with our power play. I was happy with everything but the power play."
Wenatchee outshot the Warriors 39-23 on the night. Gustaf Johansson (Uppsala, Sweden) made 21 saves for the Wild, while Michigan's Trevor Gorsuch had 36 stops. The Wild was 0-for-3 on the power play and 3-of-3 on the penalty kill.
Wenatchee is now 8-8-2, the Warriors are 8-4-6.
The Michigan Warriors are in the Town Toyota Center again tomorrow (Saturday) night, with face off set for 7:05pm PST. Then, next weekend, Wenatchee hits the road for a pair of games at the Johnstown Tomahawks, on Friday and Saturday, November 15th at 4:30pm PST and 16th at 4:00pm PST. Those games will be followed by two at the Michigan Warriors on Friday and Saturday, November 22nd and 23rd at 4:00pm PST both days. The Wild return home for 4 games with Johnstown on November 30th, December 1st, 6th and 7th. Individual and group game tickets for all home games are on sale now. Call 509.888.PUCK (7825).
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