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NAHL Amarillo Wranglers

New Wranglers Lead the Way in 4-2 Comeback Win in El Paso

February 3, 2025 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Amarillo Wranglers News Release


El Paso, TX - The Amarillo Wranglers defeated the El Paso Rhinos 4-2 on Saturday night at El Paso County Events Center in the season series finale. The Wranglers overcame a 2-0 deficit thanks to goals from Aleslov, Evstigneev, and Saterdalen, as well as a stellar performance from goaltender Matt Schoephoerster in his first start with Amarillo.

The Wranglers and Rhinos met for the final time in the 2024-25 regular season on Saturday night, with El Paso leading the series 6-1. The Rhinos had won the prior 5 meetings, including a 4-2 victory on Friday night. The Wranglers were in search of revenge, and started newly acquired goaltender Matt Schoephoerster to go up against El Paso's Logan Hughes, who was making his fifth consecutive start.

Th Wranglers came out firing shots on Hughes early in the first period, but it was the Rhinos jumped out to a two goal lead, first scoring off of a stretch pass breakaway and score from Roope Tuomioksa 7:43 into the first period. Tuomioksa's 9th goal of the season was assisted by Kyle Arias and Lawson Kimble. The Rhinos then followed that goal up with a power play tally with 4:42 left in the opening frame from Beckett Hinchsliff to go up 2-0. Shortly thereafter, the Wranglers went to the power play and were able to convert with 1:04 left on the clock to get on the board and make it a 2-1 game. Alexander Aleslov punched in a loose puck in the blue paint for his 6th goal of the year, assisted by Morley Phillips and Carl Jacobson. Through one period, the Wranglers outshot the Rhinos 11-4.

Amarillo put together one of it's best second period efforts in recent memory on Saturday night, holding the Rhinos off the board, completing a series of successful penalty kills, and scoring to tie the game. The Wranglers got the game-tying tally from Kirill Evstigneev 9:13 into the second period when he ripped a shot top shelf past Hughes for his 3rd of the season and his 2nd goal as a Wrangler. Evstigneev's goal was assisted by Noah Ribeiro. The remainder of the period was scoreless, as the Wranglers outshot the Rhinos 12-10. El Paso did have some good looks on the power play and throughout the period, but Schoephoerster was dialed in and was perfect in the middle frame.

The Wranglers followed up their strong second period effort with an even better third period. Amarillo scored the go-ahead and eventual game winning goal 2:41 into the final period when Cole Saterdalen put the puck into the net off of a rebound from a Jacob Miller shot to make it 3-2 Amarillo. Saterdalen's goal was his 4th of the year and his first as a Wrangler. The Wranglers held the Rhinos to 8 shots in the third period as Schoephoerster came up big and shutout the Rhinos for the remainder of the game. Evstigneev put the cherry on top with a last second empty net goal to seal the Wranglers victory at 4-2. Amarillo outshot the Rhinos 32-22 as Schoephoerster stopped 20/22 in his start with his new team. Amarillo's newcomers proved to be difference makers, with Schoephoerster standing tall, Evstigneev scoring two goals, Saterdalen notching the game winner, and JS Pack finishing the night with a +3 rating.

The Wranglers will return home for four straight games at the Budwesier Bull Pen, starting on Friday, 2/7 against the Oklahoma Warriors. Friday Night is College Night, where college students with valid ID can get $5 tickets at the box office. Puck drop is set for 7:15 PM CST. Fans can watch the game live on nahltv.com, or listen in to the audio feed on the Wranglers YouTube Channel. Make sure you follow the Wranglers on Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok and YouTube to stay up to date with the latest news and promos.

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