Likness, Warriors Defeat Wranglers 4-1 on Friday Night

Sports stats



NAHL Amarillo Wranglers

Likness, Warriors Defeat Wranglers 4-1 on Friday Night

March 1, 2025 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Amarillo Wranglers News Release


Oklahoma City, OK - The Oklahoma Warriors defeated the Amarillo Wranglers 4-1 on Friday night at Blazers Ice Centre.

Amarillo and Oklahoma met for the third time in three weeks, as the Warriors hosted the Wranglers at Blazers Ice Centre for the first time since opening weekend. Coming off of an off week, Amarillo started red hot goaltender Matt Schoephoerster for the 6th straight game, while the Warriors started Billy Stuski between the pipes.

Oklahoma struck first with 9:21 left in the first period, as a loose puck on the far wall of the Warriors zone led to a 2 on 1 for Oklahoma into ghe Wranglers zone. Ben Likness fired a shot from the right circle that went far side for the score to make it 1-0 Oklahoma. The Wranglers had a chance on the power play shortly thereafter, but were unable to convert. The Warriors ended the period with a power play that carried over to the start of the second period. Oklahoma outshot Amarillo 8-7 in the first period.

Amarillo finished off the penalty kill to start the middle frame, in what ended up being a scoreless second period - but not an uneventful one. Tempers began to flare and eventually boiled over, as Anthony White fought Isaiah Yates 6:03 into the second period. Both teams had opportunities on the power play in the second period but came up empty handed. Schoephoerster made a series of highlight reel saves as the Warriors were pressuring to keep it a 1-0 game. Oklahoma outshot Amarillo 14-12 through two periods.

The Wranglers and the Warriors saved all goal scoring for the third period, as the final frame produced 4 combined goals - three for the Warriors and one for the Wranglers. Oklahoma got back on the board to take a 2-0 lead when Isaiah Yates scored in a similar fashion to Likness 11:02 into the period. The Wranglers then got a power play opportunity and cashed in, with Jacob Miller slamming in his 6th goal of the season from Aleslöv and LaFrance to make it 2-1 just 2:05 after Yates had scored. However with 3:03 left in regulation, Paul Wiczek came brursting in down the middle, shouldering off defenders, and punched in the Warriors third goal of the night to make it 3-1 Warriors. Oklahoma added on an empty net goal from Kyle Sorensen to take the victory at 4-1.

Schoephoerster stopped 19/22 in the loss, while Stuski stopped 25/26. Amarillo won the special teams battle, going 1/5 on the power play and 3/3 on the penalty kill.

Amarillo and Oklahoma will duel again on Saturday night with puck drop set for 5:00 PM. You can watch the game on nahltv.com or listen on the Wranglers YouTube channel.

Check out the Amarillo Wranglers Statistics



North American Hockey League Stories from March 1, 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