Greeley, CO – The Amarillo Wranglers defeated the Colorado Grit 5-2 on Sunday afternoon at Greeley Ice Haus to complete the weekend sweep of Colorado.
After clinching a playoff berth with their win on Saturday, the Wranglers looked to add another win to their total and continue to climb up the South division standings. This was the final game of a three-game set in Greeley and the 9th meeting of the regular season. Amarillo started Connor McDonough in net, while Colorado went with Aiden Gariepy between the pipes.
It didn’t take long for the Wranglers to get on the board, as just 1:30 into the first Connor McNaughton scored his 12th goal of the season to put Amarillo up 1-0 early. It was a tap-in goal from a series of precise passes from Roman Zap and Jack McDonald. With the assist, McDonald has registered a point in every game in the season series. Despite the Wranglers’ quick start, the next two goals of the game belonged to Colorado. Brayden Fryfogle scored 5:32 into the first period to tie the game at 1-1, and Noah Grolnic scored with 5:28 remaining in the period to put Colorado up 2-1 heading into the first intermission. Shots were tied 10-10 after one period of play.
Amarillo got back on the board to tie the game at 2-2 just 1:24 into the second period with Jack Ivey’s 29th goal of the season from Kyle DeMarco and Nolan Gagnon. This goal would start a run of four unanswered goals for Amarillo. The Wranglers got on the board again with a goal from Jack McDonald 8:31 into the second period. Ben Ivey and Nick Troutwine earned the assists on McDonald’s 12th goal of the year that put the Wranglers up 3-2. Colorado outshot Amarillo 13-8 in the second period, but the Wranglers led 3-2 after two periods.
The Wranglers continued to pour it on offensively in the third period, as Jack Ivey struck again for his 30th goal of the year 1:11 into the final frame to extend Amarillo’s lead at 4-2 With this goal, Jack Ivey became the second player in Wranglers franchise history to reach the 30 goal mark in a single season. Jack is just 6 goals away from tying the franchise record, set back in 2021-22 when Kristaps Skrastins scored 36 goals. Morley Phillips added another goal for the Wranglers 13:35 into the period to settle the score at 5-2.
With the victory, the Wranglers improved to 29-18-6-2 and completed the Rocky Mountain sweep over Colorado. Connor McDonough stopped 36/38 shots faced for his 24th win of the season. The Wranglers wrapped up the six-game road trip and will play the final 5 games of the regular season at home. Amarillo will host the El Paso Rhinos in a big two-game set with major playoff seeding implications on March 22nd and 23rd. Friday is Comic Con Night, and Saturday is Hockey and Hot Rods Night. You can get your tickets at panhandletickets.com.