Amarillo, TX – The Amarillo Wranglers defeated the Colorado Grit at the Budweiser Bull Pen on Saturday by the final score of 6-2. Jack McDonald scored two goals and notched an assist for his second straight three point performance.
Amarillo goaltender Connor McDonough started in net for the Wranglers as he entered the night with a record of 17-6-4-2 on the year – one win shy of tying the Wranglers franchise record for wins by a goaltender in a single season. McDonough also boasted a 2.4 GAA, a .909 save percentage, and one shutout on the season entering the game. Colorado turned to young goaltender Aiden Gariepy between the pipes, who was 0-2 with a 3.0 GAA, and an .871 save percentage entering the contest.
Colorado struck first 12:43 into the first period with a goal from Alexander German. German’s goal was assisted by Duncan Shin and Landon West. Amarillo tied the game up with 2:12 remaining in the period with Roman Zap’s 11th goal of the season from Nick Troutwine and Topi Puikkonen. All tied up at 1-1 after period one, Colorado led the shot count 9-7.
Early in the second period just 4:43 in, Jack McDonald fired a shot past Gariepy for his 7th goal of the year from Ben Ivey to give Amarillo a 2-1 lead. With the goal, McDonald extended his point streak to 6 games. Colorado responded about two minutes later in the form of Nicholas Capasso’s 9th goal of the season from West and Grolnic to tie it up 2-2. The Wranglers roared back with two more goals thirty seconds apart from each other the first of which came from Morely Phillips 8:52 into the period from Jacob Miller. Phillips’ goal was his 2nd of the season and ended up being the game-winner. The second goal coming 9:22 into the period belonged to Jack McDonald – his second of the game – from Jack Ivey. The Wranglers took a 4-2 lead into the second intermission despite Colorado leading the shot count 21-19.
The Wranglers continued to pour it on offensively in the third period as 10:54 into the final period Jack Ivey scored his team-leading 22nd goal of the season from McDonald and Zap on the power play to extend the Wranglers’ lead to 5-2. Luke Morris sniped a shot past Gariepy with 5:49 remaining in the third for his 4th goal of the season to settle the score at 6-2.
Jack McDonald ended the night with two goals and one assist, and now has 6 goals and 12 assists in his last 12 games. Jack Ivey and Roman Zap each potted a goal and an assist in the victory. Connor McDonough was sharp as he turned aside 29 of 31 shots faced as he picked up his 18th win of the season tying the Wranglers’ single-season win record for a goaltender.
The Wranglers and Grit will finish off their series of six straight games on Sunday evening with puck drop at 6:00 PM CST. Sunday’s game is Undie Sunday, where fans are encouraged to throw new and packaged socks or underwear on the ice after the Wranglers’ first goal to benefit local homeless shelters. You can get your tickets at panhandletickets.com or watch on NATV or listen in on YouTube.