NAHL Aberdeen Wings

Wings Split with Wenatchee

Published on December 18, 2013 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Aberdeen Wings News Release


Late-game heroics pushed Aberdeen past the Wenatchee (Wash.) Wild 3-2 in a North American Hockey League game Saturday in Aberdeen.

T.J. Roo scored the winning goal on a rebound of a Jordan Heller shot for the Wings with one minute, 58 seconds left. Meanwhile, Wings goalie Henry Dill rejected shot-after-shot by last season's national champion runners-up in the final period. Despite their heroics, all the two Wings wanted to talk about was how great their Aberdeen teammates played.

"Henry played outstanding this whole weekend for us in goal," said Roo. "I am very proud of him. When he comes in, he plays his heart out. He is a really good goaltender, and we love having him on our team."

Roo said it was a team effort.

"We got pucks deep. We got pucks out. We executed. Basically, we got the job done tonight," Roo said.

There were plenty of heroics performed by a variety of Wings. Kyle Haak, who had a three-goal weekend, tied the game at 2-2 in the third period. Zach Doerring had Aberdeen's first goal. Getting assists on the Wings' three goals were Jake Horton, Patrick Steinhauser, Erik Baskin, Jonathan Grebosky, Tanner Okeson and Heller.

Heller made a beautiful play in the final period when he broke up a Wenatchee power play. He also broke free with the puck which led to a penalty shot that was unsuccessful. Still, his hustle and aggressiveness killed a penalty for his team.

Dill and his fellow defenders faced an enormous amount of pressure in the final period, but they did not give up a goal.

"After we got that big goal by T.J. with two minutes left, Wenatchee really turned it on and threw everything at the net," Dill said. "You have to give them credit, they hung in there and they were not going to give up."

Aberdeen coach Travis Winter was pleased that his team's focus, effort and execution lasted from the drop of the first puck to the final horn. 

"Our execution was a lot better tonight," said Aberdeen coach Travis Winter. "Our compete level and work ethic from the start of tonight's game was so much better than last night. We needed to play a full 60-minute game to beat that team, and we did that tonight."

Dill said it is a long season, and that you have to take the wins in stride.

"This was a big win for us, for sure," he said. "But you can't get complacent in this league. We will celebrate for now, but then we have to get ready for a big weekend against Bismarck."

Here are some things to know:

- Aberdeen will host Bismarck at 7:15 p.m. Friday at the Odde Ice Center in Aberdeen. At 7:15 p.m. Saturday, the two teams will meet at the VFW Sports Center in Bismarck.

- Aberdeen will repay the favor to Wenatchee by making the 1,274-mile trip to play the Wild March 28-29 at the end of the season. Wenatchee lost to Amarillo in the national championship game last season.

- Wings goalie Chad Catt got hurt (thought to be a hamstring injury) in warmups Friday night. On Saturday, the Wings used Aberdeen Cougars goalie Nick Dalchow their backup goalie.

Wenatchee Wild (14-12-3) 1 1 0 - 2

Aberdeen Wings (16-10-2) 0 1 2 - 3

First Period: 1, Wenatchee, Sam Becker (Jakob Ahlgren, Trey Bradley), 2:44.

Second Period: 2, Aberdeen, Zach Doerring (Jake Horton, Patrick Steinhauser), 17:10; 3, Wenatchee, Becker (Bradley), 8:11.

Third Period: 4, Aberdeen, Kyle Haak (Erik Baskin, Jonathan Grobosky), 16:42; 5, Aberdeen, T.J. Roo (Jordan Heller, Tanner Okeson), 1:58

Goalies: Wenatchee, Gustaf Johansson (24 shots, 21 saves); Aberdeen, Henry Dill (28 shots, 25 saves).

Power Plays: Wenatchee 0-3; Aberdeen 1-3.

Check out the Aberdeen Wings Statistics

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North American Hockey League Stories from December 18, 2013


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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