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WHL Wenatchee Wild

Strong Stretches Send Winterhawks To 7-1 Win Over Wild Saturday

March 10, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release


Wenatchee Wild's Maddix McCagherty battles Portland Winterhawks' Marek Alscher and Josh Zakreski
Wenatchee Wild's Maddix McCagherty battles Portland Winterhawks' Marek Alscher and Josh Zakreski
(Wenatchee Wild, Credit: Meg Connelly/Portland Winterhawks)

PORTLAND, Ore. - Facing a Portland Winterhawks team with more than 100 first-period goals to its name this season, the Wenatchee Wild knew there might be an early storm to weather Saturday at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. For the most part, the Wild did just that, but four goals in the last 20 minutes for Portland sealed Wenatchee's fate in a 7-1 Western Hockey League loss.

The Wild stayed with their hosts early, but Portland jumped in the driver's seat with a three-goal surge in a 2:19 stretch of the opening period - Luca Cagnoni's toss from the right point was redirected by Hudson Darby at 11:52 of the first, followed by breakaway goals from Tyson Yaremko at 12:07 and James Stefan at 14:11.

Wenatchee answered back with the game's only second-period goal, when Ty Fraser slipped a pass to the back post for a tap-in from Hayden Moore at the 2:15 mark. The Winterhawks pushed it back to a three-goal margin 88 seconds into the third period, when Gabe Klassen found Josh Davies for a backside one-timer.

Klassen added a goal of his own on the power play at 8:16 of the third, connecting on a one-timer from the right faceoff dot to make it 5-1. Josh Zakreski's backhand tally at the front of the net 40 seconds later, and Marek Alscher's drive to the net with 1:11 to play, closed the scoring for the hosts.

"We played 10 minutes of decent hockey at the start of the game," said Wild head coach Roy Sommer. "We didn't give up any odd man rushes in the second period and we ended up winning that period. We didn't have any legs, or win races to pucks in the third, and they scored four quick ones."

Klassen led the Portland offense with a goal and two assists, while Carter Sotheran finished with three assists of his own. Davies and Stefan also tallied multi-point games, and Jan Spunar made 21 saves for his 21st win of the season. The Winterhawks finished perfect on special teams, scoring on their only power play while erasing Wenatchee's three power play chances. Brendan Gee took the loss for the Wild, making 37 saves on 44 Winterhawk shots.

The Wild saw their record drop to 32-26-4-0 for the season, while Portland bumped its mark for the season to 43-15-2-1. With 68 points, Wenatchee remains in fourth place in the WHL's Western Conference, two points ahead of the Kelowna Rockets, who jumped into the fifth-place spot in the standings by virtue of their win Saturday against the Kamloops Blazers. With 62 games played, Wenatchee also has a game in hand on Kelowna.

Next on the schedule for Wenatchee is a visit from the Spokane Chiefs on Friday, March 15 for 80s Night, presented by Weinstein Beverage, with the opening puck drop set for 7 p.m. Tickets for that game and next Saturday's home finale against Portland are on sale now at 509-888-7825, or by visiting the team office at Town Toyota Center. Wild playoff packages and 2024-25 season tickets are now on sale as well - updated news and information on Wild hockey are always available through the team's website and on the team's social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

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Images from this story

Wenatchee Wild's Maddix McCagherty battles Portland Winterhawks' Marek Alscher and Josh Zakreski
Wenatchee Wild's Maddix McCagherty battles Portland Winterhawks' Marek Alscher and Josh Zakreski
(Meg Connelly/Portland Winterhawks)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from March 10, 2024


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