Wildcats lose 5-2
Published on January 30, 2016 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Wichita Falls Wildcats News Release
Playing in their final game in Topeka this season, the Wildcats fell to the RoadRunners by a score of 5-2 on Saturday night.
For the second consecutive night, the Wildcats were caught on their heels to start the game. Max Harper opened the scoring early for Topeka on a dirty goal. Just two minutes later on their third shot of the game, Andrew Hart tallied another goal for the Runners, causing Julian Sime to be pulled in favor of Justin Kapelmaster midway through the first period.
With Kapelmaster in goal, the Wildcats tightened up their defensive play and held the Runners' momentum in check. The Cats kept them off the scoreboard for the remainder of the period.
It was an interesting night for special teams for the Wildcats, who scored both on the power play and the penalty kill. Six minutes into the second period, Aleksi Poikola was set up by Ben Lown on the power play and fired a one-timer past Juho Niku for his 8th goal of the season. With renewed energy, the Cats outshot the Runners 14-9 in period two, but Topeka continued to exploit holes in the Cats' defense.
Ten minutes after Poikola's goal, the RoadRunners found themselves on an offensive zone surge before Quinn Preston threw a puck across the goal-mouth and onto Marshall Bowery's tape, who had only to tap the puck into a wide-open net and past Kapelmaster to regain a two-goal lead for Topeka.
The Cats came out of the gates in the third period looking like they really wanted to level the score. Poikola was set up on the penalty kill by his fellow Scandinavian André Pison for his second tally of the night. The shorthanded goal lifted the spirits of the Wildcats, but the elation was short-lived. Forty-two seconds later, Quinn Preston scored on the power play to re-extend the RoadRunners lead. The Cats never recovered, and Sami Tavernier rifled a one-timer home at the end of the period to seal the Wildcats' fate.
Justin Kapelmaster made 20 saves on 23 shots for his fifth regulation loss, while Niku denied 30 of 32 Wildcat shots for his 8th victory. The Wildcats will head to Odessa for the final time of the season on Wednesday, February 3rd for a three-game series against the Jackalopes.
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