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WHL Wenatchee Wild

Wild Notch Season-Best Nine Goals from Eight Scorers in 9-3 Win at Seattle Sunday

January 22, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release


Wenatchee Wild's Sam Ward on game night
Wenatchee Wild's Sam Ward on game night
(Wenatchee Wild, Credit: Brian Liesse/Seattle Thunderbirds)

WENATCHEE, Wash. - With the Wenatchee Wild trying to shake off home losses in their last three games, head coach Roy Sommer had his eye on a total 60-minute team effort in Sunday's Western Hockey League game at the Seattle Thunderbirds.

He's no longer looking for it - he found it in Wenatchee's 9-3 win at accesso Showare Center that saw eight different Wild players send pucks to the back of the net, starting barely two minutes out of the gate, and covering all four of the team's forward lines. Wenatchee has now won back-to-back games against Seattle, including a home win on December 31, and heads into the final three games of January with a 25-15-4-0 record for the year. Seattle slipped to 14-23-2-0, continuing their schedule at Town Toyota Center Friday against the Wild. The nine-goal game marks a season-best for the Wild, and a new high-water mark for the WHL club's brief history in Wenatchee.

Rodzers Bukarts opened the scoring 2:03 into the contest, zipping a shot past Spencer Michnik after a stop-and-start move in front of the net - two minutes later, Karter Prosofsky set Ty Fraser up for a left-wing one-timer, and Fraser hammered it in to double the lead.

Simon Lovsin sneaked a chance past Daniel Hauser from below the goal line and into the net with 8:09 left in the period to put the Thunderbirds back within one, but it was the last momentum boost Seattle would enjoy. Jonas Woo caught Maddix McCagherty for a redirect on a right-point shot at 1:35 of the second period, bumping the Wild lead back to two goals.

That was only the beginning - Briley Wood hammered home a sharp-angle one-timer from Miles Cooper at 6:47 of the period, followed by a long-range snipe from Dawson Seitz two minutes later. Hayden Moore closed a brief power play for the Wild with 4:58 left in the period by banking in another Woo shot from the point, and Ashton Brown picked up an orphaned puck in the right-wing circle and wired it to the top of the Thunderbirds' net with nine seconds left in the stanza for a 7-1 lead at intermission.

Seattle changed goaltenders at the break, but Kenta Isogai still beat Scott Ratzlaff with a shot down the slot 7:43 into the third, and another Wood one-timer at 11:12 briefly made it an eight-goal game. Lovsin scored to break up the run 20 seconds later, and Jeremy Hanzel went coast-to-coast on the power play with 1:06 to go, closing out the scoring for the night.

"From the opening drop of the puck, I thought we had a good compete in our game," said Wild head coach Roy Sommer. "We went to the net, had some good zone time, and every single line contributed, which was a big part of it. We had one point in a three-game losing streak, but we weren't scoring any goals, so hopefully that jump-starts us a little bit."

Wood led the way with two goals Sunday, including the eventual game-winner, and an assist on a night that saw 14 of Wenatchee's 18 skaters post at least one point - eight would finish with more than one. He also extended his point-scoring streak to eight straight games, while Isogai extended his run to seven in a row. Hauser earned his 16th win of the season, stopping 32 of Seattle's 35 shots on net.

The two sides were even on special teams, with each posting a power play goal on two chances. Michnik exited the game with 21 saves on 28 Wenatchee shots, while Ratzlaff took the no-decision in relief, going 7-for-9 in net in his 20 minutes of work.

The Wild return to home ice Wednesday as the Tri-City Americans drop in for a midweek bout, presented by Riverside Payments. Tickets for that game and all home regular-season contests 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 Sam Ward on game night
Wenatchee Wild's Sam Ward on game night
(Brian Liesse/Seattle Thunderbirds)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from January 22, 2024


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