March Madness Begins with Sweep in Topeka
March 4, 2013 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wichita Falls Wildcats News Release
The Wildcats' march forth toward the playoffs continued with a pair of wins in Topeka over the weekend. The 'Cats took Friday's game in convincing fashion 4-1, then came from a 3-1 deficit with 10 minutes to go for a 4-3 win on Saturday.
The Wildcats snapped the Roadrunners seven-game winning streak on Friday thanks to a three-goal second period en route to a 4-1 win. Wildcat-killer Tyler Andrew got the Roadrunners on the board first-eight of his 16 goals this season have come against Wichita Falls. But the Wildcats shut the Roadrunners down the rest of the way.
Eliot Grauer's powerplay goal evened things up in the second period, as Tyler Ledford picked up the first of his three assists in the period. Patrick Yudez gave the Wildcats a lead off Ledford's no-look, behind-the-back centering feed, followed only 2:40 later by Colin Staub victimizing Topeka netminder Spencer Viele for a 3-1 lead.
Back at the other end of the ice, Evan Cowley faced down 21 shots, coming away with 20 saves. He was perfect on 14 in the final 40 minutes. George Pagonis finished it all off with an empty-net goal from his own blueline for a 4-1 final.
For about fifteen minutes on Saturday, it looked as though the Wildcats were only going to get a split on the weekend. But a giant offensive effort in the final ten minutes turned the tables as the Wildcats escaped with a 4-3 win.
Conor O'Neil got the Wildcats on the board first, scoring midway through the opening period before the Roadrunners took the lead for the first time since the opening period Friday off goals from Brandon Brossoit and Tyler Groat. Jerad Tafoya made it a 3-1 game early in the third.
A two-goal lead is incredibly dangerous, and the Roadrunners saw why. Three minutes after extending the lead, Sam Piazza scored his first goal as a Wildcat, tapping in a puck after George Pagonis rang a shot off the post. With under three minutes left, Charlie Hemstrom's blast off a faceoff was stopped by Viele but a joint effort of Rudy Junda and Sami Salminen in front of the net resulted in the big Finn's first goal since his January 12 hat trick and a 3-3 game.
As the final fifteen seconds ticked down, the Roadrunners figured the third period nightmare was over and the game was headed to overtime, but Colin Staub had other plans. Slowed but not stopped by a knee-to-knee hit in the opening period, he put in the eventual game-winner with 8.5 seconds on the clock for a 4-3 lead. Topeka brought in an extra attacker but couldn't get to the net as the Wildcats held on for the 4-3 final.
The Wildcats play the Roadrunners at the Kay Yeager Coliseum to finish out the regular season on March 29 and 30.
WEEKEND NOTES: The sweep was the Wildcats' first ever in Topeka. The Roadrunners have lost five games inside the final 30 seconds of regulation; three of those have been in the final ten seconds. The Wildcats were held without a powerplay goal Saturday night, the first time they were blanked since February 9. Topeka was without leading scorer Sean Gaffney, injured last week against Texas.
NAHL SOUTH NOTES: Corpus Christi split with Amarillo earlier in the week, while Amarillo swept Odessa in a pair over the weekend. Texas had the week off. Amarillo currently sits in first with 84 points; their magic number to clinch the division title is 5. Topeka is in second, with Texas third.
NAHL NOTES: The playoff picture didn't get much clearer this week as no other teams clinched any of the five remaining playoff spots. In the South, it is down to Wichita Falls and Corpus Christi for the final spot, with the IceRays holding a three-point lead entering a pivotal two-game matchup this weekend. In the North, a total of six teams will make it in, with the final three spots coming down to a fight between Johnstown (58 points, 6 games remaining), Port Huron (52 and 8), Springfield (50 and 6), Janesville (50 and 9), and Michigan (43 and 8). In the Central, Minot was unable to clinch, but needs only to pick up two points before the end of the season to do so. Odessa and Coulee Region are the only two teams out of playoff contention.
Scouting the Corpus Christi IceRays, March 8-9
In what could be the most important series of the season for either team, the Wildcats and IceRays will face each other in a playoff atmosphere for a pair of games this weekend at the American Bank Center. This season, the Wildcats are 5-1-0 against the IceRays and 19-8-3 all-time.
