El Paso, TX – The El Paso Rhinos defeated the Amarillo Wranglers in overtime on Friday night by the final score of 2-1.
The Wranglers kicked off a five-game road trip with a visit to El Paso County Events Center on Black Friday for the first of eight meetings with the Rhinos this season. Two of the South Division’s top teams went head-to-head with the Rhinos carrying a record of 13-8-0-1, and the Wranglers a record of 12-7-2.
Connor McDonough started in net making his 17th start of the season for the Wranglers. He has been impressive this season, boasting a record of 10-5-1, a 2.37 GAA, and a .908 save percentage coming into the matchup. The Rhinos went with Kael DePape in net. With the Rhinos this season DePape had a record of 5-3-0-1, a 2.5 GAA, and an .898 save percentage entering the evening.
El Paso opened the scoring 10:19 into the first period when Tim Mathys ripped a shot from the left circle to make it a 1-0 game. James Hooley and Eddie Shepler picked up the assists. Mathys’ goal was the only goal of the first period. Shots were 5-5 after 20 minutes of play.
The second period was scoreless but saw the pace of the game pick up with action at both ends of the ice. Connor McDonough made some incredible saves to keep the score 1-0 as El Paso was looking for a goal with a few power-play chances. The Wranglers offensively had a few chances of their own but were unable to put one by DePape. Shots were 16-12 in favor of El Paso after two periods.
In the third period, the Wranglers tied the game when Corson Maguire deflected a Nolan Gagnon shot by DePape for his first NAHL goal 9:26 into the period. The Wranglers were knocking on the door to take the lead outshooting the Rhinos 8-4 in the third period but were unable to score before time ran out. Tied 1-1 after sixty minutes, we headed to overtime.
In overtime, the Wranglers’ luck ran out as Camden Bajzer scored to win it for El Paso 2-1. Jakub Jerman and Medrick Bolduc earned the assists on the game-winning goal.
The Wranglers will have a chance a revenge on Saturday when they take on the Rhinos for the second game of the two-game set in El Paso. Puck drop will be at 8:00 CST. You can watch on NATV or listen in on YouTube.