Topeka Takes Two
December 12, 2011 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wichita Falls Wildcats News Release
The Wildcats dug themselves a large hole Friday and couldn't hold a pair of one-goal leads on Saturday as they dropped two games to the Topeka Roadrunners. On Friday, the Wildcats lost by a 5-1 score, then dropped Saturday's game in a shootout 3-2.
It took the Roadrunners less than twelve minutes to put the Wildcats into a giant hole en route to a 5-1 win at Landon Arena. Only 36 seconds in, Ben Bahe scored off a 3-on-2 rush, followed by his second goal of the game seven minutes later. In the next four minutes, both Sean Gaffney and James Ring added goals of their own to put the Roadrunners up 4-0 just over halfway through the first period.
Newcomer Ben Kucera, making his debut as an affiliate player for the Wildcats, scored his first NAHL goal to put a patch on the bleeding, but that was the only offense the Wildcats would get. Dan Dupell added an early second-period goal to put the Roadrunners up 5-1. Matt Leon took the loss in net, stopping 8 of 13 shots. Ryan Kellenberger replaced him midway through the second period, stopping all 17 shots the Roadrunners put on him in mopup duty.
The Wildcats changed up their lines for Saturday's game and stepped the hitting, but couldn't hold onto a pair of one goal leads in a 3-2 shootout loss. The Wildcats scored the lone first-period goal: Nate Chasteen sent a centering feed to Tanner Fahlstedt who put a shot on goal. Goalie Peter Traber stopped the initial try, but Renato Engler came crashing in to poke home the rebound.
Topeka tied the game up with a second-period goal from Kyle Sharkey, but the Wildcats took the lead back midway through the period with Adam Barlow's blast from the blue line finding its way through traffic and into the back of the net. Jakob Batcha and Patrick Yudez added the assists.
Meanwhile Matt Leon stayed strong in net, stopping 16 of 17 shots in the first two periods. Topeka tied the game though in the third on the powerplay, as Brian Christie's shot was kicked aside by Leone, but the rebound sat in the crease and Kevin Patterson sprinted in from the blue line beating both Leon and a Wildcat defender to it, putting it in for a 2-2 tie with 5:20 to play.
The game remained scoreless over the final minutes plus a five-minute overtime period and thus went into a shootout. Topeka's first shooter, Sean Gaffney put a puck in the net, keeping the shootout 1-0 through three shooters from each team before Tanner Fahlstedt tallied for the Wildcats. Kyle Sharkey scored for Topeka, putting the pressure on Jakob Batcha to keep the Wildcats alive, and with a nifty move on Traber, he did exactly that, followed by Leon stopping Topeka's leading scorer, Brian Christie. Through five shooters, it remained 2-2. It wasn't until the 11th round that the shootout would finally be decided, and it was James Ring tallying the winner. Overall, Leon stopped 28 of 30 in the game and 8 of 11 in the shootout.
The Wildcats return home this weekend to face the Texas Tornado and Amarillo Bulls in a Friday-Saturday-Monday grouping of games.
WEEKEND NOTES: After having back-to-back nights of 40 or more shots on goal the previous weekend against Odessa, the Wildcats were held to 25 shots or less on back to back nights for the first time since October 20 and 21 (vs. Texas and Amarillo). Two affiliate players made their Wildcats' debuts this season in Ben Kucera and defenseman Clay Anderson, a former Roadrunner.
Preview: Wildcats vs. Texas, December 16-17; Amarillo December 19
The Wildcats will hit the midway point of the season after this weekend's games-two against Texas this weekend, and one against Amarillo on Monday. The Bulls and Tornado are in the top two spots of the NAHL South at 50 and 44 points, respectively. The Wildcats have one win over each this season, both coming in overtime.
Texas is led in scoring by veteran forward Jordan Greenberg. The former Austin Bruin has 36 points on the season including a team-best 27 assists. Jack Prince is their top goal scorer with 15. Goaltending duties have been largely split by Joakim Jutras and Reid Mimmack. Jutras has the better numbers of the two: 12-1-3 with a 2.37 GAA and .903 save percentage.
Amarillo is led in goals and points by Brooks Behling. The veteran forward has 23 goals and 40 points, vastly surpassing his totals from last season (14-13-27 with Chicago and Amarillo). John Rey leads the team with 23 assists. Gregg Gruehl and Mike Taffe have split time in goal. Gruehl is among the NAHL leaders in all goaltending statistics: a 13-2-2 record, 1.95 GAA, and a .923 save percentage.
Upcoming Wildcats' Events
Friday is Wichita Falls Food Bank Night! Bring five canned goods to donate to the Wichita Falls Food Bank, and you'll get an End Zone ticket for free!
Saturday is Teddy Bear Toss night! Bring a new or gently used stuffed animal and throw it out on the ice when the Wildcats score their first goal. All stuffed animals will be donated to Operation Santa Claus. Plus, you'll get a coupon at the door for a free post-game skate if you bring a stuffed animal!
We're on the air! Join us for the Wildcats' Coaches' Radio Show at P2 The Deuce downtown on Tuesdays 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.
Adult hockey and open skating: Check WFWildcatsHockey.com for the schedule under the Games and Ice Events tab! 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.
Alumni Report
NORTH AMERICAN PRO LEAGUES
Dan Sexton had the Syracuse Crunch's lone goal Saturday in a 4-1 loss to the Hamilton Bulldogs. He is fourth on the Crunch in scoring this season, just behind two other former NAHL'ers in Pat Maroon (Texarkana/St. Louis) and Kyle Palmieri (USNTDP).
Chad Costello keeps on chugging along. In three games this past week against Idaho, the Colorado Eagles' forward scored three goals and two assists. He remains second in the league in scoring behind teammate Jack Combs.
Kyle Kraemer has rejoined the ECHL's Ontario Reign. The former Wildcats' captain has four goals and an assist in 8 games, including two goals Saturday in a 5-2 win over Las Vegas.
COLLEGE, DIVISION 1
Sean Duddy had a pair of assists for Ohio State in a weekend split against Miami Ohio.
Shea Walters tallied a goal and an assist for Bemidji State in a weekend split with Denver. Luke Salazar assisted on Denver's game-winning goal on Friday, while Walters' assist came on Saturday's game-winner.
COLLEGE, DIVISION 3
Chris Rial had a goal and two assists for St. Norbert in a weekend split with St. Scholastica.
Adam Cardwell scored a goal and added two assists in Wisconsin-River Falls' 6-1 win over Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Saturday.
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North American Hockey League Stories from December 12, 2011
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- NAHL Announces Combat Hockey 3 Stars of the Week - NAHL
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- Bobcats to Televise Red Stars Showdown on KXMB TV - Bismarck Bobcats
- Tornado Weekly - Texas Tornado
- Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report - OSC Original by Dan Krieger
- Jr. K-Wings Weekly - Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings
- Third Place with a Win - Springfield Jr. Blues
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