In their only series in South Texas this season, the teams split, with the IceRays taking a 7-2 win on Friday, October 12, followed by a 4-2 Wildcat victory the next night. All-time at the ABC, the Wildcats are 6-5-3.
The IceRays are expected to be without Perry D'Arrisso, who broke his leg against the Wildcats back in January. He was the team's leading scorer at the time of his injury. Rudy Sulmonte and Eric Purcell have picked up nicely in his absence however. Over the least ten games, each has averaged at least a point per game, while veteran forward Beau Wallker has been close behind with 9 points in that time frame.
Sulmonte leads the team with 49 points and 21 goals. Romig is their top assist man with 30. Against the 'Cats, Romig had 6 points in 4 games while Sulmonte has 5 in 6. The IceRays have spread the scoring around quite well against the Wildcats: 14 different players have scored a total of 17 goals against the Wildcats.
Eliot Grauer leads the Wildcats in scoring against the IceRays, putting up 5 points in 6 games. He and Kyle Bauman each have four goals, while Patrick Yudez has a team-best 3 assists. Evan Cowley's lone NAHL shutout came against the IceRays by a 1-0 score on January 15.
Upcoming Wildcats' Events
We're on the air! Join us for the Wildcats' Coaches' Radio Show at our new show host, El Mejicano on Wednesdays at 7 pm. The Voice of the Wildcats, Drew Pelto, will interview the Wildcats' coaches and your favorite Wildcats' players. If you can't get to the show, tune in on the radio at 7:30 pm on 94.9, KOLI, The Outlaw. All in attendance wearing a Wildcats' jersey will get 20% off!
Get out on the ice! We have our March open skating schedule on the Games and Ice Events tab at WFWildcatsHockey.com. We also offer birthday party packages at a Wildcats game or an open skating session. Any questions about our ice programs? Contact Sarah Scrivner in the Wildcats office.
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And don't forget to follow us on Twitter @WFWildcats!
Alumni Report
AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Chad Costello picked up his third goal of the AHL season in Bridgeport's 7-3 loss to Connecticut on Friday.
Dan Sexton is on a four-game scoring streak, including four assists in three games this week.
ECHL
Kyle Kraemer's stat line read 1-1-2 each of his three games this weekend, extending his point streak to eight games. He's now the Ontario Reign's leading scorer this season.
NCAA DIVISION 1
Kyle Delaurell had two goals and an assist as Air Force took home two wins over Niagara.
Steven Hoshaw had an assist on the game-winning goal in American International College's 2-1 win over Bentley on Friday.
Zach Dorer had Ferris State's lone goal in a 1-1 tie at Michigan on Saturday.
NCAA DIVISION 3
The bracket is set! The Division III Frozen Four starts play on Wednesday with the following former Wildcats playing.
March 6: Wentworth (Shaun Jameson, Curtis Heinz) vs. Babson
March 6: Wisconsin-Eau Claire (Tyler Green) vs. St. John's
March 6: Massachusetts-Dartmouth (Bill Colclough) vs. Bowdoin
March 9: SUNY-Oswego (Zach Josepher) vs. Adrian (Chris Leone)
March 9: St. Norbert (Chris Rial) vs. winner of St. John's vs. Wisc-Eau Claire
Six of 11 teams in the tournament feature at least one former Wildcat. Last year, Chris Rial and St. Norbert were the Division III National Champions, with Zach Josepher and SUNY-Oswego as runners-up!
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North American Hockey League Stories from March 4, 2013
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- One-of-a-kind Fighting Falcons St. Patrick's Day Jerseys To Be Auctioned Next Weekend - Port Huron Fighting Falcons
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- Michigan Warriors Weekend Summary - Michigan Warriors
- Blizzard Fall to Bismarck at Home - Brookings Blizzard
- Robbie Payne Honored - Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings
- Zach Nagelvoort First Star Performance of the Week - Aberdeen Wings
- Former IceRays Goalie Stolarz Inks Deal with Philadelphia - Corpus Christi IceRays
- NAHL Announces Monthly Player Awards for February - NAHL
- March Madness Begins with Sweep in Topeka - Wichita Falls Wildcats
- Soo Hangs On, Beats Kalamazoo 3-1 - Soo Eagles
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